Novoland: Eagle Flag Chapter 3: Shangyang Blood II

Three hundred and eighty miles away, Shangyang Pass.

Between the two mountains, there is a majestic and vast city connecting the sky. The man in white stood silently on a dilapidated tall building outside the city, looking out into the wind with his hands behind his back. The autumn wind rolled up his worn-out white battle clothes. From a distance, he looked like a white eagle plucking its feathers in the wind.

A military academy galloped over on horseback, rolled downstairs and got off the horse, and knelt down on one knee: "General, there are a total of 20,000 people from the Tang Dynasty to help, and the pioneer 3,000 Qingqi are already at the Lanting Station five miles away. Stationed."

"Are you here?" The general in white raised his delicate eyebrows, "Is Xiyan here?"

"Qingqing builds the river, brightens the heart of the old man." A long chant came from afar.

At the end of the ancient road covered with decaying grass, a general in black armor and sword suddenly appeared on a pitch-black war horse. The horse came slowly. With the cigarette stick between his fingers, the general clapped his hands, laughed, and chanted, walking leisurely and alone in the rustling autumn wind, like a storyteller singing while riding a donkey.

Xi Yan stopped his horse under the dilapidated Bell and Drum Tower, climbed up the stairs, and went straight to the top floor. The general in white leaned on the railing and looked from a distance, without looking back at him.

"It's been seven years since you left, so you're safe?" Xi Yan went up to shoulder to shoulder with him.

"I'm old," the general in white shook his head, "and his head is also gray."

Xi Yan looked at the temples of his former friend, it was pitch black back then, but now it is half white. The face still has the handsomeness of youth, but the wrinkles between the corners of the eyes are as clear as a knife. Xi Yan didn't speak, and tapped the rotten wooden railing with the cigarette pole to shake off the soot, and silently looked at the high city in the distance. On the watchtower on the top of the city wall opposite, the red flag embroidered with Lei Lie's flowers fluttered in the wind like a ball of flame.

"I heard that one of your students fought against Ying Wuyi, and he retreated completely," the general in white said in a low voice, "The battalion has passed the word well in the past two days."

"Three ribs were broken, an arm was broken, and a luteal bone was chopped off. It is already a miracle to survive. How dare you say that you are safe?"

"To tell you the truth, these days the troops from all over the world have been coming here, and they have accumulated 80,000 troops. They have been defending here for several days, and they have fought against the Li army six times, but they have never won. .The name of Ying Wuyi's Overlord Sword makes those who hear it frightened. To be able to ask for a life from Ying Wuyi's sword is indeed your student of Xiyan. The soldiers listened, and the morale of the army was a little cheered up."

"I went into battle and fought against Li Gong myself, that's the way to get back, why don't you say it?"

The general in white turned around coldly, looked at Xi Yan's nonchalant smiling face, was silent for a while, and then suddenly smiled: "If you, an old fox, are also lost under Ying Wuyi's hands, you might as well buy a piece of tofu and beat him to death! "

The two of them stretched out their hands and shook hands at the same time. The louder the laughter, the louder it was, and it spread far away in the empty field. The Chu Wei soldiers guarding downstairs were inexplicably surprised. They had followed the general Bai Yi for many years, and they rarely heard Bai Yi laughing like this.

"How did Ying Wuyi get out of the encirclement?" Xi Yan held back his laughter.

Bai Yi shook his head: "Shangyang Pass is a Great Wall. There are six gates facing the south, which can block here and leak there. Not to mention the 80,000 army, even if there are more 80,000, it will not be able to seal Ying Wuyi's thunder cavalry. If Ying Wuyi didn't want to take the infantry of the Red Army with him, he could run wild with the maneuverability of the thunder cavalry. The day before yesterday he lightened his load and led five thousand thunder cavalry to break through. Ten thousand in Chunguo Before the Wind Tiger Cavalry moved, Ying Wuyi had already set foot on the camp. If you hadn't met halfway, we would have lost this battle."

"With the strength of Xia Tang's 20,000 people alone, he can't stop him at all. Fortunately, he brought a wooden tower with the army. However, five thousand thunder cavalry and thirty thousand red brigade infantry, facing the ten-mile Great Wall, you still don't want it. Hope to seal Ying Wuyi."

Bai Yi remained calm: "Then according to what you said, we are bound to lose?"

"Shangyang Pass is a majestic pass facing the 300-mile plain. On one side, it is guarded by a single man, and on the other side, there is no danger to defend. According to the art of war, the 300-mile plain is an enclave, let alone a hundred thousand people. Even 300,000 people are in vain," Xi Yan smiled, "However, if you are the host, I bet that Ying Wuyi has a half chance of being buried here."

Bai Yi looked at him quietly for a while: "Do you really want Ying Wuyi to die?"

"In comparison, I still hope that you can live longer."

The two stopped talking, and stood in front of the railing with their hands folded, looking at the Shangyang Pass in the distance, looking past the closed red flag to the floating clouds at the end of the sky.

At this time, the infantry of the Chinese army in Xiatang was still fifty miles away from Shangyang Pass. Hundreds of transportation vehicles were in the center, and the sergeants followed on foot with weapons in hand, slowly advancing under the hazy sky.

Lu Guichen lifted the curtain of the car and watched, the army converged into a long snake along the slightly undulating grassland, heading for the place where the cirrus clouds hovered at the end of the sky and the earth. He thought of the herds of antelope migrating in the wilderness of the northern land. When autumn came to the east, they formed a long procession, followed the ancient route with water sources, and traveled two thousand miles to the warm pastures in the south. The dangerous road through the vast wilderness seems to be imprinted in the blood of the flock. Even the newborn lambs know that they will follow the adult antelope and come out at the beginning of the autumn wind.

When he was very young, he went hunting with his father and encountered migrating sheep. Along the way, there were antelopes that fell down due to thirst, and the ewes licked the dead lambs, which was endlessly sad. Lu Guichen asked the old hunter who was traveling with him, and the hunter said that because several nearby springs were cut off, the sheep migrating along the old road had to suffer from thirst.

"Then can't we find water from other ways?" Lu Guichen couldn't bear it.

"The sheep are like this. They walk the same road year after year. So many died of thirst this year, and they will die of thirst again next year on this road. I don't know how to turn back." The old hunter said, and he didn't know why. Instead of emotion, he sang an ancient idyll.

At this time, Lu Guichen suddenly had a feeling that this army rushing to the battlefield was like an antelope migrating south along the old path, and he didn't really understand why he chose this path. Going into battle again and again, falling down again and again, the blood of each dynasty and generation flows into rivers, but the successors are still rushing to the dead end in a steady stream.

"Asule, what are you thinking?" Ji Ye's voice sounded behind him.

Jimo was lying in the car, his whole body was tightly bound with a white cloth, his left arm was covered with a splint and hung around his neck. When the medical officer looked at his injury, he couldn't help exclaiming that he had never seen anyone who was injured so severely and remained unconscious. Then he fixed Ji Ye's whole body with a wooden branch, tied it with a cloth belt and sealed it. Ji Ye could only move his fingers at most at this moment, even if he twisted his neck, the wound would still hurt to the bone.

The car door opened, and a tiger jumped up from Xiyuan, holding the decoction in his hand, without spilling a drop.

"Drink the medicine." Xi Yuan sat beside Ji Ye.

"This thing is really bitter. If you try to feed it to the cows, the cows may be killed by it." Ji Ye struggled and complained.

"Stop complaining, you look like an unmarried girl." Xiyuan blew on the soup, "Can a cow compare with you? Does a cow dare to fight against the Mighty King? You are so majestic these days, everyone No one in the army does not know your name. Do you know Hua Ye, the famous general of the Chun Kingdom? His nickname is Ugly Tiger, but his subordinates call him Tiger God. He is a military god-like figure. With your current reputation, if you win a showdown with Mighty King, you will be almost as good as Hua Ye!"

Xiyuan said seriously: "It's called, um, 'Wild God'!"

"Wild gods... are not as good as wild ghosts..." Ji Ye couldn't continue talking.

Xiyuan stuffed a funnel into his mouth with one hand, and poured down the bowl full of soup with the other. Xiyuan looked at his funnel with satisfaction: "Sure enough, this thing works. I kept thinking, saying that you can't look up like this, and what to do if you keep taking medicine. I came up with this method, look, not a drop leaked! "

He glanced at Ji Ye: "Why are you glaring at me? I've blown it for you before, it's not hot!"

"It's not hot, but you choked him to death." Just as Lu Guichen was about to come up to help, Xiyuan had already finished pouring, and he could only watch Ji Ye's eyes protrude from being poured, as if he was about to Breathless. Ji Ye hadn't caught his breath yet, and couldn't yell at Xiyuan. Even if he wanted to fight Xiyuan, he couldn't get up now.

Xiyuan looked at the funnel and smiled, he felt that he had made a mistake, but he also found it quite interesting to see this friend who was as reckless as a beast lying there helplessly and could only let others torment him.

Huge equipment was mounted on the cart, rumbled past the window, and their cart was overtaking.

"What is that?" Lu Guichen asked.

Xiyuan glanced at it: "It's a rhinoceros horn rush, but it's actually a siege vertebra. Previously, this thing was extremely heavy. It took sixty pack horses to pull it out, and dozens of soldiers to guard it. But my uncle changed it." According to the drawings, the rhino horn can be disassembled and assembled, and the heaviest vertebral body weighs only more than 4,000 catties, so it can be carried on a cart."

"What about the one behind?"

Xiyuan poked his head out of the window to have a look: "That's a bed crossbow. It can be shot from a distance of 1,000 to 200 steps. It is said that Heluo He will make a huge crossbow that you need to sit on and shoot, it is called Habarqin, and it can shoot iron arrows weighing 80 jin, and it can shoot two thousand steps away!"

"Why did you make such a big crossbow?" Lu Guichen looked at the iron crossbow bolts tied on both sides of the cart, which were as thick as his wrist, with two-foot long thorns on his head.

"It's not for shooting people, it's for shooting at the city wall and nailing it into the wall, so that soldiers can climb up when they are attacking the city. When the ladder can't be pushed up, this thing works."

"If you shoot someone..."

Xiyuan was stunned for a moment: "I'm afraid it's going to break people into two parts?"

Lu Guichen nodded and remained silent.

"I'll go to the rear army to have a look. Now that my uncle isn't here, all the battalions are lazy." Xiyuan patted Ji Ye on the shoulder, "I'll think of a different way next time."

"Don't think about it, you can just pour it like this," Ji Ye gritted his teeth, showing a painful expression, "But major general, stop patting my shoulder, I'm afraid there is not a whole bone there."

"I can't beat you! I have confidence in you!" Xi Yuan smiled and jumped out of the car.

In the cart, only Ji Ye and Lu Guichen were left facing each other.

"Asule, what are you thinking?" Ji Ye asked again.

Lu Guichen was taken aback and came back to his senses: "Did you ask me just now?"

"But you didn't answer me." Ji Ye said.

"You remember this."

"You have been like this all the way from Qingping Plain, as if you are always thinking about something. I have wanted to ask you for a long time."

"I'm fine," Lu Guichen shook his head, "You can rest, the doctor said that you may not recover in three months, if you force yourself to move now, I'm afraid your bones will not grow well."

"Asule..." Ji Ye paused slightly, "Are you afraid?"

Lu Guichen was silent for a while, then nodded: "I miss my cousin."

"Your cousin?"

"Longge Zhenhuang Boruha Kusar, that's his name, but people on the grassland call him the Lion King," Lu Guichen said, "He's dead...I'll give you Did you tell me about my family?"

"No," said Himeno. Sometimes Lu Guichen would tell him and Yuran about Beilu, from wild geese to antelopes, from Kuafu to dragon horses, but Lu Guichen seldom mentioned his parents and relatives. Occasionally say a few words, but also immediately stopped.

After being quiet for a while, Lu Guichen turned his head to look at this good friend: "Don't tell anyone else, okay?"

"Good!"

"I am the fifth son of my father, but my mother is not from the Qingyang Department. Grandma sent it to the Qingyang Department to negotiate a peace..."

Lu Guichen lowered his head and was silent for a while: "The teacher said that in East Lu's wedding, you have to accept geese, ask auspicious luck, pass posts, and hire people. If one step is missing, it will not be a rule, but we in North Lu, in fact It's all very simple. My father actually has a lot of women, most of them are captive women, and they don't need any formal titles. Whoever snatches them will belong to them. The ancestor of our Qingyang Department is called Lu Qingyang, He had seven brothers. At that time, the eight of them fought together, and the cattle, sheep, and population they robbed were divided among them according to the military exploits. Later, the seven brothers betrayed him for the cattle, sheep, and pastures. So my ancestors took the seven brothers Killed them all, cut off the parietal bones of seven of them, embedded them in his own sword, and occupied all the cattle, sheep and population. He was afraid that other tribes would rob him again, so he married his older sister and younger sister ... I know this is a joke, but it is said that it is so easy to give birth to offspring with mad blood. Later, there were really three sons with mad blood. Only then did the whole tribe become a big tribe."

Himino listened silently without making a sound.

"I have four older brothers, but I am the eldest son," Lu Guichen continued, "Your father and your younger brother treated you badly, but they will never kill you. But sometimes I think, maybe Which of my older brothers will really kill me in the future. A person like me is not worthy of being the King of Qingyang, and I can’t glorify Qingyang’s martial arts. The rule of our Beilu is that whoever is strong will survive, and the weak will die. , and no one will feel pity... Brothers don't kill me, they are ashamed of Qingyang's ancestors..."

"Ji Ye," Lu Guichen raised his head suddenly, "Do you know that when I met you and Yu Ran, I really thought that I would never go back to Beilu again in my life... I am not afraid of death , I’m afraid to see my brothers come to kill me with knives!”

The two faced each other silently, unable to speak for a long time.

"I know I'm stupid..." Lu Guichen was a little embarrassed.

"Then why do you still want to learn sword and military?" Ji Ye asked in a low voice.

"Sometimes I also think, maybe it's not as bad as I thought. One day in the future, I will protect Qingyang and make meritorious deeds like my father. Then I can protect them..." Lu Guichen shook his head suddenly Shaking his head, "I realized that I was wrong when I saw you and Li Gong trying their hands. I can't do it. My fourth brother is right. No matter how hard I try, I will be a coward. If it were me Under Li Gong's knife, I can't even pull it out..."

Lu Guichen smiled palely: "Ji Ye, I really admire you, if I have your courage..."

"I'm not that bold either." Ji Ye interrupted Lu Guichen.

"What?" Lu Guichen looked at Ji Ye in confusion.

"I'm not that courageous, and I'm also afraid," Ji Ye said, "At that time, I also thought I was going to die... But Asule, I was very afraid of death, more afraid of death than you, so I was afraid of death at that time. I feel like someone inside me is yelling so hard that don't let him kill you, don't let him kill you... Only I can save myself. Do you think I'm crazy when I practice guns? Because I'm really scared sometimes, I I don’t think I’m Chang Ye, no one will care about me, if I want to get ahead, I have to rely on myself, and only if I practice spear skills well, I can go into battle and not be killed, and I can survive.”

Lu Guichen looked at Ji Ye in surprise, at those bottomless pure black pupils.

Jimo didn't look at him, but looked straight at the roof of the cart: "I dreamed about my mother last night, and when I woke up, I felt like crying."

"How did your mother... die?"

"Can't remember."

"Don't remember?"

"I remember she took me to play when I was young, but I can't remember her appearance. When we were young, our family was in Tianqi City, and then we moved to Nanhuai after a sudden change. During that change, my mother died But no matter how I think about it, I can’t figure out how she died. Actually... I can’t remember anything from the time I was six to eight.”

"Could it be... the dementia?"

Ji Ye pulled the corner of his mouth and smiled with difficulty: "I don't know, anyway, I can't remember. Let's not talk about it, Asule, in fact, there is nothing to be afraid of. The general said that this is a chaotic world, and no one can control it." Your own life, let alone us, even if your father still has someone like the king, there is no exception. There is nothing to be afraid of, even if you are afraid, you still cannot escape."

Ji Ye tried hard to turn his head to look at Lu Guichen, showing a half ugly smile: "The big deal is that they will kill us, let's go together!"