I slaughtered my way through the border at the start, I am the Great Ming's Night Raider!

The man hesitated for a moment, looked back at the house, and finally opened the door: "Come in, no need for money, it's not easy being away from home."

The room was very simple, with a kang (a heated brick bed), a table, and a few benches. A woman sat on the kang, holding a child in her arms, about three or four years old, who was staring at Chen Yuan with wide eyes.

"Excuse me for disturbing you." Chen Yuan cupped his hands in greeting.

"Sit down." The man poured a bowl of hot water. "Haven't eaten yet? Honey, heat up some porridge."

The woman got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and went to the stove to work. Chen Yuan noticed that the rice jar was almost empty, and the woman's hand trembled when she scooped rice, so she only scooped out a small half bowl.

Chen Yuan said calmly, "That's enough, I'm not hungry."

"That won't do..." the man rubbed his hands together. "There's not much to offer."

The porridge was heated up quickly; it was very thin, almost enough to reflect a person's image.

Chen Yuan took a sip, then pulled out a piece of dry rations from his pocket—the dried meat he had taken from Zhao Si—broke it in half, and handed one half to the man and the other half to the child in the woman's arms.

"No, no, no..." the man quickly declined.

"Give it to the child," Chen Yuan said.

The child stared longingly at the dried meat. The woman sighed, took it, and fed it to the child. The child devoured it.

"What's your name, brother?" Chen Yuan asked.

"My surname is Li, Li Ergou (Li the Second Dog)," the man chuckled憨厚ly. "Everyone in the village calls me Li Er."

"Brother Li," Chen Yuan said, "I just heard you say that the government is going to requisition grain?"

"Yes," Li Er sighed, "They say the Tartars are coming, and the front lines are short of food. But our little village had a bad harvest last year, where are we going to get so much grain..."

What will happen if we don't go out?

"They'll be conscripted to repair the city walls, or... sent to the army." Li Er smiled bitterly. "The year before last, Wang Laosan's family was like that. They couldn't pay their grain taxes, and both of their sons were taken away. We haven't heard from them since."

Chen Yuan remained silent.

An ancient saying goes: "When a dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when a dynasty falls, the people suffer."

Regardless of the changes in the world and the rise and fall of dynasties, the most suffering are always the millions of ordinary people.

Especially for the poor people born and raised on the border, it seemed that as long as there was no major war, life was good. If they could drink a pot of cheap wine with the northwest wind, that would be the greatest joy in the world.

Chen Yuan asked softly, "Didn't you ever think about escaping?"

Li Er shook his head. "Where can we run to? There are government officials everywhere. If we run away, we'll be considered fugitives, and if we get caught, it'll be even worse. Besides, our ancestral graves are here; we can't run away."

These words are simple, yet true.

For these people, the land and ancestral graves are their roots; if their roots are severed, they lose their soul.

After finishing the porridge, Chen Yuan said that he had a companion outside the village.

Li Er was very enthusiastic and offered to go pick them up together.

The two arrived at the woods, and Chen Jin became somewhat nervous when she saw that Chen Yuan had brought a stranger with him.

Chen Yuan introduced, "This is my younger brother, Chen Mo. He caught a cold on the way and doesn't like to talk."

Chen Jin understood and nodded.

Seeing that Chen Jin looked weak and sickly, Li Er didn't ask any further questions and took the two of them home.

The woman had already prepared the kang (a heated brick bed) for the two of them to sleep on.

Late at night.

Chen Jin couldn't sleep. Listening to the wind outside the window, he thought about the Chen family, his parents, and his younger sister. Tears welled up in his eyes again, but he bit his lip and didn't make a sound.

Chen Yuan wasn't asleep either; he was thinking about something.

I miss Xuanfu, I miss the Tatar army, I miss Zhao Guang, that incompetent general, and I miss Zhang Meng and his scout brothers.

And then there's the thought of the mother I've never met.

Princess Zhu Mingyue, the Grand Princess Who Protects the Nation.

He had heard this name many times at the border. The emperor's most trusted aunt controlled one-third of the military power of the capital garrison and had absolute authority in the court.

It is said that she was known as the "most beautiful woman in the Ming Dynasty" when she was young, but she was strong-willed and never remarried after her husband died young.

How could such a woman...

Chen Yuan shook his head, no longer thinking about it.

The most important thing now is to survive, and then take revenge.

As for the rest, we'll talk about them later.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Jin suddenly whispered, "Brother Yuan, do you think we can succeed?"

Chen Yuan shook his head: "I don't know."

"But trying is always better than not trying at all."

What if it fails?

Chen Yuan was taken aback, but said calmly, "It's nothing more than death. But before I die, I want to bite off a piece of my enemy's flesh."

Chen Jin remained silent.

Moonlight shone through the holes in the window paper, casting a small patch of light on the ground.

Looking at the light, Chen Yuan suddenly remembered a saying his master had once said: "The bright moon shines on the ditch, not because of the bright moon, but because the ditch should be in the dark."

He didn't understand then, but he understands a little now.

Some people are born under the bright moon, shining with brilliance.

Some people are born into a ditch, in darkness and despair.

He is neither the bright moon nor the ditch.

He is the one who crawled out of the ditch to pluck the bright moon.

Even if the hand that reaches for the moon is stained with blood.

It was the 19th day of the 11th lunar month, at the third quarter of the Yin hour.

The torches on the city wall of Xuanfu Town flickered in the cold wind, like dying eyes struggling.

Zhang Meng, his hand on the hilt of his sword, had been standing on the city wall for four hours.

His eyes were sunken, his stubble was messy, and a thin layer of ice had formed on his cotton armor.

"Commander, go and rest for a while," the guard whispered.

Zhang Meng shook his head, his eyes fixed on the dark wilderness to the north.

It's been three days. Chen Yuan has been gone for three days, and the Tatar army should be arriving soon.

According to the intelligence brought back by Chen Yuan, the latest it will be tomorrow or the day after.

"Have all the night scouts been sent out?" he asked.

The guard replied, "They've been sent out, three teams of five men each, the furthest they've gone fifty li. No news has come back yet."

Zhang Meng's heart sank.

Night scouts usually report every two hours, but now they're exceeding that time.

There are only two possibilities: either they encounter the Tartar vanguard, or...

He dared not think.

A commotion arose from below the city wall.

Zhang Meng peered over and saw a group of soldiers escorting more than a dozen civilians toward the city gate. The civilians were men and women, young and old, their wrists bound together with hemp rope, weeping and wailing.

"What's going on?" Zhang Meng demanded.

The junior officer below the city wall looked up and recognized the 100-household commander who had been evacuating the city last night. He quickly saluted and said, "Reporting to the 100-household commander, it is General Zhao's order. These people tried to escape the city through the secret passage last night, but they were caught and brought back."

"A secret passage?" Zhang Meng's heart skipped a beat.

"Yes, the one near the Earth God Temple in the east of the city," the junior officer said. "I don't know who leaked the news, but these troublemakers are trying to take advantage of the situation. General Zhao said they should all be arrested and beheaded at Caishikou at noon today as a warning to others."

Zhang Meng gripped the hilt of the knife tightly.

The secret passage that Chen Yuan mentioned in his letter was indeed discovered.

Moreover, judging from the situation, Zhao Guang wanted to kill someone to establish his authority.

"A centurion?" The guard noticed his expression was off.

"It's alright." Zhang Meng took a deep breath. "You guys keep an eye on things, I'll go down and check."

He descended the city wall and approached the group of people. These people were ragged, emaciated, and mostly poor families from the city. An old woman knelt on the ground, weeping and pleading, "Sir, spare our lives...we're just afraid...afraid the Tartars will attack..."

"Shut up!" The junior officer kicked him.

Zhang Meng stopped him. "Wait." He crouched down, looking at the old woman. "How did you know about the secret passage?"

The old woman sobbed, "It was...it was Wang the Cripple who said it...he said there's a road out of the city..."

Wang the Cripple.

Zhang Meng closed his eyes.

What is this old soldier thinking?

Where is Wang the Cripple?

"Last night...last night he left the city..." the old woman said. "He took a few young men with him first, and we were the second group...but as soon as we got to the local temple, we were surrounded by soldiers..."

Zhang Meng stood up and said to the junior officer, "Leave these people to me, and I'll talk to General Zhao."

"This..." the junior officer hesitated, "Commander, General Zhao's orders are..."

"Just tell them the night watchmen need manpower to repair the fortifications." Zhang Meng took out a few taels of silver and stuffed it into their hand. "Brother, please do me a favor."

The junior officer weighed the silver in his hand, his expression softening. "Well... alright then. But you'd better hurry, centurion, you need to have something to show for it before noon."

Zhang Meng nodded and ordered his personal guards to take the dozen or so civilians to the night watchman's barracks.

Once inside the courtyard, he closed the door and surveyed the terrified faces.

"What else did Wang the Cripple say?" he asked.

The common people looked at each other in bewilderment. A bold young man spoke up: "Chief Wang said... Xuanfu can't be defended... General Zhao doesn't know how to fight, the city will fall sooner or later... He also said that there's a young man named Chen in the night watch, he's a real man, following him might save our lives..."

Chen Yuan.

Zhang Meng felt a mix of emotions.

Chen Yuan was highly respected in the army, not only because of his superb martial arts skills, but also because he never oppressed the people and often helped the poor.

These people trusted him even more than they trusted the government.

"You all stay in the yard for now," Zhang Meng said. "Don't make a sound, I'll think of something."

He walked into the barracks and looked at the empty beds.

Chen Yuan's bunk was tidied up, and the knife rack was empty—he had taken the goose-feather knife with him.

Zhang Meng sat on Chen Yuan's bed and took out the letter from his pocket.

The letter was crumpled and wrinkled, but the handwriting was strong and forceful: "Commander, there is an urgent matter at home, and I must return. I will be back within five days. If the Tartars invade, there is a secret passage east of the city that leads to the local temple three miles outside the city. —Chen Yuan"

I will return within five days.

Today is the third day.

Zhang Meng folded the letter neatly and stuffed it back into his pocket.

He got up and walked to the window, looking at the terrified people in the courtyard, and then at the pale dawn breaking over the northern horizon.

It's almost dawn.

The darkest hour is often just before dawn.