National Fate: Eight Yin Generals Guard China from Their Sleeping Coffins

"eight……"

The sound came through the thick coffin lid.

It's very light.

It wasn't even as loud as the wind on the wasteland.

Chen Xiao stood frozen in place.

The hand that was pressed against the coffin lid was left untouched.

He lowered his head, his Adam's apple bobbed twice, and his eyes quickly reddened.

Twenty years have passed.

He stayed with his master from the age of five to twenty-five, remembering every word his master said, and also remembering the tone of his master's voice when he called him for the last time.

It's not Chen Xiao.

It's the eighth brother.

"Master?"

Chen Xiao bent down and pressed his ear against the coffin lid.

Only steady breathing remained inside the coffin.

There was no second response.

Guan Shan had already stood up.

With the blood-patterned iron sword held horizontally behind him, he walked to the coffin but stopped three steps away.

"Did you hear me?"

"I heard you clearly."

Chen Xiao wiped his eyes with his sleeve, but the corners of his mouth turned up.

"My master is calling me."

Ma Ling loosened her grip on the copper bell.

He didn't go forward, but turned his face towards the outside of the city and secretly sniffed.

Old Luo stroked his beard.

"This means that Master's consciousness has awakened, but his physical body has not yet fully returned to its original position."

"how long?"

Guan Shan asked.

"I can't figure it out."

Old Luo picked up the bronze compass.

The eight gates on the plate spun rapidly, and just as the pointer pointed to the black wooden coffin, it was slammed down onto the plate with a loud crack.

He remained silent for two breaths, then put away the compass.

"It doesn't count."

Jiang Chen pushed his straw hat up a little.

"Are you unable to calculate it, or are you afraid of getting beaten up?"

"This old man calls it reverence for the secrets of Heaven."

"I can't figure it out even if I translate it."

"Hey Jiang, your black water can swallow magic, but can it swallow a fist?"

Jiang Chen covered his face again.

"She's asleep, she can't hear me."

Ji Yuan chuckled.

The tense atmosphere of the past few days dissipated.

Golden characters slowly unfolded in the sky.

The first round of liquidation is complete.

The second round of the national defense will begin in 72 hours.

During the rest period, all city gates will be immune to attack.

[Global live streaming remains available.]

The existing order of surviving nations is not subject to interference from their national destiny.

The words have faded away.

The Huaxia live stream room is still lit up.

1.4 billion people did not leave.

They witnessed eight rounds of bloody battles, saw blades cleaving through wolves, bells driving away countless corpses, and paper soldiers arrayed in formation. They also saw eight people repeatedly smash their own rewards.

But only now have people realized that they have never seen these eight gatekeepers rest.

Did someone just speak?

[I turned the volume up to the maximum, and the number "8" came from inside the coffin!]

[The ancestor's name is Chen Xiao, and he's really awake!]

[Not fully awake yet; it's probably just that consciousness has returned.]

Chen Xiao smiled as he wiped away his tears, and I cried too.

He had waited twenty years for that title, "Old Eight."

Let them get some sleep for 72 hours without fighting.

[This is the first time I've felt that a live stream without monsters can be this entertaining.]

Don't rush Senior Su Chen, let him wake up slowly. China can hold on now.

[Thank you for your hard work, eight seniors. Please live a normal life for us for the next three days.]

【............】

The barrage of comments gradually slowed down.

No one urged them to display their authority anymore.

No one shouted to test the knife, ring the bell, or set up the formation.

The night was dark in the wilderness.

The corpse puppet brought over a few pieces of unburnt wood and rebuilt the fire.

The golden-armored paper soldier squatted to the side, carefully poking at the sparks with his spear, his movements somewhat clumsy.

Ji Yuan stared at it for a long time.

"A gun is not a flint and steel."

The paper soldier stopped moving, looked down at the spear, and then at the campfire.

It changed direction and continued dialing.

Jiang Chen lay on the sand, his face covered by a straw hat.

"That's good, at least they know to use the butt of the gun."

Ji Yuan took out a golden sheet of paper.

"Say one more word and I'll have it stab you with the gun barrel."

Jiang fell silent.

Guan Shan sat back down in his original spot.

He rested the blood-patterned iron knife on his lap, pulled out an old cloth, and wiped it from the hilt to the tip.

The knife can cut through the boundary, but the cloth is still the same coarse cloth that has been patched three times.

Chen Xiao watched for a while.

"Senior Brother, there's no blood on the knife."

"There's dust."

"The nation's fortune has just been washed away."

"Habit."

Guan Shan only replied with two words.

Chen Xiao said "Oh," took out a small hammer from his pocket, and began to examine the eight Soul-Suppressing Nails.

The eldest brother wiped the knife while he inspected the nails.

They're all people who make a living with their skills, so when they have free time, they always need to find something to do.

Ma Ling leaned against the city wall, his fingertips lightly tapping the copper bell.

He didn't use his Soul Control authority, but instead hummed a folk song from western Hunan.

The song has no lyrics.

The melody is slow, carrying the flavor of mountain roads and ferry crossings.

Twenty years ago, there weren't many people in the village he was guarding.

On the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, the village elders would sit under the locust tree and sing this song.

Later, as the old people passed away one by one, he took over the funeral bells and memorized the unfinished tunes.

Liu Bai pulled a book out from the bottom of the mahogany box.

The book cover was yellowed and the corners were curled up.

Old Luo sized him up for a long time.

"Isn't that autopsy equipment in your box?"

"Yes."

"Where did that book come from?"

"The bottom of the box."

"What's the book title?"

Liu Bai turned the cover over.

Postpartum care for sows.

There was a moment of silence around the fire.

Jiang Chen lifted his bamboo hat, confirmed that he hadn't misread it, and then silently put it back on.

Old Luo's wrinkles twitched twice.

"Do coroners handle this?"

"Both living and inanimate objects have acupoints. The village veterinarian passed away early, so I took over for a few years."

Liu Bai turned a page, his tone indifferent.

"Seventh Brother, you're restless and have excessive liver fire. Mind your own business."

Old Luo stood up and brushed his Taoist robe.

"I'm going to practice my boxing."

He placed the bronze compass at his feet, assumed a stance, and slowly raised his hand.

The initial momentum.

Grasp the sparrow's tail.

Single whip.

The movements are standard and the speed is slow.

Each time a foot moved, the Eight Gates Formation on the city wall would light up briefly.

By the third move, he had trapped himself in the Rest Gate.

A transparent array wall rose up, enclosing him inside.

Jiang Chen's shoulders began to tremble.

Old Luo stared wide-eyed.

"Laugh if you want to."

"I'm asleep."

"You still shake in your sleep?"

"cold."

"Is the master of the Blackwater Abyss afraid of the cold?"

"Body cold."

Ji Yuan lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly.

He did not suffer further losses.

The golden paper flipped through my fingertips and quickly transformed into a paper crane the size of my palm.

The paper crane spread its wings, flew over the bonfire, and landed on Chen Xiao's head.

Chen Xiao reached out to grab it.

The paper crane jumped upwards, dodging his hand, and landed back in its original position.

"Second Senior Brother, what kind of technique is this?"

"It's not a technique."

Ji Yuan folded another paper rabbit and placed it on the sand.

The paper rabbit hopped to Chen Xiao's feet and hugged his cloth shoes.

"You didn't play this when you were little, so I'm making it for you."

Chen Xiao looked down at the paper rabbit.

He started following his master at the age of five. The first thing he learned was to recognize wood, the second was to hammer nails, and the third was to guard the coffin.

He had never touched the things that his peers played with.

"I'm already twenty-five."

"You started the latest."

"so?"

"So it's still number eight."

The paper crane pecked at Chen Xiao's hair.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Su Qingyi sat on the other side of the coffin.

He didn't laugh, but simply pulled over Chen Xiao's worn-out sleeve.

Threading a silver needle.

Two stitches to finish the edge, three stitches to press the opening.

Chen Xiao's arm was being held by him, and he dared not move.

"Fifth Senior Brother, I can fix it myself."

Su Qingyi glanced at him.

"You're patching up a coffin."

"The clothes are about the same."

"Are you planning to nail a soul-suppressing nail into your sleeve?"

Chen Xiao remained silent.

In the Huaxia live stream room, the barrage of comments surged once again.

[Help! What's the plot of "Postpartum Care of Sows"?]

Mr. Liu stated that there are many employment opportunities for coroners.

[Master Luo has trapped himself in the formation. Pass this down: the first victim of the Eight Gates has appeared.]

Jiang Chen: I wasn't laughing, I just have a cold constitution.

[I couldn't hold back my tears when Mr. Ji was making up for Lao Ba's childhood.]

[Although Su Qingyi complained, she had already finished mending the sleeve.]

Master Guan keeps wiping his knife; doesn't he ever take a break?

What tune is Ma Ling humming? It sounds so comforting.

[Turns out they weren't always so stern; the fellow disciples would tease each other sometimes.]

These are the true guardians of China, possessing both divine abilities and the warmth of human nature.

【………】

Yanjing Command Center.

Many officers were still watching the screen.

Zhou Yaoguo sat down at the worktable with dinner in his hand.

The food on his plate had gone cold, but he was looking at it intently.

Seeing the paper crane land on Chen Xiao's head, he picked up his chopsticks and paused for a few seconds.

"What do they need? Can you send it in?"

Staff Officer Li shook his head.

"Real-world resource transfer will not be available during the rest period."

"Where are the clothes?"

"no."

"Food?"

"That won't work either."

Zhou Yaoguo put down his chopsticks.

Eight people guarded a country, yet the country couldn't even deliver a hot meal to them.

He was not satisfied with the result.

"Let the Science Department continue its research on space passages."

"I need a new plan before the second round begins."

Staff Officer Li stands at attention.

"clear."

Across the ocean.

The screens in the underground bunker were also broadcasting live from China.

The bald eagle president stared at the eight men chatting and laughing by the fire, his face expressionless.

His country is in turmoil.

The city descended into chaos, the military fought amongst themselves, and corporations began plundering shelters.

The gatekeeper of China sat on the wasteland, mending clothes and folding paper cranes for his youngest junior brother.

He doesn't understand.

Why don't those who possess that power vie for the position of leader? Why don't they guard against each other because of the difference in their power?

Smith stood at the back, his voice hoarse.

"They maintained their relationship through their teacher-student relationship and shared a common goal of serving the nation."

"This is not an alliance of interests."

The president closed his eyes.

Profits can be bought and sold, or they can be dismantled.

But these eight people in front of me cannot be separated.

This conclusion was more painful for him than defeat.

The Chinese front.

Chen Xiao finally pulled back the mended sleeve.

He picked up the paper rabbit and placed it on the black wooden coffin.

The paper crane followed and landed, quietly standing guard beside them.

Then he sat down next to the coffin.

"Master."

"Things are fine in China."

"The nation's fortune has reached two hundred years. Everyone is able to cultivate and awaken, and there are fewer illnesses. I heard that schools will teach breathing exercises in the future, so children won't have to secretly run to the mountains to learn them."

"The border has been secured. There's some chaos outside, but General Zhou hasn't opened the country's gates."

"We've found all our senior brothers and sisters."

Chen Xiao looked at the campfire.

Guan Shan was wiping his knife.

The horse bells were still humming a tune.

Ji Yuan folded out a third paper crane.

Jiang Chen was already snoring, but it was hard to tell if it was real or not.

Su Qingyi began sewing the knife-wiping cloth that Guan Shan had used for many years.

Liu Bai turned a page of the book.

Old Luo finally opened the door and pretended that nothing had happened.

Chen Xiao placed his hand on the coffin lid and lowered his voice.

"Master, the nation's fortune has reached two hundred."

"You'll be awake soon, won't you?"