On July 29th, three o'clock, Zhili.

"An Cheng, why is there no one guarding the city wall? Where is everyone? After completing the task of transmitting information, Yu Qiuping breathed a long sigh of relief, and asked Fukushima Yasunari, "I was almost caught up by the Oda family at the gate of the castle just now, how wronged is this." ”

As he spoke, he opened a cabinet in the castle tower, which contained a stack of paper recording the number of weapons and armor stored in Zhili Castle, and a stack of deeds of sale of the slaves. Yu Qiuping put the two piles of paper into the package, and when he was done, he found that Fukushima Yasunari had not replied. Yu Qiuping looked at Fukushima Yasunari, who has always been honest and loyal, with some strange eyes.

Fukushima Yasunari smiled bitterly, "Please come with me, my lord." ”

Yasunari Fukushima led Akihei Yu from the castle tower and followed a path to the barracks of Zhili Castle.

Pushing open the gate of the barracks, the scene inside surprised Yu Qiuping.

The garrison troops that should have been preparing for war and guarding the city walls were now sitting on the ground in twos and threes, leaning against haystacks, or simply wandering around, and the whole barracks were decadent.

"What are you guys doing! Get up and get ready for battle! Yu Qiuping, who had worked hard all the way, couldn't help but shout angrily when he saw that these people were so decadent.

The loud shout attracted the attention of the slaves, and when they saw that it was Yu Qiuping coming, their eyes were full of joy and gratitude, but in an instant, they became helpless and decadent again.

"You're all very good at home! It's all settled! Your family is waiting for you to go back! How can you do that? Yuqiu snorted calmly and took out the letter from the package and put it on the table beside him. Your family is still waiting for you to go back! ”

"My lord, why did you come here to die?" Yoshioka Katsumasa, who has always been known for his tough guy image, was also listless at the moment, "My lord, why did such a good person come here to send him to death?" ”

"Why did you die!" Yu Qiuping spread out his hands, trying to boost their fighting spirit, but with little success.

"Adults, little people, there's no going back." Fukushima Yasunari smiled bitterly, "Didn't you see the more than 100 cavalry outside, with them, the villains will be pursued as soon as they leave the city, and no one will want to leave alive." ”

"Then try to defend the city! Wouldn't it be nice to keep it! Yu Qiuping asked puzzledly.

"How do you defend it, my lord," Nakahide Omaezaki took over, "I heard from the retreating army, the Oda family has 6,000 people this time!" What can we do with more than 200 people? ”

"More than 200 of us want to defend the city, and we can't even stand on the city wall! Our armor is all seventy-seven eighty-eight, some are captured, some are rotten and no one uses them, some are made by themselves, they don't rely on the flag, they can't even identify their identities when they fight, and they can't recognize who they are! How to fight! Mimasaki Nakahide smiled bitterly, "Half of the walls of the northern castle have collapsed, and if the Oda family comes with 200 people, we will die." They'll spend a quarter of an hour figuring out if we're singing an empty plan, and then a quarter of an hour to kill us all. ”

"What about the Overseers? What about the prison guards! Yu Qiuping angrily changed the subject.

"Run, run," Mimasaki Nakahide smiled, "the day before yesterday, as soon as I heard that the Oda army was coming, I ran to the mountains to the east without saying a word. Most of the people in the castle town ran into the mountains as far as they could. ”

"Then why don't you retreat!" Yu Qiuping asked.

"How are we leaving, sir! Are you kidding? Mizenzaki Nakahide looked at Yu Qiuping dumbfounded, "As soon as we withdraw, the old and young in the Junfu City family are all dead words!" ”

"It's good to know." Amano Jingde suddenly said coldly.

"Amano-sama, don't do this." Yu Qiuping glared at Amano Keide, who ignored it disapplauded.

"Hehe, more than 200 of us will definitely die, there is no way to live. As soon as the Oda family comes, our end will come," Yuto Ogawa was already drinking and his face was flushed, "What else is there to say." ”

"Since you know that there is no way to live, why don't you stand up and resist!" Yu Qiuping asked angrily, "Be brave and fight!" Go defend the city! What is it to stay here and eat and wait for death! Even if you don't do anything here, aren't you still going to die! ”

More than two hundred slave soldiers gradually gathered around Yu Qiuping, but they all had a decadent and powerless expression.

"My lord, let's protect you to break through, my lord runs directly towards the mountains to the east, and there is a chance to run away!"

"Yes, my lord, please go quickly! We're going to put you away with all our lives! ”

"But I'm here to defend the city with you!" Yu Qiuping shouted at them, "Sena-sama said that as long as we hold Zhili Castle for three days, we can exempt you from slavery!" Yu Qiuping, who originally thought that this sentence could boost morale, unexpectedly found that everyone still had a look of confidence and hope.

"Impossible lord," Fukushima Yasunari said helplessly, "If we can't hold on for three days, we will have to die here." ”

"If you can't hold it for three days, you have to fight bravely! Didn't you fight bandits? ”

"Hold on for three days! You don't have to be a slave anymore! Don't you want to be a free man! Don't you want to fight for it! Yu Qiuping raised his arms and exhaled.

However, there was no response.

Yu Qiuping was suddenly a little confused.

"That is to say, since you are going to die," Nakahide Omaezaki laughed angrily, "Do you also want to stand up and fight bravely and die?" ”

"That's right." Yu Qiuping, who was angry, replied coldly.

"So... Since both horizontal and vertical are death, isn't it meaningless for us to eat and wait for death, or to die heroically? If you're dead, you're gone. Mimasaki Nakahide said quickly, wanting to see how Yu Qiuping explained.

"That's right." Yu Qiuping still replied calmly, but his heart was already like a river overturning, and there was an indescribable force that lay in the struggle of fear.

yes, everybody is going to die. So, what is it that sustains us in our constant efforts?

What is it? What makes people work hard to walk the path of life.

Nakahide Omaezaki clutched his head in pain and buried it deep in his knees, "I should have understood it a long time ago!" He whispered, as if repentance, as if complaining, "From the day we became slaves, we are doomed to suffer in misery for the rest of our lives, never to come out, to have no freedom for a lifetime, to be enslaved." I'm still fantasizing that we'll be different from other slaves and that we'll have a good life one day. With tears in his eyes, he looked at Yu Qiuping, "Adults have given us hope and made us feel that there is still hope and brightness in life!" The surrounding slaves, hearing this, also looked at Yu Qiuping gratefully, but finally sighed.

"But in the end, it's not a meaningless death. Dead, nothing is known. Nakahide Mimasaki looked helplessly at the sky. The sky gradually became thickened with dark clouds, obscuring the sun.

"yes, it's all pointless," Yu Qiuping suddenly laughed a little maniacally, much to the surprise of the slaves. "No matter what kind of family we are born into, no matter how we grow up, no matter what happy and happy life we have lived, no matter what kind of dreams we have."

"People are going to die after all. Whether it is killed, sick or dead, old age or starvation, they all have to die. Yu Qiuping said as he spoke, his thoughts became clear, but his emotions became excited. He suddenly understood that in the subconscious, in the depths of human nature that had not been awakened, what had supported the human beings who were bound to die, and had been working hard for thousands of years.

"Then our lives are all meaningless! Was it meaningless for us to be born into this world from the beginning? The boy's roar seemed to wake up nature, and the sky suddenly became gloomy, not only the slaves, but also the guards behind him, Charlie, and Amano Keito, were also attracted by the boy's extraordinary infectious power.

"Or still! Our ancestors! The ancestors who opened up this land, the ancestors who raised the growth of generation after generation, the ancestors who shed their blood for the continuation and glory of the family, and the parents who raised us, if they die, are they all meaningless? Yu Qiuping shouted hoarsely. The people around listened with naked eyes.

The sound stopped for a short time, and the heavens and the earth seemed to listen to the young man's roar silently. The sky is getting darker and darker, as if the curtain is slowly lowering before the opening, and the courtyard is pitch black, just waiting for the protagonist to appear.

"Nope! That's not true! The young man with angry eyes shook the whole city with a roar, and even the Oda family outside the castle could hear it clearly.

"Only those of us who are alive! Able to give meaning to the dead! Yu Qiuping shouted out the answer to the question, the memory buried deep in the reproduction and inheritance of human beings. Only those who are still alive! If we can remember the greatness of our ancestors, we will also have the ambition to make great achievements! If we can think of those respectable people, we will also achieve self-cultivation! If we can remember our parents who love us, we will also love and nurture our children! If we can think of the martyrs who sacrificed, we will also fight for the family without fear of sacrifice! I can think of their precious will! Inherit their will! The strong roar pierced everyone's heart, as if they had opened a long-hidden treasure chest at once, making them realize the meaning of life.

"And we! Fight bravely today! Even to sacrifice! It is to entrust our will to those who come after us! This is our doomed human beings! The only way to fight the cruel reality! Everyone was stunned, and then the fire in their chests burned brightly.

Yu Qiuping pulled out the deed of sale of the slaves from his arms, angrily and vigorously tore them into pieces one by one, and threw them into the air, "From now on!" You are all free people! Even if we are destined to die, we must get rid of slavery at the last moment of our lives and fight for freedom! "The slaves, no, now the ashigaru, look at the flying pieces and burst into tears.

Dark clouds shook in the sky, crashing violently against each other.

"Put our will! Entrust it to those who are still alive! Entrust your children, your brothers and sisters, and all the living members of your family! Let future generations proudly remember in the future that their ancestors worked hard for freedom! Yu Qiuping raised his arms and shouted again, this time what he got was the heartfelt roar of more than 200 men! A roar against the sky, at this cruel reality!

Yu Qiuping suddenly had some words and didn't know what kind of words to use to end this speech. No matter what kind of words, it seems that the strength is not enough.

Finally, that sentence flashed through my mind.

"Get up! People who don't want to be slaves! ”

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, tearing through the curtain of darkness. For a time, the heavens, earth and stars were eclipsed. This young man named Yu Qiuping, with this chant, stepped onto the stage of the Warring States.