Tiêu đề FGEP CH 1-10 ✅

“Ah!” Lin Wanyue sprang up from the wooden bed, gasping for air. The sound of snoring was all around her. Only Lin Yu, who slept closest to her, was woken up by her gasp. He rubbed his eyes blearily, then he said to Lin Wanyue: “Xing-ge, had a nightmare again?” He mumbled something as he went back to sleep, as if this was nothing new. (TN: 哥-ge, a way to address an older brother or guys who are older) Still catching her breath, Lin Wanyue clutched her sweat-soaked clothes of coarse cloth, one that she hardly ever took off. It had been two years since her family was killed by the Huns, but she would still have dreams of that day from time to time. It was utterly clear and realistic. She relived it again and again, but despite waking up in cold sweat every time, she would never hate this unyielding nightmare. On the contrary, she hoped for it whenever night fell, because it was the only place she could see her family again. Lin Wanyue let out a heavy breath, then she got up from the shared hardwood bed. She walked out from the military tent, one occupied by a total of fifteen people. “Who’s there!?” A guard spotted Lin Wanyue the instant she walked out from the tent. It was presently war time; everyone was tense. No one could afford to be careless. “Reporting! Infantry soldier from Yi camp third unit Lin Feixing!” Lin Wanyue reported her unit in a practiced manner. The patrolling soldier before her let out a breath. Gripping a halberd and a shield, he checked Lin Wanyue’s name plate carefully, then he turned and left. Lin Wanyue looked up. A full moon in the empty night sky. Its ghostly white moonlight enveloped the entire military camp. Long years of battle had turned this area uninhabitable. The Li kingdom and the Huns had been struggling on this long borderline for about three years, with equal amounts of victories and losses on each side. This stretch of land had turned into a scorched wasteland under the struggle between the Huns and the Li kingdom. Not even the most stubborn of weeds could break through this soil that had been macerated with spilled blood and stomped solid by horse hooves. Here, she could not hear the humming of bugs like she remembered from her childhood. There were no other sounds other than the snores that traveled faintly through the entire military camp.
Lin Wanyue fell into a trance as she looked at the moon in the sky. Her mind returned to that place in her dreams once again. At the outskirts of the Li kingdom, there was a small village called Chanjuan village. And in that village, there was a family of four. The father of that family was the only teacher in the village, and he was the most respected person other than the village chief and the head guard. The mother of that family was gentle and dignified. They had one son and one daughter, who were born as twins. The older sister was named Lin Wanyue, while the younger brother was named Lin Feixing. They were clever and endearing children; but all of this ended two years ago. Lin Wanyue was bright and energetic, while her younger brother Lin Feixing was more modest in comparison. That day, the fourteen year old Lin Wanyue ran off to the mountains again, to search for some medicinal herbs that an old doctor who lived in the east of the village taught her about a few days ago. However, when Lin Wanyue returned to the village at sundown, the entire village had been massacred by Huns! No one other than herself had survived. Lin Wanyue buried her own parents and younger brother, but she still had to face an entire village full of gruesome bodies. She carried them on her back, burying them one by one. There were so many that even when a lot of bodies had started to smell, even when maggots appeared, she was not done burying them. In the end, she had to set the entire village on fire. Kneeling at the village entrance, she knocked her head heavily on the ground three times, then she said: “Every uncle and auntie, Wanyue is young and weak. I truly do not have the strength to bury everyone one by one. All I can do is to offer this fire, to prevent everyone from wasting away in the wilderness. Now that everyone has returned to dust, let the one who survived seek this vengeance instead.” Women could not become soldiers. Lin Wanyue had to use her younger brother’s identity to live on. Lin Wanyue traveled alone for several hundred miles. She begged for food when she was hungry, and if it didn’t work, she would stave off her hunger with wild vegetables and tree bark. She would also need to be wary of people who seemed compassionate, as they might actually be human traffickers. Through this journey, Lin Wanyue felt as if her past-self had long since died with her family in Chanjuan village. Finally, Lin Wanyue arrived at the military camp led by a well-renowned General of the Li kingdom, General Li Mu. She enlisted using Lin Feixing’s name. However, her family was not a
military family. In the Li kingdom, the five professions of officials, military, farming, labor, and merchant were separated clearly. Families rarely changed professions, and most continued for generations. Unless it was permitted by the court, common folk who were not of military registrations could not enlist in the army. Seeing that her last hope, the only thing keeping her alive, was about to be extinguished, Lin Wanyue dropped to the floor. She kneeled before the registrar: “Sir, I’m begging you, just let me enter the troops!” The registrar wasn’t that old. He was not over twenty-five or six, so how could he remain composed when an adolescent was kneeling before him? Dropping his brush in a hurry, he moved to help Lin Wanyue up as he said with a troubled voice: “Child, aren’t you putting me on the spot here? You’re not from a military family, so I can’t make that decision. To change registrations isn’t a major issue, but it’s not a minor one either. I’m just someone who became a mere registrar because I can read some words, I don’t have that authority!” “Sir, I’m begging you. I’m begging! My whole village has been killed by the Huns. My dad, my mom, my... older sister, they’re all dead. If I hadn’t run up the mountains to play, I wouldn’t have the life to come over here. Other than me, none of the hundred and eighteen lives in the entire village were spared! Chanjuan village was covered in bodies. So many bodies have started to smell, but no one could help me bury them, so I burned the village. I walked all the way here just to enlist in the army, Sir, I am begging you!” Lin Wanyue spoke with sorrow and grief, but she did not cry. She simply kneeled there as firmly as a pillar nailed into the ground, letting the registrar pull her to no avail. The registrar had heard of what happened to Chanjuan village before. Dressed in worn and dirty clothes, Lin Wanyue’s expression was pained with sorrow, yet utterly resolute. The registrar noticed that she was wearing one shoe with a worn sole, and the other seemed to have been missing for quite a while, as her foot was caked in black and reddish mud. Seeing this, the registrar was moved. The registrar stood still as he studied this adolescent for a good while. Ultimately, he gritted his teeth, then he said to Lin Wanyue: “I guess I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ll go and see the Commander-in-Chief right now, but success or failure is up to heaven’s will. You and I will agree beforehand. If it does not go well, do not continue to badger me!” Lin Wanyue did not answer. She simply knocked her head to the floor, expressing her stance on the matter.