Qin Luo was riding a fast horse, his brows furrowed.
It had been ten years since he left Daze and he had traveled thousands of miles day and night.
But he found that walking from Chuzhou to Lingzhou, the road became more and more desolate.
This is not normal.
When he entered Chu from Ling two years ago, the closer to the boundary of Lingzhou, the denser the population was.
After all, Chuzhou is mountainous and difficult to farm.
Lingzhou's terrain is flat, mainly plains, which means it has more fields and can feed more people.
But now the further we go to Lingzhou, the more desolate it becomes, and even natural disasters would be hard-pressed to cause such a situation.
Because one state is hit by a disaster, another adjacent state cannot be safe.
Therefore, the most likely cause of this situation is man-made disaster.
Whether it is a military rebellion or a conquest, a large number of civilians will be plundered and slaughtered, and there will even be no roosters crowing for thousands of miles.
"I have been cultivating for a year, but I didn't expect that the world of Lingzhou would change." Qin Luo thought to himself.
Lingzhou has a large territory and can support a large population, but it is divided among three larger alliances: "Yan", "Luo" and "Poyang".
Dancheng was originally under the jurisdiction of Yan State.
However, the national power of these three countries is not much different, and the Luo Kingdom is slightly stronger.
If they were to conquer each other, these countries would still be very restrained. At most, they would plunder hundreds of miles of land or a thousand households, and would not develop into a war of massacre and annihilation.
If by any chance one party launches a war to destroy the country.
Although the Qin family has a certain ability to protect themselves in Dancheng, it is not completely safe.
Qin Luo clamped the horse's belly again and shouted: "Drive!"
At this time, his heart returned like an arrow.
After another hundred miles ahead, we have entered the boundary of Lingzhou, and it is only twenty days' journey from Dancheng.
Three days later.
Qin fell to this small town called "Lingxiu" on the border of Lingzhou.
He wandered here four years ago and lamented that this city lived up to its name, with beautiful mountains and rivers and beautiful women.
But more than beauty, he likes the "three sweet tastes" made from the good water here. It has a mellow and delicate taste, which is intoxicating but not harmful to the body.
But he traveled here again.
The scene here was completely different from the beautiful small town in his memory.
The low city wall was carved with large and small scars, and the old dark red soaked into the bricks, which even rain could not wash away.
The only thing that can distinguish it from the dead city is that the restaurant in the city is still open and has gathered a little bit of popularity.
"The waiter is serving wine and a pot of 'Three Kou Gan'. The dishes to go with the wine are pig ears, beef and ham." Qin Luo ordered skillfully after walking into the restaurant.
The waiter came up to me, bent down slightly and said, "Is this guest from Chuzhou? I haven't known this place for a long time."
Qin Luo was slightly startled when he heard this, and responded: "That's true. The last time I came here was four years ago. Is there any problem?"
"Four years ago." The waiter suddenly realized for a moment, "My guest, you don't know something. A beast tide broke out in Lingzhou a year ago, and the river outside Lingxiu City was completely red.
Therefore, we locals have not taken the river water outside the city to make wine for the past ten years, and we have stopped eating river fish, so the ‘three mouthfuls of sweetness’ are naturally gone.”
"That's it..." Qin Luo exhaled slowly, "In that case, we can go to whatever bar has the wine, and the appetizers will remain the same."
"Okay, then I will give you the 'Diquan Wine' brewed with well water. It is also a first-class wine." The waiter showed a complimenting smile, and then took Qin Luo to sit by the window.
Sitting by the window, Qin Luo looked at the people on the street. There were indeed fewer people on the street than four years ago. The chatter that came to his ears was also quite heavy.
After the waiter served the "Diquan wine", Qin Luo took a sip.
It was so strong that it hurt my throat.
It is far from the first-class wine that the waiter boasted, let alone the "three mouthfuls of sweetness".
But almost all the diners in the restaurant have this jug of wine on the table. Perhaps such a strong wine can soothe their pain of bereavement.
As a cultivator with excellent hearing, Qin Luo listened six times while serving food, collected all kinds of information, and sorted it out to deduce the context of the "Lingzhou Beast Tide" incident.
The beast tide in Lingzhou started a year and a half ago. From the forest in the hinterland of Lingzhou, countless ferocious beasts rushed out and ate everyone they saw.
At first, the official did not pay much attention to it and only ordered local governments to independently hunt down the ferocious beasts. However, hunters fighting alone and inexperienced local hunters were no match for the ferocious beasts traveling in groups.
It wasn't until the beast tide wiped out several villages in succession and threatened the city that the officials took it seriously and formed an alliance to form a three-nation coalition to encircle and suppress it.
When the army first took action, the effect was remarkable, and it once forced the beast tide back into the mountains.
But then monster beasts that surpassed ordinary beasts appeared, and the monster beasts even attacked the camp at night, disturbing the army and causing misery.
The exhausted Three Kingdoms Allied Forces were completely defeated in the battle with the beast tide mixed with monsters on the plains. After that, the remaining soldiers retreated to the city to survive, and the wilderness became completely dominated by wild beasts.
Small border towns like Lingxiu City were greatly affected and suffered heavy losses.
Not to mention the densely populated big cities in the Lingzhou Plain.
Qin Luo finished the pot of wine, picked up the dishes on the table casually, and took a few bites, but couldn't taste anything.
It wasn't that the wine was too spicy and spoiled his appetite, it was just that his mind was not on the food at all.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Luo stood up, went to the counter to pay for the meal, then went out and got on his horse.
He was worried before.
What is happening on the land of Lingzhou now is not a military rebellion, but a beast tide.
To say which of the two is more harmful to the people, one can only say that people in troubled times are not as good as peace dogs.
But this beast tide poses a greater threat to the Qin family.
If there is a war, three of his four sons will embark on the path of spiritual practice, and one of his daughters will have spiritual roots. They may not necessarily be able to preserve the family legacy, but they will definitely be able to survive.
Can face the beast tide...
The point where beast tides are more difficult to deal with than military chaos is that ferocious beasts cannot be reasoned with and cannot be bought off with money.
Whether they are nobles or civilians, they are all food in their eyes.
And if you want to survive in the beast tide, you have to rely on the knife in your hand.
If the knife is sharp, life will come.
Otherwise, you will die.
Ordinary ferocious beasts naturally do not pose a threat to Qin family practitioners, but when there are too many, their spiritual power will always be exhausted.
Besides, there is also the rumored monster.
Qin Luo now wished he could possess the thousand-mile teleportation talisman recorded in the classics and rush back to Dancheng in one breath.
…
The setting sun is like blood.
The lonely city hangs in the air.
Facing the dense and seemingly never-ending tide of beasts, the small city of Dan City held on for more than five months, which can be called a miracle.
But now, the defenders on the walls of Dan City, looking at the new wave of beasts, only feel endless fatigue and despair on the verge of collapse.
This is a normal emotion.
No matter how disciplined the army is, if there are no reinforcements outside and there are constant enemies, even the morale that was initially boosted will be completely wiped out.
The reason why the defenders of Dan City did not completely collapse was because there were not enemy troops outside the city, but wild beasts.
Under such torture, if they were surrounded and suppressed by the enemy, as long as the enemy gave a slightest hint of surrender and refused to kill them, they would have opened the city gates and disarmed them.
But in the face of wild beasts, resistance is death, and surrender is even a humiliating death.
They simply fought until the end, at least dying in front of their loved ones in the city. After all, if they persisted a little longer, maybe there would be hope...
certainly.
The reason why they still have some faith is because the Qin family monks standing on the city wall can each block ten with one when defending the city, and quickly kill the wild beasts that climb up the city wall.
The east wall section of Dancheng.
"Uncle, after this round of inspections, you should go back and rest early. You haven't slept for two days. You are not a monk and you are still old. How can you endure it?"
The person who spoke was Qin Luo's eldest son, Qin Ning. Although his face looked slightly tired, his eyes were full of energy.
After hearing the consolation, Qin Yuan waved his hand carelessly: "Don't think I'm old. This is just a patrol. I remember back then, your father and I killed two hundred bandits who came to Qin's family in one night.
, without even blinking."
When Qin Ning heard this, he cursed: "I killed someone tonight without blinking an eye. Could it be that my uncle's eyes don't know how to dry his eyes?"
Of course, he could at most mutter this in his mind.
If he tells him, his uncle will have to pick up a stick when he returns to the Qin Mansion, and he will inevitably have a set of family rules to serve him.
Although it doesn't hurt, it is embarrassing.
So he was silent for two seconds, nodded in agreement, and then changed the subject and said: "Uncle, don't worry, I'm here to guard you. We, the younger ones, are watching over the city wall for you."
Now there are four walls in Dancheng, and each of them is guarded by at least one Qin family monk.
Except for his sixth brother, who had just turned twelve, everyone else had been staying on the city wall for almost the past few months, occasionally moving down to rest for half a day.
Moreover, except for his second and fifth sisters, the Qin brothers all ate and lived with the soldiers, which played a role in uniting people's hearts.
However, the backbone of the soldiers is the Qin family, and the backbone of the Qin family is Qin Yuan.
When the beast tide broke out in the early stages, when the news reached Dancheng, almost everyone didn't take it seriously. Only Qin Yuan was keenly aware of the danger.
He arranged for the Qin family to recruit all the caravans stationed abroad. Since it was early spring and the new year's wheat had not yet been sown, the Qin family quickly sent people to Lincheng to buy them back at a high price.
After finally hearing that the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms were defeated, Qin Yuan took the people outside the city into the city, and then negotiated with the garrison to equip the regiments trained by the Qin family with armor.
Therefore, when facing the beast tide, Dancheng can be said to be the most well-prepared place, with soldiers, food, and monks raiding the formation to support the base.
However, almost all the surrounding cities within a radius of two to three hundred miles fell, and the unique Dan City became the most obvious target of the beast tide and suffered huge impact pressure.
For five consecutive months, there was a wave of small beasts every three days, a wave of medium beasts every seven days, and four waves of large beasts that almost destroyed the city.
No one knows when such days will end.
Qin Yuan smiled bitterly at this time and said: "I also want to rest, but if your father is here, I don't have to worry so much."
"You said..." Qin Ning was silent for a moment and continued, "It's so chaotic outside now. How is my father? He even left his sword at home."
"Pa!" This was Qin Yuan's slap on Qin Ning's head.
Then he glared at Qin Ning and said in a loud voice: "What are you thinking about? When your father was your age, he and I together killed two hundred bandits who invaded the Qin family in one night.
Rather than worrying about him, we should worry about defending the city first. Now that we have reached our limit, there are far fewer beasts outside.
When I sent your father on his trip, I told you that I would take care of you little bastards. If anything happens to you, the six of you, my brother and I, I won't be able to see him when he comes back."
Qin Ning was slapped and scolded a few times, but there was a smile on his face.
If anyone knows his father best, it is his uncle.
He felt even more relieved when he saw that his uncle had confidence in his father and even began to worry that their siblings would make mistakes and not be able to explain things to his father when they came back.
So he rubbed the back of his head and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, uncle, you are right. I am worrying too much."
"Okay, you should stay well here and take some rest. I'll go check on your second sister's situation on the west wall." Qin Yuan smiled helplessly, waved his hand, turned around and walked down the wall.
See the situation.
Qin Ning also turned around and walked towards the corner tower. He had to go to the sentry post for routine questioning.
only.
He glanced at his uncle's back for the last time, and suddenly realized that his uncle, who had always been upright in his memory, seemed to be a little stooped by the sunset in the distance.
After Qin Yuan got off the city wall, his expression suddenly became heavy.
He breathed in the air mixed with the smell of blood and gunpowder smoke, and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
"Aluo, Aluo, if you don't come back, your brother will really be unable to bear it." He smiled bitterly and shook his head.
But after walking a few steps, Qin Yuan sighed again.
"In this situation, it's best if you don't come back. Dancheng can resist one or two large-scale beast tides at most. By then the city is broken. I'll try my best to let Ning'er and the others leave me alone and leave. At least we can keep our Qin family here.
Incense.
Even if they are weaker than you in cultivation back then, and a little less clever than me back then, but they want to run away, the beast tide should still be unable to stop them."
He was thinking with his head down and walked to the residential area. As soon as he looked up, he saw thick smoke coming from the city wall in the distance, signaling the incoming beast tide.
After a while.
Thick smoke actually came out from all four walls of Dan City.
Qin Yuan stood still and was suddenly startled. A strong feeling of weightlessness suddenly occurred in his mind, and he almost fell to the ground.
He held on to the wall beside him to steady himself and took a few deep breaths.
Four beacons.
It means that there are waves of beasts coming from all directions.
And this only represents one situation, that is, a large beast tide attacks Dan City.
It had only been half a month since the last large-scale beast wave, and two-thirds of the city wall had been repaired, but the wounded soldiers were far from recovering.
Dancheng is in danger!
After Qin Yuan took a breath, he staggered back to the east wall again.
That was the section of the city wall that was hit hardest by the beast tide, and it was also the place where the beast tide's offensive could be most intuitively detected.
If the east city wall really couldn't hold on, then he could let Qin Ning and the others find the weak point and rush out of the city to fight for a chance of survival.
at this time.
The last ray of the setting sun slowly disappeared on the earth. Under the weak starlight, hundreds of beasts were galloping and roaring, roaring towards Dan City.