The forest was silent, but not a peaceful silence. It was a tense silence, the silence that precedes a storm, where every rustle of leaves sounded like footsteps and every sigh of wind carried a whisper of menace. In the shadow of the cold concrete walls of the armory, Hu Yanzhen crouched, his muscles tensed like steel wire. His breath formed thin clouds in the cold night air, but he held it in, unwilling to make the slightest sound. His eyes were fixed on the figure crouching just twenty meters away.
Gao Ming—or Kojima, as Hu Yanzhen now called him in his mind—worked with terrifying efficiency. He did not look like a nervous cadet. He moved with the calmness of a craftsman doing his job. The small hand drill in his hand whirred almost silently, its sharp tip patiently gnawing away at the metal around the steel door lock. Beside him lay a set of sleek lockpicking tools that glinted faintly in the moonlight that filtered through the clouds. Every movement had a purpose, every action was calculated. It was a scene so out of place in a military academy, yet so sure of its deadly skill.
Hu Yanzhen knew he could not wait any longer. Every second that passed was a second closer to Kojima breaking through the final defenses, to entering the bowels of the academy where the real weapons and explosives were stored. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air that tasted like ice. He raised his hand, then let out a low, sharp whistle—the call of a night bird, their agreed-upon signal.
It was the spark that ignited the explosion.
From three different directions, shadows shot out of the darkness. Hu Yanzhen shot forward, his pistol drawn, while his three most trusted men moved to block all escape routes.
"STAND AWAY! DON'T MOVE!" Hu Yanzhen shouted, his hoarse voice piercing the silence of the night like a cannon shot.
Kojima's reaction was a testament to his true training. There was no panic. No hesitation. In the split second that the scream echoed, he dropped his gear, spun with the agility of a panther, and darted toward the darkest gap in the trees. He did not try to fight; he tried to disappear.
But Hu Yanzhen had anticipated this. He and one of his men had positioned themselves to cut off the path. The fight was inevitable, taking place on a patch of wet, slippery ground beneath the armory wall. It was not an elegant fight. It was a brutal, desperate clash.
Kojima did not fight like a cadet. He fought to kill. He used his elbows, his knees, and his hardened fingertips to attack weak spots—throats, eyes, groins. He pulled out a small knife hidden in his boot, its dark blade glinting as he swung it toward Hu Yanzhen.
Hu Yanzhen managed to dodge, but the tip of the knife cut through the sleeve of his uniform, leaving a searing hot scratch on his bicep. The pain only focused his anger. This was no longer about the mission; This was getting very personal. This was the man who had tried to kill He Xiang.
The fight was a blur of movement—whining in pain, the sound of bodies hitting the ground, and gasps for breath. One of Hu Yanzhen's men collapsed with a groan after taking a hard kick to the ribs. But there were too many of them. Hu Yanzhen, ignoring his bleeding arm, managed to swat Kojima's knife-wielding hand away and land a hard blow to his jaw. Kojima's head snapped back, and that was when two other soldiers lunged at him, knocking him to the ground and finally subduing him after a fierce struggle.
As Kojima lay on the ground, his chest heaving violently, his eyes burning with pure hatred, silence fell again. Hu Yanzhen stood over him, his breathing labored as well, blood dripping from his arm and soaking the cold ground.
The light of a lantern cut through the darkness. Lee Junshan and He Xiang arrived, their faces tight with anxiety after receiving Hu Yanzhen's emergency radio message. They stopped when they saw the scene: the captured Kojima, Hu Yanzhen's injured men, and Hu Yanzhen himself standing with his gun still in his hand, covered in blood.
He Xiang's eyes immediately fell on Hu Yanzhen's injured arm. All protocol, all strategic thinking, vanished from her mind. "Yanzhen!" she cried, rushing to his side, her always-carrying first aid kit in hand.
"It's nothing," Hu Yanzhen grumbled, trying to brush it off. Her eyes were still glued to Kojima, as if afraid he would disappear if she looked away.
"Shut up!" He Xiang replied with unyielding firmness. She pushed him down onto a tree stump and unceremoniously ripped off the already torn sleeve of his uniform. The cut was deeper than it looked, a long cut that was still bleeding. "You could have lost your arm."
As she began to clean the wound with antiseptic, the stinging made Hu Yanzhen wince. But then, she did something unexpected. She reached out with her uninjured hand and gripped He Xiang's arm gently but firmly.
"He's after you, Xiang Xiang," she whispered, her voice hoarse and filled with an emotion she rarely showed. His eyes were not on his own wounds, but on He Xiang's face with a burning intensity. "From the beginning. That rope… that sabotage… it was all for you. I will make him confess, I promise you that."
In that moment, He Xiang understood. His explosive anger, his recklessness in battle, even his refusal to be treated—none of it was out of arrogance. It was a manifestation of his overwhelming fear of losing He Xiang. His own pain was nothing compared to the danger He Xiang had faced. It was a confession of love, spoken in the only language he knew: the language of desperate protection.
He Xiang's face softened. Her hands that were cleaning the wounds became gentler. "I know," she whispered back. "I know, Yanzhen. But now, let me take care of you."
For a moment, the world around them disappeared. There were only the two of them in the flickering light of the lantern, surrounded by the dark forest. Hu Yanzhen finally let her shoulders relax, surrendering herself to his care. Lee Junshan, who stood a few paces away, watched the moment in silence. His face betrayed nothing, but in his eyes was a complicated mix of respect for their bond and a hidden sadness because he knew he could never be a part of it. He could offer strategy and emotional support, but he could not offer the raw connection born of blood and battle like the one that had just happened.
A search of Kojima's bag confirmed their worst fears. Inside, in addition to the sabotage equipment, they found several small packages of powerful improvised explosives and a sophisticated long-range radio communication device—not the kind used in training exercises. Its purpose was clear: to blow up the weapons depot and cripple the academy.
Lee Junshan immediately took over. "Stop the Trial of Fire," he ordered over the radio to command. "All units, return to barracks immediately. Repeat, training is over. This is no longer a simulation."
The order sent shockwaves through the academy. The cadets, previously immersed in their fake war, were suddenly pulled back to the horrific reality. When they returned to the main compound, they saw a disconcerting sight: Kojima Ryohei, alias Gao Ming, was being led away with his hands tied, flanked by wounded soldiers. Behind them walked their three instructors, their faces as hard as granite. Colonel Ji Jin, who had met them at the gate, was as pale as a ghost as Lee Junshan coldly showed him the evidence he had found.
The interrogation took place in a damp, empty basement, usually used for storage. There was only one table and four chairs. The atmosphere was suffocating. Kojima sat with his hands cuffed to the chair, his gaze cold and hateful, refusing to speak.
Hu Yanzhen, whose arm had been neatly bandaged by He Xiang, slammed the table hard. "TALK, YOU BASTARD! OR I'LL MAKE YOU TALK MY OWN WAY!"
"Yanzhen, calm down," He Xiang said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked at Kojima, his voice calm and logical. "Your mission failed. You were caught red-handed. Protecting your superiors will do you no good now. They'll leave you here to rot."
Kojima merely smirked mockingly.
Finally, Lee Junshan, who had been silently observing, stepped forward. He did not threaten. He did not cajole. He sat across from Kojima and stared at him calmly.
"Kojima-san," he said in fluent Japanese, surprising everyone in the room. "You are a soldier of the Empire. I respect your loyalty.
But let us speak as soldiers. You have failed. You were captured by those you despise. Your superiors, who sent you here, are now safe in their warm quarters, probably drinking sake, while you face death for treason in a foreign land."
He paused, letting the words sink in. "Is that bushido? Being abandoned by your commander after a failed mission? Your honor will not be saved by your silence. Your silence will only ensure that your failure becomes a shameful footnote in a report. But if you speak… if you tell us about your network… at least your death will have meaning. You will be the waves that crash against your enemy's ship, even in defeat."
The psychological interrogation continued for hours. Lee Junshan used everything he knew—about honor, failure, and abandonment—to break down Kojima's defenses. Finally, under the relentless pressure, Kojima began to crack.
He never mentioned Oda's name, but he confessed everything. She was an undercover Kempeitai agent, part of a network tasked with infiltrating the academy, gathering intelligence on military reform, and at the right moment, carrying out a major act of sabotage to cripple China's ability to produce modern officers.
"And Lieutenant He?" Lee Junshan asked, his voice sharp.
Kojima's eyes turned to He Xiang with pure hatred. "That was my initiative," he hissed. "She is the most dangerous. Not because of her skills, but because of her ideas. A woman who can inspire respect as a soldier… that idea is more destructive than ten divisions. He must be eliminated."
The confession made the blood in He Xiang's veins run cold. This was no longer politics or strategy; this was an ideological war waged against him personally.
Kojima's arrest had shaken the Eternal Flame Academy to its foundations. The mask had been removed, and the face beneath was more terrifying than they had imagined. They had won a great battle, drawing out one of the enemy's most dangerous agents.
But as they walked out of the stuffy interrogation room into the gray dawn light, the victory was bittersweet. They knew that Kojima was just one pawn. Oda's network was much larger. And this arrest was like throwing a rock into a hornet's nest. The other snakes within the academy now knew they were being hunted. They would either hide deeper, or strike more recklessly.
The Trial of Fire was over. The real war had only just begun.
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*****to be continued chapter 22