"Don't cry, dear. I'll give you some sugar cake later." The little girl stared blankly at the fierce beast head pattern on his armor, forgetting to cry.
"Mr. Xiao!" The trusted aide suddenly pointed ahead, "Another batch of deserters is coming!"
Under the setting sun, a mass of human figures was crawling along the official road. Xiao Zhengfei squinted, his armor shimmering with a dark red glow in the twilight.
"Pass the order, set up a few more big pots. Tell the brothers..." He patted the pistol at his waist with a furrowed brow, "From now on, they are no longer deserters, but Canzhou's new recruits!"
As dusk deepened, the row of lanterns in front of the county office lit up one by one.
The brush at the registration desk made a rustling sound on the register, solemnly inscribing the displaced names onto Canzhou's bamboo slips...
The next afternoon, the blazing sun hung overhead like a red-hot charcoal basin.
