From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Chapter 42 Iron Coffin Cliff

Lin Yan followed Zhang Dabiao westward and found the three people in Luanshigou.

One was squatting outside the dilapidated shack, sharpening a rusty wood-chopping knife with a stone; another was leaning against a shack pillar, coughing; and yet another was squatting by the ditch, washing the roots of wild grass.

Zhang Dabiao called out, "Old Sun, Old Zhou, Little Ma!"

The three men looked up and saw Lin Yan behind Zhang Dabiao, and stopped what they were doing.

Zhang Dabiao briefly explained the situation.

After listening, the one who was sharpening knives stood up first, looked at Lin Yan, and said seriously, "I have nothing to say, as long as there is food to eat, that's enough."

Old Zhou, who was leaning against the pillar, coughed twice. "I'm afraid my health will be a burden to you."

Lin Yan looked at his face. "What illness?"

"It's not an illness." Old Zhou rolled up his trouser leg, revealing an old knife scar on his left calf. "I was stabbed when I was in the border army, and my leg has been lame ever since it healed."

"Can you walk?"

"able."

"As long as you can walk, that's fine."

Lin Yan said, "Your injury was sustained on the battlefield; you have plenty of experience."

The youngest among them, a little horse washing grass roots by the ditch, looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old. He stood up and said, "I can read maps and set traps."

Lin Yan looked at him. "What did you do in the army?"

"The scout team is in charge of reconnaissance."

Xiao Ma scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "I only worked there for three months before the Zhenbei Army disbanded."

Lin Yan led the four people back to the convoy and said to Xiong Kuo, "Take them all with you."

Xiong Kuo sized them up, then lowered his voice and said, "A cripple, a sick man, and a child soldier—"

"And there's another one who worked at Qingfengxiang," Lin Yan continued, picking up where Xiong Kuo left off. "You mean, these old, weak, sick, and disabled people?"

Xiong Kuo remained silent.

Lin Yan looked at the veterans distributing their rations. "They're not old, weak, sick, or disabled. They're veterans who survived the Mountain Battalion and the Zhenbei Army. These guys have seen more battles than we have."

After traveling northwest for two more days, the outline of Iron Coffin Cliff finally emerged from the horizon.

It is indeed a natural barrier, just as Xiong Kuo said.

Three sides are steep cliffs that go straight up and down, the cliff walls are dark and dark, and from a distance they really look like an upright coffin.

There is only one slope on the south side that leads up.

The slope was narrow, with gravel and thorns on both sides.

There is a platform at the top of the cliff, which can probably accommodate about a hundred people.

Behind the platform are several stone caves carved into the mountainside, with traces of smoke and fire on the cave walls, and rotten wooden planks and broken tiles scattered on the ground.

"These were the hidden sentries of the Mountain Battalion back then."

Xiong Kuo kicked aside a rotten plank, revealing a hidden ditch underneath. "This ditch is for drainage; it's also a secret trench. People can hide inside, and those on the outside won't see them."

Zhang Dabiao limped to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

"As long as we hold the southern slope, it's pointless for anyone to come."

Xiao Ma had already run around the platform once, and pointed to an inconspicuous recess in the cliff face, saying, "There's a hidden hole here; we can shoot arrows out."

Old Zhou squatted in the cave and felt the walls, finding several iron rings.

"This is for hanging oil lamps. And here—"

As they were talking, Old Zhou squatted down and tapped the ground, producing a hollow echo. "It's hollow down there; there should be a hidden room."

Lin Yan stood in the middle of the cliff top and took out the black jade tablet from his bosom.

The jade pendant gleamed with a warm luster in the afternoon sunlight.

"From today onwards, we'll stay here."

He held up the jade plaque so everyone could see it, saying, "This plaque belongs to Gu Changshan, the commander of the Mountain Battalion. With this in hand, the affairs of the Mountain Battalion are my affairs."

Zhang Dabiao was the first to react, "Boss Lin, you mean—"

"The Mountain Battalion was scattered when it was defeated, and the survivors were scattered throughout the North. Some became refugees, some became beggars, and some waited to die in the labor service."

Lin Yan put the jade pendant back, saying, "They are all veterans who have fought in wars; they shouldn't have been left to rot in the ditch."

Xiong Kuo frowned. "You want to bring back all the old members of the Mountain Battalion?"

"Find as much as you can."

"How do we find them? The Mountain Battalion disbanded twenty years ago. The survivors have all changed their names. Where are we supposed to look?"

Lin Yan took the piece of leather out of his pocket and handed it to Xiong Kuo.

The leather had Gu Changshan's handwriting on it, with a line of smaller characters at the bottom that Xiong Kuo hadn't noticed before. He brought the leather closer to look and read it aloud: "The old Shanzi Camp's contact code is three vertical lines carved on the road sign. Old members of the Shanzi Camp will come when they see it."

"How can you be sure this code is still useful after twenty years?" Xiong Kuo asked.

"I don't know," Lin Yan said. "Let's give it a try."

That afternoon, Lin Yan had several brothers carve three vertical lines at the crossroads within a 20-mile radius of Iron Coffin Cliff and on the stone tablet at the village entrance.

Five days later, the first former member of the Mountain Battalion came to their door.

It was an old man with one arm, leaning on a sharpened bamboo pole, standing at the foot of the Iron Coffin Cliff, who looked up and shouted, "Who carved that road marker up there?"

Lin Yan walked to the edge of the cliff. "Me."

The old man squinted at him for a long time, then asked, "Which team are you from?"

Lin Yan revealed the black jade tablet.

When the old man saw the jade pendant, the bamboo pole in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

He staggered forward two steps, looked at the plaque in Lin Yan's hand, and muttered to himself, "This plaque—"

"This was given to me by Gu Changshan before he died."

The old man squatted on the ground, his head buried in his knees, his shoulders shaking for a long time.

Then he stood up, wiped his face, and looked at Lin Yan solemnly, saying, "Wang Tiezhu, left outpost of the Mountain Battalion's supply corps. Twenty years have passed, and I thought I'd never see this sign again."

Lin Yan led him to the top of the cliff.

Although Wang Tiezhu only has one arm left, he is very capable when it comes to work.

He reorganized the several caves, clearly defining which would be used as a warehouse, which as a kitchen, and which as a dwelling.

"I worked in the supply train for fifteen years. I don't know how to do anything else, but I'm a master at managing warehouses."

The next day, two people arrived.

One was named Lu Laonian, and the other was named Chen the Carpenter.

Lu Laonian was a hunchbacked old man, formerly a member of the Mountain Battalion's reconnaissance team, in charge of sentries and traps.

As his name suggests, Chen the carpenter was skilled in carpentry and had repaired siege equipment for the border troops.

On the third day, a lame old army doctor named Meng arrived, carrying a box of herbs.

On the fourth and fifth days, another seven or eight people arrived one after another.

There were former members of the Mountain Battalion, defeated soldiers of the Zhenbei Army, and a few refugee martial artists who had come on their own after hearing the news.

By the seventh night, there were nearly thirty people on Iron Coffin Cliff.

Lin Yan gathered everyone on the platform and lit a bonfire.

"Among us thirty people, some are old, some are disabled." He stood by the campfire, the firelight casting a long shadow, "but each and every one of you has survived this chaotic world."

Lu Laonian squatted by the fire and muttered, "We've survived for twenty years, what's there to be afraid of?"

Lin Yan nodded and turned to Wang Tiezhu, "Uncle Tiezhu, the warehouse is yours now."