RIN

Smiles were plastered on their faces, innocent naivety in their minds as they enjoyed their normal lives.

Completely unaware of the war that awaited their town and themselves...

In the Guando province within the governor"s estate office, a military meeting took place.

"What"s the report on General Jinhai and his army"s current station?" Governor Tao turned towards the soldier standing respectfully beside him.

"Reported recently, our men saw General Jinhai and his army Two-hundred-nine miles from the North Borders. According to our reports calculations, they will arrive at the North Borders in three days." The soldier reported with furrowed brows.

Inside the grand lantern-lit room, Rin, Governor Tao, two Guando soldiers, and a prime minister all stood around a large square table. On top of it placed a highly detailed and structured map of the Guando province and outer areas.

"What day will our reinforcements arrive?" Governor Tao asked sternly.

"I asked yesterday and their captain reported because of a lack of supplies in their camp, it"ll take them five days to reach the North Borders."

All the men in the room became quiet upon listening to the soldier"s report; their anxious faces turning grim.

If their reinforcements arrived in five days while the enemy arrived in three, then didn"t that mean their chances of fighting them off were slim?

"If that"s the case, limit the amount of force our soldiers exert. We must not exhaust any energy until our reinforcements arrive." Governor Tao said with a grave expression.

He turns to look at the soldier beside him.

"As for the river, I understand it might be a while for it to dry up, however, destroy the bridges and haul the boats aside. Anything that can be used to cross the river, burn it. When General Jinhai and his army arrive it"s most likely he"ll use the river to get across until it dries up or freezes."

"Yes, Sir!"

From the beginning, Rin standing off on the side of the tall men silently listened to their words with a focused expression. Until suddenly, her melodious voice spoke up.

"Sir Tao, if the river were to dry up that"d mean General Jinhai and his army could make it across and attack our northern borders?" Rin asked.

"Yes, that"s correct." Governor Tao stared at the boy with creased brows.

Through his reply, Rin becomes silent, her white slender fingers gently holding her chin. Rin scans her bright eyes towards the large map laid out on the table, her gaze indecipherable.

Suddenly, a charming and innocent smile like a celestial being appeared on the young boy"s striking face.

"Don"t demolish the bridges and keep the boats in place," Rin said gently.

All the men in the room stared at Rin with puzzled and furrowed gazes.

At the beginning of their military meeting, they were shocked to see their governor enter with a young boy no older than fourteen or fifteen walking behind him.

Initially, they were slightly against allowing such a young boy entering their secret military meeting, yet Governor Tao laughed it off saying he was there to carefully observe.

And he was right. From the beginning the young boy merely stood off on the side quietly listening to them speak, his eyes occasionally darting towards the map with a still gaze.

They were starting to a.s.sume the boy was mute until he suddenly spoke opposing of the governor"s plans.

Because there were already a few upset figures in the room, some couldn"t help but speak out.

However, before they could the young boy spoke once more, his following words shocking and infuriating them even further.

"Why don"t we just simply let them come to us?" Rin grinned.

Slam--!

The abrupt, sharp sound of a soldiers hand slammed down against the wooden table.

"Boy, what foul nonsense are you spewing?" The soldier snapped. "Let them come to us? Are you joking? That"s practically asking us to lose!"

Towards the soldier"s harsh words, Rin had remained calm; the faint smile remaining on her face.

"How do we know you"re not a spy working for the enemy and came here to lead us to fail?"

The soldier continued before he was coldly cut off by the governor"s raised hand.

"What do you mean by your words?" Governor Tao looked at the boy standing across from him with attentive eyes.

Flashing a faint scheming grin, Rin"s emerald eyes tint darkly. Walking forward towards the table, Rin extends her slender finger towards an area on the map.

"Seen on the map, there"s a substantial area of forest right upstream of the river," Rin explains patiently. "If we use those trees and large rocks, we"ll be able to construct a dam within a day if we use a large number of our workers. Once the dam is built the area will dry up faster and the enemy will let his guard down. That"s when we strike."

Rather than striking with fire, they"d simply strike with water.

The minute Rin finished her explanation, the governor burst out into fits of laughter. The men in the room stared at the governor with stunned gazes.

"You truly are an intelligent boy." Governor Tao laughed joyously. "It seems Bai Han"s praising words weren"t false."

"S...Sir?" The previous soldier said with evident confusion.

"We"ll follow his plans as said. Make sure to gather our men towards upstream of the river and to start building."

"What do you mean sir?" The soldier asked.

Governor Tao walked towards the door before pausing his movements, his head tilting in the soldier"s direction.

"It means from now on; he"ll be your captain." He smirked.

Instantly the men"s faces flashed with shock and dropped jaws.

He was appointing him the captain?!

No longer paying any attention to the men"s faces, the governor makes his way towards the room"s exit, however, not before saying a few pa.s.sing words as he walked by Rin.

"I"ll leave everything to you."

"Yes, Sir." Rin politely lowered her head.

After the governor exited the room, merely leaving Rin and the remaining men, a wide smile appears on her face.

Calmly reaching for a scroll in her pocket, Rin slams it against the table with a grin.

"Gentlemen," Rin"s eyes flash with a mysterious enchanting glint. "Let"s get busy, shall we?"

…

A few hundred miles from the North Borders a military camp was stationed.

"Commander An Sun, all of the sheep were killed as ordered. We stored the meat and fur in crates for future needs." A soldier approached the cold man cleaning his sword.

"En, good." Commander An Sun"s gracefully wipes his gleaming sword with a cloth.

Not once shifting his gaze away from the blade, he parts his thin scarlet lips to speak. "And the women?"

"All of them were killed, however…" The soldier spoke in a low voice.

Watching as his Commander paused from wiping his sword, the soldier felt his body shudder.

"However?" Commander An Sun"s voice went cold.

"As you predicted sir, five of the women were sent military spies from the Hong province. We kept them tied up until further instructions. Fortunately, none of the women wounded our men." The soldier reported solemnly.

With a sharp clear sound, the man slammed the sword on the table.

"I see…" An Sun"s smiles contained an intense amount of bloodthirst, as a dark light flashed within his gray eyes.

The soldier standing uneasily beside his Commander trembled slightly and could only pray for the foolish women and the Hong province.

"Commander, should our men send them back to Hong province or…?" The soldier cautiously propped.

"No," An Sun released a deep cold chuckle. "Kill them and then send their bodies to the Hong."

The soldier, hearing his Commander"s words, bobbed his head before leaving quickly as if his feet were on fire.

Left alone in the large tent, the man stares menacingly at the sword rested on the table, black strands of silk hair falling gracefully down his broad built shoulders.

"I didn"t think the Hong"s would be so foolish," A male voice suddenly spoke.

Not directing any attention to the sudden guest, An Sun picks up his sword to continue wiping it.

"They must think a young Commander like you would be swept away by gorgeous beautiful women, I"m guessing." The short-haired man chuckled as he stood near the tent"s entrance.

"Manchu, is everything ready?" An Sun"s dull gaze remained on the shining weapon in his hand.

Sighing hopelessly, the short-haired man crosses his arms.

"Yes, everything is set." He sighed.

"Good." An Sun sets down the rag in his hand and carries his sword towards the tent entrance.

"Tch. Always in such a rush," The man named Manchu frowned. "Why are we going to the North Borders anyway? General Jinhai and his men are already ahead of us."

Continuing to walk in a patient pace, An Sun reaches for his dark grand horse before mounting onto it. Looking down at the brown haired man with sinister gray eyes.

The man"s rueful smiles caused elite strong men to shiver in overwhelming fear.

"We"re going to watch an interesting battle."