Earthlings Can’t Be This Cautious

The walls of the Jiatong Pass stood thick and cold under the setting sun. This was the easternmost frontier outpost of the Dongli Dynasty; beyond it to the west lay the territory of humanity’s mortal enemy—the Celestial Demon Empire—whose own outpost was the Sunset Forest.

Unlike the towering, majestic Jiatong Pass, the Sunset Forest was a vast, boundless expanse of primeval woodland. The ancient trees, hundreds or even thousands of years old, soared into the clouds and blotted out the sky, shrouding the land in perpetual twilight. Within that darkness lurked countless spirits and monsters.

Between the two outposts stretched a buffer zone, several miles wide and of unknown length. From atop Jiatong Pass, this swath of land could be seen in its entirety.

Clang, clang, clang.

As dusk fell, two companies—each about two hundred men strong—marched in perfect step, crossing paths as they patrolled the ramparts.

“Halt!”

Just as the rearguards of the two companies brushed past each other, the commander of one shouted a sudden order. At his command, his troops froze in place. In less than three seconds, the entire unit had shifted into defensive posture.

“What’s going on?” the captain of the other company asked, stepping into the air three feet above the ground, his spear gleaming coldly.

“There’s someone outside the pass!” the first commander said, raising his regulation spear and pointing into the distance.

Following the line of his weapon, the soldiers saw, roughly five miles from the pass, a handsome young man in white wit