The night of December 31st.
Wearing the new clothes designed by Yunshang, Tianyang sat on a chair in the lounge, waiting for the New Year's Eve party to begin.
"A year has passed in the blink of an eye..."
He closed his eyes, and it seemed like it was just yesterday that he attended the Starlight Festival in Skyfort at this time last year.
"Time flies, and a year has passed in a flash. Right now, the Starlight Festival should be being held in the fortress. I wonder if my father is attending."
Memories pass by my eyes like running water. Those past scenes, now filtered by time, are slightly yellowed, yet warm in a special way.
The faint voices coming from outside the lounge brought Tianyang back to his senses. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Xitong, wearing a red dress and two small braids, running in.
"dad."
The little guy had forgotten the unpleasant experience two or three months ago. He ran over like a gust of wind, with a faint scent of flowers on his body, and threw himself into Tianyang's arms.
"Be careful not to wrinkle your dad's clothes. He's going to give a speech later."
Xiaoniao walked in from outside the door. The sixth young lady of the Yun family was wearing a pink dress today, which made her look more delicate and lovely.
"I know, Auntie Little Bird." Xitong pouted and reluctantly left Tianyang. She stretched out her little hand and smoothed out the wrinkles she had just created.
When the bird heard the word "Auntie", it bared its teeth and claws and shouted, "What did you call me?"
Xitong was so frightened that her body straightened up, and she quickly changed her words: "Sister, little bird sister!"
"Little Bird, don't scare her. She will have nightmares at night if she is scared." Xun walked in and said with a smile.
Xun, dressed in a white dress, exudes a faint holy aura under the light. It seems that the higher the rank of Guanghui goes, the clearer the holy smell becomes.
Seeing Xun, Xitong seemed to have found someone to lean on. The little thing ran over, hugged Xun's hand and said, "Sister Xun, I want to sleep with you tonight."
Xiao Niao crossed her arms over her chest and snorted, "You little rascal."
Xun covered her mouth and chuckled, then squatted down, touched Xitong's head and said, "Okay, but you have to be obedient."
Xitong smiled with eyes curved: "I will, I promise."
Someone behind me said, "You have to be careful, she will put her foot on your face. Don't ask me how I know."
Xun turned around and saw that it was Qianhong. She walked in wearing a dark purple dress, glanced at Xitong with no expression on her face, then moved to Tianyang and hugged one of Tianyang's arms tightly.
Xitong covered her face with her hands and whispered in Xun's ear, "Aunt Qianhong is so scary, and she seems to be more attached to Daddy than I am."
In the lounge, Qian Hong said without turning her head: "I heard it."
"Also, call me sister."
Xitong shuddered: "Her ears are so sharp, even better than a kitten's!"
At this time, Nan Pei, wearing a dark green long dress, walked in, nodded to the girls, and then said respectfully to Tian Yang: "City Lord, you can give a speech now."
Tianyang exhaled slowly and smiled faintly: "Okay."
He stood up, and surrounded by three girls, Xun, Xiaoniao and Qianhong, he walked out of the lounge and entered the party hall.
Tonight's New Year's Eve party was held in the headquarters of the Thunder Council. This was the first New Year's Eve party held in Lieyang Castle, and all the guests in the city were invited.
The leaders of various organizations, all the big businessmen and high-ranking officials of Lieyang Castle, as well as guests from Lightning Castle, God of War Castle and Silver Dragon Castle.
When Tianyang walked out, the venue immediately became quiet, and then cheerful music started playing. Everyone's eyes fell on the podium and on Tianyang.
Tian Yang walked to the edge of the platform, facing all the guests, and the music stopped temporarily. After a brief pause, he said, "First of all, I want to thank Miss Nan Pei. She personally organized today's party, from the layout of the venue to my speech."
"Her speech was very well written, passionate and generous, but I want to say a few words to everyone, so tonight, we won't use Miss Nan Pei's speech."
Tian Yang looked at Nan Pei who was standing in the corner of the platform and said with a smile: "Miss Nan Pei, I'm sorry, please forgive my willfulness. But don't worry, I will keep this manuscript, and I will use it again at this time next year."
Suddenly, a good-natured laugh rang out in the venue, and the lighting engineer gave Nan Pei a beam of light, allowing the leader of the Yunshang Society to appear in everyone's sight and become the center of attention.
After a brief pause, Tian Yang looked around and said, "More than half a year ago, I was just an unknown boy who had just arrived in the Waste Collection City. I believe that few of you who were present at that time knew me."
"I never thought that six months later, I would meet you all in this way. Looking back, I can't thank my many friends for their support along the way."
“It is you who have enabled me to stand taller, and my New Year’s wish is that through our sincere cooperation, we can step onto a broader stage together.”
"No matter how the world changes in the future, no matter what our positions are, tonight, at least tonight, we are friends who come together for the same goal and the same dream."
Tianyang raised his hand, and a waiter who had been ready for a long time came forward immediately to let Tianyang pick up a glass of wine that had been prepared long ago.
Lifting the wine glass, Tian Yang glanced from left to right, then said loudly: "This glass is for you!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Outside the window of the venue, fireworks rose into the sky, exploding into a dreamy light.
With the blooming fireworks as the backdrop, everyone in the party hall raised their glasses to celebrate the arrival of the new year.
... ... ..
Skyfort.
The Fortress Cemetery was exceptionally quiet tonight, but in the cemetery, one could faintly hear voices coming from the 'Starlight Festival'.
In the dim cemetery, someone was sitting in front of a cold tombstone. There was a bottle of wine and some steaming food on the ground. The man put a pair of chopsticks on the empty bowl and said.
"Look, this is the dish I cooked myself."
"I'm really good at cooking now. Look at this fish. It's fried so crispy on the outside and tender on the inside."
"And this dish, it's green and pleasing to the eye, isn't it an improvement over before?"
"I told you back then that if you married me, I would cook for you every day. You laughed at me for not knowing how to cook. Now you see it."
"I still have some skills."
He chuckled and poured a small glass of wine. At this time, fireworks rose into the sky, exploding with colorful light, and also illuminating Su Lie's face.
Su Lie picked up the cup and gently tapped it against the tombstone, with a gentle light in his eyes.
"Happy New Year, Nanfei."
... ... ..
January 26, 664, Restart Calendar,
noon.
Midland, Harvest Plains entrance road.
A convoy was traveling on this road. Before the war broke out in Central China, this road that spanned the Harvest Plains and connected to the Emerald Castle could be said to be one of the most important transportation arteries in Central China.
But after the war broke out, especially the army of Hell Castle ravaged the Harvest Plains for several months, not only burning almost all the large and small fortresses on the plains, but also destroying the road into pieces. Now the only part that remains intact is the entrance and the end close to the Emerald Castle territory.
As for the roads in other areas, they were either broken by artillery fire or blocked by mobs with various roadblocks, making them impassable.
Yes, mob.
Although the wilderness of the Central Continent is not as barren as that of the Western Continent, and the Harvest Plains have always been blessed with good weather and good harvests, there are also a large number of homeless refugees and armed mobs in the Central Continent.
Before the war broke out, the Harvest Plains was relatively safer than other places due to the joint efforts of several large fortresses.
But the war changed all that. After being set on fire by Hell Castle, those large fortresses are now unable to take care of themselves and have no energy to maintain the safety of the plains.
Therefore, after the Hell Castle was forced back by the Senate Joint Forces, the place became a good place for the armed mobs. A large number of armed mobs poured into the Harvest Plains, blocking the roads, occupying towns, and vigorously developing their own businesses.
This situation will probably last until Hell Castle is expelled and the original order in Central China is restored.
As for now, armed mobs are rampant, and even on the highway at the entrance to the plain, traces of mob demonstrations can be seen everywhere.
They wrote various threatening statements on road signs, displayed charred bodies in various ways, and emphasized their presence in various ways in order to intimidate those who passed by.
Perhaps, this method can scare many people, but definitely not Tianyang.
After announcing that he was going to Central China, Tianyang selected a group of merchants to travel with him. It took nearly a month to reach the Harvest Plains.
According to the route and information Qin Wangshu gave him, the Harvest Plain is about 900 kilometers away from the Emerald Castle. At the speed of the convoy, it can basically be reached in five or six days.
However, Qin Wangshu herself did not recommend Tianyang to take the Harvest Plain. She had informed Tianyang in advance that this place was occupied by armed mobs, and provided another route for Tianyang to choose.
However, that route would take nearly twice as long, so Tianyang rejected it. He still chose the Harvest Plains route and sincerely hoped that some short-sighted mob would find him so that they could promote the reputation of Lieyang Castle for free.
The current situation is the worst in the Central Continent. If his caravan can still reach Emerald Castle under such circumstances, he won't have to worry about the caravans of Lieyang Castle being targeted by the mobs in the Central Continent.
And the facts were developing silently according to the script in Tianyang's mind. Half a day after the convoy entered the Harvest Plain, Tianyang had already seen that there were always some modified motorcycles and even tanks around the road. There were only one or two of them, and sometimes just a single one.
Those vehicles would follow the convoy from a distance for a while and then leave, but not long after, other vehicles would appear.
Tianyang was very clear about this situation. The armed mobs were measuring the strength of both sides. If they felt they could win, their main force would appear in front of Tianyang later.