Border Movement

It was a long and snowy day in the far north ruled by the White Tower. The north wind blew snow particles into the air, which fell on the door curtains of the barracks, covered the soldiers' hats, and swept across the desolate fields in the distance.

Several vague figures appeared in the snow, gradually approaching from a distance and becoming clearer. Leading them was a young sentry, alert and sharp, his right hand at his waist, always holding his gun tightly.

Walking behind the sentry was his guide, who seemed older and had a cold and serious face.

A young man who was neither a guide nor a sentry was walking beside that man. He was nonchalant and stretched out his hand to grab the neck of the sentry in front, but was ruthlessly opened.

Leading the way was Pei Zhi, who looked gloomy. A black mask covered the lower half of his face, revealing a pair of sharp and cold eyes.

He stood at a suitable distance from the other three members of the team. His combat uniform was stained with snow, and the emblem of the expeditionary force was clearly visible.

"Are you back?" The soldier standing guard at the camp gate saluted and smiled and nodded to the sentry walking in front.

"I'm back! Everything went well!" Fang Suiming returned the greeting, a smile spreading across his lips. "When will your shift start?"

"Two more hours, I'm freezing to death." The soldier half-rolled up the door curtain, "Go in quickly, it's so cold outside."

Fang Suiming didn't lead the way. His military boots paused on the threshold, and he suddenly turned around, politely letting Shen Jiayi go first. However, the latter glanced at him indifferently, ignored the palm he offered, and strode into the room on his own.

The young man who had just tried to hold him back chuckled and patted his face with the back of his hand: "Are you having a fight? My sister-in-law is really cruel. She ignores me when she says she will. Our team has worked so hard."

"...Don't talk nonsense!" Fang Suiming lowered his voice and warned fiercely, his ears reddening slightly. His eyes drifted unnaturally towards Shen Jiayi's slender and beautiful figure who had already walked to the bar. "This is nothing..."

Pei Zhi stood expressionless at the barracks door, head bowed, brushing off the snow. A sentry couldn't easily read other people's emotions like a guide, but he still saw a mixture of bored shyness and love on Fang Suiming's young, eager, and ambitious face.

"Excuse me."

He passed by a young man who was trying to come up with a few more witty remarks to tease the young and infatuated Fang Suiming, and perhaps bumped into him, perhaps a bit hard.

Dou Yun immediately gave up his seat and whispered with some disgust: "Tsk, what bad luck..."

Pei Zhi stopped where he was and took a deep breath. He suddenly turned around and glanced at him with a cold gaze: "What did you say?"

"...You heard wrong, it's nothing." The crazy sentry did not restrain his raging mental power at all. Dou Yun swayed twice before being steady by Fang Suiming, and his words were evasive.

"You'd better." Pei Zhi said coldly.

He ignored the suddenly frozen atmosphere in the center of the barracks and turned to leave. Only after he left did the dense conversation begin to resurface, like a pot of porridge that had been simmered to a pulp.

Fang Suiming looked thoughtfully in the direction where Pei Zhi left for a while, then he turned around nimbly and snatched the cigarette that Shen Jiayi had already brought to his lips.

Pei Zhi returned to the single dormitory on the second floor of the barracks with a grim face, slammed the door shut, leaned against the door panel, and lowered his head as if exhausted.

Looking out from the dormitory, you can see a vast expanse of white snow. When it blows into your collar, it feels like an ice blade, but when you look at it from a safe position, it feels beautiful and soft.

The beautiful snow caused the wounds on his body, which had not yet healed, to let out cries of pain, which penetrated into his bones.

Almost half a month had passed since Pei Zhi returned to the border base. He was fulfilling his duties as usual, carrying out missions along the border with his comrades, striking at any enemy that might invade at any time—just as he had promised when he was chosen by the White Tower.

——I will be loyal to the White Tower and the military.

I give my youth and blood, I give my soul.

Pei Zhi, who was several years younger, said this, his eyes as gloomy and cautious as ever, but his heart was beating fast, as if he was holding a very hot fire.

-

The next day was still the usual duty day. When Pei Zhi was sitting on the bed cleaning his gun, someone knocked on the dormitory door.

"Come in."

It was Fang Suiming, who was already dressed neatly. The door was half open and he was standing by the door with an expression as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Team Fang, what's the matter?" Pei Zhi didn't look up.

"Early this morning, the White Tower sent a document to the camp regarding the sentries currently serving without assigned guides." Fang Suiming emphasized, "You are the first one."

Pei Zhi glanced at him sideways, then lowered his head to clean his gun: "And then?"

"Your safety level is assessed to be very low, and your mental state is unstable." Fang Suiming tried to keep his tone calm. "You need a guide."

Pei Zhi no longer answered, but just wiped the gun carefully, but his mental strength was stirring, as if ready to attack at any time.

"Pei Zhi, why are you so resistant to pairing up with the guide?" Fang Suiming's expression gradually turned ugly. "Is it because of my brother? But you'd better give up. He's already with Yue Changji..."

"Is it related to him?"

Before Fang Suiming finished speaking, Pei Zhi dropped his gun and stood up, his chest heaving violently, his eyes filled with unconcealed hatred: "Get out!"

Fang Suiming staggered when he was pushed by him, and the dormitory door slammed in front of him with a loud noise.

"...He's really crazy."

He took a few steps back to move out of the sentry's mental pressure range, shook his head and walked away quickly.

The duty mission was originally a quiet patrol day after day. The team walked on the fields, leaving behind a few silent footprints, which were soon covered by heavy snow.

Bored, Dou Yun went to provoke Fang Suiming, who was in a particularly low mood today, and said with a teasing smile: "What's wrong with Captain Fang? Don't bring your personal emotions to work!"

"Can you please shut up?" Fang Suiming lowered his voice, but he was nervously watching Shen Jiayi's every move. The latter looked up at the sky coldly and did not respond to her boyfriend's infatuation.

Pei Zhi only felt pain all over his body, and the snow water seeped into his combat uniform, making him icy cold.

"What's wrong? You've been in a daze." Fang Suiming freed his hand to pull Shen Jiayi's arm, his tone a little flattering, "It's just routine duty today, don't be so nervous."

"When it comes to Teacher Shen, he's like, 'Don't be so nervous,' and when it comes to me, he's like, 'Can you please shut up?' The team is really going too far." Dou Yun shrugged. "Hurry up, we'll go back after patrolling this area. We're freezing to death."

Shen Jiayi pursed his lips and finally said the first words to Sui Ming after so many days of the cold war: "I feel something is wrong."

"What's wrong?" Fang Suiming immediately became nervous and rubbed Shen Jiayi's elbow in circles with his palm.

The first lesson in sentry combat is to trust your guide's judgment of the enemy, especially the guide you're paired with, though they clearly haven't reached that stage yet. Fang Suiming waited cautiously for Shen Jiayi's response.

"...I can't say, forget it." Shen Jiayi closed his eyes and felt it for a while, then opened them again, "Let's go back quickly."

The four of them were silent for a moment, then quickened their pace.

Fang Suiming wasn't the only one who trusted Shen Jiayi. Shen Jiayi was an excellent guide, a standout even among the powerful expeditionary forces, perceptive and cooperative, a combination of talent and hard work.

Therefore, when the sudden tremor spread across the silent snowfield, no one was very surprised.

"Everyone, pay attention to your positions!" Fang Suiming quickly transmitted the location information to the camp, then raised his dagger in full readiness. Shen Jiayi stood beside him, holding his breath and concentrating on sensing the enemy's overwhelming mental power.

Pei Zhi's eyes grew colder, and Dou Yun was also somewhat bewildered. They couldn't sense the enemy's location, so they could only wait for Shen Jiayi to report the location.

"Five o'clock direction, two kilometers." Shen Jiayi's voice was clear and firm, squeezing into everyone's mind, "One kilometer..."

The change occurred at that moment.

It was not the expected five o'clock direction, nor did it even come from the snowfield. A surging mental force suddenly jumped up from the ground and rushed straight between Fang Suiming and Shen Jiayi, almost piercing Dou Yun through!

"Ah!" Dou Yun screamed, his body unsteady, and he almost fell straight into the ravine carved by the spirit. Pei Zhi quickly scooped him up and threw him to a safe place behind him, then seriously lowered his center of gravity and gripped the gun.

"Back off!" he shouted angrily at Fang Suiming and Shen Jiayi.

What they hadn't noticed was that they weren't walking on a snowy plain, but a rift valley that had been frozen for years. Beneath the ice and snow lay a large hollow, and Dou Yun nearly fell into it!

Fang Suiming dodged the attack, his face dark as he stared at the extremely wide crack. His mental power completely vanished after this, without any more fluctuations. "What is that..."

"The enemy's dark sentinel, right? That's too scary!" Dou Yun, who was lying on the ground, was still in shock.

Pei Zhi squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "...Go back first."

"No! The fluctuations have disappeared, but we must find out the source and the specific situation!" Fang Suiming frowned, "I have never encountered such a combat method before. I must bring first-hand information back to the camp!"

"Even if you want to die, at least don't drag others into this!" Pei Zhi grabbed Fang Suiming's collar and gritted his teeth, "It's very dangerous here, we must leave immediately, otherwise..."

"careful!"

Shen Jiayi suddenly sensed something and lunged forward, knocking Fang Suiming, who was being held captive by Pei Zhi, away. The latter was caught off guard and rolled several times on the ground. His terrifying mental power was still hidden beneath the ice, and after a short pause, he struck again, heading straight for—

It wasn't where Fang Suiming had stood before, or where Pei Zhi was standing now, but where Shen Jiayi was! The guide's sensitive mental tentacles had clearly extended and spread, sensing the pervasive mental pressure, but his knees gave way, and he fell directly into the deep chasm it had created!

"Shen Jiayi!"

Fang Suiming was the first to react, stumbling to the edge of the scar-like ravine and about to jump in. Pei Zhi grabbed him and said fiercely, "He asked for it!"

If Shen Jiayi had not rushed over and knocked Fang Suiming away, he would not have fallen into the enemy's trap. The desert environment is unstable and rescue is extremely dangerous. Moreover, he did not report the location when he sensed the crisis. If the attack really happened there, the one who would fall would be Pei Zhi without a guide.

"Pei Zhi, let me go!" Fang Suiming's eyes were bloodshot as he struggled to break free from Pei Zhi's grip. Every word he spoke was filled with hatred. "If he dies here today, I guarantee that your fate will be a million times worse than his!"

Without hesitation, Fang Suiming jumped into the layers of ice. The hollow canyon contained his desperate shouts and roars: "Shen Jiayi!"

"What are you still standing there for?" Pei Zhi panted, glaring at Dou Yun who had finally stumbled to his feet. "Where are the reinforcements? Where are the reinforcements Fang Suiming called for? Where the hell are they?"