Border Soldier: My fiancée snatched credit and broke off the engagement, so I promptly became a marq

Mass Burial Ditch is located three miles southwest of Black Stone Fort.

During the day, it appears as a dry ditch.

At night, it looks like a black mouth.

The wind blew in from the ditch, carrying the smells of frozen earth, rotten grass, and old blood. This wasn't where ordinary soldiers were buried; those who died in battle had names on rosters, thin coffins, and graves. Here lay those whose names were difficult to write on the official register, those whom no one wanted to write, and those whose names would cause trouble.

Ma Liu lay on the edge of the ditch, his face pressed against the snow, speaking in a low voice.

"There are footprints below."

Zhou Tie squatted down.

How many people?

"At least eight."

Ma Liu swallowed.

"There are also traces of suitcases."

Su Wan's fingers tightened when she heard the words "suitcase".

Crippled San didn't say anything, but only made a scratch on the back of the wooden sign.

Upon reaching the mass grave ditch, one sees fresh footprints and traces of a dragging box.

Zhou Tie looked towards the other side of Qian Gou.

Anato is right.

If you go down the ditch, you will surely be ambushed.

They circled around to the back of the dry ditch and slid down a collapsed slope. Ma Liu's leg injury hadn't healed, and he almost tumbled down halfway down the slope, but Su Wan grabbed him by the collar.

Ma Liu cursed under his breath in fright.

"Miss Su, do you not want your hand anymore?"

Su Wan released him, her face pale with pain.

"If you fall, it'll be even more troublesome."

Zhou Tie did not urge him.

In situations like this, rushing will only lead to disaster.

The wind is even colder at the bottom of the ditch.

Beneath the snow lay a jumble of rocks, among which a few old wooden planks peeked out. There were no words on the planks, only old knife marks. Lame Three touched them, his face darkening.

"This is the bottom plate of the card box."

He then touched a small copper nail.

The copper nails were stained with black paint.

Su Wan took it and gently scratched it with her fingernail.

"Military merit box paint".

Zhou Tie lowered his voice: "You even recognize paint?"

Su Wan nodded.

"The registrar's office used to replace the inventory records."

She didn't say the second half of the sentence.

At that time, she thought Zhao Chenglie was the one who had made meritorious contributions, and she had even urged the Zhao family to expedite the sealing of the military merit treasury. Now, thinking back, every single document felt like a slap in the face.

Ma Liu glanced at her, and his gossipy nature kicked in again.

"Miss Su, if you had recognized these things sooner, we would have suffered so much less."

Zhou Tie glared at him.

Su Wan did not argue.

"So I admit it now."

Ma Liu shut up.

The lame man wrapped the copper nails and black lacquer in cloth.

"The bottom plate of the card box, the paint of the military merit box."

Su Wan squatted down to take a look.

"It's been broken into."

Zhou Tiedao: "Where's the box?"

Ma Liu crawled forward a few steps, then suddenly stopped.

"Don't come any closer."

He pointed to a thin line under the snow.

The thread is so thin that it's frozen inside the snow crust and can't be seen unless you look closely.

Zhou Tie drew his sword and slashed it away.

The end of the line was attached to a ceramic jar.

There was no oil in the earthenware jar.

It was gunpowder ash and scrap iron.

Zhou Tie's expression changed.

"Who buried this thing in a pile of dead bodies?"

Su Wan said, "I don't want anyone to dig it up."

Ma Liu wiped away a cold sweat.

"I almost started the meal for everyone."

No one laughed.

They bypassed the thin line and walked forward a dozen or so steps.

A slight sound suddenly came from the bottom of the ditch.

It's not the wind.

It was the sound of someone's shoes breaking through the ice.

Zhou Tie raised his hand.

All six guards knelt down at the same time.

In the darkness, three figures emerged from behind the rocks on the other side, each dragging a long wooden box.

The wooden box was old, but the corners had been newly covered with iron.

One of them muttered under his breath, "Hurry up, the Northern barbarians are already at our doorstep, and you're still carrying this broken box."

Another said, "Master Liang said that if the box doesn't leave, we'll all die."

Master Liang.

Liang Qi.

Zhou Tie's eyes flashed with a sharp look.

He didn't rush in.

Because the third person was carrying a tinderbox.

If the box is burned, their trip will have been in vain.

Su Wan looked at the lame man.

The lame man nodded and slowly took a pebble out of his pocket.

He had a limp, but his hands were steady.

The pebble flew out and hit a thin piece of ice in the distance.

Snapped.

All three people turned around at the same time.

Zhou Tie led his men to charge.

The back of the knife struck the hand of the man holding the tinderbox first.

The fire tumbler fell to the ground and was kicked into the snow by Ma Liu.

The other two tried to run, but the guards pinned them down from both sides. Just as one was about to shout, Su Wan grabbed some slush and stuffed it into his mouth.

Zhou Tie pressed the person down onto the wooden box.

Where is Liang Qi?

The man's eyes darted around.

Zhou Tiedao pressed his back against his shoulder.

"I'm asking you a question."

The man was in so much pain he was gasping for breath.

"Let's go, let's go!"

"Where to?"

"Beigou!"

Ma Liu whispered, "The north connects to the old southern route."

Liang Qi ran away again.

But the box was left behind.

Zhou Tie did not pursue.

He remembered Chen Mu saying that what the mass grave needed was the cards, not the people.

Of the three people who were being held down, one was wearing a Northern Barbarian fur coat, but the collar of an old Han army coat was showing underneath.

Zhou Tie tore it open and saw that half a piece of white wolf-patterned cloth was sewn inside the collar of his coat.

"Another mole?"

The man stubbornly refused to speak.

Ma Liu limped over and sniffed it.

"The grain depot smells oily."

Su Wan immediately flipped up his sleeve.

Sure enough, there was black ash inside the cuff.

It's not ordinary wood ash.

It's wheat husk paper ash.

This man had just come from the old Nancang line and was now moving boxes from the mass grave.

The two pieces of evidence have been linked.

Zhou Tie tied the man up behind his back.

"Alive."

The guard said, "With boxes and people, we won't be able to move fast."

Zhou Tie looked at the iron box.

"Then stop talking nonsense."

He kicked the prisoner in the back of the knee.

"Walk by yourself. If you're slow, drag your feet."

Su Wan squatted down in front of the box and saw the copper plating on the keyhole; her expression changed.

"Old seal of the Registrar's Office".

The lame man touched the side of the box.

"Not a box."

Zhou Tie didn't understand.

Lame San knocked.

"The outside is an old box, and there's an iron box inside."

The guards pried open the first layer of wooden crates, and sure enough, there was another iron crate inside.

The iron box was covered with a thick layer of ash, and a small mark was pressed into the ash.

Su Wan picked it up and took a look, her breath catching in her throat.

"Old seal of the military merit treasury at Bailang Pass".

Zhou Tiedao: "Open."

The lock has been pried open.

When the lid of the iron box was lifted, it contained neither gold nor silver.

It's a military license plate.

Layer upon layer.

Old bronze plaques, iron plaques, and half-timbered wooden plaques were mixed together, with blood stains and fire marks on the edges.

The top piece has two characters engraved on it.

Mazda 6.

Ma Liu froze completely.

Zhou Tie was also stunned.

Ma Liu is still alive.

But his dog license plate was in the morgue.

Su Wan's face was as white as snow.

"This is not his death warrant."

"It's a scapegoat."

The lame man picked up the second piece.

Liu Guang.

The third piece.

Qian Si.

The fourth piece.

He Laojiu.

Not all of them are known.

But when the seventeenth piece was taken out, the lame man's hand stopped.

It was engraved with:

Wu Daniu.

One of the seventeen dead soldiers of the cookhouse.

The lame man's voice was hoarse.

"It's them."

Ma Liu's eyes suddenly turned red.

Those seventeen men followed Chen Mu out of the city to burn barbarian grain and died in the snow.

His merit was stolen.

His name was erased.

Now even military license plates are being thrown into mass graves.

Su Wan lowered her head and laid out the cards one by one.

She dared not go fast.

Taking each piece is like peeling a layer of dirt off a dead person.

Zhou Tie glanced outside.

"hurry up."

Ma Liu suddenly said, "Not just seventeen."

He pushed aside the next layer.

There's more below.

twenty.

Fifty.

one hundred.

More than 130 military license plates were crammed into the iron box.

Some names have been worn away.

Some of them were scraped with a knife.

Some have new names engraved on their backs.

A dead man has taken on the credit of two living people.

A living person was stuffed into a morgue beforehand.

This is not Chen Mu's family's account.

This is the record of military achievements lost during the three years at Blackstone Fortress.

Suddenly, Crippled Three whispered, "I can't remember them all."

Su Wan looked at him.

The lame man's eyes were bloodshot.

"Too many."

Zhou Tie gritted his teeth.

"Move the boxes."

No sooner had the words been spoken than a sharp whistle rang out from the mouth of the ditch.

Someone shouted from the direction of Beigou: "The box is over here!"

Liang Qi's men have returned.

Not just Liang Qi's people.

There's also the Northern Barbarian Squad.

The arrow was shot down first.

One of the guards was shot in the shoulder with an arrow, groaned, and knelt down.

Zhou Tie picked up the iron box.

"Walk!"

Su Wan picked up the top stack of military tags.

Ma Liu clutched his own scapegoat card, his hand trembling violently.

The lame man stuffed all seventeen dead pawns into a sealed bag.

"These cannot be lost."

Zhou Tie roared, "Not a single piece can be lost!"

They retreated towards the collapsed slope.

The rocket behind them landed in the mass grave, setting the old grass ablaze.

The guard who had been shot by an arrow could not walk fast.

He gritted his teeth, trying to pull the arrow out of his shoulder.

Su Wan held him down.

"Don't pull it out."

"The bleeding can't be stopped after the tubes are removed."

The guard exclaimed urgently, "I'll be a hindrance!"

Zhou Tie slung the iron box over his shoulder.

"Blackrock Fortress's legs aren't so easily broken."

Ma Liu stuffed his scapegoat card into his pocket and reached out to help his bodyguard.

His foot was already injured, and when he helped him up, both of them swayed.

The lame man shoved the sealed bag into Su Wan's arms and then grabbed the other side of the guard.

The rocket landed again.

A torch was stuck in the side of the iron box, and the flame licked at the corner of the box.

Su Wan rushed over and used her sleeve to extinguish the fire.

The fire burned through the cloth and burned her wrist.

She groaned softly, but didn't let go.

Ma Liu yelled in exasperation, "Aren't any of you going to use your hands?"

Su Wan looked up.

"Your hand will heal."

"The nameplate is gone, but the name won't grow back."

No one spoke anymore.

The pile of dead bodies was lit up.

In the firelight, Liang Qi stood at the entrance of the North Gully, his face covered with a cloth, only his eyes showing.

He saw the metal box being carried away, and he turned and ran.

Ma Liu saw it.

"Liang Qi!"

He tried to chase after her, but Su Wan caught him.

"box!"

The Mazda 6 came to an abrupt stop.

Correct.

Safe deposit first.

As they dragged the iron crates back toward Blackstone Castle, the sound of the wooden battering against the south gate still echoed.

In the mass grave ditch, the empty graves illuminated by the fire looked like gaping mouths.

Military license plates are not made of iron.

It's fate.