Chapter 1082.3: All People of This World, Pressing Onward Wave After Wave - Part 3

“If you had taken action earlier in that main hall, or... there would be none of these words now.”

Feng Liu took a deep breath. “I, Feng Liu, have genuinely cultivated for a hundred years. In all these hundred years, I have never done anything good. But now, I want to do one good thing.”

Chen Chao frowned and was just about to say something when Feng Liu cut him off. “Before, I would never have thought of dying. Now, I can die.”

Looking at him, Chen Chao said self-mockingly, “With you putting it this way, my trip up the mountain makes me seem somewhat inhuman.”

Feng Liu shook his head and smiled. “That was simply a small scheme I, Feng Liu, set up. I was testing people's hearts and gambling with my life.”

Chen Chao teased, “Not going to take another look?”

Feng Liu looked at Chen Chao and suddenly asked, “Why haven't you asked even now what it would take to make you believe?”

Chen Chao said, “If I asked, wouldn't all my efforts up to now be for nothing?”

Feng Liu merely smiled at this.

He simply stood up and said, “In the next great battle, everyone in the Morning Dew Sect, except for the underage disciples, will head to the Northern Frontier.”

Chen Chao raised his head.

Feng Liu continued on his own with a smile, “And when the time comes, I will give you a Fuyun Realm cultivator.”

Chen Chao said nothing. He simply stood up and bowed to Feng Liu.

Feng Liu reached out and raised Chen Chao's hands, shaking his head. “We are all people of this world.”

......

......

Every time there is a battle in the Northern Frontier, apart from the dead, there is actually another consequence: some veteran soldiers will leave the frontier army because their injuries are too severe.

In the past, those veteran soldiers who left the frontier army would receive a sum of compensation from the imperial court, but after that, the court would no longer concern itself with them. Only after the current Great Liang Emperor ascended the throne were new laws introduced. Not only would veteran soldiers receive a substantial sum of compensation, they would also receive monthly support, with the local government providing for and caring for them. After their deaths, if they had no children or relatives, the local government would also handle their funeral arrangements on their behalf.

Xinliu Prefecture had previously had schools funded by the government, and there had originally been plans to establish the same thing in the south. After an argument in the court, and then with another war breaking out, the matter was shelved.

After this great battle with the demon race, more than ten thousand veteran soldiers in the Northern Frontier were unable to remain in the frontier army because of severe injuries and had no choice but to leave.

For the journey south, the General's Office sent people to escort them as far as Changping Prefecture, after which they were handed over to the imperial court officials from the Divine Capital.

Afterward, apart from officials escorting the veteran soldiers back to their respective hometowns, the local governments would all receive notices and enter them into the records. From then on, they would begin providing monthly support and care for them.

In earlier years, the veteran soldiers returning home to Xinliu Prefecture received the warmest welcomes. The local government would notify the nearby neighbors in advance, and when the veteran soldiers returned home, firecrackers would be set off to welcome them, along with a grand banquet. In recent years, several prefectures in the south had gradually begun doing the same, but compared with Xinliu Prefecture, they still fell somewhat short.

......

......

Ji Lin was only 28 years old this year. He had spent exactly three years in the frontier army when he happened to encounter that great battle. On the city wall, Ji Lin killed two members of the demon race, but one of them also severed his right hand.

Without his right hand, he could no longer wield a saber. Although he was still young, it would be difficult for him to remain in the frontier army.

When heading south, Ji Lin declined the escort offered by the General's Office and the Divine Capital, choosing instead to make his way south alone. It was also because the demon troubles in recent years were not as severe as they had been before that Ji Lin's journey south remained relatively safe.

After walking for more than half a month, when Ji Lin finally reached a small county town in the southern part of Changping Prefecture, his pace grew slower and slower.

His family lived in a place called Lishui County.

After crossing the final mountain ridge and descending from there, he would reach the county town at the foot of the mountain. But when Ji Lin reached the mountaintop, he sat down on a large rock.

He gazed from afar at the county town below.

He still remembered what he had said to that girl when he left home.

“Once I go to the Northern Frontier, I’ll kill a lot of demons. Give me eight or ten years, and I’ll definitely become a general. Then I’ll come back and marry you. I’ll definitely make a huge celebration out of it!”

That was truly what he had thought back then. But now, Ji Lin looked at his empty sleeve and did not know how he was supposed to face that girl.

He had killed only two members of the demon race, and had not even become a squad leader. Now he had come back. Although he had some money, he seemed to have no confidence left to go see that girl.

When he had been returning, he had wanted to write her a letter along the way, telling her that whether she was still waiting for him or not, she should stop waiting. But in the end, he simply could not bear to.

Even though he felt that the current him was no longer worthy of her, he still could not bear to.

But he could not bear to, and yet he had already come here. Should he not go back and see her after all?

That was what Ji Lin thought, but he did not dare do it.

Gritting his teeth, he was about to descend the mountain, but not in this direction. Instead, he intended to turn back.

There was no one left at home anyway. His two older brothers had long since died on the battlefield. Apart from an empty house, there was nothing else at home. At worst, he simply would not go back. He could find another place and spend the rest of his life there.

But just as he turned around, a disappointed voice came from the grass. “Ji Lin, are you unwilling to even see me once?”

Ji Lin froze where he stood, unable to say a word.

A pretty young woman walked out of the grass. News of his return home had already reached her, and she had been waiting here for a long time.

As she walked out, the woman's eyes immediately fell upon his empty sleeve, and her eyes filled with heartache.

The woman said nothing. She simply reached out and took Ji Lin's left hand.

“Come home with me.”

The woman led him down the mountain.

Ji Lin's eyes grew moist.

“Does it hurt?”

As they descended the mountain, the woman asked.

“It healed long ago. Why would it still hurt?”

“Oh. I killed two members of the demon race, but I didn't become a general. I didn't even become a squad leader, and I lost a hand too. I'm sorry.”

“What’s the point of saying all this. How about coming to my family tomorrow to ask for my hand in marriage? Father already agreed long ago.”

“Would it...”

“Killing two members of the demon race is already impressive.”

“It's all right.”

The two descended the mountain and happened to encounter a group of young people on the mountain path, dressed in the uniforms of the prefectural army.

Ji Lin was wearing the uniform of the frontier army.

So the people on the other side looked at him a few extra times, and Ji Lin also glanced at them a few times.

They had enlisted and were going to the prefectural government office first.

......

......

Meanwhile, at the prefectural government office, there was also an infantry unit making its way to the Northern Frontier.

......

......

Just before they reached the county town, the woman rolled her eyes. “Ji Lin, you made me wait all these years. I'm almost not pretty anymore.”

Just before they reached the county town, the woman rolled her eyes. “Ji Lin, you made me wait all these years. I'm almost not pretty anymore.”

The woman asked, “Do you regret not being able to marry me when I was at my prettiest?”

Ji Lin thought about it and asked, “The truth or a lie?”

The girl did not speak.

So Ji Lin did not speak either.

How could he possibly regret it?