Lin Tiejun rubbed his eyes, then pinched his thigh hard.
Damn!
That hurt like hell!
The sharp pain proved this was no dream.
Lin Tiejun looked up again, staring fixedly at the plaque on the wall.
[Pillar of the Country]!
The exact same golden-thread nanmu, the exact same brushstrokes, the exact same grandeur that seemed to command mountains and rivers!
How could a second one be here?
Lin Tiejun's breathing instantly grew ragged.
Since its founding, the entire Dragon Kingdom had awarded only ten of these!
Each represented an unparalleled military achievement worthy of the history books, a glory that would shine for ages!
Every recipient was a legend in the armed forces, a towering figure who had truly built a steel great wall for the Dragon Kingdom with flesh and blood!
He had thought seeing his old regimental commander's plaque with his own eyes during his lifetime was already the blessing of three lifetimes.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he would see a second one in a villa atop Jade Spring Mountain!
Could it be...
An utterly absurd thought rose uncontrollably from the depths of his heart.
Could this plainly dressed old man, who called himself "Elder Brother Xu," be the owner of this second plaque?
"Elder Brother Xu, you..."
Lin Tiejun was about to speak, but the words caught in his throat.
Whoosh!
His gaze was drawn irresistibly to a wall of photographs beside the plaque.
Dozens of photographs hung on that wall.
Some were black and white, others in color, tracing one man's entire life from youth to old age.
And without exception, the subject of every photograph was this "Elder Brother Xu"!
The earliest photograph had already yellowed.
In it, he was still a boy soldier with a youthful face, dressed in an