In the dark of night, Zong Shen stood atop the highest tower of the Lord's Fortress.
His gaze swept over his territory, where the lights grew steadily sparser, and reached into the darkness farther east.
That was the heart of the Falling Star Hills, and the direction of Blue Creek Forest Great City.
But before he led his army east to deal with that autonomous city, there was another matter he needed to settle.
It was an old affair that had been shelved for so long it had almost slipped off his list of reminders.
The night wind was a little cold, carrying the chill of the approaching change of seasons and gently stirring the black hair over his forehead.
He rested both hands on the cold stone railing of the tower, a look of recollection crossing his face.
The information relayed by the strategy module had already made the situation in Blue Creek Forest clear enough.
To Zong Shen, that city was like a perfectly cooked steak, waiting only for his knife and fork.
Yet along the road to Blue Creek Forest.
Or rather, on the flank of his broader eastward campaign.
There lurked a less conspicuous "old friend" whom Zong Shen had known about for a long time.
That was Ogg Borkaiser Valeria.
The name slowly surfaced in his mind.
It carried the distinct air of a long-unsettled debt.
He closed his eyes, no longer looking at the night before him, and let his memories intertwine with the clues he knew as he reviewed them.
He was like a seasoned hunter mentally sorting through every record of a cunning quarry.
Zong Shen's first impression of him had come from the tranquil lake southeast of his territory.
By now, that place had long since been encompassed by his territory's