316 Chapter 316 (Part 1 of 2)
At Yan Kingdom's southern border, the long line of city defenses emerged in a towering silhouette beneath the glow of dawn. The soldiers standing guard atop the high walls wore cold expressions, their sharp eyes sweeping over the barren land shrouded in yellow sand.
A man in a black cloak and hat stood with his daughter on a mountain peak behind the defenses. His gaze passed over the city walls and settled on the distant sands. Farther ahead, across a stretch of sea, lay the border of Qingyang Nation.
Gongsun Qi stared into the distance, lost in thought. Should he keep going, or turn back?
This wasn't his first time here.
Gongsun Qi remembered being sent to guard the southern border defenses for two years when he first joined the Yan army at sixteen.
During the first year, his younger sister still worried that he wasn't adjusting well, or that someone in the army might bully him. Every month or two, she would travel all the way from Yan's capital to visit.
She would stay for more than ten days and refuse to leave.
The thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl had a wonderful time in this desolate land. Whenever he urged her to return to bustling Yan's capital, she would fall silent, looking glum.
The boy grabbed her and asked, "Is someone in the palace bullying you?"
His sister held it in, but her eyes turned red. Under her brother's questioning, she finally burst into tears, sobbing as she said that the people in Yan's capital didn't like playing with her. After her brother left, she was all alone and scared there. She wasn't happy.
The boy was furious when he heard that. He shouted that he would go back and beat up everyone