It was a rather nice morning for the soldiers of the base. They spent their morning rather idly as they waited for their leaders to give commands. On this morning, they had taken to a rather peculiar game of battling with tiny sticks and dramatic attacks. One soldier in particular had acquired a 'fatal wound' from his opponent's twig and was grasping his chest dramatically and fall onto the ground as he 'bled out' and began to 'see the light'.

His performance was sadly cut short by the acting general and the highest commanding officer of the base ran past the group in a frenzy while screaming out the name, Ding Zihua. The soldiers were momentarily stunned before they too began to scour the base for Ding Zihua.

Bai Wei searched the entire base top to bottom without seeing his beloved once. His face grew exceedingly pale as he continued to search and his hands were gripping so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Bai Wei felt wave after wave of emotions as group after group came back to him reporting that they too had not seen Ding Zihua.

Finally, when the last small group of soldiers came back and reported nothing. All of Bai Wei's emotions welled up and hit him in the chest, completely overwhelming him. Then all at once, it washed away leaving nothing. Bai Wei's face became starkly emotionless and his every movement became highly controlled. Even his breathing looked like more of that of a machines. His eyes which were seconds from crying were now void and empty.

Seeing this, the soldiers felt a rush of empathy and worry for their general as he stood there for a second before walking back to the commanding tent to fill out paperwork and plan the next attack with his advisors. Bai Wei received many fleeting glances, but to most people he looked perfectly fine. Nothing was wrong whatsoever.

Bai Wei continued this way while occasionally checking the time until it was a few minutes before three when he gathered himself once again and went to stand at the western gate. The soldiers watched his receding back as a foreboding feeling came over them like the winds before a hurricane.

A storm is approaching.

...

Bai Wei went to the western gate and exited the camp to walk into the woods. Once he was fairly deep into the shrubbery, he walked to the largest tree in sight and stood by it like an abandoned puppy. He waited for a while until finally he saw a wisp of white silvery hair flutter in the wind. For a second, Bai Wei thought he had hallucinated it until the rest of Ding Zihua came into view. He was weary ng the same outfit that he had been wearing the first time they met. The ornate embroidery on his sleeves still shined under the sunlight and for a moment, Bai Wei could have almost sworn that this was the same exact man that he had met in that first day. Once again, hiding his true emotions by staring at the ground in what Ding Zihua thought resembled a humble manner.

The two looked at each other quietly for a moment, Bai Wei admiring the outfit that Ding Zihua was wearing while Ding Zihua was greedily taking in Bai Wei's appearance for the last time before he fled to his nation. Ding Zihua was the first to snap out of his trance and he walked forward to Bai Wei to begin explaining himself but was cut off when Bai Wei pulled him into a hug.

"It's okay. I hope the best for you, I truly do. Just promise me you will think of me sometimes" Bai Wei said while hugging Ding Zihua.

Ding Zihua was weirdly relieved by Bai Wei's words. Even if Bai Wei had no idea how bad he had truly messed up, it was comforting to hear him say that it will be okay. Ding Zihua smiled and hugged Bai Wei tightly. He would miss these hugs when he left. After a moment, the two separated and prepared to say their goodbyes. They stood across from each other with smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes.

Ding Zihua was just about to leave the scene when an arrow flew through the trees and skimmed across his shoulder. Ding Zihua was surprised by this arrow that came out of nowhere. The plan was for them to attack only when he gave them the signal after getting out of the way. He was not given much time to process as another arrow came flying through the air, this time aiming for his chest. Bai Wei reacted quickly and knocked the arrow away with his sword when many more came flying into their direction. He had barely began to process that his life was in danger when Bai Wei pushed him down onto the ground to avoid the flying arrows.

A few of the arrows scratched Bai Wei's back and his face contorted in agony, but he didn't make any sound. He quickly grabbed Ding Zihua and they rolled into the nearby bushes for some cover.

"Are you okay, are you injured?" Bai Wei asked quietly as he observed their surroundings, looking for the assailants.

Ding Zihua was highly shaken by this turn of events and it took him a second to reply a quiet "...Yes, I'm alright"

"Good, I need you to stay here while I fight off the attackers. It seems like you aren't their primary target so you should be okay so long as you stay here" Bai Wei said quickly before rolling out of the bush once again. Soon the sounds of fighting continued once again and screams and yells were heard off in the distance.

Gradually the sounds got farther and farther away as Bai Wei lead them away from him. Ding Zihua saw this and prepared to quietly make his exit as his part was now done. Bai Wei was injured , although only slightly, which fulfilled the emperor's conditions so now all that was left was to leave quietly while Bai Wei finished off the rest of the attackers with ease.

Ding Zihua crawled out of the bush and stood up to leave when a sword pressed against his neck.

"Make one wrong move and you're dead"