Arriving back at the camp site, I hurriedly went to change my clothes before Lau awoke. By the time I was finish changing, Lau stirred to the land of the living groggily.

"Man, what a nice nap." He drooled. "I dreamt of beautiful women all around me and wanting to bear my children.

I rolled my eyes at his less than flattering behavior.

"Get up. You should focus more on war than on women or else you won't have a head to approach the women with once this is all over."

Lau snorted, "Yeah, thanks for that."

We both strapped our armor on and headed out. Once outside the tent I noticed a commotion going on amongst the soldiers.

Honing in, I heard some of their conversations.

"Did you hear the news?" One soldier asked another.

"No, what is it?" He replied.

"Something went down last night while we were sleeping. Apparently not too far from us, there was a fight on the battlefield. There are some weird looking corpse laying there."

"What?!" Exclaimed a different soldier. "You jest."

"No, I'm not. Heard it from one of the outlookers. The bodies were found by none other than one of the higher up commanders. They are freaking out because they have never seen anything like this before."

"Well what are we suppose to do then?"

"Who knows, the commanders might be convening to discuss the situation soon."

Low and behold, that was exactly what happened. A messenger was dispatched to me immediately to meet with the commander in chief of the whole army along with the other lesser commanders.

"What is going on!" Demanded the commander in chief, Ka Suo. "What the hell happened out there last night?"

None of the officers could respond as even they did not know what happened - only I did. The problem was explaining to them what happened would be like exposing my secret, but they needed to know what they were up against. Casualties on our side would be catastrophic if we are not careful, plus I had a feeling that Buwei would plan something else heinous to throw at me.

"Someone give me answer, damn it!" Ka Suo bellowed, slamming his fist on the table and rattling the pawns of the strategy table.

Other commanders inched back slowly at the amount of force and frustration displayed by the chief.

"Clearly the enemy had sent assassins in the night to eradicate our forces." I stepped forward.

"Captain Liu, at least one of you monkeys have a brain to give an explanation." The commander in chief scoffed at the other present commanders. "Well, you seem to know a lot, why don't you tell us what happened out there, hm? Tell me, how the did those bastards almost penetrated out camp site? Better yet, give me some explanation as to how their corpse is like nothing that I've seen in all my years of service! What kind of witch craft was out there?!"

Each sentence that the commander spat out became louder and louder, driving back the other commanders further into a corner. From my peripheral, some were even trying to sneakily slip out and away from the overwhelming fear they felt emitting from the chief.

"Honorable general, I would have no inkling as to how the enemies' corpses became what you see. Should we really be focusing on how those corpses ended up like that? We should be thankful that the enemy soldiers got what they deserved for trying to infiltrate our forces and did not reach the camps." I calmly said reasoning with the chief.

Taking a heavy breath, the commander in chief leaned his hands on the table. He took a while to let the words sink in.

"You are right, Captain Liu. I am indeed thankful to the heavens nothing happened to the camps, but I cannot shake the feeling that something sinister is just beyond us. Those corpses........they did not look natural."

"Agreed." I bowed. "General, forgive me for not disclosing the information that I am about to share, but at the time, I believed that it was necessary to keep in silent."

The commander in chief and others looked at me with perplexed expressions. I decided that it was crucial to disclose the information I obtained from the enemy soldier. I did not want to lose more men than we already had and risking some exposure might be the difference between winning and losing this war.

With a wave of the commander in chief's hand I explained my findings.

"I was up early enough to find the site. I came across one of those enemy soldiers that was still alive but hanging by a thread. I was able to interrogate him for information."

"What?!" Bellowed one of the commanders to my left. "You had this information and you didn't think to disclose it to us! This is insubordination! You should be stripped of your Captain's title, get out!"

"If you want to strip me of my title, I doubt that would make any difference. Without the information, you will surely perish one way or another." I narrowed my eyes. "Not only that, you think my men would care, they will still follow me. Strip me of my title or kicking me out, you will have a gap in your defenses. They will refuse to fight without me. My unit is one of the best and most seasoned amongst this whole army."

The commander's eye twitched. "You trying to defy me, boy? I am superior to you!"

"No, I would never defy you, commander. I only state the facts." I said cheekily.

"Why you insolent - "

"Cease this immediately!" Ka Suo shouted. "Captain Liu, I am deeply disappointed with your act to hide information, but I understand your position. As for you," He pointed at the other commander. "You might be superior to Captain Liu, but remember who your superior is."

The commander bowed hastily for his outburst, but not before giving me a dirty look.

"Now, Liu, continue your findings."

"As you wish. I found the identity of the one responsible for the sneak attack, his name is Cheng Buwei. Not only that, but something else even more disturbing. He is the monster we seek to kill. He is creating monstrosities of his own to use against us. We indefinitely will lose this war if he is able to create enough monsters and dispose of us easily."

The somber and shocked looks on the commanders faces was evident as to how real a threat Buwei was to our side.

"My gods...." Ka Suo whispered. "Then, how are we to win this war? We are only mortals."

"General, there must be a way." Lau said by my side, optimistically.

"What possible way is there?" Ka Suo questioned.

"There is a way." I spoke up. "In order for Buwei to utilize his creations, it would have to be in the dead of night. He would not dare to show his work during daylight; he would want to draw more fear and delight from night attacks creating panic and psychological unrest on our soldiers. Killing us inside out. That would be in his nature."

"Then what do you suggest?" An older commander pondered.

I smirked. "I have already sent a messenger to Song Qian for help on that. As for us, we will continue to fight like we always have. If we are able to disrupt Buwei's schemes, he will show personally to the battlefield, and there we will kill him and end this war."

Around the convening meeting, the commanders nodded approvingly one by one. All except the commander in chief.

He turned to me dubiously. "You are sure this vague plan of yours will work?"

I bowed, "I am just as unsure as you are, however, I must put my faith and confidence in it to win. Furthermore, I can assure you