"General Gorg, is everything ready?" The High Priest asked slowly.

"Yes, they can leave early tomorrow morning."

"Have a good night's rest, and tomorrow you will pursue your destiny." The high priest raised the scepter in his hand as a farewell.

"Thank you, High Priest, for your blessing." Everyone saluted and slowly exited the dormitory.

"The ghost-faced skeletons of the dead will be watching you, don't worry, they are waiting for your release...... They have been in the canyon for too long, and they are singing sadly every night......"

The attendant led everyone away and slowly closed the door.

Only the general and the high priest were left in the dormitory, and the high priest asked slowly and heavily, "Oh...... My dear general, do you have anything else to say to me in the last moments of my life? ”

"Is there really no point in our guardianship?" General Gorg asked.

"General, the rings of fate have crushed us, we have been abandoned by the times, it's time...... It's time......" the High Priest muttered.

"But...... What are we going to do? What about our juniors? From the moment we were born, it is our responsibility to protect Heihe! General Gorg was a little excited.

"No...... Not anymore, they have taken over our responsibilities, the Ghost Scepter will return to where it belongs, and we should plan for ......the future," the High Priestess smiled, "General, the Black River will be guarded by the spirit of the ferry, I release you, go......"

"Where are we going? This is our home. General Gorg shed tears, he had not seen the outside world, even in the poorest place in the world 200 kilometers away, he had seen lamps that could shine without oil, he had seen those four-wheeled cars made of steel, the people of those towns, and they had spoken to him in a tone of envy about the world farther away, where there were more and more beautiful things, but for the people who guarded the Black River, those beauty was too far away from him, so far away as if he was a world away!

"A thousand years ago, we came here to protect the Black River, and a thousand years later, for the future, we can also go out, General...... Put it down, I can see through a person's past, but I can't decide anyone's future, the future is under your feet, ...... here" The High Priest nodded with his fingers, and then stretched out his dry hand towards General Gorg, clenched, "Here...... Hold on to your fate! ”

In this castle that has been frozen for thousands of years, General Gorg feels helpless, a helplessness abandoned by fate, but the words of the high priest rekindled his hope, his ancestors came here and firmly tied their fate to this fortress, and at the same time solidified their lives for a thousand years! The people outside the fortress have long since abandoned the ridiculous armor, the bulky long sword, these objects that should have been lying quietly in the museum 100 years ago, are the most precious inheritance of this fortress, and all this is still meaningful?

"General, we have a clear conscience about the dead, and for the living, it's time to release them and pursue their own destiny." The High Priest said slowly.

"But ......"

"I'll go and explain it to the ancestors myself...... Soon, soon, if I want to be punished, then punish my soul for wandering the Black River, waiting for the army of the undead that will never come again...... Generals, they will release all souls, but let's not decide the future of others, it's up to them to pursue the ......"

……

When Dick and the others came out, Doss was still standing in the main hall, and when he saw Dick, he spread his hands helplessly, saying that he could not help what happened to him.

"That blind old man who pretends to be a ghost!" Dick's inner irritability swelled up again,

It would be the night to decide his future, Tchaikov and the others had their own minds, the high priest seemed to see through everything, and behind his cloudy eyes was a transparent and enlightened heart. He was too old to change anything, and could only give his juniors some guidance within his power at the last moment of his life, and everyone thought about things, lamenting the history of this fortress, lamenting the difficulty of the people who survived here, and didn't notice Dick slowing down and coming to Doss.

"Didn't Christopher let you look for me?" Dick asked in a low voice.

"They just told me that we'd see each other when we were supposed to." Doss spread his hands, saying that he was also helpless.

"Damn it!" Dick scolded.

"Do you think we should march armed with machine guns?" Doss asked rhetorically.

Although these mercenaries have the most advanced weapons and can easily defeat all the people here, in the face of this thousand-year-old fortress, the soldiers who have guarded the fortress for thousands of years, the respect from the hearts of the mercenaries who are also soldiers has determined that they will give up this opportunity to make money.

"We're quitting." Doss said.

Dick wanted to be angry, but Doss was right, for it was so backward, even barbaric, that modern civilization was so pale in front of this solidified history, that it could only follow its established rules, and that the slightest transgression seemed to be prevented by the heart.

"For God's sake, you've got to do something for me......" Dick said to Doss in an almost pleading tone.

No one cares about their future, not that blind old man, not Dick believes that Doss in front of him, and not Tchaikov, who damns wants to see his own hilarity! Dick had made other preparations, but he also needed some military assistance, and he could only beg Doss at this time.

Doss took a pistol out of his coat and handed it to Dick, "There's only so much I can do for you, Mr. Dick. ”

Dick hid his pistol in his clothes, and when he walked out of the hall, everyone was waiting for him.

"Boy Dick, if you're always so slow, the scepter will be ours." Pandey would tease Dick when he got the chance.

"Ha, didn't the High Priest say that the scepter belongs to no one...... But he belongs to me, well, it will belong to me. Dick wanted to pull out his pistol and shoot Pandey and Tchaikov to death, but it wasn't the right time.

The people of the fortress worked through the night against the usual sunset, and General Gorg returned to his room, took off his armor, and carefully wiped it with a cloth until it was so bright that it dazzled in the light.

The eastern sun slowly climbed above the mountains and shed the first rays of sunlight of the day in the canyon, and General Gorg, dressed in shining armor and a sharp sword, came to the stables and stroked the old horse that had accompanied him all his life: "If I release your soul, where will you go?" ”

The old horse rubbed his head against General Gorg's breastplate, and General Gorg smiled: "Well, let's fulfill our duties one last time, and let the future shine on our former glory!" ”

The people had prepared enough supplies for the expedition, food, raspberry wine, enough hides to protect them from the cold, two horses carrying the supplies given by the people, they put on their backpacks, checked all the equipment, and prepared to cross the Black River, to the canyon that no one had set foot in for hundreds of years, to track down the whereabouts of the ghost scepter, and the secret of Loulan that had disappeared from the world......

The Guardians gathered by the Black River, lined up in neat formations, their thin bodies struggling to support their heavy armor, their eyes shining like the brightest stars in the sky, they watched the expedition eagerly, the thousand-year-old guard, the heavy duty on their bodies, all hope was in these people who had come from afar to pursue the scepter.

The heavy history is about to turn a new page, the waves of the Black River that have been churning for thousands of years are singing a requiem, soothing the souls of the dead and the guardians, the sharp sword that has never slashed at the undead warriors will no longer need to be unsheathed, and the living can finally remove the heavy shackles and pursue a broader future!

"May the heroic spirits of your fathers guide you." General Gorg sent them to the bridgehead, and according to the rules, the defenders of the Black River were not allowed to cross the bank, and he had to stop there.

"Thanks, General, what are you going to do?" Mr. Min looked at the guards in a neat line, what would this black river look like a thousand years ago? There were only a few hundred people left in front of them, and although they worked hard to maintain the might of the soldiers, the exhaustion revealed by the body behind the armor could not be concealed.

"Life will always find a way out for itself." General Gorg smiled, "Go, you who seek the scepter, and release the souls of the undead so that they will no longer suffer from suffering." ”

Xia Ruobing stepped across the wooden bridge on the Black River, glanced back, the eager eyes of the crowd were staring at her, Xia Ruobing felt a little blocked in her heart, this fortress and the people living here these days have given her too many feelings.

"If there's no road ahead, remember the way back!" "The bridge will always be for you," shouted General Gorg by the Black River! ”

Xia Ruobing choked up, she wanted to say thank you, but she couldn't say it, Wang Xingguo stepped forward and gently took her hand: "Let's go, we will come back to this place." ”

General Gorg watched them slowly move away and into the mist, he drew his long sword and raised it high above his head, the long sword shining sharply in the sun!

"Attack! Guardians! Offensive! "General Gorg let out a war cry!

"Woo...... Woo woo ......" The continuous horn sounded, and the last guardians of the Black River raised their weapons high, the dazzling flashes were like elves beating in the sun, and the guardians who had traveled through the millennium let out their first and last battle cry in their lives!

"Attack! Offensive! Offensive! ”

……

Xia Ruobing heard a thunderous roar behind him, and the majestic roar was like a violent wind, blowing away the mist in the canyon.

"They're seeing us off." Mr. Min said.

……

A battle cry resounded through the castle, and the High Priest of Kelland, who was sitting at the head of the bed, smiled and muttered, "Go...... Go ahead...... Take control of your own future......"

The golden scepter held in front of his chest with both hands was released, and he slowly closed his eyes: "Ancestors who protect the Black River, please let me join your great ranks......"