"You ask what we have gained from our hard work?" Hai Siyuan shook his head:
"Why so many questions? It's just a matter of survival."
"It is worth it that there are still women and children alive in this isolated city."
He did not say any profound truths in front of the stranger, the storyteller Qianliyan.
He is a soldier, and he is good at fighting on the battlefield, not dealing with the storyteller in front of him.
But the clairvoyant was not quite satisfied.
As the storyteller of Tingchao Tower, he was keenly aware that if the story of this isolated army spread, it would surely shock the entire Kyushu.
Even the news that the Martial Saint had appeared briefly in the world and died might not be as shocking as this news.
He thought for a moment and asked again: "Captain Hai, do you know that this alien is not a barbarian who would skin and rip the flesh off the people of Jiuzhou? If Captain Hai thinks about the overall situation and the lives of the people in this isolated city, wouldn't it be more appropriate to surrender to the Immortal Gate as soon as possible?"
"In that case, perhaps the residents of the city can live longer."
As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of several soldiers around them suddenly changed.
"What the hell is this idiot saying?"
"I have been guarding this city for forty years. Finally, a man came across the desert and asked me why I didn't surrender earlier."
If Qiao Mu hadn't been standing right beside them and helped them in the battle, thus saving the remaining soldiers from losing several brothers, they probably wouldn't have been able to resist drawing their swords.
Even the leading captain Hai Siyuan frowned, and his eyes lingered between Qiao Mu and Qianliyan.
He noticed that the two men did not seem to be in the same group.
"Mr. Qiao Shuangsen is a former veteran of Dayan, and who are you?" He turned and asked Qianliyan.
"He is the storyteller of Tingchao Tower, and we just met by chance." Qiao Mu also decisively stood further away.
This clairvoyant is such a talkative person, and he keeps talking about things that are not relevant to the topic. Even Qiao Mu, a rough man, feels a little overwhelmed after listening to him.
Is there anyone who talks like you
In fact, it was Qiao Mu and others who misunderstood him.
His nickname is Clairvoyance, not Singularity.
There is a reason why he speaks so harshly.
Tingchaolou has ears and eyes all over the world, and if you want to get the most authentic and reliable information, you have to use extraordinary rhetoric.
We are all adults, not children anymore.
Everyone is cunning and defensive, and they naturally understand the principle of talking deeply to people they just met. It is impossible for a storyteller like you to come and tell you their true feelings.
What Qianliyan is good at is this kind of heart-wrenching rhetoric that brings up all sorts of issues.
At first glance, he seems to have low EQ, but in fact, he does it on purpose.
These veterans of the battlefield have been trapped in an isolated city for forty years, so they are naturally very defensive.
The Clairvoyant wanted to penetrate their defenses, so he deliberately used such provocative words.
The more these old soldiers' defenses are broken, the more angry they are, and the more they feel that their enthusiasm has been misplaced, the more likely they are to expose their true inner thoughts because of their emotional ups and downs.
Of course, this kind of rhetoric has both advantages and disadvantages.
The biggest disadvantage is... it's easy to get beaten to death.
"The storyteller from Tingchao Tower... I seem to have heard of him before." Hai Siyuan thought carefully for a moment before he remembered.
Hai Wuya was the Minister of Rites forty years ago, and he was also a martial artist, so Hai Siyuan's knowledge is not shallow.
"I heard that there are two factions in Tingchao Tower, 'Real Things' and 'Strange News'. Which faction are you from?" Hai Siyuan looked at Qianliyan meaningfully.
"Of course he is a practical person." Clairvoyant said without hesitation:
“No matter how bizarre a story is, it is not as touching as the truth.”
This is a lie!
Qianliyan and Shunfenger of Tingchao Tower are both storytellers with supernatural powers. They are the two pillars of the "Qiwen" school and are like brothers.
Tingchaolou is not an ordinary martial arts force. Being the pillar among storytellers does not mean that their martial arts skills are very high, but only represents that they are excellent in their job as "storyteller".
In fact, it just means that their eloquence and speech skills are more sophisticated, and even their imagination is stronger than that of ordinary storytellers, so they can make up more bizarre stories and so on.
Qianliyan said that he was a practical person, but in fact it was because the storytellers of the strange news school had a bad reputation.
After all, it would be strange if he had a good reputation if he always made some weird news like "The Top Ten Worst Crotches".
"As a pragmatic storyteller, I went to the desert to visit the ruins of Anxi City and dig up the true story of the alien war." Clairvoyance said excitedly:
"Captain Hai, your answer is very important to me."
"If I can get out of this desert one day, I will tell the story of the remnant soldiers of the Great Yan Army to the outside world, and spread it throughout the nine provinces through the eyes and ears of Tingchao Tower."
Qianliyan almost believed what he said.
His purpose of coming here was not so noble. Originally, he just guessed that the secret of the alien war was hidden in this desert, and it was suspected to be related to the Immortal Sect... If he knew that the secret was so big and was so deeply involved with the Immortal Sect, he would never come here even if he was beaten to death.
The reason why Tingchao Tower has survived to this day is not because of how powerful they are, but because they adhere to the principle of not causing trouble. They just sit high up in the building and listen to the ebb and flow of the tides instead of going out themselves and becoming trendsetters.
However, seeing how excited these old soldiers were, Qianliyan did not dare to say anything too extreme.
After all, Qiao Mu was not in the same group with him. In fact, he was Qiao Mu's prisoner just now.
If he really angered these old soldiers and they drew their swords to kill him, perhaps no one here would protect him.
"I dare to ask, please don't be angry, soldiers... I'm afraid that no one in the outside world knows your whereabouts, no one knows that you are still fighting, not even the current emperor... Then why are you still defending this isolated city? Why don't you surrender to the aliens?" Clairvoyance asked again:
"If you surrender, more soldiers and civilians in this isolated city will survive, which is better than the entire city being buried in the desert."
Hai Siyuan subconsciously took a deep breath, calmed himself down a little, suppressed the urge to draw his sword, and said in a deep voice:
"Over the past forty years, there have indeed been a few deserters and civilians who have fled this isolated city... They eventually disappeared into the desert. We don't know whether they are alive or dead, or what their fate is."
"If what you want to ask is why our three hundred remaining soldiers did not surrender..."
Hai Siyuan looked at the old soldiers behind him who also had gray hair.
"Zhao Dayong, why don't you surrender?"
The old soldier looked to be in his sixties or seventies, older than Hai Siyuan. He replied:
"Captain, I am from Yancheng, Nanzhou. My wife and children are all there. If even the last 100,000 elite soldiers of Dayan surrender, how can the people of Jiuzhou still have the will to fight?"
"If the country is not a country, how can it be a home? How can my family have peace?"
Hai Siyuan nodded and looked at another veteran:
"Chen Zhi, why don't you surrender?"
"If the aliens gain power, they will treat us as worthless. It's easy to surrender, but then you'll probably become their cattle and horses. It's better to die on the battlefield."
"Chen An?"
"We are the most elite army of the Great Yan Immortal Slayers. We can die, but we cannot surrender!"
"Guo Huaizhong, what about you?"
"Why are there so many reasons?"
"I can come up with a hundred or a thousand reasons to surrender, but is it okay if the water is too cold?"
"There is only one reason why I won't surrender, because I am a soldier! A soldier of Dayan! A soldier of Jiuzhou! Is this reason enough?"
The words of these old soldiers gradually became excited.
In these years, there are very few outsiders coming to this isolated city. In front of Qiao Mu and the storyteller Qianliyan, they couldn't help but open up.
"They said a lot. Then, let me tell you what I think." Hai Siyuan looked at the many tombstones of soldiers standing in front of him with a deep gaze:
"Forty years ago, I was only twenty years old. Among the 100,000-man army, I was considered one of the youngest non-commissioned officers."
"Mr. Qiao, do you know why I am still alive today, while several generals above me in rank have all died?"
"Is it because I am the son of the Minister of Rites? Is it because I have excellent aptitude and high martial arts skills that I am able to survive until now?"
He chuckled softly and shook his head.
"My father's face is not that big. The 100,000 Great Yan elites at that time were no small matter. Among them, there were many people with higher power and status than my father."
“But they are all dead.”
"I was able to survive because those generals led by example and told me that I was still young and should not rush to die..." Captain Hai, now over 60 years old, has gray hair. He looks at the mountain of tombstones with tears in his eyes:
"Old soldiers and generals in the army died for me!"
"Now that I am an old soldier, I shall die for the women and children of Lonely City and for the descendants of Kyushu!"
Some are thinking about their wives and children in their hometown, some have the whole country in their hearts, some just don't want to accept the rise of strangers, and some are carrying on the will of the old soldiers.
Each of the soldiers in this isolated army had his own thoughts and reasons.
But in the end, they all stood in this lonely city, or lay in graves outside this lonely city in the desert.
These old soldiers and veterans have finished speaking.
Qiao Mu and Qianliyan were both speechless as they looked at the silent desert forest of steles and the angry old soldiers.
Especially the clairvoyance of a storyteller.
As a member of the Tingchao Tower's School of Curious Stories, he had heard many bizarre and absurd stories, and had also made up many touching stories.
But those are all fictional stories, either exaggerated or embellished, and are not true.
What lies before him at this moment are facts, historical facts.
The whole city is covered with white hair, but I will never drop my sword. I have fought alone for forty years, how dare I forget Da Yan
"Dying for the country is like returning home. This true story has a power that even the most skilled storyteller cannot fabricate." Qiao Mu glanced at the storyteller beside him and said slowly.
The storyteller Qianliyan was stunned for a moment, and then nodded slowly.
In front of these remnant soldiers of Dayan who were brave enough to die heroically, he thought about how he had just deliberately used words to pierce the old soldiers' defenses... This made him feel a little ashamed.
There is great terror between life and death!
No matter in which era, there are only a very small number of people who dare to die bravely and dare to face this great terror.
Very few, but never extinct.
Throughout the vast country, from ancient times to the present, there has always been such a group of true heroes who have faith in their hearts and are willing to die bravely.
Soldiers guarding the border and soldiers guarding the border.
Civil officials who carried coffins and died for their advice, and military generals who died on the battlefield.
Such figures have been passed down from ancient times to the present day and are recorded in the entire ancient history of Kyushu.
This is the power of reality, a grand epic that even a storyteller like Qianliyan could not create even with all his talent!
"Storyteller from Tingchao Tower, are you satisfied with our answer?" Hai Siyuan asked again, his voice echoing in the desert.
"I have nothing to say." The storyteller kept silent and just bowed deeply to Hai Siyuan.
He was convinced.
"Captain Hai, he has nothing to say, but I still have something to ask." Qiao Mu spoke at this time.
"I want to ask the Martial Saint... Why can the former General Wu live while you can only wait to die in this lonely city?" Qiao Mu's eyes were bright.
He was a person who had personally seen and challenged the Martial Saint. Now, after meeting the remnants of the former Great Yan army, he just felt sorry for them.
"The Martial Saint was the only one who survived out of the desert among the 100,000 troops that invaded the Immortal Sect forty years ago. He even got the Spiritual Secret from General Li Changge. Why was he the one who escaped alive? And not you?"
As soon as these words came out.
The old soldiers' eyes also changed, becoming quite complicated.
It’s not that there are no outsiders in Anxi City, they are just extremely rare.
And they had also heard about what the former military general, today's military saint, had done.
They knew very little about the outside world of Kyushu, but they knew it was not completely unknown.
Especially the matter concerning the Martial Saint.
"General Wu is certainly not a deserter..." Captain Hai looked dimly, recalling events from many years ago: