# 1061
Chapter 1062: Original Intention
Kayu Frontier Defense Company.
Su Zhe sat alone on the rooftop of the barracks, wrapped in a heavy military coat, staring blankly at the rolling mountains in the distance.
"I thought so. Searched the dormitory everywhere and couldn't find you. So you came here alone."
Ke Changlin's voice came from behind. He walked over to Su Zhe, patted his shoulder, and sat down on the spot. "Usually at this hour, you'd be in bed snoring away. What's on your mind today?"
Su Zhe forced a smile. "Something like that... I just... miss my mom."
Ke Changlin watched him quietly, waiting for him to continue. At a time like this, being a listener was far more appropriate than being a counselor.
"Back then, my mom was amazing. She was the best police officer in our city. Beautiful, great at fighting—even two or three male officers combined couldn't beat her. Most importantly, she cooked wonderfully.
I'm telling you, the烙饼 my mom made was no worse than what Ana makes for you, really."
Su Zhe seemed to recall something, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Back in those days, police stations in our city and neighboring cities were all talking about her, calling her the Culinary God and Police Flower. The happiest thing for my sister and me was parent-teacher conferences. You have no idea how magnificent it was when my mom, in her full police uniform, walked into the classroom.
Even though I always ranked at the bottom of the class, I never escaped a good beating when I got home—but it was worth it. For me, parent-teacher conferences were meant for showing off my mom."
Su Zhe's smile grew brighter as he sat there chuckling for a long while, then fell into silence.
"And then?" Ke Changlin couldn't help but ask.
"Then she died. During a shootout with drug dealers, she was shot in the heart by a bullet. She didn't even make it to the emergency room."
Ke Changlin froze on the spot.
Su Zhe gazed into the distance, took a deep breath, and a bitter expression appeared in his eyes. "After my mom passed away, my sister and I relied on each other. Living off government subsidies and a series of preferential policies, we managed quite well.
During that time, I grew more and more depressed. I quit school, stayed home every day, eating and doing nothing, like a useless person. But my sister... she changed like a different person.
When my sister was little, her favorite things were painting and Latin dancing. She was so obedient, so well-behaved, speaking so gently—but after that incident, she started getting into extreme sports. She went rock climbing, crossed deserts, did high-altitude skydiving...
For that, I had huge arguments with her. You know, she never used to argue with me.
Now that stubbornness in her, the look in her eyes—they're more and more like Mom back in the day. When she received the Night Watch... cough, when she received the military transfer orders this time, she didn't hesitate either. She packed her bags and was ready, just like Mom back then, to shoulder heavier responsibilities and protect more people."
Su Zhe paused, letting out a long sigh. "But I don't want her to be like this."
"Mom has already sacrificed herself for the duty of protection. I don't want my sister to walk the same path. I know thinking this way is weak, is selfish.
But right now, my sister is my whole world. I don't have that selfless dedication to want to protect others like they do. I just want to protect my sister. That's enough.
Changlin Uncle, someone like me—even if I become someone who guards a region, I'm just a selfish outsider. I don't have that great and selfless conviction to protect the country and defend the nation... Maybe I'm not suited for this place at all."
Su Zhe let out all these words in one breath. Ke Changlin didn't interrupt once. He simply waited for him to finish, giving Su Zhe a complicated look.
He reached out and knocked Su Zhe on the forehead.
"Stupid kid, do you know why 'protect the family' comes before 'defend the nation'?" Ke Changlin gave him a meaningful look. "You overthink everything...
To be honest, my education level really isn't high, my ideological awareness isn't as noble as you think. I only know that if this border line breaks, my Ana and my two younger brothers will all be in danger. The reason I stand here is to protect their safety. But don't these countless small families together form our nation?
Without a family, where is the nation? Without a nation, where is the family?
You want to protect your sister? Then do it. Whatever happens in the future, stay by her side. To you, she's the family you're meant to protect, isn't that right?
Besides, who says that people coming to defend the front lines must have noble and selfless motivations?
That old Li in the next dorm, when he enlisted, his real intention was just to get a stable job so he could find a wife when he went back to his hometown. Old Yang in the opposite bunk, he enlisted simply because he thought soldiers looked cool—back in their era, every boy wanted to be a soldier. Big and strong, how great!
Were their purposes noble? Not really, right? But look, if they really had to go to battle and sacrifice, do you think they'd furrow their brows even half an inch?"
Su Zhe was stunned.
Ke Changlin slapped him on the back and pointed toward the vast Great Xia territory behind the frontier defense company.
"People grow, you know. Maybe everyone gathered here for different reasons, but every day seeing the万家灯火 behind the frontier, you'll understand—since we're standing here, there are some responsibilities and obligations we must carry."
Su Zhe stood like a statue on the spot for a long while, the confusion in his eyes gradually fading away. The knot that had been tormenting his heart finally loosened, and he felt enlightened.
He really had been overthinking too much.
He wanted to join the Night Watch just to protect his sister. So what? Who says you can't join the Night Watch for your sister?
As for the duties and responsibilities that came after joining the Night Watch—he would carry them. Since he'd chosen this path, whatever the final outcome, he would never regret it.
Joining the Night Watch for his sister, and being a good Night Watch member, weren't contradictory.
He took a deep breath, stood up from the rooftop, and said solemnly to Ke Changlin, "Thank you, Changlin Uncle. I understand now."
BOOM—!!
Before his words even finished, a roar came from the distance. The Temporal Shadow's boundary instantly covered this frontier defense company, spreading toward the misty border on the western side.
Under the Temporal Shadow's coverage, the mist returned to its state a hundred years ago, retreating dozens of miles from the Great Xia border, its concentration tens of times greater than before. The ink-black mist, like a wild beast, pressed toward the frontier, emanating a terrifying aura that could suffocate.
"The mist retreated?! How is this possible?"
When Ke Changlin saw this, he abruptly stood up, his eyes full of shock.
Just as he was about to rush downstairs, a streak of light flew from the south along the misty border. A chubby, big-eared monk stepped on auspicious clouds, his expression grave as he stared at the approaching mist.
"The mist has a strong restraining effect on gods... Does that mean that if one废除 one's divine power and falls back into being a demon, one can escape its entrapment?" The monk murmured to himself for a moment, then turned to look east.
"I wonder when Brother Monkey will arrive..."