Frontier beacon fires
The north wind, sharp as a knife, whipped sand and gravel against my face, stealing away the last vestiges of warmth. In late autumn on the Longxi Plateau, the vegetation had long since withered, leaving only a landscape of bleak yellow and burnt brown. The massive camp, like a hibernating beast, slowly awoke, restless, amidst days of low bugle calls and the clanging of metal.
"strike camp--!"
"Move out—!"
The piercing sound of bamboo whistles and the rough shouts of military officers tore through the morning mist. The camp of the supply corps instantly erupted in chaos. The clatter of dismantling tents, the shouts of binding supplies, the crack of whips striking pack animals, and the clanging of weapons and armor merged into a heavy, oppressive torrent. Dust, churned up by countless hurried feet, filled the cold air, carrying with it the stench of rust and animal dung.
Xiao Yuxuan silently followed the flow of people, numbly carrying out orders. He dismantled the musty-smelling tent, rolled up and tied the cold straw mat, and shouldered the rough grain sacks allocated to his squad—containing hard, rock-hard bran cakes and several sacks of millet covered in grit. The heavy burden weighed on his shoulders, each step sinking deep into the muddy ground trampled by men and horses. Beside him, Sheng Guo was pale, panting, his thin body almost unable to straighten under the weight of the grain sacks.
"Hurry! Keep up! Anyone who falls behind will be whipped twenty times!" The squad leader's rude shouts rang in my ears.
There were no farewells, no superfluous words. Propelled by the deep, rumbling war drums, the entire Qin army, like a giant, slow but resolute steel centipede, began to writhe northwest. The Cai Shi camp was caught in the middle of this massive column, surrounded by an endless stream of ochre-colored men and the backs of pack animals. Countless pairs of mud-caked straw sandals, leather boots, and horse hooves trampled this equally ravaged land, leaving behind a trail of devastation and profound marks.
The sun gradually rose higher, dispelling the thin mist, but revealing the harshness of the march. The heavy burden felt like shackles, each step consuming immense physical strength. Sweat quickly soaked through their thin robes, clinging to their bodies, and the biting wind chilled them to the bone. The path beneath their feet grew increasingly rugged, gradually transitioning from muddy plains to hilly terrain. Exposed rocks resembled the fangs of a giant beast, and withered shrubs stretched out menacingly, tugging at the hems of their clothing. The wind grew stronger and colder, whipping up sand and dust that seeped in everywhere, stinging their eyes, filling their mouths and noses, making even breathing a harsh, painful experience.
"Water...water..." Sheng Guo's voice was hoarse and dry, and her lips were cracked and bleeding.
Xiao Yuxuan licked his equally chapped lips, his throat bobbing as if on fire. His water pouch was already empty. People in the group collapsed from dehydration or exhaustion, immediately drawing shouts and whippings from the officers, and were roughly dragged to the roadside to await the treatment of the rescue team. Pleas and groans were drowned out by heavy footsteps and the snorting of the pack animals.
Xiao Yuxuan forced himself not to look at the fallen figures, his gaze fixed on the backs of his companions ahead. He adjusted his breathing, channeling every bit of pain into the strength to keep going. Each heavy breath, each step he took out of the mud, aggravated the soreness left from yesterday's training. The coarse linen talisman in his arms clung to his chest; its faint warmth felt precious in the cold wind, like a mother's silent gaze, supporting his numb legs.
As the sun set, the group finally stopped and set up camp in a sheltered valley. Hunger and exhaustion overwhelmed them instantly. The boys collapsed onto the cold ground, too weary to even move a finger. The food distributed was still cold, hard flatbread and murky, cold water. Xiao Yuxuan and Sheng Guo sat back to back, tearing at the unpalatable flatbread with cold water, like two wolves gnawing on bones in a desperate situation.
The night was as deep as ink. A cold wind howled outside the tents, like the wailing of ghosts. The monotonous sound of the night watchman's clapper echoed throughout the camp. His utterly exhausted body should have been fast asleep, but Xiao Yuxuan lay on the cold straw mat, unusually awake. Images of the day's march churned in his mind: the endless, silent, and oppressive torrent; the dead pack animals and groaning soldiers by the roadside; the bare, blood-red mountain outlines on the distant horizon… all of this pointed to a chilling truth—they were marching step by step towards the real battlefield, towards that legendary, all-consuming millstone of flesh called "war."
A strange shiver, a mixture of fear and excitement, crept up his spine. He instinctively clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. The blood-stained talisman in his arms seemed to throb slightly in the silent night.
This march lasted for a full ten days.
The terrain grew increasingly desolate. The flat valleys vanished, replaced by rolling, sparsely vegetated, yellowish-brown hills. The sky became unusually high and distant, a cold, greyish-blue. The air was drier and more biting, each breath carrying the gritty texture of sand. Dead grass roots howled in the wind, and occasionally, badly weathered bones lay half-buried in the sand, the remains of humans or animals unreadable, silently testifying to the cruelty of this land.
An invisible, ever-increasing pressure weighed on everyone's hearts, almost tangible. The clamor in the ranks vanished completely, leaving only heavy footsteps, labored breathing, and the snorting of the pack animals. The recruits of the Cai Shi Camp, their faces now showing a numb weariness, replaced by youthful innocence and fear, stared blankly at the endless road ahead. Even Tu Sui's signature roars had diminished considerably; he and his officers' eyes had become sharper and more wary, like hyenas that had caught the scent of blood, frequently gazing at the distant horizon.
On the evening of the eleventh day, the group climbed a long, gentle slope. When Xiao Yuxuan reached the top with the flow of people, the sight before him made his breath catch in his throat.
Ahead, the earth seemed cleaved open by a giant axe, suddenly sinking down. A wide, turbid, and swiftly flowing river, like a giant, earthen-yellow python, roared and surged through the deep valley. On the opposite bank lay an even more vast and desolate landscape—an endless expanse of earthen-yellow Gobi Desert stretching to the gray horizon as far as the eye could see. Sparsely scattered across the Gobi were low, gray, and dilapidated mounds, like giant graves—the ruins of beacon towers eroded by wind and sand for thousands of years. Further away, the outline of a black, undulating mountain range, like a scar on the earth, could be vaguely seen, silently stretching across the horizon.
A vast and fortified encampment, like a steel jungle of thorns, was firmly planted on the slope overlooking the roaring river. Black tents, densely packed and layered, stretched across the terrain, almost completely obscuring the view. Countless dark banners fluttered wildly in the biting north wind, the menacing black bird patterns on their surfaces appearing and disappearing in the twilight, exuding an iron-blooded majesty. The encampment was surrounded by deep trenches and sharpened wooden palisades, the palisades walls manned by sentries clad in black leather armor, armed with powerful bows and crossbows. Their figures, frozen in the twilight, scanned the desolate Gobi Desert across the river with vigilance.
A suffocatingly strong stench assaulted the senses. It was the combined stench of thousands of soldiers: sweat, body odor, the smoke from burning cheap grease, the stench of animal excrement, mingled with the smells of rust, leather, dust, and a faint, almost imperceptible, lingering scent of blood. This was the unique, foul current emanating from the frontier barracks, the result of countless lives forcibly crushed and ground by the war machine. A hundred times stronger, a thousand times heavier than that of the military camp!
Drums and horns resounded! Commands echoed, carrying the undeniable urgency and chilling intensity of the battlefield. Armored soldiers moved swiftly through the tents, their ranks impeccable, their eyes cold, their steps heavy and unified, exuding a seasoned indifference and killing intent. Ox-carts carrying supplies trudged laboriously along narrow passages, the drivers' shouts rough and impatient. In the distance, from the drill ground, muffled impacts and synchronized battle cries resounded—real elite soldiers were conducting battle drills, each shield strike and spear thrust carrying an overwhelming force, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly.
A chilling, oppressive, and icy atmosphere! Like molten iron, it instantly seeped into the souls of every new recruit. The ranks of the recruit training battalion fell into a deathly silence; even breathing became cautious. Sheng Guo gripped Xiao Yuxuan's arm tightly, her fingers icy, her body trembling like a leaf in the wind.
"Look...look over there..." Sheng Guo's voice was filled with extreme fear, almost incoherent.
Xiao Yuxuan followed his trembling finger. On an open area near the riverbank on the outskirts of the camp, stood a dozen thick wooden stakes. On each stake was a person! No, to be precise, corpses stripped naked, their hands and feet pierced with large bronze nails, and nailed alive to the stakes! The corpses had long since turned black and shriveled from the wind and sun, like dried meat, their contorted postures a testament to the extreme pain of their impending death. Several black crows landed on the corpses, pecking at the rotting flesh, emitting chilling cawing. A pungent stench of decay wafted on the wind, making one want to vomit.
Were they spies? Deserters? Or captured enemy soldiers? No one explained. They stood there naked and cruelly, like the bloodiest warning signs, silently proclaiming the law of this land—death is the cheapest fate here.
Xiao Yuxuan felt a chill run from his feet to the top of his head, his stomach churning. He abruptly turned his head away, forcing himself not to look at the hellish scene. But the stench of corpses filling his nostrils and the cawing of crows in his ears clung to him like maggots, impossible to shake off. The blood talisman in his arms instantly turned icy cold.
The supply depot was situated on the outermost edge of the vast encampment, in a low-lying area near the riverbank. The tents here were more dilapidated and crowded, and the ground was even damper and muddier. The roar of the icy river echoed nearby, and the night wind, carrying moisture and a biting chill, penetrated every nook and cranny.
There was no time to rest. They had barely settled in when Tu Sui's roar, like a whirlwind from hell, once again engulfed them:
"Military Battalion! Assemble! Collect your equipment! Form units! Quickly!"
Torches lit up the drill ground. Heavy wooden crates were opened, and cold bronze weapons were distributed—no longer the blunt halberds used for training, but sharpened bronze spears and halberds gleaming with true killing intent! The halberd heads were long and sharp, and the spear tips gleamed coldly. Also distributed was a heavy, rough wooden shield covered with raw cowhide.
Holding this cold, heavy weapon, faintly reeking of blood, and feeling the rough texture of the shield, an unprecedented sense of realism gripped Xiao Yuxuan. The simulation on the training ground had finally transformed into a deadly weapon within reach, about to drink blood! He subconsciously tightened his grip on the shield, his knuckles turning white from the force. The old, raw wound on his hand was rubbed against the rough wooden handle, sending a sharp pain through him, but strangely, this pain brought a sliver of clarity.
"Listen!" Tu Sui stood in the torchlight, his scarred face appearing even more ferocious. His voice was like a biting wind sweeping across the Gobi Desert, icy and piercing. "You've got your weapons in your hands! From this moment on, you're no longer just kids practicing martial arts! You are soldiers of the Great Qin! Your lives, your souls, are tied to the tips of these spears! Across the river—" He pointed the spear sharply at the desolate Gobi Desert on the opposite bank, as if countless eyes were watching from the darkness, "...that's the enemy, the tiger and wolf!" "They want to rush over, cut off your heads, and hang them on their flagpoles! Want to live? Want to earn military merit? Want to bring glory to your ancestors? Then remember this! On the battlefield, your squads are your brothers! Your formation is your life! Drums forward! Retreat! Flags point! You'll charge through mountains of knives and seas of fire! Dare to retreat a step? Dare to lose your formation?" Tu Sui suddenly drew the bronze short sword from his waist, its blade gleaming coldly in the firelight, and slammed it down hard on a nearby wooden stake as thick as a bowl!
"Crack!" The wooden stake snapped in two!
"This is what happens! Do you understand?!"
"Understood!" the boys roared with all their might, their voices echoing along the empty riverbank, filled with fear and a primal excitement stirred by the bloodshed.
Xiao Yuxuan stood in the ranks, feeling the cold weight of the spear in his hand, listening to Tu Sui's blood-stained lecture, and looking at the dark Gobi Desert across the river, like a lurking behemoth. His heart pounded heavily in his chest like a war drum. Fear coiled around his heart like cold vines, but another, stronger, long-suppressed emotion grew wildly in the cracks of fear—a thirst for killing! A deep-seated hatred for those who had taken everything from him and cast him into this hell! This hatred, like magma, surged beneath the cold shell of fear, searching for an outlet to erupt.
"Waaaaaah!"
The piercing sound of the bugle suddenly tore through the deepest darkness before dawn!
It didn't just come from one place, but from all over the camp, especially from the watchtowers on the riverbank in front! The sound was sharp, urgent, and carried a terrifying feeling that made your scalp tingle, instantly drowning out the roar of the river!
"Enemy attack—!"
"Beacon tower! Look at the beacon tower!" A piercing scream echoed through the camp!
Xiao Yuxuan looked up abruptly, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand!
On the opposite bank of the river, deep in the desolate Gobi Desert, a single, blinding red light suddenly shone! Then came a second! A third! Like ignited hellfire, it rapidly connected along the outline of the black mountain range! Thick smoke billowed into the sky, forming menacing black columns against the grey backdrop! These were beacon towers! Several beacon towers simultaneously lit their urgent signals! The crimson flames twisted and leaped wildly in the gale, turning half the sky an ominous blood-red!
"Woo—!" In the center of the camp, the huge bronze horn, representing the highest level of alert, was blown at full force. The deep and powerful sound, like the roar of a dying beast, instantly drowned out all the noise and made the earth tremble!
"Enemy attack! All troops on high alert!"
"Up the stockade wall! Archers, take your positions!"
"Elite Battalion! Form ranks! Quickly!"
The entire massive camp erupted instantly, like a pot of cold water being thrown into boiling oil! Sharp bamboo whistles, the hoarse shouts of military officers at all levels, the clanging of armor and weapons as soldiers ran, and the terrified cries of pack animals... all merged into a huge and chaotic wave of sound, crashing against our eardrums like a tidal wave!
The recruit camp was also in complete chaos. The new recruits were like a flock of frightened sheep, bewildered and looking around in fear, pushing and shoving each other.
"What's the panic!" Tu Sui's thunderous roar instantly quelled the chaos. "Talented Warriors! Listen to my command! Form a circular formation! Shields on the outside! Spearmen on the inside! Now! Get moving! If you're even a second slower, I'll kill you first!"
Tu Sui and his officers were like raging beasts, whipping and wielding maces mercilessly upon the slow-witted recruits, their screams and shouts mingling together. Xiao Yuxuan was overwhelmed by chaos and fear; his heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst from his chest, and his hands and feet were ice-cold. He saw Sheng Guo, pale with fright, slump to the ground, only to be roughly dragged up by an officer and lashed hard with a whip.
"Form ranks! Form a circular formation!" Xiao Yuxuan bit his tongue sharply, the intense pain instantly waking him up! He roared, almost instinctively, honed by the whipping he'd received from Tu Sui the day before, as he braced himself against the heavy wooden shield, crouching low and pressing his shoulder firmly against the inside of the shield! At the same time, he yelled at the few relatively calmer boys around him, "Come closer! Stay close to me! Hold the shield! Quickly!"
His roar carried an undeniable madness and resolve, strangely generating a sense of cohesion amidst the chaos. Several boys nearby instinctively obeyed the roar, frantically pushing their shields together, bumping into each other and barely managing to squeeze into a crooked, flawed "circle." The spearmen were squeezed in the middle, their weapons trembling as they pointed at the chaotic crowd outside, like startled hedgehogs.
Tu Sui glanced at the barely formed formation on Xiao Yuxuan's side. Scarface's face remained expressionless as he continued to roar and drive away the other scattered recruits.
Just as this chaos reached its peak—
"Buzz—!"
A terrifying buzzing sound, like the simultaneous flapping of countless venomous bees, suddenly erupted from the darkness on the opposite bank of the river, illuminated by the glow of beacon fires!
Xiao Yuxuan felt a chill run from his tailbone straight to the top of his head! He suddenly looked up!
Under the dim sky, a dense swarm of black dots rose up from the depths of the blood-red Gobi Desert like a sudden swarm of dead locusts! With a shrill, tearing cry that ripped through the air, they pierced the darkness before dawn, crossed the rushing, turbid river, and swept down upon the Qin army camp, covering it from top to bottom!
Arrows! A deluge of enemy arrows!
"Raise your shield—!" Tu Sui's roar was sharper than ever before, but it was instantly drowned out by the terrifying shrieks of the arrows tearing through the air!
The shadow of death, like a cold, giant hand, crashed down!
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