Chapter 207 (2)
Chapter 207 (2)
Chapter 207 (2)
"No, these old soldiers are facing an even harsher situation." Earth Sword Immortal said slowly.
"The court has long forgotten about them. They will die without leaving a trace, no matter how heroic their deaths may be. Their names will not be in the history books…"
Storyteller Clairvoyance paused for a moment, then turned around.
"Foolish loyalty?" Clairvoyance said deeply.
"At this point, do you still think they are loyal to a Great Yan Imperial Court that has ignored the lonely city for forty years?"
"From the perspective of people today, or even from the perspective of something not human, perhaps this can be considered a kind of ‘foolishness’."
"Knowing he was weak but willing to sacrifice his own life, he died for the safety of the people behind him, he died for the so-called honor of the human race. This can truly be considered a kind of ‘foolishness’."
"But if everyone is cunning and only cares about personal gain, pursuing small benefits and forgetting about righteousness, pursuing great achievements and valuing one’s own life… then the human race in Jiu Province is destined to live forever under the control of inhuman beings," Storyteller Clairvoyance said.
"The most outstanding and clever people don’t need to resist the inhuman beings, because the best choice is to join them if you cannot defeat them. Why risk your life for the life and death of others?"
"There are always many clever people, but there are still some fools in this world who seem to never die. It has always been like this from ancient times until now," Clairvoyance said no more, silently overlooking the battlefield.He wanted to witness the final battle of these fools who dared to try to move mountains.
Earth Sword Immortal remained silent and leaned against the railing on the city gate tower, gazing into the distance.
And beneath the city wall, the situation in the battle had become extremely perilous.
Lu Yanbei was also on the battlefield, charging at the front line along with the other veteran soldiers.
As a renowned martial arts master with a Skill List ranking of thirty, Lu Yanbei’ internal strength skills were much more advanced than those of the veteran soldiers, so his situation was slightly better.
Under the long sword, several enemy generals were pierced through and fell to the ground.
Lu Yanbei is old, he is eighty-seven years old and has lost a lot of energy, but his years of practice have kept his internal strength strong.
Although not as powerful as Qiao Mu with his hundred years of experience, he is much stronger than the old soldiers.
However, wasting internal strength like Qiao Mu is not a long-term plan. In just a moment, he has already consumed a lot of internal strength, sweating and panting heavily.
He is also close to death.
This old traveler had a sudden realization in his heart.
Eighty-seven years of long life passed through his mind like a revolving lantern.
When the two brothers were young, they were looked down upon in the Imperial Capital, so they left and traveled together in the martial world for several decades.
Lu Yanbei is a talkative and kind-hearted old man. Whenever someone speaks ill of his younger brother, Earth Sword Immortal, he always defends him, saying that his brother is cold-hearted because their birth parents were dishonest and hypocritical, and he never experienced any love or care since childhood.
Don’t say the deep affection of licking and licking… The father, who was the Minister of Rites at the time, even hired skilled martial artists to chase after them to avoid exposing the deeds of these two illegitimate sons.
The two brothers had similar experiences in their early years. Why is the younger brother cold-hearted, while only he is a good person?
Just because his brother Lu Yanbei always believed that as the older brother, he had to lead by example, even if he had to act, he had to portray himself as a good person for his younger brother to see.
He is the older brother. He practiced swordsmanship and taught Earth Sword Immortal the ways of the sword. He learned to act as a good person.
At first, he just acted.
But slowly, he gradually lost himself in the voices of the people he helped, who called him a "great hero."
As he continued acting, he eventually reached old age. That’s all.
Lu Yanbei is not a soldier of Great Yan. He doesn’t have the righteous sentiments of Captain Hai and others.
For the past year, fighting side by side with the old soldiers of this city, at first, it was only because he wanted to take care of his younger brother.
He didn’t have much understanding and foresight.
He once reached the top rank, and in his later years, his swordsmanship was among the top ten in the world. One of the reasons for this was the teachings of Earth Sword Immortal.
Although his martial arts were not considered top-notch, he had become a legendary figure in his generation of martial artists, and had long been known as a hero of Zhong Province.
In his later years, he finally found his long-lost younger brother, Earth Sword Immortal, who had been missing for thirty years.
After eighty-seven years of a long life, although filled with twists and hardships, when he looked back at his past now, he felt that he could say…
"In my life, I have no regrets."
The corners of Luyan’s mouth slightly curved upwards as he slowly unsheathed his Xuanji Sword, which had accompanied him for many years.
"Heavenly Slashing Swordsmanship…"
Lu Yanbei was the mentor who introduced Earth Sword Immortal to the art of swordsmanship, but later on, Earth Sword Immortal surpassed him and taught his own swordsmanship to Lu Yanbei in return.
This is a sword that is about to burn its life away, the remaining strength inside the body converges at the tip of the sword, the frail old man’s vitality is rapidly drying up.
Before the sword was even drawn, it shone like a brilliant star, its sharpness unparalleled.
The surrounding soldiers seemed to sense the threat, quickly approaching.
However, the sword was not fully unsheathed, and the newly emerged sharpness uncontrollably retracted.
Because there was now another person in front of him.
"Using my swordsmanship in front of me?" a calm voice said.
"Let’s skip the part where you sacrifice yourself and move me, shall we?"
Earth Sword Immortal, without a sword in hand, displayed no fierce momentum, still as lazy and listless as usual.
However, Lu Yanbei unintentionally restrained his sword’s potential.
Even the bean general, who was not a living being around, seemed to be intimidated by an invisible force and stood frozen in place.
"Yannan?" Lu Yanbei showed a surprised expression and involuntarily turned his head to look at the ancient city gate tower of the lonely city.
After so many years, this should be the first time Earth Sword Immortal stepped out of this city gate tower and set foot on this battlefield soaked in blood and tears.
"Yannan, have you finally realized? I knew you-" Lu Yanbei had a lot to say, but before he could finish, Earth Sword Immortal impatiently interrupted:
"Don’t be so sentimental, Third Brother."
"…. What did you just call me?"
Ignoring his own brother’s question, Earth Sword Immortal continued self-absorbedly:
"Whether it was forty years ago or now, I have never cared about the lives and deaths of the common people, the righteousness of the world, whether the women, children, and elderly in the city have enough to eat and wear, whether they can still survive, or how long they can survive…"
"So, I’m only here to protect your life, nothing more." Earth Sword Immortal said slowly.
He stood in the center of the battlefield, with a slight look of confusion in his eyes, like a lost traveler.
His birth father was an important official in Great Yan and a respected scholar, so he felt no sense of belonging to the Great Yan Imperial Court and scoffed at the teachings of Confucianism about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust.
His birth mother was a female hero in the martial world, so he had no fondness for the so-called righteousness of chivalry.
In the journey of life, everyone is a transient traveler, passing through the ages, ultimately alone and lonely. Others are merely temporary companions on this journey.
In this world, no one is obligated to be good to you, not even your birth parents.
Just like when he was once seriously ill and on the verge of death, his close female friends all left, and the Wudang Sect expelled him, too.
Only his elder brother, Lu Yanbei, stood by him through life and death.
Earth Sword Immortal still didn’t understand the so-called righteousness, but he probably understood why these veteran soldiers were willing to sacrifice themselves.
"I’ve asked many times, what’s the point of sacrificing oneself for others… This question is too broad, no wonder I feel trapped." Earth Sword Immortal shook his head in frustration.
"It turns out that he couldn’t bear to see its death."
Earth Sword Immortal is not a soldier, not a hero. He has no concept of home or country, and he has no pursuit of righteousness. He seems easygoing but is actually a heartless person.
However, in this world, he is not completely alone after all.
So even if he has been lazy for thirty years, he will not sit and watch his own brother die before his eyes.
"Unable to bear seeing its death, so he is willing to fight for others, only this." He silently said in his heart.
He loves a specific family member, a unique person.
But the old soldiers of the Lonely City and the previous and current generations of the Qiao’s family they have seen have a greater perspective. In their hearts, they not only care about their own family members, but also about the families of the young and old in the city, and perhaps even the Jiu Province outside…
Although he cannot achieve it, he has a vague understanding now.
"So now, we can’t let them continue to outshine us."
The Earth Sword Immortal had no sword in his hand and no killing intent on his body.
He formed a sword shape with his fingers and invisible sword energy burst out from his fingertips, sweeping through the surrounding bean generals in an instant and piercing them all.
The bean general, measuring three meters tall, suddenly froze, and then his upper body slowly slid down from the waist, with a smooth cut that was as sharp as a mirror.
He walked casually on the battlefield and pointed forward with his fingers, generating invisible sword lights that caused the bean generals to quickly perish wherever they touched.
Captain Hai, gasping for breath, had just blocked a vertical strike from a large halberd. His arms sounded strained under the heavy burden, but in the next moment, he saw the bean general’s body suddenly split in two. However, behind the bean general, he caught sight of an unexpected figure.
How could it be him?
However, the Earth Sword Immortal ignored him.
After killing all the bean generals, he finally stopped his steps on a sand dune in front of the battlefield.
The sand dune was surrounded by fragmented bean general corpses, and in the middle of the corpses was the body of an old man torn apart by more than a dozen Taoist soldiers, with his flesh and blood scattered.
……….
Far away.
Dao Ni, a disciple of the Great Dao Sect, looked at the rapidly disappearing dots on the sand table beneath his feet, and a serious expression appeared on his face.
This situation was something he couldn’t understand.
Dao Ni immediately took out the Message Jade Slip, this time he was truly preparing to seek help.
Just as he had just taken out the Message Jade Slip, halfway through transmitting the message, an extra figure appeared behind him without him realizing it.
A large hand rapidly expanded at a visible speed and tightly grasped Dao Ni’s entire body.
Suddenly attacked, a golden light flashed on Dao Ni’ neck, wrapping his whole body in a faint egg-shaped golden aura.
Dao Ni was shaken all over. He tightly gripped the Message Jade Slip and suddenly turned around, only to see another familiar old man and a familiar shouting voice.
"Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method!"
The red internal strength surged and exploded, instantly shattering the golden glow that covered Dao Ni’ entire body.
Dao Ni, along with the Message Jade Slip in his hand, instantly turned into a mass of shattered flesh, with blurred blood and twisted bones.
The large hand let go, allowing the lifeless body to fall to the ground.
"Phew, luckily I have cheat codes, my skills are superior." Qiao Mu breathed a sigh of relief.