Border Pass

Feng Kingdom, the borderlands.

Yellow sand dances across the sky; this is a place where even opening your mouth will get you a mouthful of grit.

Inside a Border Army tent, the rhythmic sound of metal striking metal rings out incessantly.

Clang! Clang-clang! Clang-clang!

Inside the tent, the scorching furnace casts a deep, ruddy glow upon the youth's resolute and upright face.

Bang!

With the final hammer blow, the long halberd he has been forging for nearly half the afternoon is finally nearing completion.

"Li Er Niu, is my long halberd finished yet?!" A rough, booming roar echoes from outside the tent; one can tell just by the sound that it belongs to a burly man.

Li Er Niu, whose real name is Li Qing, is often called Er Niu by the people in the camp because he had two cows back home and an older brother.

Li Qing exhales softly and replies, "It just needs quenching, wait a moment, Centurion!"

Saying this, Li Qing uses both hands to lift the heavy long halberd and slowly submerges the sharp end into a water vat.

Sss!

A massive amount of steam rises up, and before long, the surface of the water is bubbling vigorously.

After a while, Li Qing lifts the long halberd from the water; the sharp edge now reflects a chilling, cold light.

[Successfully forged Mortal-grade Weapon: Fine Iron Battle Halberd, rewarded with five months of lifespan!]

It's getting less and less. It seems that besides Mortal-grade weapons, there must be even more powerful armaments.

Looking at the text information that only he can see, along with the countdown numbers, Li Qing sighs silently in his heart.

Glancing briefly, Li Qing picks up the forged battle halberd and walks out of the tent.

Lifting the curtain, he sees a burly, sturdy man standing outside, his chin and lips covered in a thick, black beard.

"Centurion Chen, why not come inside to wait? The wind and sand are so heavy out here!" Li Qing shows a simple, honest smile and hands over the long halberd.

Chen Meng jokes, "Your tent is as hot as a furnace; only a ghost would want to go in there."

As he speaks, Chen Meng takes the heavy long halberd, feeling the weight of the weapon and the lingering warmth on it, then breaks into a smile.

"Hahaha, not bad, not bad! At this rate, you'll be able to graduate from your apprenticeship before long! Your progress is truly fast!"

Chen Meng swings the long halberd twice in the air, full of vigor.

"Centurion Chen has excellent martial arts!" Li Qing praises him sincerely, his eyes unable to hide a glimmer of envy.

The long halberd that he can barely lift with both hands is being swung with such ease by the other man, his strength truly making him envious.

"Stop buttering me up, kid. Keep working hard and strive to learn all of Master Gu's skills. Master Gu is getting on in years, and in the future, you will be the one to take his place."

After saying this, Chen Meng leaves Li Qing's tent with the long halberd, though he cannot help but wear an incredibly smug smile on his face.

He is grinning so wide his mouth is nearly splitting!

Watching Chen Meng's retreating back, Li Qing slowly retreats into the steamer-like tent, carefully pulling the curtain shut to keep the wind and sand from blowing in.

"Hoo! Seventeen years now..."

Li Qing slumps onto the ground, leaning his back against the iron rack used for storing weapons, and uses a blackened rag to wipe the sweat from his forehead, letting out a long sigh.

He has been in this world for seventeen years in a daze. After transmigrating, he had originally intended to come up with some clever ideas to make money, marry three or four wives, and live out a plain, simple life.

However, he never expected that when he was ten, he would suddenly be able to see a line of numbers.

After spending a few years, he finally confirmed that this line of numbers represented his lifespan.

In his life before this, he never felt that slowly dying of old age was a terrifying thing, until he could clearly see his life beginning to count down—and it started from a short number like fifty-four.

He panicked!

Barely in his teens, he could not accept the fact that he was a short-lived person.

As he grew older, the number became smaller and smaller, and he became more certain that this line of numbers represented his lifespan. In other words, if no other major changes occurred in his life trajectory, he would only live to be sixty-something!

Fortunately, all of this could still be changed. Since being forcibly conscripted into the army as a blacksmith last year, he suddenly discovered that he could gain an increase in lifespan whenever he forged a weapon.

From the beginning, when forging a simple iron sword would grant him a year of lifespan, to now, when successfully forging a Mortal-grade weapon only grants him five months.

Today, the line of numbers before Li Qing's eyes has become 142!

Looking at the number 142, Li Qing cannot help but giggle with satisfaction.

Yes, this means that as long as he remains free of illness and disaster, he can live to be nearly one hundred and sixty years old just by doing nothing!

What an astonishing number!

One must know that in this era, it is already quite good for a normal person to live to sixty or seventy; those who reach eighty are already considered long-lived elders!

Just as Li Qing is feeling smug about his relatively long lifespan, a commotion suddenly erupts outside the tent.

"Quick, quick! A doctor, find a doctor! Call the doctor over!"

The originally peaceful military camp is suddenly disrupted by this urgent cry of alarm.

Hearing the commotion, Li Qing immediately stands up, hurriedly lifts the curtain, and walks out to see what is happening.

He narrowed his eyes, only to see three or four men ahead, each carrying a wounded comrade on their back, hurrying back.

Soon, more and more people emerged from the tents.

"What happened?"

Chen Meng, who had just obtained a suitable weapon, rushed out from the training grounds with his brows tightly furrowed.

"Centurion Chen, bandits! We ran into bandits!" a soldier carrying a wounded man replied breathlessly.

"Bandits?" Chen Meng's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this, followed by a surge of anger in his eyes.

"Damn it, these bandits must have grown guts of steel to actually dare lay a hand on our Wu Li Army!"

Li Qing paid no mind to their discussion, instead staring fixedly at the wounds on the soldiers.

Several sharp arrowheads had nearly pierced through their bodies, and large patches of blood had soaked the clothes beneath their leather armor, a truly jarring sight.

With injuries like these, saving them was essentially impossible.

"Gulp!"

Li Qing couldn't help but swallow hard; his face looked rather pale, and his body trembled involuntarily.

He had been at the frontier for nearly a year and a half, and this was his first time seeing soldiers wounded and on the verge of death.

For such a long time, the borderlands had actually been quite peaceful. Although there were frictions with the neighboring Liang Kingdom, they never escalated into true warfare, as both sides exercised restraint.

Yet, the place where he resided was still the frontier.

Even if war hadn't broken out for a long time, would peace really last forever?

If there were no war, then why keep so many troops stationed at the frontier?

One had to know that bandits and the Border Army generally kept to their own sides, never interfering with one another. Today's attack was somewhat sudden, and it was hard to say if there wasn't some other unusual meaning hidden within it.

Li Qing no longer had the heart to keep watching. He silently returned to his smithy and huddled back down beside the iron rack where he stored weapons, his body still unable to stop trembling.

No!

Although being a blacksmith in the army allowed him to earn a great deal of lifespan, if a war were to break out, this place would become the most dangerous spot of all!

The lifespan earned from forging weapons referred to how long he could live, but if he were to be killed in the meantime, what use was a long life?!

He was merely a blacksmith; while he had a bit of strength, his ability to protect himself in the face of war was practically non-existent.

He had to leave!

He had to get away from the frontier as soon as possible!

This was the only thought currently in Li Qing's mind.

"I was truly too naive."

A new author setting sail with a new book; I humbly request your collections and follows!