The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 742 A Performance to Comfort and Celebrate! If there really are gods in this world… (Seeking monthly votes at the end of the month)
Ah this...

It seems that is indeed the case...

Shen Le looked down at himself, then at Gu Yulin's heavy mountaineering suit, and then at the soldiers' different colors and styles of mountaineering gear, all of which offered considerable protection.

It seems that he was indeed dressed too lightly... Last time when he climbed the snow mountain, he at least wore a full set of mountaineering clothes, but this time he even came in sportswear.

There was no other way; having undergone a major advancement, he even suspected that he had already broken through the core and formed a nascent soul... Without deliberately channeling his energy, the surrounding environment would not harm him.

On the snow-capped mountain, the temperature was minus thirty or forty degrees Celsius. The gale-force winds of level seven or eight did not chill his face, and his hands did not tremble when he stretched them out. The oxygen content was only half that on the plains, but he did not feel any difficulty breathing.

As for how shocking this would seem to ordinary people, he couldn't quite grasp it at the moment...

"Uh, sorry, I forgot... You'll get used to it, you'll get used to it..."

He chuckled awkwardly, trying to brush it off and get through this quickly. Gu Yulin, standing nearby, rolled his eyes so hard they were practically pointing to the sky, while the other soldiers gradually calmed down.

The veteran squad leader, possessing exceptional mental fortitude, actually accepted this "early visit" after verifying Gu Yulin's credentials and conducting internal communication, and stepped forward:
"Thank you, Commander and... Comrade Shen Le, for coming to express our condolences!"

He raised his hand in salute. At the same moment, with a "snap," the patrol team standing at attention all stood at attention and gave a neat military salute.

His dark face, mostly hidden behind a cold-weather mask, still radiated a genuine smile. Shen Le looked at the mask covered in frost flowers, feeling a mix of emotions, and hurriedly returned the greeting:
"You're welcome! You're welcome! You're the ones who worked the hardest...you..."

He suddenly found himself unable to continue. The old squad leader lowered his arm and continued his report with the force of a roar, amidst the howling wind:

"We are the patrol team of XX outpost, carrying out a routine patrol mission! Shenxianwan outpost is 30 kilometers to our northwest as the crow flies!"

30 kilometers? That's not far, Shen Le thought casually. Then, he heard his next sentence:

"It will take two days to walk there!"

Two days? Shen Le glanced at the soldiers' calves, deeply embedded in the snow, and listened to their rapid breathing. He couldn't bring himself to ask, "Could you please find someone to lead the way?" He decisively changed his plans:

"Well then, since we've met, it's fate. How much patrol duty do you have left for today? I'll accompany you to the end, and we can go back to the outpost together. We can go to Fairy Bay tomorrow!"

The soldiers looked at each other. Through their masks covered in ice and snow, Shen Le could barely see their expressions, but he could sense their anticipation and hesitation.

The tasks of guarding and patrolling are extremely arduous. All year round, there are only a few dozen people, looking at each other. Even if there are two more people who can accompany them for a while, it would be enough for them to cherish for a whole year.

But... can they do it?
They came from the mountains, they're not border guards... What if something were to happen to them...?

After a moment of silence, the old squad leader forced himself to speak: "This... the road is difficult to travel, and the altitude is high. I'm afraid you two won't be able to handle it..."

"It's alright," Shen Le smiled. He lightly stomped his foot, his spiritual power stirring the heavens and earth, and a vast and mighty surge of primordial energy rushed in.

With just that pause, the howling wind around them suddenly ceased. Gu Yulin looked somewhat bewildered, patted his ears, then patted them again, and looked around:
"The wind... has died down?"

Not only did the wind subside, but the temperature also rose. When he jumped off the ship's side, the frigid temperature of minus thirty or forty degrees Celsius had made his hands and feet stiff, and his face felt like it was covered in paste, as if it could crack at any moment.

However, now he felt relaxed all over. Not only was he not cold, but his breathing was also much smoother, as if the oxygen content of the surrounding air had risen rapidly and returned to the level of flat ground.

Looking across at the other side, the thin layer of ice that had just solidified on the mask of the soldier closest to him was starting to melt...

"This...this is..."

The soldiers stamped their feet rapidly, gripping and unzipping their heavy winter gloves, their surprise evident behind their face shields. Shen Le smiled at them:
"A little trick to make everyone feel better. Oh, by the way, your faces are all wet, that must be uncomfortable... Get up!"

He reached out and made a "pull back" motion. A breeze swept by, and the frost that had accumulated on the military caps and face masks suddenly flew up.

Even the snow and ice that had seeped into the mask and frozen to it were pulled out, leaving all the fabric dry and warm. With each breath, the air that entered the nostrils was no longer as cold as a knife.

"call……"

More than one soldier let out a satisfied sigh. This sense of ease was something they used to only enjoy when they returned to their barracks after a day's patrol.

Unexpectedly, this time they actually got to relax a bit in the middle of the patrol, in the wilderness... Is this the strength of the comrades who came down from the mountain?

"Let's go, squad leader. Point me the way, I'll go first." Shen Le smiled and turned to face the direction the soldiers were heading. "Don't worry, I can keep up and won't delay your mission."

The old squad leader took a deep breath of the now warm and gentle air, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, nodded emphatically, and raised his voice:
"Thank you for your help, Comrade Shen Le! Attention, everyone! Right face—all together! Left face—turn! Forward!"

He quickened his pace, wanting to overtake Shen Le and lead the way. However, after only a few steps, he noticed a significant change in the path Shen Le had taken:
The thick, soft snow, which could sink up to your knees when you stepped on it, began to collapse rapidly. No, not collapse, but became extremely dense, clinging firmly to the unmelted ice layer on the mountaintop;
The lower layer of snow freezes quickly, while the upper layer, about a foot thick, remains soft, providing them with enough friction.

This way, you won't slip on the ice, and you won't have to pull your feet out of the snow with every step, wasting a lot of energy...

"I'm sorry, that's all I can do for you." Shen Le said as she walked, turning back to speak to them, her face full of regret.

"This can only help this once... the snow will just pile up again later..."

Once is good enough. Really, once is already really good enough. The old sergeant took a deep breath, suppressing the heat surging in his chest.

If there had been a path like this last time, Tiedan wouldn't have fallen off the cliff; if the time before that had been filled with such a gentle breeze, Zhang Shu wouldn't have developed emphysema and had to be rushed down the mountain... If only...

He listened to the more relaxed and even breathing of the soldiers behind him, looked back at their surprised and excited faces, and carefully slowed down the pace so that the column would not move too fast.

Shen Le appeared to be casually swinging his arms, walking as if strolling down a main street, but in reality, his spiritual energy was being widely disseminated. He was simultaneously connecting with the heavens and earth, mountains and rivers, and meticulously sensing the path ahead:
This path is extremely treacherous. In several sections, one side is a bottomless abyss, and the other side is a steep ice wall. The so-called "path" is just a pile of snow-covered rocks, and you can feel the rocks sliding beneath your feet just by stepping on it.

In some places, what appears to be wide and flat is actually a steep slope of 70 degrees. When the soldiers traversed this section, they had to use both their hands and feet, and even ice axes and crampons, to chisel their way forward step by step.

It takes one or two hours to climb up a mere few hundred meters...

Shen Le inhaled rapidly and exhaled slowly, then inhaled rapidly again and exhaled slowly again. With each inhale and exhale, the primordial energy of heaven and earth trembled, the earth rose, and the pile of rocks under the snow constantly deformed and merged together, forming a solid stone path.

Before the snow-covered, steep slope, Shen Le stopped and raised his hand in greeting:

"Old Gu, keep an eye on them. I can't look after them right now. Tell them to wait a bit and take care of themselves—"

He gestured with his hand, drawing a circle. The wind rustled for a moment, then fell silent again. The soldiers couldn't discern anything, but Gu Yulin could feel the air outside the circle becoming turbulent, gradually thinning around them.
Clearly, Shen Le has something that requires a lot of energy, and he can't focus on maintaining the wind ring for the time being. Therefore, he must take on this responsibility!
One by one, talismans were taken out of Gu Yulin's pocket. Some burned automatically, some glowed brightly, and some looked unchanged, but he simply stuffed them into the pockets of each warrior.

These talismans, retrieved from the Special Affairs Bureau and used to maintain combat effectiveness in dangerous situations, were used without hesitation to preserve the warm and tranquil wind circle. And ahead, an even more astonishing change was taking place:

Shen Le knelt on one knee, placing one hand on the ground. Head bowed in silence, he seemed to merge with the snow-capped mountain, yet a subtle but definite tremor rose from beneath his hand:
The ice and snow retreated. Not melting, not cracking, not rolling down in thousands of layers of snow, but gently yet firmly wriggling, parting to both sides;

Through the exposed gaps, a rough but sturdy stone staircase rises steadily upwards. The steps are not particularly wide, striking a balance between stability for climbing the slope and the height of each step.
Each step has ridges and anti-slip textures, some even in a wave shape, to maximize the anti-slip effect.

On both sides of the steps, there were even stone walls half a person's height, with openwork railings at the top for soldiers to grip firmly when going up and down...

"This this……"

The old sergeant was so astonished he could only utter a few single words. Behind him, a group of soldiers stared in disbelief, their jaws practically dropping into the snow. Shen Le stood up, turned around, and lightly clapped his hands, as if brushing away imaginary dust:
"Would you like to give it a try? I'm not sure if the width and height of these steps are easy to climb, I'm not an architecture professional..."

"What does this have to do with architecture?!" the old squad leader roared inwardly. He stepped past Shen Le, trudging through the snow. A thought suddenly flashed through Gu Yulin's mind, and he shouted:
"and many more!"

"Ok?"

"They're going to be walking this path all along, right? They can't always be under your protection, can they? They need to be in their normal state, not under the influence of magic!"

"Ah...oh." Shen Le looked at the old squad leader with some embarrassment and awkwardness. The old squad leader laughed and waved his hand vigorously:

"It's alright, it's alright! Mr. Shen, you've already helped us a lot by creating a step here! Please remove that... spell, we can walk on our own!" Shen Le, his face full of reluctance, had no choice but to wave away the spell that gathered energy, blocked the wind, and increased the temperature. The old squad leader shivered, straightened his chest, tightened his backpack, and strode off with effort:

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Wisps of white steam escaped from the cold-weather mask, quickly forming a thin layer of frost. Shen Le quickened his pace, following him to the top of the slope. The old sergeant, catching his breath, said in a low voice:

"The steps are still a bit too high, making it difficult to climb... They don't need to be that wide, just wide enough for one foot to step on... The edges of the steps should ideally be slightly raised to make it easier to scrape ice and snow..."

As he spoke, the steps beneath his feet indented, and by the time he finished, he had revised the plan to his liking. The old sergeant waved vigorously downwards, gesturing for the soldiers to climb up one by one, and asked them how they felt.
"Not bad!"

"not bad!"

"There are steps to climb and handrails to hold onto, making this section much easier to walk on!"

"Thank you so much, Mr. Shen! Thank you so much!"

They surrounded Shen Le, showering him with praise. Only Gu Yulin lagged behind, remaining silent for a long while before whispering:
"But...climbing these steps is still so tiring...couldn't they be made into a zigzag shape...?"

"Ah..."

Shen Le was completely dumbfounded. He lowered his head, craned his neck, staring blankly down for a long time, before slowly turning his head:

"Yeah... how come I didn't think of that... By the way, if it's made into a zigzag shape, how should the steps be designed?"

"I don't know either!" Gu Yulin spread his hands. "I'm not an architecture major either... Wait a minute, I'll ask around for you..."

Fortunately, there were satellite phones; fortunately, they had the Special Affairs Bureau behind them; and behind the Special Affairs Bureau was the omnipotent state. A group of people waited at the top of the steps for less than 20 minutes before receiving a simplified design plan:
The entire staircase spirals upwards in a zigzag pattern, with each step 16 centimeters high and 32 centimeters wide. A rest platform, 12 meters wide, is set up every 1.2 meters of ascent.

Drainage ditches are installed on both sides of the steps, the steps slope slightly outwards, and anti-slip measures are applied to the surface. Guardrails are installed on the outer side of the steps and the open side of the platform.

This somewhat complex design was giving Shen Le a real headache, especially considering he was only able to work on it by hand. Fortunately, the little ones provided him with invaluable support:

Lan Zhuang shot out a beam of light, which landed on the slope and outlined the location of the steps, breaking the 70-degree steep slope into 30-degree steps that went back and forth; Li Xingtang swung his flying sword, carving the height and width of the steps in the ice and snow.

Shen Le only needs to communicate with the mountain range beneath his feet, causing the ice and snow to recede, the stone bones to rise and deform, and outline the shapes of steps and railings on the mountains, and then carve out anti-slip ripples little by little.

Once all the steps were carved, Gu Yulin couldn't wait to quickly walk down and then climb back up:
"Huff, huff, huff, huff... Much easier to climb than last time... It's a pity it needs maintenance; if this place is covered in ice and snow, it will be much harder to climb..."

Shen Le thought for a moment, then squatted down and began to inscribe talismans on the platform. The mysterious patterns expanded rapidly, then sank downwards and disappeared in a flash.

He walked up the steps one by one, leaving a set of talismans on each platform and drawing upon the power of the earth's veins to absorb the surrounding raging winds and snow, forming a cycle.

Gu Yulin followed him for a few steps and soon felt completely relaxed.
"You've engraved all of these places? This..."

"It should last for about ten or twenty years." Shen Le lowered his head slightly, watching the wind and snow crash against the swirling wind outside the steps, then turn into ice outside the swirling wind.
"Later, I'll carve a few jade talismans and bury them there; that should last for a few more years." Shen Le sighed, touching the steps beneath his feet.

“They’re working so hard… I can’t do much, so let’s leave more places like this so they have a few more places to rest and catch their breath while they’re on patrol…”

After repairing the steps, he continued to follow the patrol team, walking forward step by step, until he reached the farthest point, and then walking back step by step.

We will protect them, repair the roads for them, and provide them with shelter from the wind and snow...

Let treacherous paths become smooth roads, let biting winds and frost transform into warm sunshine, and let these soldiers guarding the frontier suffer less hardship and enjoy greater safety...

Shen Le didn't consider himself a particularly noble person, and he couldn't do what these soldiers did, stationing themselves day after day in the high-altitude, remote border regions, dedicating themselves to the motherland.

These soldiers were all quite young, many even younger than Shen Le. However, their faces were already marked with sunburn and frostbite from the high altitude, and many of them had purplish lips when they first met.

However, their eyes were clear and resolute, without the slightest complaint or hesitation. Step by step, they tread the patrol path, returning day after day, using their most primal strength and willpower to guard the motherland's border and protect the lights of countless homes below the mountains...

Shen Le couldn't help them forever, but since he had seen it, he couldn't bear not doing something. He would help them find a few more rest spots if he could.

Because the magic greatly enhanced the warriors' physical strength and repaired the roads, this patrol, even though the rest stop delays, still arrived at the vehicle parking point an hour earlier than usual.

The soldiers filed onto the Mengshi truck, jostling and pushing each other to squeeze in two seats for Shen Le and Gu Yulin: "Thank you both for your hard work! The ride will be much easier from now on. Hold on tight, let's go!"

With a tap of the accelerator, the Mengshi vehicle sped across the plateau. Seeing the outpost in the distance, Shen Le was momentarily distracted and nearly fell off the vehicle, immediately startled:

"Your outpost is so big now? I thought it was just a small hut on a cliff!"

"Ah—you mean our outpost, that's the watchtower!" Seeing Shen Le's surprise, the old sergeant practically beamed, rushing to his side in a few strides:
"The watchtowers have all been renovated now, and they're all sturdy, big houses now, not to mention our company's outpost! Hey, once we get to the outpost, I'll cook you something delicious!"

He led Shen Le back to the outpost, which undoubtedly caused another wave of surprise, questions, and verifications. Shen Le stood smiling at the doorway, looking left and right:
"This place is so big! -- And so comfortable, not cold at all! I don't even need to gather clouds or wind, and breathing here is so easy!"

"Of course!" the old squad leader said proudly, puffing out his chest.
"This is brand new barracks! The room temperature can reach 15 degrees Celsius! There's also oxygen supply by the bedside, an oxygen-enriched indoor training area, and a micro-hyperbaric oxygen chamber! You can breathe oxygen every day, whether you're resting or training!"

"That's wonderful..." Shen Le looked around, feeling a surge of warmth rush to his chest, his voice almost choked with emotion. Gu Yulin, on the other hand, laughed at him:
"No way, you didn't know that? -- These have already been reported!"

"Ah, I'm clueless about military matters, I'm clueless about military matters, there's nothing I can do." Shen Le could only shrug and chuckle awkwardly. To make light of the situation, once the handover and verification were complete, he immediately pulled out the Cloud Kun:

"Here come the supplies! They were all prepared down the mountain. I'm just the deliveryman—make way, give me some space!"

The one-foot-long wooden boat quickly stretched out to a meter, then five meters, to the soldiers' astonishment. A plank was laid across the side of the boat, and the clay figures, in pairs, carried boxes of military supplies, neatly and orderly lowering them down.

Shen Le held the list and counted the items: "Ten...twenty...thirty...be careful, don't miss any or deliver to the wrong post, there are still several outposts to go!"

The carrying capacity of the Yunkun is far greater than that of the Mengshi vehicle, which can drive to the plateau outpost, not to mention the burden of carrying things by people and horses. A full 50 one-meter square boxes were unloaded from the ship, and each box elicited cheers from everyone.

Shen Le clapped his hands with a smile, jumped onto the bow of the boat, and waved enthusiastically:
"Come on, everyone! Come and watch if you're free—the performance is about to begin!"

The largest room in the outpost served as both a mess hall and activity room. All the soldiers who weren't on duty gathered there, crowding together and craning their necks to look at the wooden boat that could grow larger and smaller and produce supplies bigger than themselves.

On a magnificent Chinese-style sailboat, a small wooden puppet, a wedding dress, and a group of beings with only dresses and long hair but no faces—a group of paper figures…

One by one, they flew out of the ship. Some carried pipa (a Chinese lute), some played the xiao (a type of vertical bamboo flute), some had long sleeves fluttering, and some gathered and dispersed, forming all sorts of formations...

The orchid-colored makeup and the scrolls emitted a soft glow, projecting a dreamlike background onto the wall: whether it be green mountains and clear waters, a bustling city, or a starry sea.

The performance began. Xiao Ling danced with flowing sleeves; though she was merely a puppet, her singing was ethereal and melodious, carrying a soothing power that lingered throughout the hall.
The dancers in their flowing skirts moved with breathtaking grace and fluidity, creating a spectacular dance show that, in the eyes of the warriors, rivaled the Spring Festival Gala. Combined with the light and shadow projected by the spirits, even the background was equally impressive.

As the song played, an invisible force flowed continuously, dispelling the fatigue accumulated in the soldiers' bodies, nourishing their spirits, and allowing them to relax more and rest better...

"Wow, who's here...?"

Xiao Ling sang and danced, and the girls in their skirts took turns performing solos and ensembles. Even the girl in the red wedding dress performed a scimitar dance.

As these supernatural forces unfolded before them, the warriors, dazzled and mesmerized, couldn't help but whisper among themselves:
"Could it really be a god...?"

"Of course not." Shen Le, sitting in the corner and trying to minimize her presence, answered silently in her heart.

If anyone is a god, then you are the gods.

The soldiers who built the boundary markers with their blood and lives to protect the borders of their motherland are the true heroes.

Yun Kun, you're right, the performance was really meaningful, and it felt wonderful...

(End of this chapter)