Mother, is this a deity?

Inside the fog.

The drumming stopped for a moment.

Before Vice Minister Zhang could put the fish tally back into his sleeve, the gray mist seemed to be sliced ​​open, revealing rows of empty ranks.

No one can be seen.

All they could see were the footprints left by military boots on the ground, row upon row, surrounding them.

Of the remaining nine, at least one could defeat a city, and they could easily take on a hundred, or even a thousand. But any more... well, they'd have to run.

But this is a dangerous place; if it were so easy to escape, we wouldn't be in this predicament now.

This is a dead end; the only question is how long it can last.

The first wave of attacks came very quickly.

The sound of armor plates rubbing together echoed through the fog, and the long spear ripped through the air as it thrust horizontally.

Vice Minister Zhang took a step forward.

The mud beneath their feet exploded, creating a half-foot-wide crater.

His official robes billowed in the strong wind, and his aura of the City Destroyer Realm erupted, forcefully holding back the invisible military formation.

All that could be heard were muffled thuds.

It looked like someone was hitting a large bell with a hammer.

Three breaths later, blood seeped from the corner of Zhang's mouth. He shouted to the men behind him, "Lie down!"

One of the border soldiers was a fraction of a second too slow. He was struck by an unseen shield and flew more than ten feet across the muddy ground before falling silent.

The others didn't have time to see their companions' fate, and they all used their last tricks to fight like cornered beasts. Wu Huaiyi's agility was still good, and he tried his best to stay not far behind Zhang Shilang.

Fifteen minutes later, the charge receded, and the footsteps in the gray fog came to a complete halt.

Vice Minister Zhang got a brief respite, panting for breath.

The lieutenant general tried to run away. He ran south, but after an incense stick's time, he turned back from the north, his face filled with despair.

"Thump!" The sound of troops assembling rang out again.

During the second assault, Zhang Shilang could no longer protect everyone.

When the third round of attacks ended, only four of the nine men remained.

Vice Minister Zhang, Wu Huaiyi, the border army adjutant, and an old soldier whose face was covered in blood on one side.

The lieutenant general's breastplate was cracked, and he only managed to stay upright by supporting himself with a broken spear.

The old soldier's left arm was bare, and blood dripped from his sleeve into the mud.

Wu Huaiyi's hat was nowhere to be found, his hair was disheveled, and his face was covered in mud.

Vice Minister Zhang slumped down at the entrance of the white tent. He had single-handedly carried most of the attack, and since the opponent couldn't see him, he had to be on edge the whole time. He was now at his limit.

He suddenly chuckled.

"They can't hold on for the next wave."

No one responded; they all knew they were all going to die today.

Deep in the gray fog, the war drums began to beat again, preparing for the next charge.

Vice Minister Zhang got up, rummaged through the tent beside him for a while, and brought out a jar of wine. The jar was still covered with old mud seals, and the seals were cracked.

He broke the mud seal, and the strong smell of alcohol rushed out.

The old soldier's Adam's apple bobbed.

Zhang Shilang placed four broken bowls in the tent and filled them to the brim.

"When a person is about to die, there's no need to be polite. Drink up."

The adjutant took a big gulp and began to say things he hadn't dared to say before.

"I have served in the army for twenty-seven years. I have done good deeds and bad deeds. When I did bad deeds, I would go to pray to Buddha, thinking that I could wash away my sins. I never thought that I would die here today."

Wu Huaiyi held the bowl but didn't drink for a long time.

"I'm too timid to be an official."

"Some cases, even if you know they are wrong, you pretend not to see them for fear of offending people; some memorials, even if you know they should be submitted, you keep them at the bottom of your trunk for fear of losing your job."

Wu Huaiyi took a sip, spilling the wine onto his clothes.

"I always wanted to wait and see, and before I knew it, this is where I am now."

Zhang, the Vice Minister, looked at the wine in the bowl. The wine did not reflect his face; only the dim yellow light outside the tent was visible.

"I'm afraid of dying too."

"I'm more afraid than any of you."

The adjutant looked up at him.

Vice Minister Zhang forced a weary smile: "In my early years, I staked half my fortune to climb into the Grand Secretary's door. Back then, I thought the capital was a dangerous place, and if I didn't cling to a sturdy log, I would drown sooner or later."

"The Grand Secretary once said something to me."

"He said that officials can be corrupt, selfish, and even betray the emperor, but they cannot be inactive or let down the people."

Wu Huaiyi was taken aback; this was different from the prime minister he remembered.

Zhang, the Vice Minister, lowered his head, and blood dripped from his chin into the wine.

"When I heard that, I patted my chest and promised. At the time, I thought it was no big deal. But after I had been an official for a long time, I realized that people can't control themselves."

"Today I misjudged the situation, making this evil realm even more ferocious. Those people outside will likely be implicated as a result. My death is not a pity."

Vice Minister Zhang paused, "He has served the court diligently for half his life, yet he is left with a bad reputation after his death. It is somewhat tragic."

The old soldier slammed the bowl down: "Lord Zhang, drink!"

The adjutant also raised the broken bowl.

Wu Huaiyi reached out his hand last.

Four broken bowls collided, making a crisp sound.

The wine went down my throat.

A drumbeat sounded outside the tent, and from the gray mist, thousands of military boots stepped forward simultaneously.

......

Underground in Juntun County.

Shen Gui stood in a karst cave, with stalactites hanging upside down on the stone walls and the sound of flowing water.

The third stick of black incense was burning inside the cave.

It was wedged between two old foundation stones, and the incense burner was engraved with a ghost face pattern. The pattern was shiny from the dampness in the ground, like a closed eye.

The incense ash seeped into the county town, strand by strand, wrapping around the soles of living people's feet, and finally returning to the ground.

This place is the gate of destiny, holding the fate of every living person in the county.

Fire mouth draws in yin energy, water mouth nourishes yin energy, and life mouth absorbs the vital energy of living people.

Shen Gui understood the three points, but his attention was not on Hei Xiang at all at this moment.

He crouched down and picked up a piece of old nail polish from the ground.

The armor plate was rusted through, and there were faint marks engraved on the side.

[Flame - Seventh Divine Armor Battalion.]

Shen Gui paused for a moment.

If I remember correctly, many years ago, the Seventh Battalion won a battle and I bestowed upon them the words "Divine Armor." I still vividly remember the soldiers eagerly engraving the words on their armor.

At that time, Yan Kingdom was not yet Yan Kingdom, and its borders were not yet borders.

On snowy nights, some people sang off-key folk songs around a campfire, while others said that once the world was at peace, they would go home to cultivate two acres of barren land.

After the war ended, many people did not return.

Shen Gui felt very sorry for these people at that time, because after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the pensions were several times the original amount.

But there are always some people who dedicate everything to the military.

They couldn't even find their bodies. The Ministry of Revenue checked the household registrations, but despite receiving the compensation, they couldn't find the soldiers' relatives or friends.

The underground was very quiet, with only the sound of burning black incense. Shen Gui gently put down the old armor.

"It's not right to disturb your peace."

After a moment, Shen Gui said again, "It's very bad."

He pressed his palm down, and the ground shook violently.

On the north street of Juntun County, a person fleeing for their life suddenly stumbled.

At the foot of Xidun Hill, Hei Xiang suddenly sank down, the deathly aura around him was held down by an invisible hand, and he could no longer rise up.

At the bottom of the well in Beigou, the dark water swirls back, and the black incense is squeezed by the well wall. The incense ash no longer seeps into the mud cracks, but instead floats out of the well opening one by one.

Shen Gui raised his hand, his five fingers loosely clenched.

All three air vents stopped simultaneously.

A moment later, the three incense sticks were lit together, burning upwards from the base.

The black incense's demonic face twisted and shrieked, as if something was struggling inside. One after another, fanged faces emerged and were pushed back down. Then the black incense shattered inch by inch.

With a flicker of fire, Hei Xiangxiang's body split open from the middle.

At the same moment, countless incense ash strands wrapped around the feet of the living suddenly loosened.

A man carrying his elderly mother on his back stumbled, feeling a lightness in his chest. He didn't know what had happened, so he just lifted his mother up a little higher and continued running south.

In front of the inn, Yan's father was holding a pair of unfinished new shoes. He was jostled by the crowd and could barely stand. He held onto the shoes tightly and kept looking back at the north.

After destroying the three incense sticks, Shen Gui took a step forward, rose from the ground, and landed in the air above North Street.

The street was in complete chaos, yet some people still managed to spot him.

A young man carrying a load on a shoulder pole stopped first, followed by an old man selling tofu.

Then, even more people looked up.

"Master, how can that person be standing in mid-air?"

"What level of power is this?"

"Mother, is this the deity you described in your book?"

"Young master! Croak! The young master is here!..."

"..."

With the crowd chattering, Zhaoyue felt a weight lifted from her shoulders.

It doesn't know when it started, but the thought had already taken root in its mind: as long as the young master is here, there is no problem that cannot be solved.

Shen Gui did not turn back, nor did he tell the people not to be afraid.

He walked forward through the void, under the gaze of countless eyes.

step.

Two steps.

The north wind blows across the long street.

The gray fog had reached outside the city.

The first wisp of mist drifted over the earthen slope, carrying the rusty smell of old armor, and rushed towards Shen Gui.

Shen Gui looked up.

The fog surged up suddenly and then rolled out to both sides.