The armored vehicle rolled to a stop in front of a Yu Minxia who was sobbing her heart out.

Two soldiers in uniform hopped down at once, walking up to Yu Minxia and the great dog Doudou, ignoring Doudou's furious barking entirely. Both men had lived through every kind of brutal slaughter, killed more jin beasts than they could count — a four-meter dog wasn't about to register on their radar.

Even if that dog was being loud about it.

The soldier on the left asked, gently, "Comrade, what's happened to you? Are you with the Tancheng County garrison battalion, or an independent from a nearby camp? Did something go wrong scouting the Linyi City Oasis?"

Hearing the soldier's question, Yu Minxia finally came back to herself and hurried to wipe her tears, trying to stop crying.

But she'd been sobbing too hard, and kept choking up again and again without managing to stop.

The soldier found it baffling too — in this day and age, partings and deaths were common as breathing. Whatever had happened, it seemed a lot to be crying like this over.

He held his patience and tried again. "Did a companion of yours die? We're a patrol squad from the Metal Brigade — we just spotted a high-grade jin beast, an eagle, that might've threatened the safety of anyone scouting the Linyi City Oasis, so we came to shoot it down. Is there something you want to tell us? If not, you're welcome to come back with us."

Yu Minxia choked up several more times before she finally caught her breath, sobbing out in a raised voice, "You're… you're the Eastern Theater Command's PLA?"

"Of course. No one in the theater would dare impersonate the military." The soldier found this woman a bit strange — under the current military administration, it was odd that anyone wouldn't recognize the Metal Brigade. Even if she didn't recognize him, surely she'd recognize the vehicle.

Hearing the other side confirm they were Eastern Theater Command soldiers—

Yu Minxia wanted to cry again, but this time she managed to rein…