A Ten-Year Chronicle of Northern Frontier Geography

This book is the third one besides "Rules" and "Affairs". It is generally vague. Now it has jumped out without revealing its form. It just rotates above Qiu Yan's head. The soldiers and doctors around him felt their hearts skip a beat and felt an inexplicable pressure. But apart from that, they did not find anything else.

However, Lord Shi and his party, who were walking back outside the tent, all sensed something and turned to look at the tent, their expressions varying.

Finally, the general shook his head and said, "Never mind, no need to say more. Let's leave first; there's no point in staying here."

Having said this, even though Yang Zhong and the others wanted to enter the tent to take a look, they couldn't bring themselves to ask and could only leave with them.

Inside the tent, Qiu Yan stood in front of Old Kai, staring solemnly at the book in his hands.

The booklet was filled with writing and illustrations, but the writing was crooked and illegible, making it unpresentable to any scholar. The illustrations were even more chaotic, with only a vague outline discernible.

The words and the image, taken individually, are difficult to understand, but when placed together and compared, they become quite different.

The nearby doctor and several wounded soldiers glanced at the booklet and could see its contents, but they couldn't understand it; it seemed like a jumbled mess of ink.

However, in Qiu Yan's eyes, this tangled mess was rising, breaking down, and reorganizing, page by page moving without wind, with ink spots rising in his field of vision, lines intersecting, intertwining, turning, undulating, rising and falling, outlining mountains, rivers, Grasslands and deserts.

At the edge of the landscape of mountains, rivers, grass, and sand, fragments of text emerge. The characters are poorly written, distorted, and contain errors, but when combined with the scenery, they shine with a unique brilliance!

"The illustrations in this book depict the geographical distribution of the Northern Frontier border region, while the written text serves as explanations and annotations."

As time went by, all the pages of the book were turned. The contents were imprinted in Qiu Yan's heart, constructing a vast landscape of mountains and rivers within him.

This land radiates north and south from the Northern Frontier of the Great Rui.

The passage describes a section of northern Great Rui with appropriate detail and clarity. In some places, it even depicts local customs and traditions, suggesting that the author must have consulted with the local people.

In addition, it provides a general account of the villages and towns along the route, detailing the number of raids, the extent of losses, and the number of deaths and injuries that occurred over the past ten years.

Undoubtedly, most of these losses were due to the invasion of the Hu people from the south, and a small number were due to deserters and scattered soldiers from the Great Rui government. The defeated soldiers, demoralized and confused, were sometimes more ferocious than their enemies.

"It's no easy task to compile such data; it requires a great deal of patience and a very long time. Judging from the handwriting, it wasn't written by one person. Old Kai said that he and his second brother were both somewhat educated, which is probably why. In addition, the brothers he mentioned must have also made contributions."

The seemingly simple data contains profound secrets; by analyzing this data, we can deduce the patterns of the Hu Tribe's invasions over the past decade or so.

It is very meaningful to grasp this pattern. It can even lead to deeper deductions.

On the other hand, the geographical scenery northward from the central axis of the Great Rui Northern Frontier is also recorded in the book, but compared with the south, there are some omissions. In some places, the handwriting and lines are messy and chaotic, indicating that it was drawn and written quickly in a short time under urgent circumstances. There are many errors and omissions, reflecting the writer's panicked state of mind.

But aside from these flaws, the book is rich in content, covering everything from grasslands, dense forests, and hills to deserts and lakes, and even marking the locations of some Grasslands tribes.

However, many of these tribes have annotations indicating their time of existence and whereabouts. Most of them migrated away due to war or climate reasons, and only a small number of powerful tribes were able to settle down by occupying fertile pastures and lands.

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to the migrating and settling tribes, the book also mentions several other tribes and records their approximate migration routes. This information is invaluable. Not to mention its military value, it is an important document for studying the changes and rise and fall of Grasslands tribes, and it is priceless to Historians' School!

"Recording the geography of the Great Rui region south of the Northern Frontier is arduous, but not particularly dangerous. However, the geography north of the Northern Frontier is not so easy to record. Ordinary people have neither the opportunity nor the courage to go there. Old Kai and others have to travel with the army to have any chance, but ambushes and attacks could occur at any time. Life is already precarious. Even seasoned veterans have to be cautious and walk on thin ice. In such an environment, what kind of nerves and unwavering will would be required to observe, record, and annotate the geographical features?"

Thinking of all this, Qiu Yan's gaze fell once again on Old Kai, who had already closed his eyes, but this time, his opinion of Old Kai had undergone a complete change.

Previously, although he had offered assistance, it was actually out of consideration for Karma Fortune connections and his desire to investigate further. That's why he made his move. He didn't have any particular opinion about Old Kai himself; he neither thought highly of him nor looked down on him.

But now that I've seen this book and recalled his words, the events before and after have become much clearer in my mind.

"Xiao Jian and the soldiers all say that Old Kai is a coward, afraid of death on the battlefield. If that's the case, why does he fight in every battle? Wouldn't it be better for him to desert early and save his life? If he were truly a coward, he would rather flee, be captured by the court, or even defect to a foreign tribe than take up a sword and fight face to face..."

As Qiu Yan pondered, he seemed to see Old Kai amidst the clash of swords and the shadows of war, enduring threats to his life while also suffering misunderstandings, insults, and beatings from his comrades. During this time, relatives, friends, and comrades-in-arms died one after another, leaving him all alone, his mind and body suffering double torment.

But these experiences did not distort their original intentions; ultimately, it all boiled down to one sentence—

As long as it's useful.

"Some people live in peace and enjoy wealth and honor, holding extraordinary positions and commanding great influence, but when faced with the slightest trouble, they complain and blame others, even taking their anger out on the entire clan. Their hearts and minds are no better than a soldier's! The differences in Human Path are indeed countless."

The Three Souls within Old Kai's body slowly seeped into the earth, heading towards the Yin-Yang Road in the Netherworld. Qiu Yan's heart was filled with reverence and heaviness.

Suddenly, the Yin-Yang Road appeared, extending several shackles!

The shackles were blood-red, and menacing figures emerged from them, tugging at Old Kai's Three Souls.

"When one clan rises, another falls; those who bring about the turning point are the ones who bear the Karmic Sin?"

A glint of light flashed in Qiu Yan's eyes, and a point of Divine Radiance suddenly appeared in the Yin-Yang Road, enveloping Old Kai's Three Souls, condensing them into a single beam, and then sinking into the Yin-Yang Road, disappearing into the depths of the soil.

"If Old Kai is treated like this, then his brothers and comrades-in-arms he mentioned before are probably in similar situations. I can protect Old Kai for now, but I can't help the others. We need to address the root cause as well as the symptoms. Perhaps we should find a breakthrough point... Hmm, Tulang Tribe..."

As Qiu Yan pondered, a landscape of mountains and rivers appeared in his mind, clearly representing the northern and southern borders. The contents recorded in the book were brought to life, with words flowing and shining brightly within the mountains and rivers, serving as annotations and commentaries.

This scene appeared, overlapping with the rudimentary form of the ancient book floating overhead. The book expanded, instantly covering the landscape, then merged into it, and after shrinking, it shrank back to the size of a book.

However, a blurry word on the cover slowly took shape and eventually settled down.

Shockingly, it's the word ""!

This is the third part of the Essentials of the Military Classics: the Geography Section!

The book trembled, the pages shifted, and between the gaps, it seemed as if mountains were sealed inside, or as if rivers and lakes were about to flow out, but they were all pressed down and clamped, preventing them from expanding and revealing themselves.

With a thought, Qiu Yan's trembling Geography Section returned to the heavens, sank into the soul, and merged into the projection of the Humanistic Fire Seed.

Within that Fire Seed, the complete "System" section and the "Events" section, which was just one step away from completion, floated. The two classics rotated relative to each other, exhibiting a sense of balance. Now, the "Carriage" section, which had surpassed its initial form and was beginning to emerge from its framework, returned and immediately joined the two, breaking the balance. Then, it was rebuilt, forming a tripartite balance.

Soon, amidst the intertwining auras of the three classic texts, at the center of the three books, a book that was extremely blurry, seemingly formed from a cloud of mist, slowly took shape, appearing both real and unreal, seemingly both present and absent.

At this moment, Qiu Yan had shifted his attention away from his soul and stared at Old Kai for a while, sorting out the cause and effect. Finally, his thoughts stopped on the three words "Tulang Tribe".

"Young Master Tu Lang's loss of my hand was originally part of the plan for this expedition beyond the Great Wall, but it has involved many other things. The Karma are intertwined, and a lifetime of hard work cannot compare to the thought of one person in a moment."

In reality, even if Qiu Yan hadn't killed Bu Yichi, the Tulang Tribe or other tribes would still have attacked the military camp. This was already predetermined the moment the Left Wise King's Tribe was defeated and destroyed; the root cause was the confrontation between the Central Plains and the Grasslands.

"But ultimately, I played a part in it, so we can't let it go easily."

A spark of Heart Fire ignites, staining the blood with crimson.

"One general's success is built on the Myriad Bone Wither. To achieve this, countless people have offered their opinions and used others as pawns. But people are not inanimate objects; they are all different. Bai Zhaoyuan's words have indeed come true. Now it seems we may have to fight again, but before that..."

As he pondered, Qiu Yan raised his hand, extended a finger, and touched the dirty booklet. His hand shone with light, and with a flick of his wrist, he wrote the three characters "Northern Frontier Gazetteer".

He paused, then wrote "Kai Wei" in a corner of the cover, pondered for a moment, and added "etc."

The book, which would later have a significant influence on Historians' School, was thus named "The Northern Frontier Gazetteer".

"You gave me this book, I will surely repay your kindness, and I will wait for you in the Nine Netherworlds..."

After doing all this, Qiu Yan let out a long sigh of relief. His thoughts shifted again, his muscles and bones trembled, and surging Qi and Blood spread from his pores, flowing backward along the nearby causal Karma, and pouring into the bodies of the wounded soldiers present.

The wounded man's weakness and decline vanished, and his wounds healed rapidly. Although no limbs regenerated, the bleeding at the fracture site stopped immediately, and his bones and muscles were reassembled.

"This is..." The wounded soldiers, who had been writhing and groaning in pain, widened their eyes in disbelief. (To be continued...)

P. S.: Thank you to "rler1107" and "Twenty Moons" for the donations!

The outbreak will continue tomorrow!