Awe Between Life and Death

The night passed quickly.

Unexpectedly, only five blind little monsters had charged in during the night. Apart from that, nothing else had happened.

The terrifying, agonizing night Zhang Yang had imagined never came.

But this was probably normal. There could not be too many monsters in a single area, and besides, he had already taken down three bosses in this area in a row.

With that in mind, Zhang Yang took out twenty units of monster meat, had the soldiers build a fire, and began preparing breakfast.

When the aroma of roasted meat began to fill the air, he saw Spearman Captain Wu Yuan returning with a patrol squad. Every one of them was carrying a large bundle of wood.

At first, Zhang Yang thought the wood was firewood Wu Yuan and the others had gathered. But he soon discovered that this so-called firewood was remarkably uniform—about two meters long, as thick as an arm, with even ends and a fine, sturdy grain. It had clearly been carefully selected.

"Village Chief!"

When they reached Zhang Yang, Wu Yuan and the others unloaded the wood and saluted him in perfect unison. The awe of those below for their superior seemed carved into their very bones. If his earlier guess was correct and these soldiers had once been sealed inside the Village Building Order, then there had to be some reason they dared not resist any order from its holder.

Of course, Zhang Yang only thought this to himself. On the surface, he remained warm and friendly, even stepping forward to pat the dew from Wu Yuan's shoulder.

"You worked hard last night. Come and have breakfast. Hmm, what's all this for?"

"Village Chief, I took some time before dawn to lead men out and cut these down. I plan to carve them all into wooden spears—the kind that can be thrown. Your words yesterday reminded me that our soldiers' means of attack are still too limited when facing those terrifying monsters. If they all master the technique of throwing wooden spears, it will undoubtedly make it easier for us to slaughter those monsters."

Wu Yuan spoke loudly, his expression utterly serious.

Zhang Yang studied him carefully, then burst out laughing. "Good. Let's do that! Do you need me to recruit a craftsman?"

"Village Chief, there's no need. I've always believed that a good soldier's first duty is to familiarize himself with his weapon. If he can't even personally forge the weapon upon which his life depends, then what right does he have to survive on the battlefield? If he dies, he has only himself to blame."

"Eh? That's very reasonable. That's right, I knew I hadn't misjudged you!" Zhang Yang admired Wu Yuan more and more at that moment. It was as if this fellow had been born with the Hero Template. Then, should I unlock the Hero's Trial?

No, he would wait a little longer.

What followed was a pleasant breakfast.

After eating and drinking his fill, Spearman Captain Wu Yuan formally began teaching the soldiers how to throw. The six Elite Archers needed no training, so they were responsible for keeping watch as usual.

The twelve Elite Sword and Shield Soldiers, seven Elite Spearmen, and Zhang Yang all joined the training. Although Zhang Yang claimed to be a mage, everything else was but drifting cloud before survival. As long as he could stay alive, let alone learn to throw wooden spears—even if he had to learn to pick pockets or steal women's underwear, he would do so without hesitation.

However, Wu Yuan's training was truly unconventional. Each of the twenty trainees received ten rough wooden poles and a long saber, then began carving on their own. They could stop whenever they decided their wooden spear was finished.

Though puzzled, Zhang Yang was still extremely earnest. When learning, one naturally had to adopt the right attitude. Muttering loudly about something one knew nothing about, knowing only the what and not the why, would be terribly undignified.

When he began carving, Zhang Yang found it neither particularly easy nor particularly difficult. After all, aside from the lifelong regret of not being a top student, he had always possessed excellent hands-on and destructive abilities. Having a mechanical engineer for a father had not been a joke.

Slash, slash, slash. Before long, Zhang Yang had finished carving his first wooden spear. He felt it had turned out quite well. Perhaps it had something to do with his B-Grade soul strength and E+ strength; the hand holding the saber was exceptionally steady, and the wooden spear he carved was beautiful—smooth enough to reflect light.

But when Wu Yuan walked over, his expression became rather strange.

"Village Chief, forgive my bluntness. Although you carved it very seriously, I believe you lack awe toward this matter. If you still wish to continue learning how to throw wooden spears, I would be so bold as to let you experience what awe truly means."

"Awe?"

Zhang Yang was somewhat puzzled. He considered himself very serious, and he had truly been concentrating with single-minded focus. Just look—even the other soldiers had yet to carve their first wooden spear, and theirs all looked hideous.

"I don't quite understand. Could you explain it more clearly?"

"Village Chief, I'm sorry, but I can't explain it either. I simply feel that you don't hold sufficient awe toward this matter. Please forgive me." Wu Yuan seemed troubled as well, as though fragments of certain memories had gone missing.

This made Zhang Yang even more certain that his earlier guess had been correct.

"All right. Then use whatever way you can express it and let me feel what awe means." Zhang Yang laughed heartily, not taking it to heart.

"Thank you for your understanding, Chief. Please be careful."

Wu Yuan bowed, casually picked up the wooden spear Zhang Yang had just carved, and retreated about a hundred meters before taking up a throwing stance.

To be honest, Zhang Yang still did not pay it much attention at that point. He thought Wu Yuan was simply going to demonstrate by word and example.

But in the next second, when Wu Yuan's body twisted by an almost imperceptible angle and aligned the wooden spear with Zhang Yang, everything changed.

It was as if some great terror descended in an instant. Zhang Yang felt every hair on his body stand on end. His heart stuttered from beating too fast, while everything around him was forcibly severed by an invisible force.

Death. Those two words appeared in Zhang Yang's soul with absolute clarity. He felt as if he had been placed upon a red-hot chopping block, thrown into a world of ice and snow, and cast into the endless abyss of a black inferno.

He could not even cast the Imprisonment Spell. Escape was even more impossible. All he could do was watch helplessly as Wu Yuan threw the wooden spear from a hundred meters away.

"Buzz!"

The wooden spear did not break the sound barrier this time. It merely passed precisely between Zhang Yang's legs and embedded itself in the ground, trembling on its own. He had not suffered the slightest injury, yet it was as if he had truly taken a trip through hell. His soul had nearly been scared out of him; his mind went blank, and his whole body shook. He had almost wet his pants!

Only after several full seconds did Zhang Yang collapse onto his backside, feeling utterly drained. Yet he felt neither embarrassed, enraged, nor humiliated, because he finally understood what Wu Yuan had meant by saying he lacked awe.

It was very simple. What he lacked was awe in the face of death.

He had never truly faced death—not alone, isolated, and utterly helpless before it.

Even when he had killed the first Red Eagle, he had relied on Level One Protection. He might have argued that he had been brave, but that was still far from enough.

At the very least, he had not experienced much of that great terror of facing death directly back then.

"Chief, please punish me!"

Wu Yuan came over and knelt on one knee to ask for punishment.

"N-no... it's fine. I understand. Y-you did well." Zhang Yang could barely get the words out, but he truly understood. After telling Wu Yuan to rise, he silently began carving a second wooden spear. This time, he was still himself, the saber was still the same saber, and the wooden pole was still the same raw pole. Only his attitude had changed.

Before, although he had carved the wooden spear with his whole mind focused on it, he had treated the task as a game in life, a piece of work, or at most an art piece that brought a sense of accomplishment.

So Wu Yuan had been right to say that he lacked awe.

He was the Village Chief. He had Level 2 Protection. He had the Imprisonment Spell. He had soldiers willing to risk their lives for him. Even when he had once felt fear, terror, or worry, it had all been indirect. He had never truly faced the great terror between life and death.

But now, the raw wooden pole in his hands was no longer merely a raw wooden pole. It was his life—the only close companion he could rely on amid the battlefield and between life and death. It was his weapon, even a part of his own body.

This carving trained more than mere technique and more than mere attitude. It was also an inquest into one's will, one's soul, and one's true heart.

Are you ready to face life and death head-on?