Feng Kingdom, Year Twelve of Taiwen, midsummer.
A majestic goshawk swept in from the eastern grasslands. After circling above Wangyuan City several times, it flew back toward the grasslands.
Over the past few years, Feng Kingdom's border fortress had been exceptionally peaceful. The bandits who had once frequently raided grain supplies had not appeared for a long time.
The Wu Li Army stationed at the border had likewise enjoyed several rare years of peace.
Yet peaceful days could not last forever. In the midsummer of that year, Feng Kingdom faced its most terrifying calamity in more than two hundred years since its founding!
On the borderlands where yellow sand still danced through the sky, Wangyuan City was the most important fortress pass along the frontier. Built against two mountain ranges, it was an impassable natural barrier.
In this desolate borderland, painted chiefly in barren shades, Wangyuan City stood like a lone city, quiet and silent.
Inside an outpost beyond the city, two soldiers on duty sat cross-legged, drinking wine as they smiled and talked freely about the future.
"Dazhuang, in a few more years, you'll about be ready to leave the army. Have you thought about what you'll do afterward?"
The soldier called Dazhuang smiled honestly. "I'll use my pay to buy a cow. I'm going home to farm."
The somewhat older veteran soldier also spoke up. "Hehe, you lads who joined the army these past few years really got lucky. You ran into rare good times. Those bandits on the eastern grasslands have been like the dead—they haven't come even once in years."
"If it had been a few years ago, who would've dared bring wine to drink at an outpost like this?"
"Hahaha, enough talk. Let's have a drink together!"
Accompanied by the crisp clink of cups, the