Chapter 21: Rebirth from the Fire
The Valley of Chaos is an ultra-long watershed separating the northern and southern worlds, and the southern world in the formal sense is the area south of the Valley of Chaos all the way to the north coast of the Dolmaya Sea, east of the largest river, the Shengya River. There were also many wars in the South, but the poor people of the South lived a more miserable life than in the North. Because in addition to the continuous invasion of war, what made them miserable was the plague and pests and diseases that spread everywhere due to the high temperature, and the pirate robbery in the Durmaya Sea, countless people really seemed to live in hell rather than die.
The two main warring states in the south are the Eastern Jin Kingdom on the southeast coast and the neighboring Lanzhu on the west side. In fact, the inhabited area in the south is much smaller than in the north, because the south is the extinct Heicong Mountains, the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Lanzhu founded the country in the coastal inland plain, where the land is rich and many places are surrounded by mountains and rivers, and many small countries also choose to rely on the sea to develop themselves. To the west of Lanzhu is a large wasteland and uninhabited land, and further west is the former site of the dry Yujiang River and the ancestral tomb of the Daimon people of the Shengya Kingdom. The land area of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Lanzhu is comparable, and to the north they are the Chaos Valley, to the south is the continuous Black Mountain, and to the south of the Black Mountain is the residential area of the coastal people. Let's talk about the country of Lanzhu first, Lanzhu has a history of 700 years. After the disappearance of the Black Cong Mountain Savage Tribe, Lanzhu was the first country to develop here. After the careful governance of successive monarchs, Lanzhu is already a country with quite good development, and the domestic economy and culture are no less than those of Shengya in the west. The feng shui in Lanzhu is very good, there is no yellow sand invasion and there is little plague, and the soldiers are brave and good at fighting but extremely disgusted with war, of course, this is thanks to the salvation mind of the kings of the past dynasties. The neighboring small countries in order to protect their lives all rely on it, and the rulers of Lanzhu are also very popular with the people, but the people of Lanzhu live smoothly and quietly during the world war. Lanzhu and the Shengya Kingdom in the northwest are considered to be the best-preserved kingdoms in this world that was almost burned by war, while its rival state, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, is a completely opposite country.
The monarch of the Eastern Jin Dynasty has a single word to kill, in fact, he also has an ancestral home, the ancestor of the royal blood of the Eastern Jin Dynasty is the Yan word clan, because the northwest of the Eastern Jin Dynasty is the world's largest active volcano, the Scorching Sun Volcano, and the generation of "Yan" to inherit the bloodline. Yan Ji was a very brutal monarch, and he was the initiator of nearly two-thirds of the Southern Wars. And since the night of the Red Moon, his enthusiasm for provoking war has deepened. The first fierce general under the Yan Kill is the general Legu known as the Prison Flame Knight, Legu is brutal and ruthless, he is commensurate with the monarch as a brother, and can be called the first killer of the monarch. Legu is tall and big, his body is very strong, his two big eyes always give people the feeling of "angry eyes", even when he looks at the monarch, he is fierce. Legu is quite proficient in military and martial arts, and twenty or thirty people are like a piece of food for him, and his riding and archery skills are also very superb, and his deep pupils will project a fierce and chilling aura every time he faces the enemy. In the eyes of the killer, the existence of Lan Zhu is the biggest threat, and the people of the Eastern Jin Dynasty have been committing Lan Zhu for many years, but they have always been unable to capture it. Every time the Lanzhu people fought in a war, they only drove the Eastern Jin Dynasty out of their territory, and rarely deliberately took the initiative to attack. And his ambition to kill went far beyond conquering the Eastern Jin Dynasty and its surrounding remote places, and he dreamed of the whole world being in his pocket. However, it seems that Lan Zhu gave him an unexpected blow on the way to realize his ambitions. He often blamed Legu for his incompetence because he couldn't capture Lanzhu for a long time, and Legu, who had a lot of military power, didn't seem to take this monarch in his eyes at all, and after every quarrel, there were always a few innocent people who would be killed to dissipate his anger, and the relationship between the monarch and the minister became more and more stiff.
In the middle of the summer of World War 127, Legu led 20,000 horses from the primitive rainforest to cross at night in an attempt to attack Lanzhu's right-wing city-state, but was unexpectedly ambushed by Lanzhu's general Zeyong. A full 20,000 people were caught by Ze Yong in an urn in the swamp of the rainforest, and Legu led less than 100 people to escape from the encirclement. At the beginning of this operation, he hesitated to refuse, and Legu took his troops out without waiting for the order to kill. After the defeat and return to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he even had the heart to kill Legu, and this incident was the beginning of the devastation of life in the southern world.
On the third day of the failed expedition, he was furious at Legu in front of a full room. He pointed at Legu angrily and shouted: "Legu, all 20,000 soldiers and horses have been buried by you." I dare to send troops without giving an order, it is really bold and reckless, since you accepted the order to pacify Lanzhu for General Zhenxi, how many soldiers and horses have you let me lose? Lan Zhu didn't capture an inch of land, and my heart meat let you scrape it off piece by piece. What explanation do you use to bear this loss?" The sparse eyebrows of Yan Killing Qi trembled, and everyone lowered their heads in fear and did not dare to make a sound, they were even more afraid that Legu would talk back to the monarch, because then it was bound that after a while, a few people would use their heads to relieve their anger.
Legu, who was all fierce and strong-eyed, was completely unafraid of the murder, and he replied in a mocking tone: "The Lanzhu people have many conspiracies and strong troops, and the terrain along the way is so complicated, Your Majesty, you have been clamoring all day long to capture Lanzhu quickly, and you yourself know that it will not be possible to defeat them overnight." You don't want to drag my troops slowly, and you hesitate when I send troops quickly, it's common to win or lose a war. Instead of yelling at his subordinates here, the king should lead his troops to fight and see. It's just to improve your pampered state all day, maybe you go out in person, Lanzhu it won't be effortless to take it, if you are afraid of losing face and don't want to fight Lanzhu, then you might as well go to Shanwan to try, that place is not going to fight sooner or later. Legu glanced at the stunned people sitting in the hall with a disdainful face, and the air was so quiet that even their heartbeats could be heard.
After Legu finished speaking, he coughed again and again, he didn't expect Legu to say that he would let himself go hard, his angry lips trembled, and he squeaked and said, "You... You're so bold. What's the use of me going out to raise you generals, I... Iā" Killer didn't know what to say, he coughed and beckoned to the guards on the side. After a while, he was helped by two maids to the back of the dormitory. Seeing this, Legu also left with an angry face, and the others left regardless of you and me when they saw this form, because whoever left a second late might be summoned by death. Yan Ji because of the perennial handover of military power to Legu, so that most of the generals and soldiers of the heart of the refuge in Legu, Legu held the military power and did not dare to give any extreme orders, he was afraid that once Legu rebelled, he might not even be able to protect the throne.
Soon this matter ended for a year, and one night in the summer of the 128th year of the World War was a year later, the sky above the Eastern Jin Kingdom was scattered with scattered stars, and only the night in the northwest was completely dark. Yan Ji was drinking sullen wine alone in the huge room, and Legu and him had been fighting against him almost every day for a year, and he even dreamed of killing Legu with a knife. It was nearly midnight when his favorite concubine came through the side door, dressed in beautiful silk and satin.
The woman writhed her ass extremely seductively and sat next to the killer, but at this time, the killer had no intention of beauty, just lowered her head to relieve the impact of the liquor. The concubine looked at it for a while, then leaned on him and said, "Your Majesty, you are drinking here, and I have been watching it for a long time. Now that Nalegu is getting more and more powerful, he doesn't take you as the king of the country in his eyes at all. Your Majesty, if you continue to let him indulge like this, if he really captures Lan Zhu one day, it is not certain that he will admit that he is your courtier?" He looked at the woman thoughtfully, and then hugged her heavily in his arms and said, "Hmph, don't I know? Legu is so rampant now, and I can only blame me for trusting him too much in the first place. ā
The concubine said with a sneer: "Who has not had the ambition to be the king throughout the ages, and Legu's power is obviously inferior to that of you, the king of the country. But in fact, his family property and military strength can already be an enemy country, Your Majesty, Lan Zhu is indeed too difficult to fight. I advise you to retract your heart and find a way to settle down!"
Yan Ji's flushed face immediately lowered his head and asked, "Then what do you mean?" A smell of wine dispersed in all directions.
"Your Majesty, the greater his ability, the greater the threat. Get rid of Legu as soon as possible and change the general, it's time to kill him, even if he has no intention of rebelling, he definitely has no intention of paying tribute to you. While Legu is now in power and has not reversed, kill him as soon as possible to get rid of the troubles, otherwise he may come to usurp the throne on a whim one day. He turned his head and took a sip of wine, and said helplessly: "Didn't I think about killing him? How easy it is to get rid of him, how can I get rid of him? Find someone to assassinate him? With Legu's force, dozens of people are not his opponents, and if he fails, he will have to rebel if he does not fight." ā
"Your Majesty can borrow someone else's hand. The woman said with a weird smile.
Ji let go of his beloved concubine with a puzzled face, "How can you say that others?
The woman stood upright, leaned lightly into Yan Ji's ear, and whispered, "I have thought of a brilliant way to ensure that Legu will definitely die." Your Majesty, you are not the only one who wants to kill Legu, and the people he offended and the Lanzhu people don't want to kill him. The concubine learned from several secret agents that a few days ago, a large number of Lanzhu's people had appeared in the large poplar forest in the public land west of the city, and the Lanzhu people must have set up heavy defenses there. Your Majesty, you see that the sky in the northwest has been dark for more than ten days, and the scorching volcano at the northeast end of the poplar forest has been eager to try it in the past few days, and it is estimated that there will be an eruption in the next few days. We can trick Legu into deliberately leading people into the poplar forest, and he will be ambushed. At that time, the Lanzhu people will definitely chase and kill him, and even if he escapes, he will have to run back, and His Majesty will cut off the road at that time, forcing him to flee to the scorching sun volcano in the northeast. It was a dead end, and he would be trapped under the scorching sun, and he would be burned to ashes when the lava erupted. ā
He pondered for a moment, then smiled, and praised the clever plan.
In the court hall the next day, Yan Ji pretended to regret and took the initiative to bow his head to Legu in front of the civil and military officials, and he grinned vigorously and said, "General Legu, I used to be wrong many times. I only thought about myself, and I didn't take into account the feelings of you soldiers who are working hard outside. I'm deeply ashamed, and I hope General Legu doesn't take it to heart. I will be inseparable from your brave knight of the Prison Flame in the future of the Eastern Jin Dynasty!" all the civil and military officials under the seat were amazed by what the monarch said today.
However, the arrogant Legu thought that Yan Ji really apologized to him, and he looked disdainful and didn't seem to buy the murder. Legu shook his hand and said coldly: "Your Majesty can realize your mistake is really valuable! Then I hope that in the future, you can also think about your subordinates as much as you do today, and don't lose your temper at every turn." ā
Kill's heart exploded angrily, but he had to pretend to be obedient on the surface. He replied with a smile on his face: "Yes, yes, I will definitely pay attention to these things in the future." Many people suspected on the spot that there must be a conspiracy in the words and deeds of the killing, but Legu didn't think that he thought it was a matter of course. Immediately after that, he took the opportunity to say, "General Legu, the spies have reported that there are Lanzhu's caravans and soldiers stationed in the large poplar forest in the public land west of the city. I'll give you 3,000 soldiers and horses now, are you willing to lead the troops into battle?" Legu still sneered and said: "Since you are so reasonable today, and you beg me like this, then the matter of the expedition is naturally not said. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, this time I will be the one who exterminated Lan Zhu and returned victorious. He nodded proudly, and went on to say a lot of good things about Legu, and he was the only one who couldn't see the catty with such flattery.
At dawn one day, Legu rode his tall horse with a purple and gold spear and three thousand soldiers and horses from the city gate of the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the west of the city. A few hours later, Legu came to the rolling poplar forest. This forest grows on the border between the two countries, with an abyssal ravine to the south and a battlefield of war between the two countries to the north. Legu led the troops into the woods cautiously, the sound of the wind wrapped in the birdsong echoed, Legu did not see a cart and a horse, and involuntarily had a strange feeling in his heart, any wind and grass at this time is a fatal wake-up call for Legu. Legu carefully observed the situation on the ground, and if it was according to what the killer said, the ground should have some car marks or other marks, but the natural tiling of the leaves on the ground clearly told Legu that no one had visited. When he was extremely surprised, suddenly thousands of sharp arrows shot at them from all directions, and in an instant three thousand soldiers and horses were in a row, and the Lanzhu people jumped up with knives from under the tall thick leaves in the distance and rushed over. Legu was shot in the left arm, and he withdrew from the woods scarred by the desperate protection of several strong guards. The Lanzhu people were not chasing them, and he was dumbfounded when Legu led a few remnants of his army to return to the city gate of the Eastern Jin Kingdom by the same route. The walls were covered with soldiers with crossbows, and as soon as he stepped into range, thousands of arrows were rushing towards him. After a while, a man who had taken his place as general shouted, "Legu, you traitor still has the face to come back." Brothers, go down and kill this traitor!" At this time, Legu suddenly realized that he was killed, and the current situation was that he was attacked by the enemy, and Legu did not hesitate to decisively ride his horse and a few people from his entourage to the northwest, and the soldiers who had already arranged for Yan Ji in the Eastern Jin Dynasty also went out of the city and chased all the way.
The Scorching Sun Volcano is the largest active volcano in the entire continental plate, and it is located near the south of the Chaos Valley, in the middle of the southeast delta and the Eastern Jin Kingdom. If this volcano erupts, there will be no grass left for thousands of miles around. Legu fled for his life all the way northwest through mountains and ravines, and the slayer chased after him. He fled for two days and two nights, and several loyal guards around him were all killed, and in the end, Legu was left alone and cornered. After entering the realm of the Scorching Sun Volcano in the evening of the third day, the soldiers pursued by the Eastern Jin Dynasty withdrew one after another after knowing that it was impossible for Legu to escape alive. Legu was scarred through a stretch of Stonehenge and made his way to the foot of the Sun Volcano, the crater of which had several fragments of shattered magma falling from the sky.
The magma in the volcano is ready to jump, and the ground is shaking slightly, this devil who is more terrifying than death has been silent for hundreds of years, and it has been full of powerful energy just waiting for the right time to be released. Legu was in utter despair at what he saw, and he knew he was going to die. His bloodshot and dusty eyes looked helplessly at the crater, the round fissure was as strong and beautiful as a budding flower, as exciting as a blood eruption, and he unconsciously sighed in his heart.
The horse broke free from Legu's restraints and ran back, laughing alone and crawling towards the crater, he wanted to die rather die in this naturally carved hot cradle. Gradually, the skin on his hands was gone, and the bare flesh was stained with dust, and he forgot the pain. As he got closer to the crater, the temperature around him rose sharply, the air became hot, and the endless darkness spread. Legu followed the glimmer of light until he reached the crater, his mouth dripping with gray blood all the way to the top of the rock. He poked his head into the crater to get a glimpse of the most terrifying side of nature, the fiery slurry in front of him surging like a devil about to break free from the rope, and the bright red hot slurry gathered and expanded. Legu smiled and looked left and right, and suddenly his eyes were blank and his mouth was staring at the volcanic magma. In the tumbling slurry, a purple eye wrapped in flaming amber wandered back and forth. Legu trembled and muttered to himself, "Immortal Eye, Immortal Eye..."Legu quickly wiped the blood from his mouth, and then stepped forward and squirmed.
He happily followed the Purple Devil's Eye as he floated back and forth on the crater's dirt and rocks, his expression of longing and greed disgusting. The Purple Devil's Immortal Eye floated above the magma, and if Legu jumped down to get it, he would fall into the thick magma and come to naught. Legu looked at the Purple Devil's Eye, and the Purple Devil's Eye looked at him greedily. The powerful allure has made Legu completely forget the pain in his body and even forget about death at this time. All kinds of visions began to appear in his mind, he seemed to see himself in command of thousands of troops, countless slaves kneeling in front of him begging for mercy, thousands of palaces around him were built for him, and he seemed to see Yan Ji hiding in the corner of the wall and being hacked to death. Legu suddenly laughed wildly, he stood up and threw away his spear, and without hesitation, jumped into the volcanic magma, the magma devouring power is much stronger than the swamp, Legu pressed the Purple Demon Eye with his body and immersed themselves in the thousand-degree furnace.