Initial training in military camp

The cold stars, like nails, were firmly wedged into the azure sky. A north wind swept across the Longxi Plateau, carrying the roughness of gravel that lashed at his face like a knife. The official road stretched in the gloom like a lifeless python, and only this silent cavalry was the sole living thing in this desolate wasteland. The horses' hooves pounded the frozen earth, producing a dull, monotonous sound, like the drumbeats of a funeral procession, striking Xiao Yuxuan's empty chest. He lay sprawled on the cold saddle, his stomach aching from the leather, each jolt pulling at his very bones, a reminder of the utter darkness behind him—his blood-soaked homeland, the execution ground where his father's head was severed, and his mother's final, desperate screams.

The cold, scraping sound of armor plates rubbing against each other was right beside his ears, the distinctive metallic stench mingling with the smells of leather and sweat, filling his nostrils. He tried to struggle, but the rough hemp ropes binding his hands and feet immediately dug into his flesh, bringing a burning pain. The escorting cavalry paid no heed; only their iron-like hands pressed firmly against his back, their strength undeniable, like fate itself.

"Son of a traitor," "spy"... the general's icy words echoed in the cold wind. Xiao Yuxuan's eyes were tightly shut, a heavy, metallic taste filling his mouth—blood from biting his lip. Hatred, like a poisonous vine, grew wildly in his heart, coiling around his crushed soul. The coarse linen talisman in his arms clung to his chest; the blood from his mother's fingertips had long since congealed, but the crooked character for "peace" felt like a red-hot iron, searing his very soul. Peace? In this cannibalistic world, where was there even an inch of safe haven?

After an unknown amount of time, the jolt finally stopped. A more intense and complex stench swept over us, replacing the desolate atmosphere of the wilderness. It was the stench of sweat, the smoke of burning cheap grease, the stench of animal dung, and a heavy smell of metal and leather mixed with rust and blood. Thousands of odors mingled together, forming a vast, oppressive, suffocating torrent—the unique smell of a military camp, the pungent odor emitted by the working war machine.

He was roughly pulled off his horse and stumbled, falling onto the cold, hard ground. His vision was still blurry, but the scene before him was already shocking enough.

The massive camp stretched as far as the eye could see, like a colossal steel beast lurking in the darkness. The densely packed tents were its rough scales, spreading along the undulating terrain, billowing slightly in the cold wind. Countless campfires dotted the landscape, their flickering, dim light barely piercing the thick night, illuminating the silhouettes of figures and the gleam of weapons. The figures moved about, but there was little noise, only the low, indistinct commands, heavy footsteps, the occasional clang of metal, and the distant, broken shouts of training, torn apart by the wind. An invisible, steely sense of discipline, like an icy tide, pressed in from all directions, making it hard to breathe.

"Go!" The escorting soldier shoved him hard on the back.

He was shoved and jostled along the muddy path between the tents, his feet sinking deep into the mud. The icy water soaked through his tattered straw sandals, numbing his toes. Everywhere he looked, countless eyes stared. The soldiers leaning against the tents and huddled around the fires were mostly expressionless, their eyes revealing the numbness and weariness etched by years of warfare. They wore worn ochre robes over simple leather armor, their hair haphazardly tied back with strips of cloth or straw rope, their faces etched with deep lines, weathered and indifferent. Occasionally, a few glances swept over Xiao Yuxuan, the newly arrived, ragged "spy," with scrutiny, curiosity, and mostly, a cold indifference.

He was led to the edge of a huge, log-enclosed drill ground deep within the camp. Here, the lights were slightly brighter, and the air seemed even more stagnant. Dozens of boys, some around his age, others even younger, stood in a crooked line, their faces pale and thin, their eyes filled with the fear and bewilderment of someone newly arrived. Most of them wore tattered hemp clothing, shivering in the biting wind.

A burly, towering military officer, hands clasped behind his back, paced slowly before the ranks like a predator surveying its territory. He wore superior black leather armor, and a heavy bronze halberd, its tip bound with menacing bronze bands, hung from his waist. His face was dark, a dark red scar running diagonally from his brow to the corner of his mouth, making his already fierce features even more grotesque. His gaze, sharp as a steel blade, swept over the newly arrived "talented soldiers" (in the Qin system, referring to outstanding potential soldiers), devoid of any warmth.

"Cai Shi Camp, Squad Leader Tu Sui!" A military officer who appeared to be a deputy shouted out the name sharply, his voice particularly jarring in the cold night.

Tu Sui stopped, his hawk-like eyes slowly sweeping across Xiao Yuxuan's face. His gaze lingered for a moment on the remaining blood and the undying hatred in Xiao Yuxuan's eyes, before a cruel smile twisted his lips. He took a deep breath, his chest heaving, and then a thunderous roar erupted, making everyone's eardrums ring:

"Cai Shi Camp! Listen up!" The voice was rough, like sand rubbing together. "This is a military camp! Not your warm doghouse! Once you enter this wooden fence, you are the swords of Qin! The spears of Qin! Your lives, your souls, belong to Qin! To military law!"

He suddenly drew his halberd from his waist. The heavy bronze weapon felt as light as a feather in his hand. It brought up a gust of wind and slammed hard into a hitching post as thick as a bowl next to him!

"Crack!" A teeth-grinding, crisp sound rang out! The sturdy wooden stake snapped in two, sending splinters flying everywhere!

"See that?!" Tu Sui grinned maliciously, holding up his jagged, broken halberd. "Military law! This is my halberd! If it says it'll break, it will break! If it says it'll kill, it will kill! The entire unit is held accountable; if one person breaks the law, the whole unit is guilty! Dare to slack off? Dare to back down? Dare to grumble? I'll use this to crush your bones inch by inch! Do you understand?!"

“I…I understand…” came the sparse, trembling reply.

"Didn't you eat?! Or did your eggs get frozen?!" Tu Sui's roar instantly rose, like thunder rolling across the training ground, "Shout it out for me! Did you understand?!"

"I understand!" The boys, intimidated by the fierce aura, shouted with all their might, their voices trembling with tears.

"Hmph!" Tu Sui snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over Xiao Yuxuan again like a cold iron brush. "You! That spy! What's your name?"

Xiao Yuxuan straightened his back, meeting those violent eyes, his lips pressed tightly together, saying nothing. The blood talisman in his arms was burning hot.

"Are you mute?!" Tu Sui strode up to him, casting a huge shadow that reeked of sweat and exuded a sense of oppression. His rough, sandpaper-like fingers slammed into Xiao Yuxuan's chest with such force that Xiao Yuxuan groaned and staggered backward.

"The corporal is asking you a question!" the deputy beside him shouted sternly.

Xiao Yuxuan felt a burning pain in his chest where he had been stabbed, and humiliation and anger surged through his veins like magma. He stared intently at Tu Sui's scarred face, his teeth clenched, and a low, guttural sound escaped his throat.

"Ha, still a tough nut to crack?" Tu Sui's grin widened, a savage excitement flashing in his eyes. "Once you're in the Talented Soldiers Camp, you'd better be a dragon and a tiger! I specialize in dealing with all kinds of tough guys!" He abruptly turned and roared at his deputy, "Take him out for a 'warm-up'! Let him understand that here, tough bones die fast!"

Two fierce soldiers immediately pounced on him, grabbing Xiao Yuxuan's arms on either side and dragging him without a word to a huge, deep pit in the corner of the training ground. The bottom of the pit was filled with mud mixed with ice shards, emitting a pungent, fishy stench.

"Get down!" A sharp shout rang out, and Xiao Yuxuan was shoved violently down. The icy mud instantly submerged his thighs, the biting cold feeling like countless steel needles piercing his bone marrow, causing him to tremble violently and his teeth to chatter uncontrollably. The mud was sticky and slippery, making it almost impossible for him to stand.

"Run, you bastard!" Tu Sui's voice, like a death knell, echoed from the edge of the pit. "If you dare stop without my orders, I'll break your legs!"

Xiao Yuxuan gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, and with all his might, lifted his leg through the cold mud and took a step forward. Each step was incredibly heavy; the sticky mud dragged his legs along relentlessly, each pull feeling like it was tearing his flesh apart. The icy mud quickly drained his body heat, his body going from stinging pain to numbness, as if it no longer belonged to him. His lungs felt like broken bellows, each breath carrying a heavy stench of blood and a chilling pain.

He walked mechanically, his vision beginning to blur. Tu Sui's grinning face on the edge of the pit, and the faces of the new recruits around him, some numb, some with a hint of pity, all distorted and swayed. Only the word "An" on his chest, through his soaked hemp clothing, still radiated a faint yet stubborn heat, like his mother's last gaze, nailed firmly to his consciousness.

Run! Survive! Remember your father's blood! Remember the word "peace"!

He had run countless laps, his legs long since numb, sustained only by instinct and the undying fire of hatred in his chest. Just as his consciousness was about to completely fade and his body was about to involuntarily fall forward, his foot slipped!

Thump!

He fell heavily forward, the cold mud instantly filling his mouth and nose, overwhelming him with a strong stench and a feeling of suffocation. He struggled to lift his head, but his arms were too weak to obey him. The cold mud water entered his trachea, triggering violent coughing and vomiting, leaving him in a wretched state.

"Useless!" Tu Sui's roar and the soldiers' laughter pierced the eardrums like ice picks.

A large foot wearing a heavy leather boot kicked him hard in the lower back, and the excruciating pain made him curl up.

"Drag him out!"

Xiao Yuxuan was dragged out of the mud pit like a lump of mud and thrown onto the cold, rammed earth. His whole body was covered in black and yellow filthy mud. He coughed violently, and every breath brought pain to his whole body. His vision blurred.

"Do you know where this is?" Tu Sui's leather boots stomped on the ground beside him, looking down at him with a cruel satisfaction in his voice.

Xiao Yuxuan lay on the ground, panting heavily, his throat filled with the metallic taste of mud. He didn't answer, but with his last ounce of strength, he clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, using the pain to maintain his final conscious state. The blood talisman in his arms, even through the cold mud, stubbornly radiated a faint warmth.

"Throw him to the new training camp!" Tu Sui lost interest and waved his hand impatiently. "Tomorrow at the first quarter of Mao hour, roll call at the drill ground! If you're even a fraction late, the entire camp will be punished! Get out!"

Supported by two new recruits, he stumbled towards the tent assigned to them. The tent was low and dilapidated, reeking of mildew and sweat. Seven or eight people were already crammed inside, all as disheveled as him, shivering and curled up on the cold straw mat. No one spoke, only suppressed breathing and the occasional uncontrollable sob.

A boy who looked even thinner and smaller than Xiao Yuxuan approached and handed over a dark, hard, rock-like bran cake, whispering, "Here...here you go...My name is Sheng Guo, I'm also from Longxi...from the next village..."

Xiao Yuxuan raised his head and, by the faint firelight filtering through the tent, saw Sheng Guo's face clearly. It was the face of a typical farm boy, with prominent cheekbones, a sallow complexion, and cracked lips. Only his large eyes were filled with a sense of shared suffering and a hint of cautious kindness.

Xiao Yuxuan didn't take the cake, but stared intently into Sheng Guo's eyes, which reflected his own disheveled state—his face covered in mud, his hair matted together, and his eyes empty yet burning with a cold flame.

"You...you really dared to do that just now..." Sheng Guo's voice lowered, trembling with lingering fear, "That's Corporal Tu Sui...people could die..."

Xiao Yuxuan remained silent. He reached out, not to take the cake, but to grab Sheng Guo's wrist as she handed him the cake. The force was so great that Sheng Guo cried out in pain, and the cake fell to the ground.

"Remember!" Xiao Yuxuan's voice was hoarse and dry, like sandpaper rubbing against each other. Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a cold hatred and an almost obsessive determination. "Here... if your bones are soft, you'll die even faster!" He released his hand, no longer looking at Sheng Guo's terrified eyes, but just groping for the spot on his chest, feeling the burning hot mark through the wet and cold mud clothes.

Live on. Live like a wolf.

The darkness before dawn is the coldest, and the camp is deathly silent. Suddenly, a shrill bamboo whistle rips through the silence, like a ghostly howl, instantly piercing the ears of every sleeping creature.

"Waaah—waaah—"

Immediately following was Tu Sui's thunderous roar, which resounded throughout the entire military camp: "Roll call! All squads assemble! If you fail to assemble within ten breaths, you will be punished collectively! Twenty lashes!"

Like cold water poured onto boiling oil, the deathly silence of the camp instantly erupted! Terrified screams, frantic collisions, the clatter of clothes being put on haphazardly, and cries of pain from someone's foot being stepped on mingled together. Xiao Yuxuan sprang from the cold straw mat almost the instant the whistle blew. The aches and pains throughout his body momentarily slowed his movements, but he gritted his teeth and, relying on the instincts ingrained in his bones from the previous night, quickly donned the equally cold, musty-smelling ochre-colored robe. Beside him, Sheng Guo trembled with fear, unable to properly tie the straw rope around her waist.

"Quick!" Xiao Yuxuan roared, grabbed Sheng Guo's straw rope, tied a knot haphazardly, and dragged him out of the tent.

The biting wind, like icy blades, instantly pierced through their thin clothes. Dozens of torches had already been lit on the drill ground, their flickering light illuminating the ashen faces of Tu Sui and his officers, making them look like demons in a temple. Many new recruits, disheveled, scrambled and stumbled towards the assembly point.

"Stand at attention! Line up!" The officer's whip cracked like a venomous snake, striking the backs of the slower recruits with a sharp "crack" sound. It left a bloody welt and a shrill scream.

Xiao Yuxuan, pulling Sheng Guo along, desperately squeezed into the chaotic crowd. He forced himself to straighten his spine, his gaze fixed on Tu Sui's towering figure ahead, using all his strength to fight against the trembling in his body and the biting cold. The blood talisman on his chest, amidst the chaos and oppression, was like an inextinguishable spark.

The chaos lasted for a good quarter of an hour before the ranks were finally formed into a few crooked lines. Tu Sui stood with his hands behind his back, his hawk-like gaze slowly sweeping across the ranks, and every recruit whose gaze fell upon him instinctively shrank back.

"Hmph, a bunch of useless trash!" He spat, his voice icy. "First lesson of the day—'Stand'!"

"Stand up straight! Heads to the sky! Feet firmly on the ground! Backs straight! Eyes looking straight ahead! Like nails! Nailed to the ground!" Tu Sui roared, personally demonstrating a standard Qin soldier's standing posture. He stood motionless like an iron statue, an invisible aura of menace emanating from him.

"Stand!" The command fell like a hammer blow.

The boys hurriedly imitated, straightening their chests and raising their heads. However, how could these untrained farm boys easily master the posture of someone who had been through countless battles? Many had crooked shoulders, hunched backs, and trembling legs.

"You! Your back is broken!" Tu Sui strode up to a young man and mercilessly plunged the hilt of his spear into his lower back. The young man screamed in pain and doubled over.

"Useless!" Shu Bing slammed heavily into his calf, and the boy fell to his knees with a thud.

"And you! What are you doing with your legs shaking?! Don't you have any bones?!" The whip lashed out at another recruit's leg.

The entire drill ground had been transformed into an execution ground. Shouts, whippings, screams, and suppressed sobs rose and fell. A faint smell of blood permeated the cold air.

Xiao Yuxuan gritted his teeth, mustering every muscle to fight the aches and shivers from the cold. He forced himself to lift his head, his gaze passing over Tu Sui's fierce figure and landing on the towering watchtower at the edge of the distant camp. On the watchtower, the sentry's figure was just a blurry silhouette in the dim morning light. He imagined himself as that wooden stake driven into the earth, unmoved by wind and rain. The blood talisman in his arms was the only source of heat keeping him from collapsing.

Time slowly slipped by in agonizing agony. Sweat mixed with the mud left over from the previous night slid down his forehead, stinging his eyes. His legs were numb and devoid of feeling, held together only by sheer willpower. Beside him, Sheng Guo swayed violently, his teeth chattering, clearly on the verge of collapse.

"Stand firm!" Xiao Yuxuan squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, his voice low and hoarse yet carrying an undeniable power. He subtly nudged Sheng Guo with his shoulder.

Sheng Guo trembled, as if startled awake by this tiny support. She took a deep breath and straightened up a little more.

Tu Sui moved through the ranks like a ghost, his sharp gaze sweeping over the posture of each person. When he reached Xiao Yuxuan, he paused slightly. The boy who had dared to stand up to him the night before was now standing unusually straight. Although his face was pale, his lips cracked, and sweat mixed with mud etched deep lines on his face, his back was as straight as a javelin, his eyes fixed on the distant watchtower. There was no fear in his eyes, only an almost burning focus and an icy, extreme…stubbornness? Even in the depths of that stubbornness, Tu Sui caught a glimmer of predator's light that even Xiao Yuxuan himself hadn't noticed.

Tu Sui's scarred face twitched slightly, and he let out a cold snort that was hard to decipher. He didn't crack his whip or shout; he simply paused for a moment, then walked on to inspect the next unfortunate victim.

Just as Xiao Yuxuan felt his will was about to be crushed by his body's limits, Tu Sui's roar, like a pardon, finally rang out:

"Stop! Rest here for a moment! Anyone who dares to sit down, I'll break their legs!"

The taut string suddenly released, and a chorus of heavy, relieved breaths and suppressed groans filled the ranks. Many collapsed, only to be jolted back to their feet by the officers' whips. Xiao Yuxuan also felt a wave of dizziness, but he stubbornly held on, breathing heavily and greedily inhaling the cold air. He looked at Sheng Guo, who was also looking at him, both their eyes filled with the relief of surviving a close call and a barely perceptible reliance on each other.

The rest period was fleeting, passing in the blink of an eye. Tu Sui's roar boomed again: "Next lesson—'Go!'"

"Listen to the drums! Watch the flags! Hear the gongs!" Tu Sui's voice boomed like a bell. "Drums advance! Gongs retreat! Whichever direction the flags point, that's where the army's advance will be! Anyone who takes a single step out of line will be considered to have disrupted the formation! They will be killed without mercy!"

Heavy war drums resounded on one side of the training ground. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The sound was deep and powerful, like the heartbeat of the earth, carrying a rhythm that made one's blood boil and one's heart tremble with fear.

"Advance!" Tu Sui pointed his command flag forward.

Urged on by the drumbeats, the procession began to move forward. Their footsteps were chaotic and disorderly, like a scattered flock of sheep. Some moved fast, some slow, and the formation instantly twisted and distorted.

"Stop!" The piercing sound of the gong rang out.

The line came to another chaotic halt.

"You can't tell the difference between fast and slow! You don't care about the beginning or the end! You're a bunch of headless flies!" Tu Sui's roar and the officers' whips came down again.

"Boom boom boom!" The drumbeats resumed.

"Enter!"

"Zheng!" The piercing sound of the gong rang out.

"stop!"

This repetitive, monotonous routine, yet it contained the ironclad rules of life and death on the battlefield. Each drumbeat, each gong strike, was like a whip lashing at the nerves. Amidst the whip's flick and the shouts, the boys stumbled and staggered, drenched in sweat, struggling to keep up with the cold rhythm. Xiao Yuxuan forced himself to concentrate all his energy, temporarily suppressing all fear, hatred, and physical exhaustion. His ears focused solely on the drumbeats and gongs, his eyes fixed on the backs of his comrades ahead, striving to adjust his pace.

Chaos was decreasing, and numb obedience was increasing. The entire drill ground was filled only with heavy footsteps, labored breathing, monotonous drumming and gonging, and the merciless shouts of military officers.

As the sun rose higher, it dispelled some of the chill, but brought with it a different kind of torture—scorching heat. Sweat soaked through my thin coat, clinging to my body. At noon, I finally endured a short rest and lunch.

The so-called meal consisted of nothing more than a thin millet porridge, so thin it reflected one's image, with a few unrecognizable wild vegetable leaves floating in it, emitting a faint sour smell. It also included a piece of hard, dark brown bran cake, exactly the same as the one Sheng Guo had given him the night before.

The hungry boys sat huddled on the dusty ground, wolfing down their food. Sheng Guo carefully broke open her hard biscuit, offering half to Xiao Yuxuan.

"Here... eat more..." Sheng Guo said softly, her eyes filled with gratitude, clearly still remembering Xiao Yuxuan's silent support that morning.

Xiao Yuxuan glanced at him, didn't refuse, took the half-eaten pancake, and chewed it vigorously with the cold, thin porridge. The pancake was as rough as gravel, scraping against his throat, but he swallowed it expressionlessly, as if absorbing some kind of power. Most of the surrounding boys were silent, with only the sounds of chewing and swallowing, occasionally someone choking on the pancake and coughing painfully. The exhaustion and the brief satisfaction brought by the food made the atmosphere slightly more relaxed.

Xiao Yuxuan's gaze swept past the numb or pained faces before him, landing in the distance. On the other side of the training ground, a series of resounding, heavy shouts echoed. There, the elite troops were training. Under the sunlight, spears and halberds stood like a forest, armor gleamed, and massive shields advanced and parried in perfect unison with each command, their movements possessing a cold rhythm and overwhelming power. Each strike of shields, each thrust of spears and halberds, produced a dull thud, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly. A more intense, palpable aura of battle, belonging to a true fighting force, swept over them, sending chills down their spines.

The new recruits at the training camp were involuntarily drawn to the scene, their eyes filled with longing, awe, and a hint of barely perceptible fear.

"What are you looking at!" Tu Sui's roar was like a whip cracking through the air. "You bunch of cowards, you think you can be elite soldiers? First, get your marching in step! This afternoon we'll practice 'halberd'! All of you better get your spirits up!"

The brief rest was over. The afternoon's "Ge" (a type of ancient Chinese martial arts) training was the beginning of another nightmare.

The heavy bronze halberds were distributed to everyone. The halberd heads were cold, and the wooden handles were rough and heavy. Tu Sui personally demonstrated the most basic "striking" and "hooking" movements.

"Watch closely! Thrust! Be fast! Be accurate! Like a viper spitting its tongue! Hook! Be ruthless! Be steady! Like an eagle catching a rabbit! Power comes from your feet! Use your waist as the axis! Use your shoulders and arms to generate power!" His movements were swift and fierce, with a whooshing sound as the spearhead drew a cold arc in the sunlight.

However, when these heavy weapons fell into the hands of boys who had never handled weapons before, the scene immediately became a mess. Their movements became distorted, their steps faltered, and the heavy bronze halberd heads were completely out of their control. Some were spun around by the halberd handles, some nearly hit their own feet with the force they exerted, and others dropped the heavy bronze halberds, which crashed to the ground with a dull thud.

"Useless trash! You can't even hold a fire poker properly!" Tu Sui's roar and the officers' whips became the only accompaniment. Cries of pain and wails echoed across the drill ground. During the practice of "bayonet fighting," all sorts of things went wrong. People were frequently struck by the out-of-control spearheads of their comrades, their skin torn open and blood flowing freely.

Xiao Yuxuan gripped the cold halberd tightly in both hands, the rough wood chafing his hands raw and painful. He tried to recall Tu Sui's movements, gathering all his strength. Each swing felt like his arm muscles were being torn apart. Sweat streamed down his forehead and temples, stinging his eyes. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to ignore the pain, focusing all his energy on the cold glint of the halberd's tip. He imagined the magistrate standing before him, the village head who had ordered the arrows, the Tu Sui who had stepped on his father's blood! Each thrust carried a silent roar; each hook was imbued with a deep-seated hatred!

The bronze halberd gradually became easier to control in his hands. Although his movements were still clumsy, there was less panic and more of a ruthless awkwardness. The heavy halberd head tore through the air, emitting a low, whistling sound. He ignored the soreness in his arm, ignored the blood seeping from his hand, his eyes fixed only on the invisible enemy.

"Hmph!" A cold snort sounded from the side.

Xiao Yuxuan abruptly stopped his movement and turned to look. Tu Sui was standing next to him at some point, squinting at him. His gaze was still cold, as if he were examining a piece of stubborn iron, but Xiao Yuxuan keenly noticed that beneath that coldness, there seemed to be a very faint, almost scrutinizing glint, like a blacksmith weighing a rough piece of unforged material that contained hidden hardness.

"He does have some brute strength." Tu Sui's voice was not loud, but it had a rough, gritty quality. "Unfortunately, he only has brute strength but doesn't know any techniques. On the battlefield, he'll just be throwing his life away!" He raised his hand, and his rough, tree-bark-like fingers, with immense force, stabbed Xiao Yuxuan's stiff, almost rigid back.

A sharp, piercing pain instantly shot through Xiao Yuxuan's back. He groaned, his body staggering forward uncontrollably, almost falling. The bronze halberd in his hand nearly slipped from his grasp.

"Waist! The waist is alive! It's an axis! Not a dead piece of wood!" Tu Sui shouted sternly, his voice like thunder. "Power originates from the ground, flows through the waist, and emanates from the arms! Do you understand?! Again!"

The excruciating pain instantly covered Xiao Yuxuan's forehead in cold sweat, but he gritted his teeth and swallowed back the cry of pain that welled up in his mouth. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax the muscles in his back that were overly tense due to hatred, and swung his halberd again following Tu Sui's rough instructions. This time, the power seemed to flow more smoothly; the twisting of his waist and hips propelled his arm, and the trajectory of the halberd tip seemed slightly sharper.

Tu Sui didn't speak again, only giving him a cold, unreadable look. He then turned and walked towards his next target, his roar ringing out again: "You! Your hands are as soft as a woman's! Didn't you eat?!"

The setting sun, like a gaping, bleeding wound, slowly sank below the brownish-brown ridgeline of Longxi. On the vast drill ground, dust had not yet settled. The day's training had finally ended, and Tu Sui's voice, sharp as a steel blade scraping bone, rang out one last time:

"Training is over for today! Tomorrow at the first quarter of Mao hour (5:00 AM), roll call at the drill ground! Anyone late will be whipped twenty times! Anyone who slacks off will be whipped twenty times! Anyone who disobeys orders will be beheaded! Dismissed!"

The order to disband was like a pardon; the boys, tense all day, instantly collapsed, letting out groans of relief. Xiao Yuxuan, leaning on his heavy bronze halberd, breathed heavily, every bone and muscle in his body groaning under the strain. His sweat had long since dried, leaving only streaks of grayish-white salt on his face and neck. His hands were cracked at the base of his thumbs, blood mixed with dirt, sticking to the rough shaft of the halberd.

He dragged his leaden legs, taking one step at a time, towards the camp. Sheng Guo followed beside him, her face as pale as paper, her steps unsteady.

“Brother Xiao…” Sheng Guo’s voice was choked with sobs and utter exhaustion, “I…I can’t hold on anymore…This…this is no place for a human being…I miss my mother…”

Xiao Yuxuan didn't turn around, but squeezed out a few words from his cracked lips. His voice was hoarse like a broken gong, but it carried a cold, undeniable power: "If you can't hold on... then die." He paused, his gaze falling on the distant, twilight-shrouded camps and the scorched-brown mountains beyond, as if piercing through the cold military camp to see his blood-stained homeland. "Dying here... is no different from dying in Longxi."

Sheng Guo was speechless at these cold words. Looking at Xiao Yuxuan's straight yet slightly trembling back, leaning on his spear, her lips trembled, but she ultimately said nothing more, simply following silently. In the afterglow of the setting sun, his figure stretched long, like a battered but unbreakable spear, deeply embedded in the frozen earth of the military camp, soaked with blood and sweat, and soon to devour even more flesh and blood.