At the end of March of the 27th year of Zhengding, less than a month has passed since the Spring Festival.

It should be a cold season in spring, but the land south of the Yangtze River is unusually warm.

It's as if the climate hasn't changed since the end of summer last year, and Rao is the coldest time of the year, and wearing a medium-length coat is enough to resist it.

This is true in Jiangnan.

Needless to say, further south.

Although the order of the national teacher spread to the world, resulting in a batch of rice crops in the country, making the grain abundant, but this sudden change in the sky also brought some small troubles to the south.

Folk spread everywhere.

The change of the heavenly phase indicates that the monarch is not virtuous.

A change of dynasty may be imminent.

It stands to reason that this kind of grapevine is to kill the head.

But the problem is that the Southern Imperial Court is in a hurry at this time, and it has no time to take care of these small things.

The Qilu front line was lost, the feudal officials, and the pillar of the national dynasty, Shi Weihou, disappeared.

The border army is leaderless and chaotic, and although the north is still quiet, it must be a harbinger before the storm.

In more than a month, several groups of envoys entered Qilu and brought many instructions, but they were like mud cattle entering the sea, as if the nominal territory of the southern country had been actually occupied.

For the princes above the court, in the form of these stormy years, Qilu is lost, in fact, it is not a big problem, what is really terrible is a series of changes that will be caused after Qilu is lost.

If bad news comes soon, it doesn't matter, everyone has already been fully mentally prepared. But at this time, there is no news, which is the worst, and things are developing in the direction of chaos.

In the Qin Heavenly Prison, the most clever and the most skilled prophet who pretends to be a god and a ghost, it is difficult to predict the next direction.

At this juncture, the lord of the country is no longer in court.

All the big and small affairs were handed over to the important ministers to take care of themselves, but the number of times they went to the immortal temple became more and more.

This land has witnessed too many changes and changes, and it has also left enough wisdom and admonition for future generations.

In the current situation, although Zhao Ming is likely to simply go to the immortals and pray for the peace of the country, his actions fall in the eyes of the ministers and Li Min, that is, a bad omen in every sense.

So in Lin'an City, people's hearts are more and more fluctuating.

Just after Qingming, something big finally happened.

But unexpectedly, things are not out of the north.

It's the south side.

than Lin'an, those areas further south.

The beacon fire is passed on, and the thieves invade.

----

Near Yuyao.

Sakamoto Ryoma took the hat and strode into the camp in the midst of a group of ghost guards.

In front of him, the ashigaru of the Ryoma Kingdom was transporting the baggage in large carts and small carts, and the corrupt local army of the Southern Dynasty usually occupied a lot of resources, and now they were all owned by this Dongying Restoration Army.

All kinds of goods were also loaded on pallet trucks and were to be transported to the rear fleet, which would return to Sanhan soil.

Bringing the next group of samurai to Ashigaru came, with these visible benefits, it was enough to stabilize the hearts of the people and attract more ronin samurai.

The battle has risen, and the samurai are all serious.

"General, why aren't you allowed to plunder some women and children?"

A simple samurai, following Ryoma, first muttered a sentence in Toei, and when he saw that the leader did not speak, he switched to stiff Chinese.

This question twice in a row made Ryoma, who wore an eye patch and walked in the style of a decadent uncle, a little impatient, and the general with a long and short knife spat out the grass stalk in his mouth, turned around and slapped the samurai on the cheek.

"Yaga!"

He scolded:

"Let you do it, you just do it, ask so much to do! After eating white rice and meat rice for seven days, can you eat all your brains? ”

Seeing that the usually majestic and righteous general was angry, the warrior hurriedly stood up straight, and did not dare to answer, but could only endure the reprimand of the leader.

A few samurai around him held back a smile and watched their companions make a fool of themselves.

Before the landing of this trip, the general had repeatedly ordered that he would not enter the city, but only seek the garrison of the southern army, and if he fled, he did not have to pursue, which was clearly a strategy of grabbing a vote and leaving.

The general didn't want to stay in the south for a long time, and the smart generals knew it.

They did not object, in the final analysis, this battle was not fought for their interests, even if they occupied more land, they would have to spit it out in the end.

These samurai are all Ryoma's true henchmen, and the general occasionally confides in them.

The big guys gathered in Samhan to accumulate strength, in order to return to their homeland in the future and rebuild the orthodox dynasty of Dongying.

The life of every samurai, even every red deer ashigaru, is precious, it is the seed hope of recovering his homeland, how can he lose all because of a war that does not belong to him?

"Ramming!"

Ryoma scolded a few words, but also lost interest, waved his hand, let out a long breath, and motioned for the samurai behind him to disperse and go about their own work.

He walked to the chariots and horses piled up next to him, grabbed a handful of white rice from the rice grain bag, put it under his nose and sniffed it, gave a few more grains, and put them in his mouth to chew.

It's a good thing, it's much better than the rice grain in Samhan.

The interior of this southern army is really rotten, and it only crushed a few local garrisons, and it got so much booty.

The samurai general, with a satisfied smile, looked behind his head again.

He has super vision, and can see black dots cruising high in the sky.

That's the eye.

Someone was watching their movements, watching them loot.

That's also a warning.

At the meeting on Zhoushan Flower and Bird Island that day, the words of the Great Sword Saint of the Heavenly Heaven are still vivid, and the powerful warrior who made the guardian spirit in his body tremble was watching this scene happening on the earth.

The warnings of the day not to disturb the people were not just words.

Ryoma pouted.

The samurai general stretched out his hand and waved it at the black spot.

"The way of the samurai, how can it be to oppress the innocent?"

Ryoma, who was wearing an eye patch, looked at the black spot and whispered:

"What is the difference between our samurai and the cowards of our homeland by wantonly inflicting our own misery on the innocent, surviving by brutal pleasure, and soothing the sparse minds with impotent intoxication?"

The general's words to himself stopped.

He picked up a sugar cake, tore it open, walked to the side of the road, took out a piece, and put it in his mouth.

"If you profess righteousness, you must also walk in righteousness, and this is the only way to avoid being swallowed up by darkness."

"Ryoma-kun, talking to himself again, entertaining himself."

The wind flickered.

A ninja dressed in what resembled a nightwalker, with his head wrapped in black cloth, only his eyes exposed, and long streamers flying behind his head, appeared in front of Ryoma.

He crossed his arms, as if he was very familiar with the samurai general.

He said in a teasing tone, and became serious again:

"The fleet will return, do you have any advice to bring it back?"

"Send the wounded soldiers back together."

The samurai felt the sweetness in his mouth, narrowed his eyes comfortably, and this guy who likes sweets said to the ninja in front of him:

"The next batch, in exchange for those Penglai meticulous works that have been identified, the southerners will not let me wait, the closer to Lin'an Xiongcheng, the more frequent the war.

The real war, which is coming, is just the right time to use this war to consume those who are not loyalist. ”

The mysterious ninja nodded, he did not leave, still waiting for the general to give the order.

"The grain and grass were transported back to Samhan, and one-third was distributed to the people of the country to calm the hearts of the people, and another one-third was given to the samurai's families as a reward.

The last third was deposited in the grain warehouse of the Restoration Army. ”

Ryoma's tone was calm, as if he was very prepared.

He said:

"There are people from the Five Elements Gate of Middle Earth, who sent a secret report, the great monk Zhenji, determined to return to his homeland, and take advantage of the weakness of the Maori Daimyo to attack the city, Quanzangjun, you return from this trip, and you don't have to come back.

Bring the wealth and goods we have obtained to the great monk to use, and recruit exiles, but you can't rely on empty mouths and white teeth, you can also bring your subordinates back with him to help him succeed. ”

With that, Ryoma picked up the sugar cake again and stuffed it into his mouth.

While eating, he said in a vague voice:

"When the matter here is over, I will also take these last samurai of Dongying back to their hometown, and I hope that when I go back, you will have good news.

Let me and my subordinates have a house to live in. ”

The ninja in front of him is not an ordinary person.

He is the ninja leader in Ryoma Country, commanding several families, specializing in the secrets of military intelligence, and the things he knows are naturally not comparable to ordinary samurai.

Hearing what Ryoma said, he knew that Ryoma had made up his mind, but he himself was a little hesitant.

It stands to reason that with his status as a ninja like him, he can't refute the general's order, but when he and Ryoma escorted Asuka's mother to Sanhan, his relationship with Ryoma is naturally not as simple as the lord and his subordinates.

"Ryoma-kun, it's a bit risky."

The ninja crouched on the stone and whispered:

"If you bring all the strength you have accumulated over the years back to your homeland, once you fail..."

"There will be no failure!"

Ryoma said in a sonorous tone:

"Our allies in Middle-earth have resisted most of the pressure for us, and now is the best time! The eyes of those immortals are drawn to Middle-earth, and in such a situation, if we can't win...

Then there is really no hope for our hometown. ”

The ninja nodded, for more than a month before, the samurai were recuperating, but they were very busy, and they had a very friendly "business exchange" with their counterparts in Middle-earth.

I also learned a lot of secret things from the Five Elements Gate, the decisive battle between the warriors of Middle Earth and Penglai is coming soon, and the matter is just as Long Ma Jun said, if you want to recover the country, now is the best opportunity.

But he's a ninja, and he's used to thinking about the worst.

What he really grieved was:

"Ryoma-kun, you are, staking all your treasures on the people of Middle-earth. What if, what if they lose? ”

The ninja leader whispered:

"If they lose, we lose.

I don't mean to stop Ryoma-kun's strategy, and I don't dare to discuss the major matter of restoring the country, but I think we have to have a backup plan. ”

"No, you don't!"

Ryoma waved his hand like a knife.

Said in a resolute tone:

"Middle-earth has fallen, and there will be no place for us to survive in this life, Quanzang Jun, this is the last chance left for me.

Although we are not on the same battlefield, we and our allies in Middle-earth are fighting the same war, and we can cooperate with each other to minimize the pressure on each other.

The Great Sword Saint of the Heavenly Heaven also knew this, so he let us loot the grain, grass and goods to make the final preparations for the battle of recovering the country.

Asuka Maharaja personally went to the Great Sword Saint, although he was called a disciple.

It's a proton.

The noble Maharaja, the supreme bloodline from Takamagahara, has already pressed his early life for the war we are waiting for. Our samurai claim to be loyal, but why can't they shed their blood? ”

He stroked the hilt of the Three Desolations on his waist and took a deep breath.

Say:

"I know Quanzangjun's intentions, but what's the use of leaving a reserve?

If Penglai wins, even if our generation runs to the ends of the earth, we will not be able to escape their poison. I also don't want my children, like me, to live in a world without hope.

This battle is not just for our generation.

Those extraterritorial places, maybe good.

But they are not homes. ”

Ryoma looked in the direction of Toei, and his eyes were full of nostalgia and tenderness.

He said:

"My hometown is bad, but it's home.

In the life of a samurai, what you want is a vigorous, poignant battle death like cherry blossoms, and we are all evil ghosts who have crawled out of hell, but Rao is so.

I still have a faint hope in my heart, hoping to die as a samurai and spill my blood on the land of my homeland.

Go ahead.

Quanzangjun, with our faith, go back to that hell first.

We'll be there.

With our hands, we will pull that country from hell back to earth! ”

He looked at the camp behind him.

The southerners were weak in garrison, and they won many victories, which raised the morale of the army, and in the rear of the camp, under the clear sky, there was also light sprinkled on this land.

"In this sunlit land, our country has no light, but we will bring this light back to our hometown!"

"Yes!"

The ninja crouching on the stone stood up.

He had his hands on his shoulders and gray streamers flying behind his head.

Before leaving, he said:

"Ryoma-kun, the outpost has been checked, and the elites of the four sides of the southern kingdom have signs of gathering, and our agreement to the northern kingdom to find fighters for them has been completed.

You should also prepare for evacuation in advance. ”

"Yes, I know."

Ryoma turned around.

His face with a hint of decadence was full of seriousness, and he rubbed his embarrassed stubble and said to the ninja:

"You only need to break through for two more days, and you can go to a hundred miles outside Lin'an City, put up a formation, threaten it, and then disperse the army to besiege the city.

At most, as soon as the northerners come, I will immediately lead the army to retreat, and you must also send the next fleet to come over at this point in time, and leave those Penglai disloyal ones as outcasts.

And then...

Let's go home! ”

"Well, go home."

The ninja leader said in an accentuated tone.

Like a covenant, it's like an agreement between friends.

"I'll be in my hometown, waiting for you to come back."

After saying that, the ninja disappeared into a cloud of smoke like the wind, choking Ryoma and coughing and scolding. These ninjas have a bad habit of using smoke bombs, just as the Middle-earth Assassins like to walk through windows.

The old occupation is sick.

When the smoke clears, Ryoma stuffs the final sugar cake into his mouth.

"This season, the cherry blossoms in my hometown have long been grateful..."

He sighed and glanced farther away.

That's the direction of Lin'an.

It is also the end of his escape for most of his life.

After that, he will return to Hell and set foot in the sad land of countless people.

With the knife in your hand, together with your companions, for your country, for your family, for your children and grandchildren, fight a dawn!

This time, it will be the last battle of all the samurai of Ryoma Province.

He.

They.

No, and there is no need to run away.