The xican Plateau in late autumn was still covered with lush long grass and evergreen trees that never shed their leaves. Large flocks of migratory birds returned from the cold north, hovering over the distant mountains and forests, gazing at the bustling scene here, calling chaotically. Based on their limited lifeti experience, such large-scale activities of the bipeds always ant food to be found. Sotis it was grains, and sotis it was dead bodies... Of course, there were also dangers here, especially those red-headed hunters with excellent archery skills.
"Oh Chief Divine! So many big birds, if only I could shoot one down and have a feast... Tsk tsk! What a pity, I don’t have any skilled Canine Descendants under my command... Curse those archery bastards and mongrels, they shot my eye blind! Otherwise, I would have been a Fourth Level Samurai, maybe even a Military rit Nobility..."
The leader of the garrison, Tai Shishan, slightly tilted his head, looked up at the sky, spat, and then looked towards the road ahead. On these secondary county roads built last year, he walked both quickly and steadily, and before long, a sizable envoy station appeared before his eyes.
To call it an envoy station was generous; it was actually a large expanse of simple shacks without even a proper wooden house, only a wooden longhouse that was half-constructed. Wisps of smoke rose from the large open space between the shacks and the longhouse, bringing with them a distant aroma of grains.
"Oh Chief Divine! This is wonderful!..."
However, seeing this newly built and simple envoy station, garrison leader Tai Shishan licked his lips with envy. He knew that this station had a well of excellent quality, dug deep enough to provide a stable water source; a very deep and large cellar, used to preserve the transported grains; and a specially guarded wooden shed, storing precious tal tools... And all of this belonged to the station master, the retired Fourth Level Veteran Warrior, Lo the One-ard!
"Praise the Chief Divine! Lo the One-ard, how’s today’s lunch going? The able-bodied n in the village worked hard all morning, they need to eat their fill!"
"Praise the Chief Divine! It’s in progress in the kitchen. Plenty of your pumpkin cakes and bean paste have been prepared. They’ll be ready very soon!"
At the entrance of the envoy station, a strong one-ard warrior grinned at Tai Shishan, who was blind in one eye, holding the golden amulet around his neck, praying devoutly. Then, he turned around and walked towards the open-air kitchen at the back. With so many people to feed, the piles and piles of grains had to be cooked outside, they wouldn’t fit in the small shed of the station.
The strong one-ard warrior was called "Lo the One-ard," his real na unknown, as that’s what everyone called him. He didn’t care much about having just one arm; in fact, he was quite proud, often recounting how he got injured in battle.
Lo the One-ard’s face was covered with many small scars, like corn cakes sprinkled with chili strips, or patched-up rags, giving a sinister and eerie appearance. His smile was stiff, looking even more fierce than when he wasn’t smiling. His accent was peculiar, always carrying a hint of the Southern Kingdom, reminiscent of the mountain forest villagers. The only thing that made him seem approachable was the solid gold Sun Amulet around his neck, said to be personally awarded by His Majesty for his military achievents!
"A pure gold amulet! Personally awarded by His Majesty! ... Truly remarkable! ..."
The garrison leader Tai Shishan widened his eyes, couldn’t help but glance again at the glittering Sun Amulet on Lo the One-ard’s neck. As for the other’s sinister appearance and strange accent, he had long since grown accustod.
He knew that Lo the One-ard was not a Prepetcha but a warrior from the Tecos Tribe in the southern mountain forests, drafted into the Kingdom’s army and even joining the Imperial Guard Legion personally led by His Majesty! Within the Imperial Guard Legion, Lo the One-ard’s regint, like many other Tecos warriors, was known for bravery and piety, part of the vanguard throwing grenades known as the "Divine Power Globes"!
"Oh Chief Divine! The Divine Power globes, the thunder’s roar, with just a touch, if not dead, surely maid! ..."
Recalling the throwing and explosions seen during the northern campaign, Tai Shishan’s heart trembled, and he looked at Lo the One-ard with even more respect. He boasted that his scarred face and half-broken arm were from being the first to climb the city wall of Water Valley during the expedition against the Telascallan, where a Divine Power Globe he threw exploded and injured him. Along with many other Telascallan warriors atop the city wall who were killed or injured!
"According to Kingdom law, being the first to mount and kill in battle earns top military rit. Throwing the Divine Power Globes also counts as substantial rit! The vanguard throwing regint of the Imperial Guard Legion is truly a path to heaven that gambles with life! ..."
Thinking of this, the garrison leader Tai Shishan looked at the vast envoy station and then at the fields surrounding it, unable to suppress his envy.
He knew that after surviving the brutal vanguard siege, Lo the One-ard, along with the surviving vanguard throwers, was collectively awarded a pure gold Sun Amulet and promoted to a Fourth Level Kingdom Warrior! This warrior rank was one level higher than his own Third Level Warrior status.
According to the Kingdom’s military rit rewards, a Fourth Level Veteran Warrior should be granted 240 mu of land and 12 servants. Yet the Chief Divine’s protection, he returned to the Kingdom at just the right ti, coinciding with the establishnt of envoy stations, and was thus granted the position of station master and a fief.
"Blessings from the Chief Divine! The position of station manager with its fief... it’s almost on par with a First Level Military rit Nnobility!"
Indeed! According to the latest laws of the Kingdom, the position of a station manager is no ordinary petty official, but an actual title that manages a section of the road! This title ranks between a Fourth Level Veteran Warrior and a First Level Military rit Nnobility. As long as there are no major oversights, it can be inherited!
"On the Second Level County roads of the Kingdom, every twenty or thirty miles, there is a relay station. Each station has one manager, two or three Samurai, around ten Militia, and thirty servants and agricultural slaves, maintaining the roads for about twenty or thirty miles around! ... And Luoding’s fief is 400 acres around the station! In the station, the well, tools, and houses are all ready-made, along with the Kingdom’s rewards... As long as nothing goes wrong, this position and the land can be passed on to his son... Tsk tsk! Really makes one green with envy!"
"It is said that this one station manager position was originally eyed by several Veteran Warriors of the Capital County, who wanted to compete for it. But Luoding, though a Tekos, cos from the Imperial Guard Legion and has earned rit as the Vanguard, outshining the others..."
"Hmm, with a relay station set here, accompanied by a small squad of soldiers, the traffic around has improved, making it a bit more stable..."
Tun Tian Leader Taishan thought enviously as he followed the station manager Luoding into the bustling, grain-scented station. Though he didn’t understand grand principles, he very well knew that extended roads eased military movent. And with these stations established, the roots of the Kingdom’s rule would deepen...
"Whoa! It’s lively here!"
Taishan entered the busy cooking crowd, looking around, and smiled greetings at two other similarly unspeaking Tekos Warriors.
"Luocang! Luojing! Have you gone hunting in the forest recently?"
Hearing Taishan’s question, the taller Luocang, carrying a Hunting Bow, said nothing and just shook his head. The shorter Luojing, however, smiled and replied in broken Prepetcha.
"No! Too much work, busy... Gotta oversee the station, no ti."
Luocang and Luojing, these two Tekos Warriors, were actually relatives of Luoding, also younger cousins from the tribes of the southern mountain forest. Luoding, never having married, was stationed here and brought his two cousins along. They originated from the southern tribes of Tekos, originally having no surna, only nas based on birds, beasts, plant life, or tribal encampnts. "Cang" was born by the granary, and "Jing" by the wellhead, or conceived there. Simple, innocent, and wild.
As for the surna "Luo," it was adopted by Luoding upon joining the Imperial Guard Legion, taking a character from His Majesty Xiulote as the surna. As a matter of fact, within the two-thousand-strong Tekos camp of the Imperial Guard Legion, nearly everyone had the surna Luo! Notably, "Xiu" (Xo) ans "Walking Light," a royal surna imbued with Divinity, which must not be used carelessly!
At this mont, Tun Tian Leader Taishan wasn’t thinking about any of that. He looked at the two before him, tugged his hair, and asked hesitantly.
"Expecting troops? Where are they from? We’re right on the edge of Capital County; any troops from Rivermouth County wouldn’t pass this way, would they? ... Could it be from the Canine Descendants Tribes at the rear? Or from Capital County?"
"Yes! Witness of the Chief Divine, they aren’t the Red Hair, bow-carrying hunters, but troops from Capital County! Uh... It’s sothing like that, from the east, also bow-carrying tribesn..."
"From the east, bow-carrying, and with excellent archery!"
The shorter Luojing stamred, gesturing but unable to clarify. The taller Luocang, anwhile, touched the Bow and Arrow on his back, steering the conversation towards archery. At this point, overhearing the three’s dialogue, station manager Luoding ca over from the open-air kitchen. He glanced at Taishan, thought of sothing, and said gravely.
"Tai... shan. Kingdom’s Scout delivered news. Troops to pass by at noon... Pumpkin, bean paste are sufficient. Cornbread, not enough. Cornbread from your village must be given to the southern Tecos Warriors from Tlaxcala first!"
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