"Only those who can inherit the legacy of their ancestors, carry it forward, and innovate are the strong ones, no matter if they are monsters or humans." Said Clairvoyance.
Qiao Mu nodded, but his eyes unconsciously fell on the horizontal eyes on Qianliyan's head.
"You seem to know a lot about monsters..."
By the way, when the clairvoyant first met him, he also briefly explained the fact that he had a "three-eyed monkey" eye on his forehead.
"... It's just that Ting Chaolou has a wide range of knowledge." Clairvoyance said:
"There are many strange people gathered in Tingchao Tower. I just have a monster's eye. It's nothing." Qianliyan simply evaded the question and stood up to say goodbye.
Seeing that the other party was unwilling to speak, Qiao Mu couldn't force him.
After all, everyone has secrets, and digging into them might end up doing something bad.
Just like himself, and also just like the banished sword immortal who is trapped in this city and behaves strangely.
... ..
In a dilapidated Taoist temple.
Jian Zexian was still sitting on top of the immortal statue as he always was, holding a flat knife in his hand.
He was carving very seriously, but Lu Yanbei next to him didn't look very happy and kept muttering to himself.
"Yan Nan, you weren't like this before..."
"You used to be the sharpest sword in the world."
"You didn't act right last night. That's not like you..." Lu Yanbei muttered beside him.
"Have you said enough?" Jian Zexian stopped carving, but his expression remained cold and hard:
"I don't owe them anything, so what's wrong with that?"
"What does the Great Yan court look like? You don't know? Why should we fight for the Great Yan court?"
"Don't you owe it?" Lu Yanbei frowned:
"It's one thing for you to give up on yourself, but even if you give up on yourself, you still have to know right from wrong!"
"If you are not in this city, but are hiding in any mountain or wilderness in Kyushu, that would be understandable."
"But when you were carving the stone statues in this Taoist temple, the remnant soldiers were out fighting. Every surviving woman and child in the city owes them."
"Without those old soldiers fighting to the death, this isolated city would have been wiped out long ago. But is there still a corner of land for you to carve a stone statue here?"
Some people enjoy a peaceful and peaceful life and give up, while others carry the burden and fight to the death.
What Lu Yanbei meant was that if Jian Zexian was lying around somewhere else, naturally no one would tie him up and ask him to resist the aliens. He had to fight to the death on the battlefield.
But since he is in this city, the exiled swordsman, who has not drawn his sword for thirty years, naturally has to accept the kindness of the old soldiers.
"After forty years of ups and downs, only one in ten young and strong men in this city are left, and only half of the city's women, children, and the disabled and elderly are left. And you are carving a stone statue here. Is that reasonable?"
"The women, children, the disabled and the elderly in this city are more responsible than you!" Lu Yanbei frowned and couldn't help but open his mouth and scold.
He is also a wanderer, not a soldier of Dayan, and has no duty to go to the battlefield.
Why had he been fighting alongside the old soldiers in the city for a year after entering the city
Although one of the reasons was that he was touched by the resistance will of the old soldiers in the isolated city.
But the biggest reason is actually a sense of guilt caused by his own younger brother's poor performance.
Only then did Jian Zexian finally turn his head and take a look at his brother who had white hair and an angry face.
"Since you have said so much, I will explain the truth to you." Jian Zexian's eyes also fluctuated slightly.
He didn't care about being scolded by the old soldiers such as Captain Hai, but he was obviously still touched by the accusations from his own brother.
He used to be the most powerful martial artist in the world. He stood at the highest position and could see far. He had dealt with extraordinary people many times and knew some secrets that ordinary people did not know.
"Do you know why the aliens only besieged this city and did not kill all the soldiers and civilians in this city?" asked Jian Zexian.
"How can we guess what the stranger is thinking? It's just like a cat playing with a mouse." Lu Yanbei replied.
"Then do you know what this hundred-mile-long desert is called in the mouths of strangers?" Jian Zexian said slowly:
"They call this place..."
"Sect secret realm."
"A place where disciples can go to train, practice magic, and acquire resources."
"The souls of soldiers who died in battle cannot be reborn, but will fall into the hands of strangers and be regarded as food by them. This immortal gate formation not only has the ability to confuse people, but also has the method of arresting souls."
"The braver and more tenacious they are, the higher the quality of the soldiers' heroic spirits will be, and the happier the aliens will be..."
Jian Zexian stood tall, looking down at the dumbstruck Lu Yanbei with cold eyes:
"This is the truth about this 'Hundred Mile Desert'. This place was originally a place for the immortals to nourish their souls."
Jian Zexian narrowed his eyes slightly, raised the wine jug and took a sip:
"So that night I asked the sea captain..."
"Is sacrifice meaningful? Or is it just self-motivation?"
Lu Yanbei stood there blankly, seemingly shocked by this cruel fact.
The lonely city's forty years of blood and tears, forty years of tragic songs, actually turned into money and resources in the hands of strangers
The stubborn resistance of the former remnants of the army has even brought some benefits to the aliens
"This..." Lu Yanbei hesitated:
"Why do you know so much? Where did you get it from?"
"No, since you know the truth, why don't you tell Captain Hai and the others?"
"Tell them what to do?" Jian Zexian said calmly:
"The fighting spirit of those white-haired veterans is extremely tenacious. I'm afraid that even in the vast Kyushu of the outside world, there is not enough to gather such an iron army of only 300 people."
"But they are still human after all, not made of iron. Forty years of bloody battles have already exhausted them."
"Telling them the truth will not only not help, but will also likely undermine their morale."
"Once even those white-headed soldiers lose their will, this city will cease to exist."
Lu Yanbei remained silent for a long time.
After not seeing each other for thirty years, he suddenly felt that he could not understand his younger brother at all.
"Since you know so much... then have you been prepared for the past thirty years? I knew that you are still the exiled swordsman..." Lu Yanbei couldn't help but blurt out.
Unexpectedly, Jian Zexian just spread his hands helplessly.
"Second brother. Why do you still harbor hope for me after so long?" Jian Zexian said indifferently:
"Whether it was forty years ago or now, forty years later, I have never cared about the lives of ordinary people or the justice of the world. It's just that you treat me as your younger brother and look at me differently."
"I don't care at all whether the women, children, old and young in the city have enough food and warm clothes, whether they can survive, and how long they can live."
"They are theirs, and I am mine. Why should I risk my life for others?"
"Come to think of it, Li Changge came to this Taoist temple to ask for help from me twenty years ago." Jian Zexian shook his head and said:
"He said that he was seriously injured and was about to die, and his wife was still waiting for him outside the desert. The Soul Secret became an obstacle. In order to stop her from thinking about it, Li Changge decided to lead the way in the next battle to defend the city and risk his life."
"So Li Changge hopes that I will take on the important task..."
Jian Zexian paused, then laughed and said:
"The most ridiculous thing in the world is to threaten others with your own life... Do you think it's funny?"
Lu Yanbei stared at his younger brother, speechless for a moment.
Outside the Taoist temple.
Qiao Mu stopped and listened to the conversation between the two brothers in the Taoist temple.
He originally wanted to visit Jian Zexian as Qiao Ruisen, but unexpectedly he heard such a secret.
PS: Let me tell you about the update.
Chapter 202: Eternal Night
Qiao Mu stopped outside the Taoist temple until the sound of carving stone statues was heard again in the yard, and then he was ready to go in.
This time he came here to visit Jian Zexian as Qiao Ruisen.
Jian Zexian was, after all, a martial arts master forty years ago. If Qiao Mu wanted to make further progress, it would be better if he could take advantage of him.
After all, Wudang no longer exists. Even if there are still a few Wudang descendants, I am afraid that there will be no one who can compare with Jian Zexian.
Qiao Mu's main martial arts are the Changsheng Fist and the Wudang Chunyang Wuji Gong, so Jian Zexian's personal morality does not affect his continued exploitation.
But before he had taken two steps, a person came towards him.
It’s Lu Yanbei.
Lu Yanbei looked rather bleak at the moment, and was obviously in a bad mood. It took him a long while to notice Qiao Mu walking towards him.
"Mr. Qiao, why are you here?" Lu Yanbei was surprised.
Qiao Mu hesitated for a moment and said:
"Nephew Lu..."
Given his current status, it is inappropriate to address him as brother, so it is more reasonable to call him "nephew". This is different from when Qiao Mu used to take advantage of his seniority.
Qiao Mu said, "My dear nephew, you don't have to listen to the words of those who give up on themselves. If you have a little heat and emit a little light, you can be like a firefly, and you can also emit a little light in the darkness. You don't have to wait for a torch."
"If everyone is waiting for a torch in the night, there will never be a torch."
"It is enough to do one's best and accept one's fate."
Lu Yanbei was startled:
"So Mr. Qiao has heard it?"
He smiled bitterly, chewed on Qiumu's words, and looked slightly relieved.
At the end of the dynasty, the empire is about to collapse. Who dares to say that he has the ability to turn the tide and save the empire from collapse by himself
But at the end of every dynasty, there are always brave warriors who rise up like ants trying to shake a tree. Are they sure they can win? Can their efforts definitely have good results
It's just about doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate.
Therefore, the essence of this isolated city is a cage carefully built by the immortals, a garden for strangers to enter and visit. So what
If you don't have the will to fight, you will still spend the long night in this cage from life to death.
So it is with life, so it is with death, and so it is with future generations.
Lu Yanbei nodded and said goodbye and left.
Qiao Mu sorted out his thoughts and walked into the Taoist temple.
... ..
When he walked into the courtyard of the Taoist temple, he saw Jian Zexian standing motionless in the yard, lost in thought, and unaware of Qiao Mu's arrival.
The exiled swordsman did not look back, but continued to carve with the carving knife in his hand.
This stone statue is just a rough draft, barely presenting a human form, but the general outline of the figure is different from previous stone statues and does not resemble a female body.
Qiao Mu looked at it quietly for a while, and suddenly recognized from the outline of the statue... This statue seemed to be...
"If Heaven had not given birth to Qiao Shuangsen, the world would have been dark forever."
Jian Zexian's eyes were filled with sadness. He poured the wine bag into the mud in front of the blurry statue.
"The sound of flowing water in the mountains can no longer be continued, and now I am alone." Jian Zexian said slowly.
After hearing this, Qiao Mu felt a little confused.
He deliberately didn't attend the old soldiers' memorial service for himself last night, but he ended up making it this time
However, at this moment, when he looked at Jian Zexian's back, he felt a mysterious intuitive sense in his heart.
Qiao Mu has now entered the stage of spiritual cultivation, and his intuition is no longer the same as before.
He felt that Jian Zexian was... unfathomable? Was his strength even stronger than he had originally expected