There was a weight to it as he got dressed, heavier than the armor itself, but he felt lighter than he had in over a decade.

The Lin Shu of his distant past could dress this way, all martial cuts and youthful invincibility, but the Mei Changsu of his more recent years couldn't dream of it, wrapped up in the warm layers of an ill man.

To dress for war now felt like clothing himself in his past self and stripping himself bare all at once. He knew better now than to think himself invincible--he'd been dying for nearly half of his life--but he didn't need to be invincible this time. He only needed what he'd needed since he first came into Lin Chen's care: to live long enough to accomplish what he'd set out to do.