Chapter 92: I’m Done Speaking

Chapter 92: Chapter 92: I’m Done Speaking

He charged into the enemy lines without hesitation, locking into a thrilling, life-and-death struggle. In the heat of the fierce battle, swords clashed, and the battle cries were deafening.

Relying on his agility and sheer willpower, Ling Qianjun repeatedly dodged the enemies’ lethal attacks, delivering fierce counterstrikes in return. He constantly recalled the defensive maneuvers and spearmanship his grandfather and father had taught him. He didn’t dare to stop for a single moment, let alone lose focus, because on the battlefield, the moment your mind wandered, the only thing waiting for you was death.

However, during one of their charges, he was struck by an enemy weapon, and blood immediately poured from his wound. To the enemy, no matter how highly skilled he was in martial arts, it was still his first time in actual combat. He left many openings and lacked the ruthless decisiveness of a seasoned veteran. He was a step too slow, and that gave the enemy an opening to strike. An intense burst of pain washed over him, but he gritted his teeth, forcing down the agony as he valiantly fought on.

Blood and flesh flew across the battlefield as both sides suffered heavy casualties. Yet Ling Qianjun and his fellow soldiers never gave up. They used their very lives to defend the dignity and honor of Dongxuan Country. Ultimately, under their stubborn resistance, the enemy forces began to lose ground, fleeing the battlefield in complete disarray.

Gazing at the blood-soaked ruin and the exhausted but resolute faces of the soldiers, a surge of unprecedented pride swelled in Ling Qianjun’s heart. His grandfather and father had watched everything unfold and stepped forward to praise him. He still remembered their words to this day.

His grandfather had patted his shoulder, looking both proud and gratified. "You are truly a child of the Ling family. To show the demeanor of a great general on your very first time on the battlefield!

"Jun’er, you must remember that the battlefield is a slaughterhouse. Once you set foot on it, you must remain calm. Do not be intimidated by the enemy’s momentum. Trust in your own strength, and trust the comrades at your back. The Ling Family Army will always be your shield."

Frowning at his wound, his father had said, "Jun’er, you still need to practice diligently. A tiny flaw on your end will become a fatal weakness on the battlefield. Troops are trained for a thousand days for a single battle. You must never slack off."

In that moment, he understood the true meaning of responsibility and bravery. From then on, his own journey in the Northern Land truly began.

Ling Qianjun stopped speaking. The surroundings remained entirely silent, save for the CRACKLE and POP of the burning firewood.

"I’m finished," he added after a moment of thought, wrapping up his story.

Only then did everyone finally snap back to reality. By now, Xu Panqing was completely in tears. She raised her hands to constantly wipe her face, drying one cheek only for tears to stream down the other. She simply couldn’t stop crying, because she was thinking of her own husband—Ling Qianjun’s father.

She had so often watched him mount his towering horse and head off to the Northern Land without looking back. Every time he returned, he would pretend that nothing was wrong, looking as majestic and imposing as ever. But when night fell and they returned to their room, she would see the crisscrossing scars of varying depths across his body. Only then would she realize that he had lied to her once again. He only ever reported the good news in his letters, keeping the bad to himself. And even when he came back, he never breathed a word about the severity of his injuries!

On the other hand, Ling Qianfan’s admiration for Ling Qianjun deepened even further after hearing the story. He thought Qianjun was simply amazing. When he was little, his grandfather and father had told him to follow them to the battlefield once he grew up, and he had run away on the spot. His father had even chased him down two streets to give him a severe thrashing with a cane. Just thinking about that stinging pain made him wince even now.