The spring rain was gentle and nourishing; thousands of acres of good farmland sprouted green shoots. Farmers, in their straw raincoats, straightened up from the fields, looking worriedly at the troops hurrying back in a rush.
"My boy joined the army, I don't know if he's been hurt..."
A few days ago, that farmer had received news of a great victory to the west, with no serious casualties. He heard that several soldiers had been beheaded for indulging in excessive pleasure, but he wasn't too concerned, reasoning to himself:
"I've taught that boy for over a decade; he surely wouldn't do such a thing!"
Muddy ground was churned by the passing wheels; armor, flashing coldly in the rain, clashed with a clang. Pristine raindrops split in two on the edge of a sharp long blade, rolled off, and dropped onto Xu Gongming's eyebrows.
