Free Web NovelSouth of the Border, a small county town.
The gloomy sky was like moldy cotton, and the Great Wind carried fine snow, rustling down. The temperature in the mountains and forests was freezing, turning water into ice. In such weather, even the most experienced herb gatherers dared not go up the mountain.
But at this moment, a figure was moving through the dense forest, like a fish in water.
A red vine entangled on a tree was cut, and its dripping sap was collected into a bamboo tube.
“It’s so unusually cold this year; many places will have to prepare for sacrifices again.”
Huang Donglai tilted his head and drank a mouthful of vine sap, looking at the gray sky and exhaling a turbid breath.
He was the only ‘boy with a large head’ who survived the sacrifice in Wangshan Town.
His steady and cautious nature was not innate.
When he was young, his father died early, and he lived with his mother as an orphan and a widow in Wangshan Town. With no man in the house, and his mother unwilling to remarry, the family’s land was taken by the town chief.
Fortunately, this place was poor and desolate, and there were many barren lands in other people’s fields that many men were unwilling to cultivate.
His mother would go and cultivate the fringes of others’ land. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she would get a harvest before the owners claimed it back. Other times, the land was just leveled, and the seeds hadn’t even been sown before the original owner took it back.
His mother never argued with anyone; she just silently went to find new barren land.
This cycle repeated.
Huang Donglai was twelve years old; he was already an expert at gathering herbs in the mountains, more agile than a monkey, and had learned from his mother how to survive in the cracks.
Thus, this orphaned mother and son miraculously survived.
He once thought that life would continue like this forever.
But that day, the town chief came to their door with a large group of people. He was very scared because his mother had just planted sweet potatoes and promised to make him roasted sweet potatoes.
Unexpectedly, the villagers who had more or less visited their door because of land disputes were not fierce this time.
Each of them was smiling, bringing venison and new clothes, and even malt candy, which was only available in large cities.
But his mother’s face was as white as snow.
That night, he ate the candy and thought that the other children in the village were bragging; this candy wasn’t sweet at all.
The next morning, his mother put new clothes and new shoes on him, which he had never worn before, dressing him up beautifully.
Under the gaze of the other town chief and priests, his mother clutched his hand tightly, so tightly that it hurt, telling him to be obedient.
Huang Donglai was very scared; he had always been very obedient.
Then, he was sent up the mountain by a group of villagers, along with a girl his age. They marched with gongs and drums, and people kept comforting the two children, saying they were about to serve the Mountain God and live a good life, with malt candy to eat every day.
But malt candy clearly wasn’t tasty.
Just as he was thinking this, the lotus seat suddenly tumbled.
The world spun, and he fell into the forest.
He saw the person who had overturned the lotus seat with fear and trepidation: it was the strong woman who had cultivated countless barren lands.
The last sound Huang Donglai heard from his mother in this life was a desperate scream:
“Run! Never come back!!”
At that moment.
Accompanied by the sound of wind whistling past his ears.
No one could catch him anymore.
“Hoo...”
Huang Donglai let out a long breath, putting away his trance.
Dazing in the mountains is a very dangerous thing.....
Crack—
Suddenly, there was the sound of a branch breaking in the distance.
Huang Donglai quickly became alert, a porcelain bottle slipped from his palm, and at the same time, he took in the surrounding environment, instantly determining the best escape route, and even being able to leave a few simple traps along the way.....
“Cough, cough.....”
The coughing continued for a long time, becoming weaker and weaker.
A person?
Huang Donglai silently sensed the other party’s Qi and parted the leaves to look.
It was a middle-aged man. His ragged clothes barely showed the uniform of a military scout. The hundred-knotted rattan shoes on his feet were tattered, clearly having endured unimaginable long-distance travel.
There was a long, fatal wound on his abdomen. This person was almost at the end of his rope.
But upon noticing Huang Donglai, a glimmer of light burst from his eyes.
“Little brother.”
“Who are you?”
Huang Donglai did not approach.
“Qingmu City scout, I don’t have time, long story.....short.....”
The man’s dry lips moved, and he said hoarsely:
“The Disaster Beast and the remnants of the Shang Dynasty in the south are acting up. Only the Prince can resolve this. The military intelligence in my hand is extremely urgent.” frёeωebɳovel.com
“Little brother, if you are willing, please deliver this letter to Qingmu City.”
“If you don’t want to take the risk, then run quickly. If you delay, it will be too late.....”
Huang Donglai was silent and did not reply.
Because the person who called himself a scout ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ was already dead.
He was willing to believe this person, but his instinct told him not to get involved in such a big matter.
Qingmu City would bear the brunt and become the most tragic battlefield.
But after walking half a mile, the light that suddenly appeared in that person’s eyes as he lay in the cold wind resurfaced in his mind, just like the cold winter many years ago, when a woman knocked over several strong men and told him to run quickly.
He dreamed back to that day countless times, wanting to know if the outcome would have been different if he hadn’t run.
“May you rest in peace, don’t mind the meager burial.”
Huang Donglai turned back, took the lacquered envelope from the other’s hand, dug a pit, and was about to erect a tombstone when he realized he didn’t know the other’s name.
He then took off the other’s waist token:
'Lu Yi.'
Huang Donglai held the waist token, looking in the direction of Qingmu City, and murmured to himself.
“Mother.....this time, your child will not run away anymore.”
.......
At the same time.
Qingmu City.
Zhong Ling looked at the scattered army formation and Li Mo, who was still standing in the field, feeling a bit disheartened for a moment.
The Disaster Beast was even harder to deal with than she imagined. She had studied military formations since she was young, and now she could command tens of thousands of soldiers in battle and form formations with thousands of elite soldiers.
Do not underestimate this number. For ordinary people, let alone tens of thousands of soldiers, even a hundred people doing calisthenics perfectly in sync is not that easy.
She felt that the hundred people she commanded had already maximized the power of the Zhong Family’s military formation.
But when facing Li Mo, who had transformed into Qiong Qi, she still felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
“Uncle Qu, were there any shortcomings in my performance just now?”
“Hmm...”
Qu Sheng thought for a moment, his gaze involuntarily turning towards the young woman sitting calmly not far away, and he couldn’t help but ask:
“Martial arts and military formations have commonalities. Miss Ying’s martial arts attainment has been praised by Yantian Sect as extraordinary and reaching the sacred. Do you have any thoughts?”
“I do have some.”
Ying Bing put down her teacup, raised her eyes, and said:
“In terms of martial arts, Zhong Ling’s mastery of the Zhong Family’s military formation should have reached Minor Achievement.”
“I saw the four stances of wind, fire, mountain, and forest within the formation. Each stance, taken individually, is impeccable, yet they do not complement each other.”
“Brilliant!”
Qu Sheng raised his eyebrows slightly, clapped his hands in praise, and said to the generals beside him, “I told you to study military books diligently, but your attainments are not as good as these two young ladies.”
“Complement each other...”
Zhong Ling pondered, understanding the principle but not knowing how to implement it, so she could only look at Ying Bing blankly.
“You’ll know if we play a game of Go.”
Ying Bing took out a chessboard from the boy with a large head.
“Good!”
Go and military formation changes indeed have many similarities.
Zhong Ling sat opposite Ying Bing.
Thirty seconds later.
She was somewhat curious about Ying Bing’s playing style. As expected, Han Xianzi’s moves were extraordinary; the pieces went in a straight line. Was there some profound mystery in it?
She was about to place another piece.
“You lost.”
“Huh? Didn’t we just start?”
“But I already have five in a row.”
“Huh?”
