Chang'an City, city wall.
Today's shift was Li Ergou's turn. After he walked around the place he was patrolling, he saw no one was around. He took out a small bottle of wine from his arms, squatted down and started chirping next to the wall.
Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah!
After shaking the small amount of wine in the pot, Li Ergou didn't dare to drink more. He thought about taking a few more sips when he finished his shift and went to dinner.
So he squatted for a while, patted his butt and prepared to get up and continue patrolling.
At this time, he suddenly found a man standing in front of him.
The man was wearing a long black corset with eight black dragons showing teeth and claws embroidered on it. He looked particularly majestic and awe-inspiring. Just by looking at his clothes, you could tell that this man was anything but ordinary.
Li Ergou thought about it, he had been standing at this gate for thirty years, and he had never seen any royal family members wearing black dragon robes.
Although he was a little scared, Li Ergou still got drunk and bravely stepped forward and said, "Who are you? This is a heavily patrolled area. No idlers can stay here!"
The man stood upright and was looking into the distance. Listening to Li Ergou's words, he said without looking back, "I'm just here to take a look. I won't disturb your drinking."
Li Ergou was stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but reach out and stuff the wine bottle in his arms.
But when he looked at the man's face, he felt that he looked familiar. He thought about it again and again, but he still couldn't remember where he had seen this man.
"We haven't seen each other for a long time, and I don't go out often, so it's normal that you don't remember me." The man smiled.
When Li Ergou heard this, he became even more confused, "Um...have we really met? When did it happen?"
The man turned his head and stared at Li Ergou carefully for a long time, and finally shook his head with a half-smile, "Maybe I remembered it wrong."
Li Ergou scratched his head and didn't know what to say for a moment. He just felt that this person was a little strange.
After following the man and standing here for a long time, he didn't see any other actions from the man. He just stared into the distance silently.
Li Ergou couldn't bear his temper and muttered, "It's the same every day, what's so good about it?"
"You stand here every day, so naturally you won't find this place interesting, but I haven't seen it here for a long time. Just like the mortals on earth, they also want to sit with the immortals in the sky, and want to know what to look down from in the sky. What kind of scenery is it? It should be beautiful!" The man said softly, his tone full of yearning.
Li Ergou was a little surprised that the man could hear him whispering so quietly, but he thought about it and said, "Don't the old gods in the Taoist temples say that becoming an immortal requires a lot of hardship? He is also a pure-hearted person. Desire is also on a hunger strike, and it is forbidden to eat meat, drink alcohol, and play with women. Who can bear this? They say that becoming an immortal is free, so why are you not allowed to do this and that?"
The man was silent for a long time after hearing this, "Yes, why does it have to be so hard to become an immortal!"
Then there was another sigh, "Once a general achieves success, thousands of bones will wither, and when he looks back, it will be a hundred years later."
Li Ergou couldn't understand the meaning of the man's words, but it seemed that the man was not in a very good mood. He said, "Don't be too sad. Everything in this world is doomed. Just like me before Two days ago, I met a fortune teller, who seemed to be quite up to date. He said it was five cents per fortune, and he was not allowed to pay for it. At that time, my head was burning, and I ran to have a fortune teller. The fortune teller said that I have been telling fortunes recently. There will be a financial disaster that will hurt my wealth and I will lose ten cents. If I give him another five cents, he can help me block this calamity.
I thought that five cents would ward off a ten-cent disaster. Wouldn’t I make a profit? So I gave him another five cents to ward off a disaster. As a result, the next day I heard that the fortune-telling stall had been demolished, saying that he was a liar. "
After listening to Li Ergou's words, the man first smiled, then frowned as if he thought of something, and looked up at the sky, "Everything is fate, isn't it up to you at all?"
Li Ergou was still looking down and wondering what the man's words meant. The man suddenly said again, "Do you have any wishes?"
Li Ergou looked confused, looked at the man and said, "Me? What are your wishes?"
The man nodded seriously and said, "I think you and I are quite destined, and I want to help you. Now I am rich and powerful. What do you want?"
Li Ergou laughed at himself, "I am destined to be an ordinary person. If you ask me to be an official, I will harm the people under my command. You can't do it if you give me money. I have been used to drinking this tavern owner for so many years. Cheap wine mixed with water. However, I am not a saint. Your Excellency is willing to help me, and I really have a wish."
The man looked curious, "Isn't money and power what a man wants in this world? What is your wish?"
Li Ergou pointed to the city wall at his feet and said, "I followed my father on the city wall once when I was very young. We came to deliver food to the defenders on the city wall. At that time, the demon clan was besieging Chang'an City in large numbers. I lay on the city wall and glanced down. My father slapped me and pulled me back.
Although after that day, I had dreams for several nights in a row, and my dreams were all about the scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood outside Chang'an City. But the feeling that that scene brought me could never be found again in the following decades of life. "
The man said amusedly, "So you want me to take you to the battlefield?"
Li Ergou shook his head quickly, "No, no, no, although I still want to live for a few more years, I just feel..."
Li Ergou walked to the man's side and stretched out his hand to put up the ancient city wall.
Every brick and stone on the city wall has scars, either blackened by fire, or white marks from weapons.
Every brick and stone seems to hide a long story.
Li Ergou's eyes became a little weathered, and he stared into the distance, and he said word by word, "I think that after this city wall was built, it should be used to its effect.
Moreover, I also want to take another look at the scenes in my childhood memories. "
"Do you know what will happen if the people of Chang'an City hear your wish? If there is a war, many people will die!" The man said with a deep look.
"It is said to be a wish, but it must be something that cannot happen under normal circumstances. As for the people's thoughts, it is not up to them to decide whether to fight or not. There are still millions of troops in Yongzhou plus Liangzhou..."
Li Ergou seemed to have thought of something, and the light in his eyes dimmed a bit, "But Lord Zhou Huang's troops are so strong, no one in the world can attack Chang'an. The demon tribe was almost destroyed after being beaten. Hiding deep in the South China Sea, the rebels in the six states are also being punished by General Yan, and there is a military general stationed at Yumen Pass in the Western Desert."
The man thought for a moment, then patted Li Ergou on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry, this world is not something that Zhou Ruoxiao can control with one hand.
Perhaps one day in the future, flames of war will be ignited outside Chang'an City, with blood splashing and covering the sky, and the sound of killing and the sound of horse hooves suppressing the thunder in the sky.
So you have to live well so that you can relive the feeling in your memory. "
When Li Ergou heard this, he was startled, and then he bent his knees and was about to kneel down.
However, it was like there was an invisible wall under his knees, preventing him from kneeling down.
"Why do you have to give me such a big gift?" the man said with a funny look on his face.
"In the entire city of Chang'an, who else but Lord Zhou Huang can say such a thing?! Please forgive me, I was really blind before and couldn't recognize you!" Li Ergou said with a serious face, " Mr. Zhou Huang has changed a lot compared to more than ten years ago."
Zhou Ruoxiao laughed and said, "What has changed? I feel like I am still the same as before. Can you give me a drink of the wine in your arms? I haven't had it for a long time. I'm a little greedy when I smell the wine."
"Sir, my wine... is not worthy of being on the table!"
"There's no difference between good and bad wine. Aren't they all used to make people drunk? Give me a drink!"
After taking a sip of wine, Zhou Ruoxiao's eyes turned slightly red.
"This wine hasn't changed at all, it's the people who have changed."
The young general who once galloped on the battlefield and drank with hundreds of thousands of soldiers for three days and three nights was now a bit drunk from a sip of low-quality wine mixed with water.
When the young man left home and his elder brother returned home, his local pronunciation remained unchanged and his hair on his temples faded.
Children who don't recognize each other laugh and ask where the guest is from.
…
Yuzhou, outside Zhenshi Pass.
The messenger, who had traveled eight hundred miles, went straight to the camp of Yan Mo's army commander.
Within a moment, the supervisor Zhu Ying, who was personally identified by Zhou Ruoxiao before the expedition, walked out of the camp in small steps. The eunuch behind him carefully followed him holding a luxurious yellow box.
The soldiers he met along the way bowed their heads and saluted him expressionlessly, with contempt in their eyes.
In this large army, all official positions are irrelevant, and the soldiers only value military merit.
Although Zhu Ying holds the title of military supervisor, he has done nothing. He neither dares to go to the front line to sit in command, nor can he make any valuable strategic suggestions. He can only talk loudly at military aircraft meetings and respond to the opinions of other soldiers. Pointing.
It can be said that few people in the entire army think highly of this guy.
It is true that Zhu Yingxing has no fighting skills, but he is a good player at being sneaky and slippery.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to take over the position of chief steward in the harem after Zhang Wenling left.
Although Zhu Ying, who was sitting in a circle of generals with outstanding military exploits and bloody battles, was frightened and uneasy when the army just set off, he thought that before leaving, the Emperor of Zhou summoned him alone and handed him over to him. A secret and important task for him, Zhu Ying's mood suddenly stabilized a lot, and he even began to look forward to the reward for completing the task promised by Emperor Zhou.
Arriving at the Chinese army’s camp, there were five posts on each side of the camp. The soldiers standing guard all exuded strong murderous aura, and their cultivation levels were all above level four. Furthermore, the camp was surrounded by restricted formations. If you wanted to do it silently, Sneaking in is as difficult as climbing to the sky.
Zhu Ying strode to the entrance of the camp, but was stopped just as he was about to enter.
Zhu Ying glanced at the guard, "Why don't you even recognize me? Dare you stop me?"
The guard said with a cold face, "Master Supervisor, Commander Yan is discussing military plans with several generals inside and has ordered that no outsiders are allowed to enter. If you want to go in, please let me go and ask him for permission first."
Zhu Ying was furious when he heard this, "I am the supervisor of the army personally appointed by Lord Zhou. I supervise the management of the entire army on behalf of Lord Zhou. I have the right to attend all meetings in the army. It's fine if you, Commander Yan, don't notify me." Now that I'm here, you still dare to stop me? Do you really not take the Emperor Zhou seriously?"
At this time, Yan Mo's voice sounded from inside the camp.
"Lord Zhou Huang naturally cannot take it lightly."
