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Once, to delineate their territories, the Huaxia Nation and the Southern Xiongnu Empire had built defensive walls along their border. However, many years have passed, and those walls have long since crumbled. Occasionally, remnants of them remain as outposts for soldiers. This time, Zuo Yi received news from one such outpost.
After a day of travel, Ye Huan and his companions arrived at the border under the cover of night. Bathed in the moonlight that shone like a jade plate, they stepped into the Abandoned Wall outpost and stood frozen in place.
Ye Huan had killed before and had seen dead bodies, but when he saw the numerous corpses lying beneath the dilapidated wall—no fewer than a hundred—a wave of nausea surged from his stomach. The sight was particularly harrowing as many of the bodies still oozed fresh blood from their wounds.
"What does the Southern Xiongnu Empire want to achieve?" Zuo Yi's face twisted in rage as he gazed at the corpses. His eyes were bloodshot as he leaped off his horse and rushed to one of the bodies. Upon discovering that all these soldiers had their throats slit, making it impossible for any to be alive, he couldn't help but let out a furious roar.
Ye Huan felt a surge of anger as well, but he knew such atrocities occurred daily along the Huaxia Nation's border. He silently approached Zuo Yi and placed a hand on his shoulder.
At Ye Huan's touch, Zuo Yi seemed to recall something important. He quickly stood up and shouted, "Where are the captains? Get over here!"
As soon as Zuo Yi's voice fell, twenty individuals emerged from the ranks of over two thousand men. Each wore an exceptionally serious expression as they approached Zuo Yi.
Zuo Yi scanned the faces of the captains before drawing his four-foot-long Jagged Blade from behind him. He hurled it toward the crumbling wall, and it spun through the air before embedding itself deeply into the structure. At that moment, Zuo Yi's voice rang out: "Relay my orders! Set up defenses horizontally from where the Ring-Handled Saber is located. If even one Southern Xiongnu soldier crosses this line, you will bring me their heads!"
"Understood!" The captains responded in unison, as if they had rehearsed this countless times. After answering, they swiftly turned and dashed back to their troops. In no time at all, the two thousand soldiers dispersed, leaving only a few behind to bury the bodies of those who had once been stationed here from Sky Star City.
Meanwhile, Zuo Yi began to stride toward the top of the Abandoned Wall, with Ye Huan and his companions hurriedly following behind.
Upon reaching the top of the Abandoned Wall and looking at the Jagged Blade that Zuo Yi had thrown, a question arose in Ye Huan's mind. He turned to Zuo Yi and asked, "Zuo Yi, since those Southern Xiongnu people have killed our soldiers here, will they come back?"
"They will," Zuo Yi replied hoarsely while gazing into the distance. "The first time was merely a probe. When they return and find no one here to defend this position, they'll send more troops to occupy it and gradually push forward into our territory..."
"Push forward into our territory? What kind of joke is that? Isn't our border already clearly defined?" Ye Huan exclaimed in shock upon hearing Zuo Yi's words. It seemed utterly unbelievable; in the Twenty-First Century, if any nation dared to act like this toward its neighbor, it would surely spark a large-scale war between them.
"Of course, it's all divided. Many countries are doing the same, and naturally, the Huaxia Nation and the Southern Xiongnu Empire are no exception. Aren't we constantly encroaching on the Southern Xiongnu Empire's territory along the border?"
This time, before Zuo Yi could speak, Zhang Ren surprisingly chimed in. Zuo Yi glanced at Zhang Ren in astonishment and nodded. He then said, "That's right, it is indeed like that. However, over these past few years, after enduring a consumption more terrifying than war, the soldiers of Sky Star City have dwindled to a point where there aren't enough to sustain this defense line..."
"Then why don't you recruit soldiers?" Without thinking, Ye Huan asked another question. As soon as he finished speaking, images of Sky Star City—a city not much larger than an ordinary village—flooded his mind, and he understood the reason behind it.
Noticing the change in Ye Huan's expression, Zuo Yi sighed and fell silent for a long while.
Thus, they stood on the city wall for most of the night before returning to their makeshift tents to rest. The next day, as the first rays of sunlight illuminated the ruins of the forgotten city wall, Ye Huan and the others immediately crawled out of their tents.
There was no helping it; it was Ye Huan's first encounter with war, and he couldn't sleep even if he wanted to.
After stepping out of the tent and stretching his back with a heavy yawn, Ye Huan looked around and spotted Zuo Yi perched atop the abandoned wall again—he didn't know when he had climbed up. With nothing else to do, Ye Huan decided to join him on the wall. Meanwhile, Weiyang and Zhang Ren seemed to have other thoughts as they ran out of the area enveloped by the ruins. Ye Huan didn't mind that; what concerned him more was when those fellows from the Southern Xiongnu Empire would arrive. After all, Zuo Yi couldn't possibly stand guard on the wall forever.
Lost in thought, Ye Huan approached Zuo Yi's side. Before he could think of something to say, Zuo Yi suddenly spoke up: "Ye Huan, what exactly was that thing you were holding during my duel with Zhang Ren?"
"Uh... can I choose not to answer?" Ye Huan replied hesitantly, unsure why Zuo Yi would bring up the M4A1 assault rifle. He clearly didn't want to disclose anything about his Summoning Book's firearms.
For someone he had just met, Ye Huan felt justified in keeping this information to himself. After all, one could never be too careful; who knew if Zuo Yi had any ulterior motives?
"Haha, if you don't want to say it, that's fine." Zuo Yi chuckled and seemed unconcerned about Ye Huan's response, his gaze still fixed on the distance beyond the Abandoned Wall.
Ye Huan noticed that since arriving at this wall, Zuo Yi's attention had been focused on the Southern Xiongnu Empire side. He couldn't help but mutter to himself: 'Look at him staring; what's so interesting over there?'
After murmuring that to himself, Ye Huan followed suit and looked over as well. However, after a short while, he began to feel bored; the monotonous scenery was hardly captivating.
Just as he was about to look away, a faint black line suddenly rose in the distance across the plain. Ye Huan couldn't help but widen his eyes, pointing in that direction as he exclaimed to Zuo Yi, "Zuo Yi, what is that?"
"Huh?" Following Ye Huan's gesture, Zuo Yi turned to look and then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Enemy attack!" This startled Ye Huan greatly.
Was that the enemy? Staring at the location of the black line, Ye Huan took another glance and felt something was off. However, after Zuo Yi shouted, he had already descended from the Abandoned Wall, leaving Ye Huan with no one to ask. Frustrated, he climbed down from the city wall.
At this moment, the garrison at the Abandoned Wall was in chaos. A large number of soldiers were gathering here, each wielding standardized long swords and clad in heavy armor.
Ye Huan rubbed his eyes, feeling as though he had seen this scene of soldiers densely clustering towards the ruins somewhere before. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly slapped his forehead and remembered that he had just seen a black line on the horizon from the city wall. If these soldiers gathered together and ran as one, wouldn't it create that kind of effect?
As more and more people surged towards the location of the Abandoned Wall, Ye Huan was shocked to realize that if viewed from a distance, over two thousand people would hardly appear as anything more than a black dot!
Understanding this made Ye Huan feel somewhat flustered. He finally spotted Zuo Yi directing soldiers to ascend the Abandoned Wall from afar and hurriedly ran over to him, quickly reaching Zuo Yi's side and grabbing his arm.
"Hey, Ye Huan? Oh right, I almost forgot about you! How about this: you stay in the tent on standby; you don't need to go up to the city wall," Zuo Yi said after being pulled by Ye Huan. He remembered that there was still a young master from the Ye Family in his team and planned to leave.
"No, Zuo Yi, I have something to tell you..." Holding onto Zuo Yi tightly, Ye Huan had no intention of letting go. Regardless of whether Zuo Yi was listening or not, he conveyed all his earlier speculations to him.
"You mean there are many enemies? At least ten times our number?" After hearing Ye Huan's words, Zuo Yi looked incredulous, clearly not believing what Ye Huan had said. However, after thinking it over in his mind, he realized it was indeed true; seeing a black line from afar meant there were definitely quite a few people there, though he couldn't ascertain their exact numbers.
After hesitating for a moment, Zuo Yi pulled over a soldier and ordered him directly, "Quickly return to Sky Star City military camp and tell them we need reinforcements! Whatever troops the lord has available, bring them all!"
"Reinforcements?" Like Zuo Yi earlier, this soldier also wore an expression of disbelief upon hearing Zuo Yi's words. It was no wonder he reacted this way; this time Li Dan had even sent him two thousand-man teams out of fear that Zuo Yi would be short-handed. If they needed reinforcements now, did that mean they were facing a 'small army harassing the border'?
"Just go when I tell you! Stop with the nonsense! Hurry up and ride my horse!" In a state of urgency, Zuo Yi didn't care about much anymore. He shoved the soldier aside and climbed back onto the Abandoned Wall to get a better look at the situation ahead.
Ye Huan followed closely behind, disregarding Zuo Yi's earlier instruction to stay put. After all, he was a Summoner, and he might be able to help in some way.
Upon reaching the Abandoned Wall, Ye Huan's suspicions were confirmed. After some time had passed, Zuo Yi seemed to catch sight of the Southern Xiongnu Empire's banners in the distance. Based on past experiences, he estimated that the enemy had at least five thousand troops visible, not counting any hidden reinforcements or Professionals among them.
Two thousand against five thousand was a significant disparity. Just then, Weiyang and Zhang Ren emerged from somewhere, and upon spotting Ye Huan, they rushed over, shouting, "Ye Huan! It's bad! The enemy is attacking!"
Ye Huan looked at Zhang Ren and Weiyang in disbelief. He suspected they might be spies sent by the enemy; it took them this long to notice the approaching threat. If they were in charge, he feared the two thousand troops would be doomed.
Ignoring the two of them, Ye Huan focused on Zuo Yi, eager to see how he would respond to the situation.
"You go down and relay orders," Zuo Yi commanded. "Tell the centurions that aside from one thousand men to hold this section of the wall, everyone else should form a shield circle at the base of the wall. We must protect the wall from enemy attacks at all costs. Also, bring all bows and arrows up to the wall. As soon as those Southern Xiongnu Empire soldiers reach the base, we will unleash a barrage!"
He pulled a trusted aide close and grabbed a Nine Dragon Flag representing Huaxia Nation from nearby, planting it firmly on the wall while casting a cold gaze toward the distant Southern Xiongnu Emperor's cavalry.
Ye Huan remained silent, unsure of how battles were fought in this world. He stood quietly alongside Zuo Yi as they waited.
From time to time, Zuo Yi stole glances at Ye Huan. He had noticed earlier that Ye Huan had climbed up onto the wall. However, since Ye Huan was not bound by any obligations like him and given his status as a young master, it seemed that Zuo Yi had no choice but to allow him to stay on the wall.
While Zuo Yi wrestled with his thoughts, Ye Huan felt uncomfortable being empty-handed in such a situation. With a flick of his wrist, the 2012 Arms Compendium appeared in his hands. Summoning an M4A1 assault rifle from it made him feel much better.
Meanwhile, Zuo Yi noticed an unusual surge of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy nearby and turned his gaze toward Ye Huan. When he saw Ye Huan still holding the 2012 Arms Compendium, he was taken aback and exclaimed, "Such a large Summoning Book?"
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