On the watchtower of the Dock Fortress, the good-hearted Li Carpenter leaned on a wooden spear, trembling with fear.
Though he was accustomed to handling sharp tools like axes and planes, Li Carpenter had never killed even a chicken. One reason was his fear of blood, and another was his aversion to the death throes, but the most important reason was the consequences he had heard would follow taking a life.
Once upon a time, Li Carpenter heard a passing monk say that killing was the most malevolent and cruel act, a gravely serious sin. Those who committed such evil deeds, at the least, would be surrounded by resentful energy, their foreheads darkening with bad luck, while at worst, they would lose their sanity and become bloodthirsty fiends obsessed only with killing.
Of course, if it were just idle chatter from the monk, Li Carpenter wouldn't have taken it seriously.
But here at Yang Family Village, such a thing actually happened.
It occurred during the time of the previous patriarch of the Yang Family Fortress. Back then, it was still called Yang Family Village, and without the protection of a fortress, it too suffered raids by barbarian horsemen. Against the mounted raiders brandishing blades, the people of Yang Family Village had almost no ability to resist.
It was in this dire moment that the former patriarch of the Yangs drew out the ancestral sword and, single-handedly, slaughtered hundreds of barbarian riders.
Yang Family Village achieved a great victory, which should have been a good thing.
But the problem arose from this very victory.
After killing hundreds of barbarian riders, the former patriarch of the Yangs was possessed by Evil Qi, his entire body blood-soaked, his eyes blood-red.
Seven or eight young members of the Yangs approached to greet him, only to be cut down on the spot by that double-handed sword!
Fortunately, in a final moment of clarity, the previous patriarch regained a semblance of sanity and, wielding the sword, ended his own life, sparing Yang Family Village from complete annihilation.
For Li Carpenter, who was a young man at the time, the bloody scene of that mass of corpses is something he would remember for a lifetime.
Afterward, the sword was enshrined by the Yangs in the ancestral hall, never to be used again, while the young man back then learned a craft, becoming the Li Carpenter he is today. He did good deeds, helped others, and was always ready to lend a hand to the willing young laborers, one reason being how he saw himself in them, the other being the belief that his daily kindness could spare him from the calamities of war.
But now, the barbarian riders had returned.
"It should be fine, right?" Li Carpenter reassured himself, since, unlike before, Yang Family Village now had its own fortress. Everyone had taken refuge inside the fortress, and as in recent years, the barbarians armed with short bows and curved blades would have no way to break through the fortress and would eventually leave.
As for the property outside the fortress, and the unharvested grains in the fields... such emergencies left no room for concern over those.
Staying alive was already the best possible outcome, in such chaotic times, one dared not wish for more.
"So, it should be fine, right?"
Watching those barbarians charging towards the fortress from afar, Li Carpenter couldn't help but feel a surge of anxiety.
It should be fine; the fortress walls were solid enough. The barbarians without ladders couldn't climb over or break through. Even if the barbarians managed to climb using human pyramids, the young defenders on the wall would spear them down. As for shooting arrows, those defenders could just duck behind the parapets to avoid getting hit.
As for breaching the fortress gates... that was even more impossible.
The fortress gate, crafted by Li Carpenter himself, was made of top-grade hardwood, each plank a foot thick. Despite complaints from the Yang family members tasked with handling the heavy gates, once barred, those massive doors gave everyone inside a comforting sense of security when facing the barbarian raiders.
Sometimes Li Carpenter pondered if it was because of his lifetime of good deeds that he found those eighteen top-tier trees near Yang Family Fortress, and through his dedication to his craft, turned them into the fortress's formidable defenses.
"So it's definitely going to be okay, right?"
Thinking this, Li Carpenter peeked over the parapet for a glimpse at the approaching barbarian riders.
"It's definitely going to be okay... right?"
Li Carpenter's gaze froze.
In his view, among the advancing barbarian riders, a burly, armored barbarian dismounted.
And in the hands of that armored barbarian, was a massive double-handed axe.
Could that big axe really do any damage against these thick, wall-like gates?
"Yes! Absolutely!"
At that moment, Li Carpenter's back was completely soaked in cold sweat.
All because he had already seen the dried bloodstains on that burdensome axe.
And in the armored barbarian's eyes, a faint hint of crimson-red!
"Quick! Rolling logs! Rocks! Hurry!"
Almost instinctively, Li Carpenter shouted out loud on the spot.
"Hit him! Throw at him! Don't let him near the fortress gates! Quickly!"
"...Uh?"
At Li Carpenter's sudden reaction, many young defenders on the walls were momentarily baffled.
Thankfully, some had also sensed the inhuman, terrifying aura emanating from the armored barbarian closing in on the gates. So even before the panicked Li Carpenter rushed over, they were already hurling heavy logs from the high walls.
These things were initially prepared to break barbarian human ladders, but using them against one person felt somewhat wasteful.
Yet soon, these young defenders realized that it wasn't wasteful, but perhaps not even enough.
"Or rather, it fell short by far."
"Hah!"
With a loud shout, the armored barbarian swung his great axe, cleaving the descending heavy log in two.
Then, his mighty axe, without losing momentum, crashed into the heavy fortress gate!
"Boom!"
The deafening sound almost rendered the defenders on the walls deaf on the spot.
And beneath them, the ground itself trembled.
"Wha…"
Seeing the two shattered doors fly into the fortress, and the axe-wielding armored barbarian leading his men inside, Li Carpenter on the watchtower gaped, unable to utter a single word.
At that moment, the armored barbarian looked up and locked eyes with Li Carpenter.
With just a glance, Li Carpenter felt his knees wobble, unable to stand any longer.
"Evil Qi possessed…"
In that instant, Li Carpenter was transported back to his youth, back to that horrific mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
That inhuman presence appeared before him once again.
"Monster!"