The Royal Hunting Grounds were a sprawling expanse of snow-dusted pine and frozen streams, ostensibly a place for leisure, but in reality, a theater for murder.
Empress Su Qingyue sat atop her white stallion, her breath misting in the cold air. She wore a riding habit of crimson leather, a recurve bow slung across her back.
To her left rode the Regent, her uncle Su Jin. He was smiling, pointing at a distant ridge.
"The beaters have flushed a white stag, Your Majesty," Su Jin said, his voice smooth as oiled silk. "A rare omen. It is destiny that you should claim it."
"Destiny," Su Qingyue repeated, her grip tightening on the reins.
She knew the setup. The "White Stag" was the bait. The ridge was the kill zone.
"I shall pursue it," she said, her voice steady. "Alone. As is tradition."
"Of course," the Regent bowed. "We shall wait here."
As she galloped away, the Regent's smile vanished. He signaled to a shadowed grove. Three men in grey cloaks dissolved into the forest, moving faster than horses.
Die well, Niece, Su Jin thought. An unfortunate hunting accident. A fall from a horse. Tragic.
[Northern Creek Village: The Riverbank]
Lin Feng was currently engaged in a battle of his own: Carpentry.
He had finished the stone foundation for the water wheel. Now, he needed to assemble the wooden frame. He had scavenged heavy oak beams from a collapsed barn.
He held a massive iron spike—a rusted thing the size of a railroad spike—and a heavy sledgehammer.
"Structural integrity is key," Lin Feng muttered, aligning the beam. "One loose joint and the torque will tear it apart."
He raised the sledgehammer.
Variable: Oak density.
Variable: Swing arc.
Objective: Drive the spike.
CLANG.
The sound rang out across the frozen river. The spike drove three inches into the hardwood.
ACTION: PERCUSSIVE IMPACT.
FORCE: 5,000 NEWTONS.
RHYTHM ESTABLISHED.
[The Hunting Grounds: The Ridge]
Su Qingyue pulled her horse to a halt. The forest here was silent. Too silent.
There was no white stag.
Thwip.
An arrow hissed from the treeline, burying itself in the snow inches from her horse's hoof. The stallion reared, screaming.
Su Qingyue was thrown.
She hit the ground hard, rolling instinctively. Her training in court etiquette had not prepared her for this. She scrambled to her feet, drawing her ceremonial sword—a beautiful, useless thing inlaid with gems.
Three figures emerged from the trees. They wore grey masks. They held jagged, curved blades that dripped with green liquid.
"The Regent sends his regards," the leader rasped.
Su Qingyue backed away until her boots hit a rock. She was trapped.
Fear, cold and paralyzing, gripped her heart. I am going to die here. Alone.
Then, she felt it.
A pulse. A rhythm.
It came from the bond. It was a heavy, metallic sensation, like a heartbeat of iron.
CLANG.
She felt a phantom jolt in her right arm. Her muscles twitched, flooded with a strange, aggressive confidence.
CLANG.
The rhythm was slow, steady, and unstoppable.
...Strike...
The "voice" wasn't words. It was pure intent.
The first assassin lunged, his blade aiming for her throat.
Su Qingyue didn't think. She surrendered to the rhythm.
[The Riverbank]
Lin Feng wiped sweat from his brow.
"And again," he said.
He swung the hammer. It was a repetitive, meditative motion. Up. Down. Impact.
CLANG.
STATUS: SYNCING MOTOR FUNCTIONS.
REMOTE OUTPUT: ACTIVE.
TARGET: [BONDED PARTNER].
MODE: ASSISTED COMBAT.
"Assisted combat?" Lin Feng glanced at the text while lifting the hammer. "Must mean 'Fighting against the wood grain'. Stupid translation."
He swung again. Harder.
CLANG.
[The Hunting Grounds]
The assassin's blade was inches from her neck.
Su Qingyue's arm moved with the force of a pile driver. She didn't parry; she smashed.
Her ceremonial sword met the assassin's curved blade.
CLANG.
The sound was identical to Lin Feng's hammer.
The assassin's blade didn't just break. It shattered into shrapnel. The force of the blow traveled down his arm, snapping his wrist and elbow instantly.
"ARGH!" The man flew backward, spinning in the air before crashing into a pine tree.
The other two assassins froze. What was that? That wasn't a sword technique. That was... blunt force trauma?
Su Qingyue stood there, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She looked at her delicate, jeweled sword. It was humming.
The rhythm in her head continued. Up. Down. Impact.
He is helping me, she realized, tears pricking her eyes. The Spirit is fighting with me.
The second assassin snarled. "Kill her! Together!"
They rushed her from both sides.
In the village, Lin Feng switched to a rapid-fire nailing technique for the smaller brackets. Bang-bang-bang-bang.
In the forest, Su Qingyue became a whirlwind of destruction.
She sidestepped the left attacker and brought the pommel of her sword down on his skull. BANG.
She spun and kicked the right attacker in the chest. BANG.
She slashed downward, not cutting, but bludgeoning the leader who was trying to stand up. BANG.
It was brutal. It was efficient. It was carpentry applied to human anatomy.
Within ten seconds, three elite assassins lay broken in the snow.
Su Qingyue stood amidst the carnage, her red riding habit untouched. She wasn't a warrior. She was a vessel for a construction project.
The rhythm in her head slowed, then stopped.
[The Riverbank]
"Done," Lin Feng exhaled, dropping the hammer.
He admired the frame. It was solid. Unshakable.
TASK COMPLETE: STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY.
SYNC COMPLETE.
PARTNER STATUS: SURVIVED.
COMBAT RATING: S-RANK (BRUTALITY BONUS).
"Brutality bonus?" Lin Feng chuckled, drinking from his waterskin. "Yeah, I really showed that wood who's boss."
[The Hunting Grounds: The Aftermath]
The Regent, Su Jin, waited at the edge of the clearing with a squad of guards. He was preparing his "grief-stricken" face.
"We should check on Her Majesty," he said solemnly. "I fear the worst."
They rode into the clearing.
Su Jin's jaw dropped.
The "White Stag" was nowhere to be seen. Instead, three of his best assassins were piled in a heap, groaning, their limbs bent at impossible angles. Their weapons were shrapnel.
And standing in the center of it all was Empress Su Qingyue.
She was leaning on her sword, looking bored.
"Uncle," she called out, her voice carrying a terrifying calm. "You were right. The hunting here is... vigorous."
Su Jin stared at the broken bodies. She did this? The girl who faints at the sight of a needle?
"Your... Your Majesty," Su Jin stammered. "Are you unhurt? Who... who did this?"
Su Qingyue looked at him. She remembered the rhythm. The Hammer.
"I found the White Stag," she lied smoothly. "But these bandits tried to steal it. I had to... discipline them."
She walked over to her horse, which had returned, calming it with a touch.
"Take them to the dungeon," she commanded the guards, pointing at the assassins. "I want to know who sent them. I want to know... the structural integrity of their loyalty."
She mounted her horse and looked down at the Regent.
"We are returning to the palace. I have a headache. And I am suddenly very hungry."
As she rode past him, Su Jin felt a chill that had nothing to do with the winter.
She has changed, he thought, trembling. She is not a lamb. She is a wolf in silk.
[That Night: The Dreamscape]
Lin Feng found himself on the white bridge again.
This time, Su Qingyue was already there, waiting. She wasn't wearing her royal robes. She was wearing a simple white shift, her hair loose.
She looked... shaken. But alive.
"You're okay," Lin Feng said, walking up to her. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"I saw three ghosts," she whispered. Then, she looked up at him, her eyes fierce. "You... you were hammering something today."
Lin Feng blinked. "Yeah. Building a water wheel. Had to drive some heavy spikes. Why?"
Su Qingyue let out a long, shaky breath. She stepped forward and, to Lin Feng's complete shock, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest (or rather, the chest of his grey suit).
"Thank you," she muffled into his lapel. "Your hammering... it has a good rhythm."
Lin Feng stood there, awkwardly patting her head. Psychological transference, he analyzed. She's associating my mundane description of labor with stability.
"Anytime," he said softly. "Structure is important. Without a good foundation, everything falls apart."
She squeezed him tighter. "Yes. Everything falls apart."
They stood there in the mist, a woodcutter pretending to be an engineer and an Empress pretending to be brave, holding each other up against the encroaching dark.
BOND RESONANCE INCREASED.
SYNC RATE: 15%.
NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: [SHARED SENSES (TASTE/SMELL)].
"By the way," Lin Feng said, breaking the silence. "I'm making spicy hotpot tonight. Prepare your stomach."
Su Qingyue pulled back, wiping her eyes, a small smile breaking through. "I look forward to it."