Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

A dark shadow suddenly sprang from the bushes, like a lone wolf that had been thoroughly enraged.

The two soldiers were so scared they almost jumped out of their skin; they didn't even have time to pull up their pants.

"puff!"

Zhang Laosi gripped the dagger he had pulled from his leg with a backhand grip, his movements swift and decisive.

A flash of cold light, and a soldier clutched his bleeding neck, collapsing without uttering a sound.

"enemy……!"

The other soldier had barely opened his mouth when Zhang Laosi pounced on him like a hungry wolf.

The dagger plunged deep into his jaw, turning all his screams into bloody froth in his throat.

In the blink of an eye, the two corpses collapsed limply to the ground.

"Who goes there!"

Hearing the commotion, the Zhenbei Army troops in the distance immediately turned their fires toward this location.

Without even glancing at the two corpses, Zhang Laosi rolled away and disappeared into the darkness.

He did not run away.

His target was the two tall flagpoles at the brightly lit entrance of the camp.

brush!brush!

Two flashes of cold light pierced the air, precisely severing the ropes suspending the head.

Zhang Laosi caught the two still-warm heads steadily, tore off the tattered hem of his clothes, and gently wrapped them up layer by layer.

The movement resembled wrapping a sleeping baby.

The moment he carried the heavy package on his back, the weight pressed down on him.

The old soldier, who had never shed a tear during the bloody battle on the icy river, suddenly slumped his shoulders.

He clenched his teeth tightly, not wanting to make a sound.

But tears flowed like a flood, mingling with the lingering smell of urine and blood from his head.

Zhang Laosi let out a suppressed whimper.

He hissed in a low voice, almost like a tearing sob.

"General, Young General... let's... go!"

……

Iron Wall Pass, Lin Mansion.

Lin Mo shared the permissions for the Mountain and River Hegemony Map, and a huge light screen appeared out of thin air in the study, like a giant screen movie theater.

The screen shows a live broadcast of the Mountain Shaking Army atop Eagle's Sorrow Cliff.

The conditions here are truly harsh.

The mountain wind was as sharp as a knife. Three thousand veterans huddled behind the rock face, gnawing on dry rations that could be used as bricks.

Supplies were scarce and resources were lacking, but these seemed to mean little to them.

However, these days of living in the open and exposed to the elements have made Chu Mengyao, the most beautiful woman in the Northern Border, look quite haggard.

She was wearing a plain white dress, with only a thin cloak over it.

Her already fair cheeks appeared even paler now, and her lips were somewhat chapped.

In just a few days, she lost a lot of weight.

The biting mountain wind blew the stray hairs across her forehead, and her once pretty face now looked somewhat haggard.

His lips were also a bit chapped, and there was even a faint bluish tinge under his eyes.

But what's strange is that this haggard appearance did not diminish her beauty at all.

Instead, they resemble delicate flowers battered by wind and snow, adding a sense of tenderness that makes one want to cherish and protect them.

Meng Hu, with his rough hands and clumsy movements, carried over a bowl of steaming hot meat soup.

The bowl contained the last bit of dried meat that a few veterans had scraped together, along with some wild vegetables they had dug up, and it had been stewed for a long time.

"Yao'er, drink some hot soup. It's windy in this awful place, it'll warm you up."

He shoved the bowl into Chu Mengyao's hands and added in a muffled voice.

"I'll have Lao Li and the others pile up some more stones next to your tent and get some old leather to seal up the gaps."

These veterans, who had killed without blinking an eye on the battlefield, now treated her like their most precious daughter, protecting her as if she were their own.

"Thank you, Uncle Meng."

Chu Mengyao took the bowl of meat soup, which was hardly delicious, and sipped it slowly, softly thanking him.

But her gaze remained fixed on the distance, towards Wolongpo.

It's been three days.

Uncle Zhang seemed to have vanished without a trace, with no news coming back at all.

Logically speaking, it should only take a little over a day to get from here to Zhenbei City at a fast pace.

However, after receiving the news, the elder brother needed time to deal with Yuwen Biao, and the army's marching speed was far slower than that of a lone scout.

It's normal to be slower.

But for some reason, ever since the night before last, her heart has been pounding wildly, and she just can't calm down.

"Uncle Meng, Uncle Zhang... he won't be in any trouble, will he?"

There was a hint of unease in Chu Mengyao's voice.

Upon hearing this, Meng Hu grinned.

"Don't worry! That Zhang Laosi is incredibly cunning; even the King of Hell would have to wait in line and draw lots to get him!"

"Do you know why I've always made him a scout?"

Why?

This piqued Chu Mengyao's curiosity.

Meng Hu found a relatively flat rock and sat down next to Chu Mengyao, his large body blocking half of the wind.

His cloudy eyes gazed into the distance, as if lost in distant memories.

"Hey, that was twelve years ago, the battle that stained the icy river with blood."

"We are surrounded by 300,000 barbarian troops on the icy river defense line, and we have run out of ammunition and food."

"Everyone thought we were doomed, so the old general asked, 'Who dares to break out of the encirclement and send a distress message to the capital?'"

"No one said anything at the time, not because they were afraid of dying, but because they knew they couldn't get out."

"The barbarians surrounded us like an iron barrel; even birds flying in the sky would get hit by three arrows."

Meng Hu smacked his lips and continued to boast.

"This fourth brother of mine, back then he was just a greenhorn, but he stepped forward."

"He went alone, carrying only a dagger and three days' worth of dry rations, and ventured into the vast snowfield."

"The barbarians noticed the commotion and sent their most powerful wolf guards to chase after him. There were over a thousand of them, all of them monsters who could smell a human in the snow."

"Old Zhang led them around in the snow for seven days and seven nights, eating tree bark when they were hungry and snow when they were thirsty."

"But in the end, he was forced to the edge of a cliff, and guess what? Without even blinking, he jumped straight into the ice hole below!"

Chu Mengyao listened, somewhat lost in thought.

"Those barbarians all thought he was dead, and they laughed loudly on the cliff."

"But what they don't know is that Zhang Laosi is a better swimmer than a fish!"

"He managed to dive intermittently for a full five miles under the glacier before finally climbing back up from downstream."

"Not only did he deliver the letter, but on his way back, he also raided a small barbarian tribe's grain depot and burned their winter provisions!"

After Meng Hu finished speaking, his face was filled with pride and smugness.

But soon.

That sense of pride faded away.

His eyes darted around, as if he didn't want to detach himself from the memories of that glorious, blood-soaked past.

for a long time.

He then let out a long sigh.

"Sigh...it was better before."

"Life was tough, fighting those barbarians every day, but being with my brothers, fucking it out, felt great!"

"Unlike now..."

"This is fucking frustrating!"

Meng Hu slammed his fist on the rock beside him, his voice filled with barely concealed frustration.

"Why……"

Another long sigh followed.

It drifted away into the distance, carried by the mountain wind from the cliff top.