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

On the steep mountain path of Eagle's Sorrow Cliff, two veterans on guard duty were huddled behind a sheltered rock, chatting idly.

"Old Li, look at that black dot down there, isn't it just a starving wolf?"

"Wolf my foot! In this godforsaken place, even the wind could blow away two ounces of meat. If a wolf came, you'd have to run away in tears. I bet it's more like..."

Before he could finish speaking, the old soldier suddenly stood up.

He craned his neck, his expression shifting from uncertainty to shock.

"Holy crap! That's Zhang Laosi!!"

Another veteran also poked his head out, squinted at it for a long time, and muttered something under his breath.

"It really does seem so... but why is he swaying like that? Where's his old horse? Holy crap!! Why did it faint!?"

"Quick, someone come quick!! Fourth Brother's back! He's fainted! Someone come and carry him!"

A shout startled the entire cliff top.

A group of veterans, cursing and swearing, rushed down the cliff top and ran down the narrow stone steps.

Then they hurriedly lifted up Zhang Laosi, who was already unconscious.

"You fucking raise your head a bit!"

"Ouch, my old back! Slow down, slow down!!"

"Why is he so heavy? Did he eat alone?"

With great effort, a group of people carried Zhang Laosi back to the top of the cliff from the narrow, winding path that could only accommodate one person at a time, as if he were a dead pig.

The rescue operation was immediately launched, and the scene was quite chaotic at one point.

"Quick! Flood the page!"

Someone shouted something.

An old soldier grabbed his helmet, ignoring the sand still inside, scooped up half a pot of cold water, and poured it over Zhang Laosi's head.

"Cough cough cough!"

Old Zhang was choked and coughed violently. He didn't drink much water, but he vomited up several mouthfuls of bile.

"You fucking murderer!!"

Another veteran shoved him aside.

"You need to pinch the philtrum! I'll do it!"

As he spoke, he stretched out two fingers covered in black mud and pinched Zhang Laosi's philtrum repeatedly.

They pinched him so hard he was almost bleeding, but he still didn't wake up.

"Get the hell out of my way! You bunch of useless trash!"

Meng Hu strode over and pushed his way through the crowd.

He took a big mouthful of water, puffed out his cheeks,

With a "plop," it sprayed all over Zhang Laosi's face, splashing water everywhere.

There was no movement.

Then he raised his large, fan-like hand again.

"Slap! Slap!"

They gave Zhang Laosi two resounding slaps.

Still nothing.

Meng Hu reached out and checked Zhang Laosi's breathing and pulse, muttering in a muffled voice.

"That's strange. He doesn't seem to be in any danger, so why can't he wake up?"

Just as a group of rough men were at a loss, staring blankly at Zhang Laosi,

Chu Mengyao walked over quietly, carrying a wine gourd.

She squatted down, unscrewed the gourd lid, and waved the gourd opening in front of Zhang Laosi's nose.

A strong, spicy aroma of alcohol wafted into Zhang Laosi's nostrils.

His nose twitched involuntarily.

Immediately afterwards, her eyelids twitched, and she suddenly opened her eyes.

"Ha ha ha ha!!!"

"I knew it! Only alcohol can wake this drunkard!"

"Damn it, what a waste of my feelings! I thought he was going to die!"

Upon seeing this, the crowd burst into laughter, with various vulgar taunts rising and falling.

Meng Hu also laughed loudly, pointing at Zhang Laosi's nose.

"You bastard! If I'd known a gourd of wine would have solved the problem, why did I bother with all that trouble!"

However, when Zhang Laosi woke up and looked around at all the smiling faces, he couldn't smile at all.

His eyes were vacant, as if he hadn't yet escaped from that nightmare.

When he saw Chu Mengyao holding the wine gourd beside him, he felt as if he had been electrocuted and suddenly sat up from the ground.

Old Zhang frantically searched the ground.

When I saw the two black cloth bags, stained with blood, carelessly tossed aside.

He rushed over and hugged the two cloth bags tightly to his chest.

Then, with a "plop".

Holding two bags, Zhang Laosi knelt down straight in front of Chu Mengyao, his forehead hitting the hard ground heavily.

The tent fell silent instantly.

Everyone's laughter caught in their throats.

"Miss……"

Zhang Laosi's voice was broken beyond recognition, as if it had been sanded countless times.

Tears streamed down his bloodshot eyes, mingling with the mud on his face and leaving two murky furrows.

"I'm so sorry..."

"I'm useless... I couldn't bring the old general and the young general back..."

He choked up, sobbing uncontrollably, each word seeming to be ripped from his chest.

What he was holding in his arms was not some rare treasure.

He just wanted to bring their general and young general home.

The smile on Meng Hu's face froze inch by inch.

The mockery on the faces of all the veterans inside the tent turned into incomprehensible astonishment.

What did they hear?

The old general... the young general... didn't bring him back?

What does that mean?

A bone-chilling coldness shot up from the soles of everyone's feet, along their spines, and instantly to the top of their heads.

……

Meanwhile, at Tiebi Pass, at the Lin residence.

Two figures, almost blending into the shadows, appeared silently in Lin Mo's study and knelt on one knee.

Shadow Guards, the sharpest blade of the Zhenwu Division.

"My lord."

One of the shadow guards spoke, his voice as flat as a line stretched to its limit.

"Three days ago at Wolongpo, Prince Yuwen Biao of Zhenbei led an army of 150,000 to besiege the Hanshan Army camp on the pretext of 'colluding with traitors'."

"The entire 30,000 soldiers of the Shaking Mountain Army were wiped out. Chu Wenshan died of illness, and Chu Tiankuo died in battle. Their heads were displayed at the camp gate."

Lin Mo's hand, holding the teacup, froze in mid-air.

Bai Zhi and Shangguan Yan's faces turned deathly pale instantly.

Another shadow guard followed up with the report.

"Yesterday morning, after Yuwen Biao consolidated the Zhenbei Army, he personally led an army of 100,000 men and set off from Wolongpo, heading straight for Tiebiguan."

"The slogan is... to wipe out the traitor Lin Mo and rid the northern border of this scourge."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow and put the teacup back on the table.

"One hundred thousand? They set off yesterday?"

"Yes."

Lin Mo tapped his fingers lightly on the table, making a rhythmic "knock-knock" sound.

One hundred thousand troops set off yesterday.

Based on the distance, it will only take two or three days to get home.

He only had a little over ten thousand Xuanjia soldiers at his disposal.

A difference of 10,000 against 100,000 would be enough to prepare for reincarnation elsewhere.

Lin Mo's gaze unconsciously drifted towards the towering black wall outside the window.

Thankfully, I had the foresight not to put all my skill points into fighting and killing; building infrastructure is the way to go.

Without this wall, a 100,000-strong army pressing in would be a huge problem.

Now... let them come as many as they want, as long as I don't do anything stupid like opening the door and going out to fight them.

All they could do was stand outside the wall and stare blankly.

Just as Lin Mo was secretly congratulating himself on his infrastructure-building prowess.

Bai Zhi, who was staring intently at the screen, suddenly uttered a soft, confused whisper.

"What...are they going to do?"