Chapter 620 - 370: The Great Banner

SWISH~

Gao Lingwei waved her right hand, and faint white motes of light quietly appeared, illuminating the pitch-black dorm room.

Gao Lingwei checked the time. It was 11:30 PM.

She turned to look at the person sleeping soundly on the bed. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided not to wake Rong Taotao and started getting dressed herself.

Tonight was their first mission as members of the Cyan Mountain Army. They were to head to the northern wall of Wan’an Pass to stand guard.

Wan’an Pass was massive, and it wasn’t just the pass that needed guarding; the walls stretching out to the east and west had to be manned as well.

However, that wasn’t something Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei needed to worry about. The Cyan Mountain Army’s post was fixed—directly above the main gatehouse of Wan’an Pass!

This spot was incredible. Above their heads would be the giant plaque of Wan’an Pass, and beneath their feet, its massive main gate.

The Guard Army at Wan’an Pass was vast and numerous. For the Cyan Mountain Army, with barely enough members to fill two card tables, to be assigned to this central position was something Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao had never expected.

Gao Lingwei pulled on her black military boots, finished dressing, and fastened the black mask over the lower half of her face. Only then did she turn to look at Rong Taotao, who was still fast asleep on the bed.

Seeing how soundly he was sleeping, Gao Lingwei felt a pang of reluctance to disturb his dreams, but...

"Taotao... Taotao?"

"Huh?" Rong Taotao groggily opened his eyes. In his dream, he had been at Gao Lingwei’s parents’ home in Songbai Town.

The dining table was laden with dishes personally cooked by Auntie Cheng Yuan. Rong Taotao had just ladled the thick, savory sauce from the braised pork over his fragrant rice. Before he could even take a bite, how did his bowl suddenly disappear?

In his line of sight, the fragrant bowl of braised pork over rice transformed into Gao Lingwei’s face.

Her pair of dark eyes, illuminated by the White Lantern Paper Cage, shimmered with a peculiar light.

"Ah, Da Wei." Rong Taotao sat up and scratched his head, his heart filled with regret.

’Damn it, I was so close!’

’Next time, I’ll definitely use less sauce and just take a few bites first...’

"Get dressed. It’s time to go." Of course, Gao Lingwei had no idea what she had just interrupted. She spoke casually as she walked to the door and flipped on the room’s light switch.

"Oh... right, guard duty." Rong Taotao finally remembered. He picked up the phone by his pillow, turned off the alarm before it could ring, and reached out to catch the white sweater Gao Lingwei threw to him.

As he got dressed, he said, "Twelve hours on duty, sixty hours off. That’s like working half a day and then resting for two and a half. This mission’s intensity isn’t too high, is it?"

"Mhm." Gao Lingwei leaned against the door, her voice muffled by the lower half of her mask. "This is Wan’an Pass, after all—the absolute front line. It’s essential to maintain the soldiers’ mental well-being.

"Besides, those two and a half days off aren’t really rest. We’re on standby. We have to be ready for battle and available at a moment’s notice."

In fact, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei had overlooked the most difficult aspect of guard duty at the Third Wall: the climate.

For an ordinary person, standing for even half an hour in the vast, blowing snow would be enough to freeze them senseless, let alone for twelve hours.

But Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei’s Soul Technique: Heart of the Snow Realm had both reached the four-star level. Their resistance to the bitter cold and snow was extremely high, so they could endure the twelve-hour shift.

Once Rong Taotao was dressed, the two of them left the dorm room, one after the other.

Their room was located in the innermost part of the small stone building. The moment they stepped out, they saw Cheng Jiangjie and his two companions at the far end of the corridor. They were already in uniform and standing by the exit, clearly waiting for them.

"Sorry, sorry, we’re late," Rong Taotao apologized profusely as he hurried over.

"You’re not late. Right on time," Cheng Jiangjie said. The group of five quickly exited the headquarters and headed for the northern wall, braving the wind and snow.

A small hiccup occurred as they were ascending the gatehouse. Cheng Jiangjie and the others showed the soldiers their Cyan Mountain Army credentials, while Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei presented credentials for the Twelfth Squad.

However, the soldiers on duty had clearly been briefed. They didn’t give Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei any trouble. Instead, with varied expressions, they watched the two youths ascend the gatehouse.

’Lady Xu Fenghua’s son and Officer Gao Qingchen’s daughter.’

’Rumor has it these two scions were parachuted into the Cyan Mountain Army on the Commander-in-Chief’s orders. Looks like there might be hope for the Cyan Mountain Army to be rebuilt after all...’

It was only when Rong Taotao set foot on the gatehouse that he realized it was far larger than he had ever imagined.

A wall over twenty meters high and nearly eight meters wide was no joke. What’s more, their post was on the northern face of the gatehouse, which was far wider than a mere eight meters. It was a massive stone edifice with many rooms inside where countless soldiers were resting.

Rong Taotao was filled with a childlike curiosity. He gazed at the gatehouse, lit by Luminous Lantern Paper Cages, and inquisitively took in this strange new world.

There were so many things in this world that he had only ever seen from a distance or heard about, but never truly experienced up close.

Just as he had once imagined himself standing guard with the Wan’an Pass plaque over his head and the main gate directly under his feet, it was only now that he was actually on the wall that he realized his own ignorance.

’Stand on the gate? With what?’

’Standing here, I feel terrifyingly insignificant...’

Soldiers were posted in most of the gaps between the crenellations. The pair followed Cheng Jiangjie directly to a corner of the wall on the right, a feature unique to the gatehouse.

"Captain Cheng," a voice called out from the side. The group turned to see a dark-skinned man in his mid-thirties with a pair of distinct, sword-like eyebrows.