The Witch in the Woods: The Transmigration of Hazel-Anne Davis
Chapter 33: Broken

Chapter 33: Broken

They were back in Zhou Village, but nothing felt settled.

Zhao Xiuying had vanished into her cabin the moment they returned, quiet as mist, leaving only faint impressions in the dirt where she had once been.

She hadn’t even bothered to say ’bye’.

Sun Longzi waited until the sun dipped low, casting the world in crimson light, before he went to find Zhu Deming standing near the treeline, his eyes distant, and his arms folded like he was bracing for something.

"We leave tomorrow," Sun Longzi said, his voice sharp and commanding.

Zhu Deming didn’t move. "I’m not ready," he replied lazily, like he didn’t have a care in the world. But Sun Longzi knew him better. The man was wound tighter than a bowstring. And just like a bowstring, when he finally snapped, he was going to take someone out with him.

"You don’t have a say in the matter," reminded Sun Longzi, refusing to back down. "I said that we are leaving tomorrow, and that includes you."

"I’m not a soldier under your command, General," reminded Zhu Deming. "I have considered you my friend since we were children, but never think that I will bow to your command or be under your heel."

"No," Sun Longzi snapped. "You’re the Second Prince of Daiyu. Which makes this even worse. You are acting like a lovesick fool! If you need pointers, feel free to ask my waste of a fifth brother how to woo a woman, but for right now, I have given a command and I expect it to be obeyed."

Zhu Deming turned slowly, his expression unreadable behind the half-mask. "Maybe I don’t want to be."

That stopped Sun Longzi for a beat. "What did you just say?"

"I’m tired," Zhu Deming admitted. "I’ve been fighting wars since I was a child. I’ve bled for a country that never wanted me, wore a title that never fit. Maybe this village life isn’t so bad. Maybe I’ll build a house at the base of the mountain, grow vegetables, and fix roofs. Stay near her."

"You’ve known her a day," Sun Longzi growled, taking a step forward.

"That’s all it took."

The two men locked eyes.

"And what about you?" Zhu Deming asked quietly. "Are you running because you know you don’t stand a chance against her? Is that what all your honor amounts to—bowing to fear?"

Sun Longzi’s hand clenched at his side. "Don’t confuse fear with wisdom."

"And don’t confuse wisdom with cowardice," Zhu Deming shot back.

Sun Longzi closed the distance between them. "The Emperor ordered us to retrieve the weapon. If you stay, if you disobey, you’re not just giving up just your title. You’re committing treason."

"I’ve done worse for less," shrugged Zhu Deming. "And I’m also willing to do a lot more. Be careful, brother, or it won’t be just the Witch you have to worry about."

Sun Longzi’s eyes narrowed. "So you’d risk death for a woman who didn’t even ask for you to stay?"

Zhu Deming’s voice dropped. "She didn’t ask me to leave either."

The general exhaled sharply through his nose. "You want the truth? We bring her to court, and we die. All of us. She’ll tear the palace apart before the Emperor even lays eyes on her."

"You’re exaggerating, she wouldn’t do that," replied Zhu Deming, but the words sounded hollow even to himself.

"Am I?" Sun Longzi barked. "She killed an entire armed unit without blinking...and she never brought it up again. No remorse. No pride. Nothing. Do you know what kind of power that is? The kind that doesn’t feel the need to boast."

Zhu Deming was silent.

"If we bring her into the capital," Sun Longzi continued, quieter now, dead-serious, "the Emperor will try to cage her. Use her. Break her. And he will fail. And when he fails, we are the ones standing too close to the blast."

"What are you suggesting?"

"We leave at first light. And we pretend she never existed. We tell the Emperor the weapon was destroyed—that we weren’t able to retrieve it, so we did the next best thing. Eliminated it."

Zhu Deming’s fists clenched. "That’s a lie."

"That’s survival."

Zhu Deming turned away, chest heaving with the force of everything he couldn’t say.

"You weren’t with me when I spoke to the old man in Yelan," Sun Longzi added, voice low. "You didn’t see the way they spoke of her. Not like a woman. Not even like a demon. Like a force of nature."

Zhu Deming didn’t turn around.

"I’m ordering the Red Demons to move out at sunrise," Longzi said. "If you stay, I’ll report you for desertion. And the punishment for desertion during wartime is death."

Finally, Zhu Deming looked over his shoulder.

"I’ve survived death before," he said.

Sun Longzi didn’t flinch. "Then you’ll survive it again. Without dragging the rest of us down with you. At least wait until we are back at the palace. If you still feel this strongly about her, then you can come back on your own. When no one else’s head will roll but yours."

And with that, the general walked away, leaving behind not just his second-in-command, but the last fragile strand of trust between them.

------

From the shadows beyond the tents, Zhu Lianhua listened.

He wasn’t supposed to be there. But then again, Zhu Lianhua never followed rules when they didn’t suit him.

His expression was blank as he stood between the flap of his private tent and the crooked tree just beyond the camp border, listening to his brother and the Demon Lord argue like fools over a woman.

A cursed woman. A weapon. A monster dressed in silk.

"They’re going to let her go," he muttered under his breath, his eyes flashing with fury. That thought made his stomach churn.

They were going to walk away.

They were going to lie to the Emperor and pretend that the weapon was destroyed. They were going to pretend they had done their duty and move on with their lives while he was still bleeding inside every time he saw his reflection.

His fingers twitched.

The scars on his face pulsed with memory—the cage she had built for him, the rusted iron biting into his skin, the birds feasting on his flesh, the helpless screams while she watched from somewhere above.

’She did this to me.’

And they wanted to leave her?

No. No, he couldn’t allow it.

But he also wasn’t stupid.

She was dangerous, even the Demon Lord admitted it. She killed without remorse, without effort. She would rip through soldiers like parchment if they stepped out of line. Which meant...

He would never step out of line.

Not personally.

He slipped back into his tent, eyes dark, lips pursed as he lit a single candle on his writing table. He waited.

A shadow moved near the flap.

"Enter," he commanded softly.

One of his own shadow guards, a gift from his father, stepped in, saluted, then lowered his head. "My Prince," he said, his voice little more than a note on the wind.

"I need a local," Zhu Lianhua said calmly, running a finger along the golden edge of his fan. "A child. Preferably one who knows the mountain well. Quiet, compliant, someone who won’t be missed for an hour or two."

The guard didn’t so much as move.

"Do it quietly. No blood, no fuss."

"Yes, my Prince."

"And when you find them," Zhu Lianhua continued, standing slowly and adjusting the silk drape of his outer robe, "put a knife to their throat. Tell them that they’re going to guide you to the Witch’s cabin."

The guard nodded again, his face hidden in the darkness. But it didn’t matter what he thought. Shadow guards were only good for one thing; only trained for one thing. Obey the order, or they might as well kill themselves before their owner does.

"One more thing." Zhu Lianhua’s voice dropped to a near-whisper. "You are not to enter the house unless you’re certain the wolf is gone. I don’t care if she’s asleep or bathing or humming a lullaby. If that animal is in the room, you fall back. Understood?"

"Yes, Sire."

Zhu Lianhua’s smile curled like rotted fruit.

"When you’re sure, hit her with a dart. Quiet. Clean. Make sure she doesn’t even have time to scream."

He turned, brushing his hand over the mirror resting in the corner. His ruined reflection stared back at him.

"She built the cage that ruined me," he murmured. "Now it’s my turn."

His voice turned venomous as he continued. "She’ll come to court broken. Humiliated. A freak among nobles. Everyone will laugh. She’ll stand out like a sore thumb, stinking of dirt and poverty. And once they’ve stripped her of pride, name, and place..."

He snapped the fan shut.

"...I’ll strip her of breath."

The guard left without a word.

And Zhu Lianhua sat in silence, waiting, smiling.