The streets are dilapidated but spacious, and the houses on both sides are old but tall, and one can vaguely see the atmosphere of the former mighty city of Zhongzhou.
However majestic a city may be, it cannot withstand forty years of wind and sand, and forty years of harsh weather and frost.
This city is old and outdated, but even older than the city are the elders in it.
Qiao Mu walked along the long street, and everywhere he looked were numerous white-haired old women, a few young children, and disabled veterans who could not go to the battlefield.
For forty years, the young and middle-aged men in the city were the only source of reinforcements for the remaining troops of the Great Yan Army, and they were almost extinct.
The women, children, old and young all looked pale, thin and old, and they looked no better than the poor disaster victims that Qiumu had seen in Nanzhou in the past.
But this shouldn't be the case.
This place is the heart of Zhongzhou, only a few days’ journey away from the capital of the Great Yan Empire.
Zhongzhou was originally a rich land with abundant grass and abundant water, and plump cattle and sheep. Why did it turn into a hundred miles of desert
After the crowd.
The storyteller looked at the lonely city in front of him with his clairvoyant eyes and sighed in his heart.
He had heard a lot of secrets behind the alien war from Captain Hai Siyuanhai before.
In fact, this isolated city is not the main battlefield of the Inhuman War.
A great monk with profound cultivation can turn the ocean into mulberry fields, the plains into deserts, and an army of a hundred thousand mortals into ashes.
If the main battlefield was in this isolated city, how could this city still be preserved
Forty years ago, an army of one hundred thousand was not defending an isolated city and fighting against foreigners.
Because the city walls of mortals are of little significance to immortal cultivators who have the ability to fly and hide underground.
But later on, the stranger seemed to have changed his mind and changed the attack into a trap, setting up a maze formation in the desert, trapping the remaining troops of Dayan and the soldiers and civilians of this isolated city inside, with no way to escape.
Over the past forty years, trapped in such a vast desert, the soldiers and civilians in the city have spent a lot of effort just looking for water and food, and working on farming and raising livestock.
"What exactly did the nine immortal sects want to do back then?" Qianliyan frowned.
"They could have killed all 100,000 soldiers, but they didn't attack... And the function of this immortal gate formation is probably not just illusion, but also soul-binding, right?"
Although he possesses supernatural powers, Clairvoyance is still a mortal after all and cannot understand the intentions of the immortals.
"It can't be that he is torturing mortals on purpose? I don't think so." Clairvoyance pondered.
At this time, as Qiumu walked further away, the crowd on the street was gathering more and more.
There were more and more pedestrians on both sides. They silently stared at the old man who had returned from the desert, and for a moment they didn't know how to react.
Only the wooden sword warrior Lu Yanbei hesitated for a moment, with a look of doubt in his eyes.
"Destroying the Immortal Army? How come I have never heard of such a thing?"
Lu Yanbei is an outsider warrior like Qiao Mu, who came to this isolated city a year ago.
But the Da Yan in his memory was already in turmoil and the government was exhausted, so where would the army to attack the immortals come from
In one year, can the imperial court still produce an army capable of conquering the Immortal Sect
As an outsider who knew the truth, he was suspicious, but other people in this isolated city were not.
After the initial confusion, this lonely city was already seething.
"Soldiers from Dayan, you came too late! Why did it take so long?" The old woman whose husband and son had died burst into tears.
The residents of this isolated city have imagined countless times over the past forty years the scene of the imperial court sending reinforcements into the city, but no matter how they imagined it, they could never have imagined it would be like this.
The old woman thought she would step forward to question and scold the old man who claimed to be a veteran of Dayan.
But he is too old, and people can't bear to scold him.
The old man looked quite old, probably at least eighty or ninety years old. Perhaps in this lonely city full of gray-haired soldiers, there was no soldier as old as him.
It must not be easy for such an old man to reach this isolated city... But if Dayan really has reinforcements and thousands of brave men, why would they send such an old soldier who is older than them
Young children ran around to tell others, and a disabled old soldier, leaning on a crutch, came over following the voices, wanting to take a good look at this soldier from Dayan.
To the young children in the city, as well as all the young and middle-aged people under the age of 40, Dayan is just a legend, a legend passed down by word of mouth by the elders.
All I could see was a vast desert, with nothing but yellow sand. There was no reinforcement and no flames.
The young people in the city were curious, while the older people in the city felt a mixture of sadness, excitement and delight.
It’s not like they haven’t seen outsiders before.
Lu Yanbei stood among them and had fought alongside the old soldiers in the city for a year.
But the nature of this matter is different. It is very different from when Lu Yanbei and other martial artists entered the city.
Jianghu warrior Lu Yanbei only represents himself.
Qiao Mu was a soldier who claimed to be the commander of ten thousand soldiers in the army to defeat the immortals and said that he would bring thousands of reinforcements.
He did not come on behalf of himself, but on behalf of Dayan.
How could this not bring tears to the eyes of the elders in the city
Among the crowd, a one-legged, white-haired old soldier holding a cane walked tremblingly in front of Qiumu.
He put down his crutches, and with the help of his one leg, he managed to stand in front of Qiao Mu. With tears in his old eyes, he bowed to Qiao Mu:
"Everyone from the Great Yan Western Expedition Army Cavalry Battalion reports in to see the superior."
There was no one or horse behind him, only the wind carrying yellow sand from the street, blowing up his empty trouser legs.
"Excuse me, are the people from Dayan really coming back?"
I have been alone in the desert for forty years, and my father and elders have been waiting for my return year after year.
Holding back tears, I asked the messenger, when would the six armies really arrive
Qiao Mu's expression remained calm, he just slightly tightened his grip on the spear.
"Yes, Dayan's army is coming soon." He straightened his chest silently, his eyes becoming more determined.
Although he was telling lies, he knew that at this critical moment, he had to act righteously.
"Da Yan's army is coming back. We, the Immortal-killing Army, will surely conquer this desert and bring you home."
Old men kept coming forward from the crowd and asking questions. He kept speaking to the old soldiers in the crowd, repeating the lie he had just told.
"Yes, Dayan is always here."
"There are people defending the lonely city, and there are also people defending other places in Kyushu."
"Reinforcements are coming soon, but it's not easy to enter the Immortal Gate formation. It will take some time."
"Da Yan has let you down for the past forty years, but from today on, it won't do that anymore."
"From now on, the burden of the past forty years will be borne by our Immortal-conquering Army."
He was greeted by women, children and old soldiers all over the city. He walked in the middle of the avenue with a vigorous manner, like a general returning from a triumphant victory.
Chapter 183 Light a Fire (3k
The soldiers and civilians were trapped in this isolated city. The life they had lived for forty years was gone, and all they could see was the vast sea of sand.
Today, an old man entered the city, causing the city to almost boil over, as the city's past illness was gone.
Wherever he walked, soldiers and civilians shed tears.
He walked through half of the city, and half of the city was filled with cheers.
Hai Siyuan had been following behind Qiao Mu. When he witnessed the reactions of the soldiers and civilians, he felt happy but also a little sad.
Qiao Mu entered the city alone, bringing new hope to the city and giving the soldiers and civilians in the city a ray of hope in their lives after forty years without seeing the sun.
But Hai Siyuan knew that this hope was ultimately false.
The three hundred old soldiers were exhausted and could not defend the city for too long. The same was true for the soldiers and civilians in the city... If there were no external Qiao Mu to bring them hope, when the three hundred old soldiers were all killed in battle, the whole city would be in despair and die.
In this desert, hope is more precious than gold.
As long as there is hope, people will have something to strive for.
Even if it's false hope, it's the same.
Just looking at the city where half was filled with joy and the other half was filled with tears, Hai Siyuan felt mixed emotions.
Qiao Mu is willing to cooperate with him in playing this scene... But where is the real Da Yan
When he was thinking about this, Qiao Mu had already arrived at the military camp in the city.
The military camp is tall and spacious, and is used as a refuge by the soldiers and civilians of the isolated city. Many residents gather here again, so this is also Qiumu’s last stop.
In the military camp, he kept repeating his promises and lies to the old and young in the city, making the old cry and the young laugh.
However, as more and more people followed Qiao Mu, some doubts began to voice out of nowhere.
"Da Yan's reinforcements are finally coming, but why is it an old man here?" someone in the crowd asked.
"I don't have a problem with the old soldiers... After all, our city has been defended to this day by the old soldiers of Dayan. Without the old soldiers of Dayan, we wouldn't be alive today."
"But he is too old. If there really is an outside reinforcement force that dares to challenge the aliens, why would they let an old man be the vanguard?"
This doubtful voice caused everyone to nod in agreement.
After the initial joy and excitement, they began to re-examine the old man in front of them.
The city is full of gray-haired soldiers and old people everywhere.
But trees are different.
The age of his current body is already as high as 109 years old. Not to mention this lonely city, even if it is placed in the whole Kyushu, I am afraid that he is a centenarian.
He is too old.
The white-haired old soldier in Gucheng is probably only half his age, and is considered a young man compared to Qiaomu.
Although the civilians could not tell Qiumu's exact age, they guessed from his appearance that he was at least eighty or ninety years old.
So here comes the question.
What kind of army would let an old man who is at least 80 or 90 years old be a vanguard and go into a vast desert with scarce resources, poor water and crops
This is a logical loophole. After people came to their senses, many of them thought of this.
"You think I'm too old? Unable to take on the responsibility of being a pioneer? Is there something fishy going on?"
Qiao Mu looked at the suspicious gazes of the people in the military camp and smiled slightly.
This suspicion is reasonable.
If he wanted to make the soldiers and civilians in the city believe that he was really a reinforcement and not an actor recruited by Captain Hai, he naturally couldn't just rely on words.
After all... Qiao Mu does not have an official seal, and has not stayed in the army or officialdom of Dayan for too long. If he does not establish his character well, he will really be exposed.
If the secret is exposed, it would be counterproductive and the morale of the soldiers and civilians in this isolated city would probably fall to the bottom.
Thinking of this, he leaped up, his figure blurred for a moment, then he soared into the sky and jumped onto the command platform in the military camp.
Although he was in full view of everyone, his figure was as fast as a ghost, reaching an extremely high speed.
This skill of stealth step, which has been perfected, is really impressive. Even the old soldiers of Dayan, such as Captain Hai, could not help but say it is wonderful.
"But why did he show off his martial arts skills? Did he want to show off his fists in front of the soldiers and civilians?" Captain Hai was suspicious:
"No matter how high one's martial arts skills are, they are only that good."
"For example, Mr. Lu Yanbei, the wooden swordsman, may be old, but he has profound martial arts skills and his swordsmanship is still there. But so what? It is ultimately of no benefit to the overall situation."
When Hai Siyuan was suspicious, he saw Qiao Mu standing on the reviewing platform, clearing his throat, secretly using his internal energy, and his loud voice was like thunder, spreading to the ears of the people in the military camp.
"Are you curious as to why an old man like me, half buried in the ground, is the pioneer?"
"Are you curious about what the outside world of Kyushu looks like now after forty years of changes?"
"Don't you think that even if Dayan sends out another 100,000 elite soldiers, what will it do? Even if they cross the desert today to rescue the soldiers and civilians of the isolated city, what are 100,000 troops in front of the aliens? It's just a replay of the tragedy of forty years ago!"
After these words were spoken, everyone in the military camp fell silent. It was obvious that what Qiao Mu said was exactly what they were thinking.
Captain Hai was also speechless.
It was a sudden idea for him to ask Qiao Mu to act in the play, and he really didn't think about it carefully.
The gap between immortals and mortals is too great. The Great Yan Dynasty does not have the strength to challenge the nine major immortal sects. How can it save people