Lu Ye was the village's “boogeyman,” the man everyone gave a wide berth. Back from the battlefield, he carried a body full of scars and an aura of icy menace, like a lone wolf living deep in the mountains. He never spoke to anyone, keeping only his hunting rifle and traps for company.
Su Wan was a delicate young lady from the city who had come to the village to recuperate. Frail and often ill, she seemed as fragile as a flower that would wither in the slightest breeze. While everyone else avoided Lu Ye like the plague, she alone, after wandering into the mountains and being rescued by him, wasn't frightened by his cold gaze. Instead, she noticed the slight furrow in his brow on rainy days and the old wound on his leg.
At first, he thought she was a nuisance. “Don't come back,” he said before slamming the door behind him.
Later, he would silently leave the rarest herbs and the plumpest game on the tiny windowsill of her room.
When the schemes of the city reached this peaceful mountain village, everyone thought the delicate flower was about to be crushed. But Lu Ye showed them all through his actions: she was his. She only needed to sit safely inside and plan the moves; he would become her most loyal hound, lurking in the night and using the skills honed on the battlefield to tear every demon and monster to shreds.
He had once been a lone wolf with no home. Then he found the one place he belonged. She was his whole world.
