The rain fell in crooked streaks across the stone lanes of Crescent Moon City, running like thin veins of mercury beneath the lantern light. The once-bustling streets were near silent, emptied of merchants and chatter alike.

Only the patrols of the Wu clan moved through the gloom now. The guards were clad in black-armor, iron-faced, with the sigil of a coiled serpent emblazoned upon every breastplate.

From an abandoned watchtower above the southern gate, Yuan Cai watched them pass, his breathing steady despite the ache in his shoulder where the wound still festered. The once-polished armor of the city's Vice-Captain of the Eastern Wall now hung in tatters beside him, its lacquer scorched and dented.

Its insignia scratched beyond recognition, he had been in hiding for three days.

Three days since Wu Chongthe Unwavering Merchant, the so-called "Undisputed lord of Ledgers and commerce " had marched into Crescent Moon City with his retinue of mercenaries. Evidently, one of the first decrees he had issued was for Yuan Cai's capture.

"Wanted alive," the proclamations had said. "For crimes against trade and treason against the empire's prosperity." Yuan Cai scoffed under his breath. 'What Prosperity….' He remembered the sneering smile on Wu Chong's envoy the young man Wei Dong, whose arrogance had filled the eastern gate like smoke.

Yuan had thought himself clever then, holding the leverage of access, of protocol over the jurisdiction. But he had underestimated the reach of the Wu. And now, the man who once commanded hundreds could not even command the trembling of his own fore fingers.

A faint scrape echoed from deep below, Yuan Cai's hand went instantly to the hilt of his dagger. He crouched low beside the shattered parapet, his eyes narrowing as a shadow moved through the rain.

A small figure, hooded and limping slightly, slipped beneath the archway of the tower. Yuan Cai remained silent until the figure drew close enough that the light caught her face.

"Mai Lin…" His tone softened despite himself. The young recruit looked pale beneath her drenched cloak. "Vice-Captain—no, Sir Yuan," she corrected quickly.

"You shouldn't still be here. The patrols have doubled. Wu Chong's men are offering silver to anyone who brings word of you." Yuan Cai's expression didn't change. "Then I'll have to hope poverty keeps tongues loyal a little longer."

Xiao Lian hesitated. "They say you struck him, my lord—the merchant's envoy. Is it true?"

Yuan Cai turned his gaze toward the rain-slick city below, his eyes reflecting the scattered lights. "A man like Wu Chong doesn't take offense at a mere commoner's blunder. He takes offense at being reminded he can bleed."

He leaned against the wall, the shadow of a smirk ghosting his lips. "He came to buy our city's gates, Mai Lin to make the guards his dogs and the citizens his merchants. I refused him entry until the proper writ arrived from the magistrate. He called it insolence. I called it law."

"And now?"

"Now law sleeps in the gutter."

For a moment, the rain filled the silence between them. Yuan Cai's gaze drifted toward the central district where the Wu compound now loomed like a foreign palace erected in mere nights, paid for by coin and fear alike.

Lanterns burned even at dawn within its walls, each flame a reminder of the city's subjugation. He felt the old wound throb again and reached for the small flask tied at his belt. Inside was a bitter draught of phoenix root and salt.

He swallowed once, the pain dulling just enough for his thoughts to steady. "I need to reach the harbor," he said at last. "There are still men loyal to the city guard stationed beyond the river."

" If I can rally them, we can reclaim the armory before Wu Chong consolidates his control."Mai Lin added before shaking her head quickly. "But that is suicide. His men guard every route across the river. Even the beggars report to him now."

Yuan Cai's mouth curved into a mirthless grin. "Then I'll give them something worth reporting." By midnight, Crescent Moon City's streets burned again with soft light.

A warehouse along the northern docks erupted into flame, the explosion loud enough to rattle the tiles of distant roofs. Panic swept through the harbor guards, and before order could be restored, three ships.

Each of them were laden with smuggled arms seized by the Wu, most vanished into the fog-drenched currents of the Qianlong River. From the shadow of a nearby stone pier, Yuan Cai watched the chaos unfold. Smoke curled upward, black against the indigo sky.

"That's for the lives you bought," he sneered to himself. Despite his flaws, Yuan Cai would not simply stand by and watch the Wu clan and their conspirators plot evil. He had the confidence and the belief in himself that his actions could make a difference in the grand scheme of things

He turned to Mai Lin, who crouched beside him, eyes wide at the burning silhouette of the docks. "Now we run."

The next two nights were a blur of flight and pursuit.

Rumors spread faster than the fire he'd lit—rumors of a rogue guard who had defied the merchants, of a vigilante who struck like a ghost in the alleys of the eastern ward. Wu Chong's men scoured every quarter, but Yuan Cai knew the city better than they ever could.

Every hidden stair, every forgotten drain, every abandoned temple that once marked the routes of the old guard were part of his blood. He had built this city's order; now he used its skeleton to escape its conquerors.

Still, he knew time was running thin.

By the third dawn, the wound in his shoulder had reopened, and the blood would not stop. He leaned against a cold stone wall in the ruins of a burned-out tea house, his vision swimming.

He heard a set of footsteps. Many. Too disciplined to be common thieves. Then the door burst open before him, the splinter's nearly grazing his flesh

"Well," a calm voice said, "the wolf has finally stopped running." Yuan Cai forced his head up. A man in fine crimson robes stepped through the doorway, his leather boots barely splashing in the puddled floor.

His features were sharp, aristocratic, yet his eyes were serpentine. There was a measured and cruel look in his gaze that alarmed the former guard slightly, "Wu Chong," Yuan Cai rasped.

The merchant smiled faintly. "Vice-Captain Yuan Cai. Or should I say, former vice-captain? You've cost me quite a fortune these past days." Wu chong had a nature that was rather vinidictive, he would pay any price to pursue and exterminate his foes.

"Am sure your here to take reparations from my corpse" Yuan spat. "That's what men like you do best." With his back against the wall, he saw no point in begging such men for mercy.

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