Chapter 181

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Chapter 181: Qiao Family’s Countless Sons and Daughters

In the middle of the deserted city.

Lu Yanbei stood at the entrance of the military camp in the city, looking worriedly towards the direction of the city gate.

"Why haven’t Captain Hai and the others returned yet? This time the battle has been going on for a while. Did the inhumans use exceptionally powerful methods, or did something unexpected happen?"

Behind Lu Yanbei, the women and children who sought refuge in the military camp were buzzing with chatter.

Whenever the inhumans attacked, the old soldiers on the city wall would blow their horns.

If the inhumans were too strong and the situation became critical, the residents of the city would be evacuated in advance.

This military camp in the city was still relatively intact, with the former arsenal and granary. It was tall and spacious, serving as a refuge for the desperate women and children in the lonely city.

After all, there were only three hundred old soldiers left in the city, so a large military camp was useless."

"Don’t worry. If any bad people quietly come into the city, I will use my sword to send them to heaven."

Lu Yanbei gently rubbed the head of a young child behind him, with a smile on his face to comfort.

After whispering a few words to the children, he turned around and unconsciously placed his hand on the sheath of his sword at his waist. His old face also showed some seriousness.

Lu Yanbei is an old man with a tall figure. He looks very old, with wrinkles and age spots scattered on his face. His left arm is wrapped in bandages, indicating that he is injured.

What is even more striking than his old age is that he has two swords hanging at his waist.

One of them is a regular wooden sword.

The other sword is called the Xuanji Sword. It was once ranked tenth on the Tide Listening Building’s weapon list, a divine weapon that can cut iron like mud and break gold and jade.

Lu Yanbei reached out and touched the Xuanji Sword at his waist, his eyes filled with memories.

"Xuanji Sword, old me never imagined that I would have the chance to wield you in battle again in my later years…" he murmured.

Lu Yanbei is a famous expert in swordsmanship from Jiu Province. He is regarded as one of the leaders of swordsmanship in Jiu Province and is known as the "Wooden Sword Walker".

Despite being over eighty years old, he has achieved remarkable success in the realm of skill and technique. Even with his aging body, he can still defeat a second rank Spirit Refining martial artist with a wooden sword, leaving behind stories in the martial arts world.

In his prime, Lu Yanbei’s swordsmanship had already reached the level of being unrivaled by anyone using a wooden sword. He was not limited by external objects and could use anything, even grass and trees, as a sword. He could be described as having the aura of a true master.

But now, he is old.

In old age, one’s vitality and strength decline. This is a natural law and a common feeling for people.

The former Wooden Sword Walker, Lu Yanbei, was the same.

Even with great skills, the weak body can’t compare to the strength of the younger years when stepping onto the battlefield. It is like a skilled cook can’t make a meal without rice.

Lu Yanbei is not native to this city.

He is one of the few surviving foreign martial artists in this lonely city.

He fell into this city for about a year. At first, he fought with a wooden sword, but later he had to rely on the advantage of a treasure sword.

But even so, in each battle, there were times when he stumbled.

After his left arm was injured, he no longer fought side by side with the three hundred senior soldiers, but retreated to the city to recover.

"Old Lu, your martial arts level is higher, your hearing is still good, can you hear any movement in the direction of the city gate?"

Old Chen, who had one leg, walked over with a crutch, his face equally solemn.

His temples were gray, and he was over eighty years old, a veteran who had experienced the Inhuman War forty years ago.

He was much older than Captain Hai, who used to be a young soldier, but because of aging and disability, he could no longer go to the battlefield.

In this lonely city, besides the three hundred senior soldiers who can still fight, there are basically only women, children, and the disabled veterans from that year.

"There is no sign of fighting." Lu Yanbei frowned, glanced at the women and children taking shelter behind him, took a few steps away quietly, and lowered his voice:

"In theory, the fighting should have already ended, but why is there no one blowing the horn on the city wall to give us a signal?"

"Could it be…" The thought simultaneously crossed the minds of Lu Yanbei and the others, their expressions growing even more serious.

Either the casualties of this battle were unusually high, or they encountered some other unexpected situation…

"Let’s go and see what’s happening at the city gate tower."

Lu Yanbei suggested.

Although he was a martial artist from outside the realm, not a soldier of Great Yan, he had been trapped in this city for a year.

This past year, he had already been influenced by the indomitable spirit of this small army and fought alongside them.

Sensing that something was amiss, he ignored the injury on his left arm and decided to go to the city gate to investigate.

Two old men, one with an injured arm and the other with a broken leg, supported each other as they walked towards the direction of the city gate tower.

It was only after turning a few streets that they heard a sad crying voice echoing through the air.

They were a group of old soldiers walking towards the city gate, carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades with white cloths covering their faces. They were surrounded by family members of the soldiers who rushed there upon hearing the news.

"In this battle, thirteen more people have died." whispered one of the old soldiers.

"There used to be a hundred thousand soldiers, and now there are only around three hundred left."

For the past forty years, there had been casualties in every battle. But with only thirteen deaths this time, it was actually much smaller compared to previous wars.

However, this number of casualties was not a simple figure.

"Such a tragedy…" cried a frail old woman, kneeling beside the two bodies covered in white cloth.

The body on the left belonged to an old soldier in his sixties, and the one on the right was younger, maybe in his thirties or forties.

A middle-aged man and an elderly man, the two bodies had a faint resemblance, as if they were father and son.

Many of the soldiers in the city were old veterans from the Inhuman War, but there were also new recruits who had joined in the past forty years.

"They say that father and son fight together on the battlefield, so you two should support each other, not go on the same journey…" The old woman cried out in the wind.

"My child, you have lived in this city for over thirty years, grown up here, and yet you have never seen the scenery beyond this vast desert. Why did you leave…"

"Old man, why couldn’t you have died earlier? Why did you have to ruin my son and make him yearn for a Great Yan he has never seen before, taking his place on the battlefield…"

"Guarding this city for forty years, the once hundred thousand strong army has dwindled down to only three hundred old soldiers. Where is this Great Yan that you speak of in these forty years?"

"Guarding the city? Guarding a useless city!"

"What good is righteousness and loyalty? It only moves oneself! Does anyone in Jiu Province still remember the soldiers and civilians in this city?"

Lu Yanbei, who had rushed over from a distant block, remained silent.

It had become the norm in this city for soldiers to die in battle, but whenever he saw scenes of farewell between loved ones, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of sadness.

But at that moment, the old woman saw Lu Yanbei rushing over and, somehow finding the strength, she grabbed hold of his shirt collar.

"Mr. Lu, you came from outside of Jiu Province. Say something," the old woman wailed.

"Why is there silence about the situation in Great Yan outside? What exactly is the situation in Jiu Province now?"

"Was the sacrifice of my husband and son meaningless?"

Over the years, there have been very few martial artists from the outside world like Qiao Mu who entered this isolated city.

After hearing about the achievements of the military and civilians in this city, including Lu Yanbei, a few martial artists from the outside world made the same decision.

They remained silent about the Great Yan Imperial Court and the inhuman matters, keeping them deeply hidden.

Despite the old woman grabbing onto Lu Yanbei’s shirt collar, he still kept his mouth tightly shut.

By now, the old woman had cried herself out, only shaking her head.

"I understand, actually no one is a fool."

She knelt on the ground, closed the old soldier’s eyes, and sadly smiled, saying:

"In the past, one hundred thousand brave soldiers didn’t betray Great Yan, sacrificing themselves for their country, refusing to kneel before inhumanity. But Great Yan has disappointed the remaining soldiers defending this city!"

Lu Yanbei wanted to speak but hesitated.

What else could he say?

Actually, the situation in the Jiu Province outside is much worse than this old woman imagines!

He remained silent, not because of any complicated reason, but simply because he couldn’t bear it.

More tragic than "we were about to fight to death, why did Your Majesty surrender first" is the fact that this isolated army has been fighting for forty years, while the Great Yan Imperial Court behind them has been kneeling for forty years!

"The Jiu Province outside has long been rotting!"

"The brave warriors who died in the tragic Inhuman War are now the last hope of the people in Jiu Province. Since then, the backbone of the warriors has been broken, the spirit of the scholars has been shattered, and the heroes have become a thing of the past!"

"The Taoist temples of the Nine Immortal Gates have almost spread throughout the major cities of Jiu Province!"

"And now, the people of Jiu Province worship the Immortal Gates as if they were shrines for True Immortals, and even the folks in remote small towns don’t know what ‘inhuman’ means."

"What has been forgotten by the world is not just this remaining army and this lonely city. If a few decades pass, the people of Jiu Province might completely forget about the ‘Inhuman War’."

How could Lu Yanbei possibly utter these words!

He would rather stay silent and not talk about it.

If the truth is revealed, countless people in this lonely city will lose all hope and motivation.

That’s why he prefers to remain silent, even if silence in itself is a stance.

After a while, Lu Yanbei could only offer comforting words:

"This desert has been isolated from the outside world for many years. The powerful magic barrier is not something ordinary people can pass."

"The Great Yan outside is not unwilling to come and help, they just don’t know…"

As he said these words, he felt a slight sadness in his heart.

According to what Lu Yanbei knew, there are still remnants of soldiers defending this isolated city until now. Nobody in the outside world should know about this, he was not lying about it.

But… what difference does it make to know?

If Emperor Yonghe knew, would he really risk the pressure from the Immortal Gate and send a large army to help?

The old woman’s words, in Lu Yanbei’s opinion, were actually correct.

Lu Yanbei silently thought in his heart:

"The one hundred thousand soldiers have not let down Great Yan, defending the isolated city and its land until now. It is Great Yan Imperial Court that has let you down!"

The crying and shouting gradually became quieter, and their tears had dried up, leaving only sadness in their hearts.

Lu Yanbei took heavy steps and walked a few steps away to ask the old soldiers who were carrying the bodies about the details of this battle.

"Thirteen soldiers killed in action, and there are still over three hundred wounded… How much longer can this city hold on?" he couldn’t help but ask.

However, none of the old soldiers answered.

Everyone knew that this isolated city was destined to fall, and even when it would fall was not determined by them, but by the emotions of the inhuman.

How long could the three hundred old soldiers hold on? A year? Half a year? Or maybe just a month?

When inhuman attacked the isolated city, it was like the rain from the heavens, unpredictable, sometimes clear and sometimes rainy, without a fixed pattern.

Today, they may be Paper Man Soldiers, and tomorrow they could be scattered soldiers, using various tactics from the Immortal Gate to attack the city. It was difficult to predict.

Nobody had any certainty in their hearts.

At that moment, the direction of the distant city gate suddenly became noisy. Many people were talking loudly and Lu Yanbei and the others instinctively looked towards the sound.

The sound of a trumpet came from the direction of the city gate tower.

However, this time the sound of the trumpet was not as deep as before, but instead carried a faint sense of excitement.

This trumpet sound meant that the battle had ended, the city’s curfew was lifted, and the evacuated residents could return… but it seemed there was more to it?

Everyone was puzzled.

A young boy with a yellow face ran from the direction of the city gate tower, his mouth almost reaching his ears:

"There’s someone from the outside at the city gate!"

The people on the street were startled, but only for a brief moment.

A martial artist cannot change the overall situation and cannot save this city.

Even the best martial artist, ranked 1st, cannot escape this desert blocked by the Immortal Gate with them.

"People from the outside? Are they martial artists from another world? Could they be another disciple deceived by the Great Dao Sect?" Lu Yanbei sighed in his heart.

I hope the people coming this time will have a higher level of martial arts cultivation, so maybe fewer people in this city will die.

"He said he’s not a martial artist from another world… He said he’s a soldier, a soldier from Great Yan!" the child shouted.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yanbei and the others were all astonished.

The old woman, who had just cried until her voice was almost hoarse, also froze, with complex and fluctuating thoughts in her heart.

"Soldiers from Great Yan have come from outside? How many people? Finally, we have reinforcements?" She fired a rapid series of questions, grabbing the running child and not letting go.

"One… two people."

The soaring emotions of the crowd were suddenly doused with a bucket of cold water.

Only the old soldier with a single leg suddenly remembered something. His hand, gripping the crutch, began to tremble slightly as he asked in a trembling voice:

"Did only one soldier come? Is his last name Wu? Is General Li back?"

One person cannot change the overall situation.

But if that General Li returns, perhaps there will be a different scene.

General Li, who was once a pivotal figure in the army, if he doesn’t show up, it means he is not confident.

If he returns, it means he has the awareness to change the situation.

The young child was frightened by the excited reaction of the old soldier with a single leg. Their lips stuttered for a moment, unable to speak.

And at that moment.

An elderly voice, however, came from a distance.

"I have the surname Qiao."

An old man with white hair, holding a long spear, walked slowly from the end of the street, followed by Captain Hai and other old soldiers.

The old man had many wrinkles on his face, even older than the old soldiers in this city, but his eyes were bright and determined, not cloudy like other old people.

"My name is Qiao Shuangsen, the commander of the Great Yan Immortal Slaying Army."

"Great Yan has not forgotten you… all the sacrifices and defenses of this lonely city for the past forty years will be known throughout Jiu Province."

"I am not alone, I am just a humble pioneer paving the way. As you can see, I have already passed through the Immortal Gate formation and entered this city by myself."

"Reinforcements are on their way, and behind me are thousands of brave soldiers!"