Seeing Zhou Lingyan's appearance of wanting to speak and stopping, Zhang Miao couldn't help but glance at her suspiciously, but since she didn't want to say it, she didn't need to ask.

"That's... The county lord..."

"Well, Zhang Daoyou still call me Lingyan, we can be regarded as friends of life and death, you don't have to be polite. Zhou Lingyan blushed and whispered.

"Okay, Miss Lingyan, what are your plans next?" Zhang Miao smiled heartily and looked at Zhou Lingyan and asked.

Zhou Lingyan's face was gloomy, and he sighed and said:

"What else, the three elders of the clan have fallen, and the silver horn has avoided service... I didn't catch it again, so I must have returned to the imperial capital. ”

Zhang Miao nodded, agreed, and said with a slight narrowing of his eyes:

"Well, but Gyeongju and the imperial capital are hundreds of thousands of miles away, Miss Lingyan, you are alone... Isn't it a little unsafe, it's better to let this seat escort Lingyan girl for a ride. ”

"Ahh How embarrassing is this..."Zhou Lingyan blushed and muttered.

"Alas, it doesn't matter, Lingyan girl, you yourself said that we are also friends of life and death, this little thing is not enough to worry about, in one, this seat is also about to go to the imperial capital, and it happens to be on the way. Zhang Miao smiled and waved her hand and said.

After listening to Zhang Miao's words, Zhou Lingyan said "hmm" and said in surprise:

"That's right, there is Lao Zhang Daoyou. ”

"Harm, Miss Lingyan, you don't want to be a friend of Daoyou, just call me Zhang Miao, otherwise I will sound weird and twisted. Zhang Miao scratched her head and said.

"Then I'll call you Zhang Gongzi!" Zhou Lingxiu looked at Zhang Miao with a smile and said.

With a round of golden crows in the distant skyline slowly rising, the first rays of sunlight in the morning sprinkled on the faces of the two, Zhang Miao looked at the place where the sun rose and smiled:

"I don't know what kind of scenery this imperial capital with a history of tens of thousands of years is. ”

.......

In the winter of the three hundred and thirty-second year of the great god Zhaowu calendar, a light snow fell in Jiaonan City.

This capital city located in the southernmost part of the vast territory of the Great Chen Empire is the military fortress of the Great Chen Empire to resist the invasion of the Southern Barbarian aliens.

The earthen city wall in four directions is very thick, but because the defense line has been pushed south, the former garrison Shangyuan City has lost its role as a bridgehead, and the city wall of Jiaonan has not been repaired for thousands of years, and it seems slightly dilapidated.

There are not many soldiers in Jiaonan City, but there are only three hundred, of course, it is definitely enough to deal with some thieves who don't know whether they are alive or dead, and those who do evil things have their own sects in the city to deal with.

However, as a city defense army, Ma Liang doesn't think so, as a glorious soldier of the Dachen Empire, he is dedicated to his duties every day, standing on the lookout day after day, and guarding the Jiaodong City under him in his own way.

When a biting cold wind struck, the king, who was a soldier guarding the city, wrapped himself in his shabby jacket, and by the way, he leaned close to the fire, raised his weathered old face, and shouted to the stubborn body on the lookout:

"I said, ponies, come down and have a hot drink. ”

Of course, as usual, Wang Meng received only silence.

"Lao Wang, what are you doing with that stunned man, let's drink it quickly. The thin Saito on the side kept stirring the steaming mushroom soup in the hanging pot with a wooden spoon, smelling the fragrance and drooling.

"Alas, this silly boy, forget it and leave him a bowl. Wang Meng was not surprised, and took out a dirty wooden bowl from his worn jacket and handed it to Saito, whose eyes were full of green light.

Saito's face looked better at this time, and he hurriedly took the wooden bowl with a smile, and while filling the soup in the wooden bowl, his mouth was not honest:

"I heard that the demons of the Xi clan rioted, and I don't know if it's true or not, I'm afraid the world will not be peaceful!"

Wang Meng took back the wooden bowl full of mushroom soup, looked at the two halves of mushroom slices that rose and fell in the bowl, sighed, and whispered:

"I heard that the 100,000 border army was wiped out under the first battle, and the Xi army is attacking Shangyuan, in my opinion, this Shangyuan city will not be defended for long. ”

"What is this called, I don't know how long our Jiaodong can last. Saito squinted his eyes and looked resentfully at the traffic in the city, the bustling crowd on the streets and the desertion on the city walls as if they were two worlds.

The lookout is not high, Wang Meng and Saito's conversation, as well as the fragrance of mushroom soup, Ma Liang can hear and smell, but Ma Liang is still unmoved, just frowning, squinting his eyes and looking at the rising sun.

The wasteland was desolate in the morning, and the snow on the field slowly melted in the morning light, soaking the earth and the mud mixed with the mud.

There was a "snap", and when the sole of a heavily armed foot stepped on the mud, it splashed mud spots.

On the empty field, a "strange man" suddenly appeared with a lot of armor, that person carried a large flag, and two strange runes were written on it, if anyone who knew this kind of rune would know, the banner was written "Gu Dan".

As the morning sun rose, the figure was pulled by the elder, and gradually a second "strange man" with full body armor appeared on the horizon, followed by the third, and the fourth, more and more, forming a boundless "black line".

"It's... It's the Xi clan!" Gradually, Ma Liang's eyes widened and he shouted loudly.

Then he went crazy and shouted to the two people under the lookout:

"The Xi clan... There's a lot of Xi tribe!"

With a "snap", the wooden bowl fell from his hand, and a small half bowl of clear soup was sprinkled in the charcoal fire.

There was a splash of mist, and Wang Meng looked at Ma Liang on the lookout so stupidly, with a blank expression.

Saito, who was still skinny, reacted the fastest, and didn't care about the cold, so he climbed up to the lookout with his hands and feet, and looked at the entire wasteland full of endless Xi soldiers.

Gasping for air, Saito slumped to the ground and cried bitterly:

"It's over, it's over, Jiaodong is over!"

"There are only three hundred defenders in Jiaodong, and there are at least 100,000 troops outside the city, even Emperor Chen is here and has no power to return to the sky, quickly light the beacon fire, and notify the four gates and the city lord's mansion, the best and worst plan!"

After a short period of consternation, Wang Meng was the calmest, and he was worthy of being a veteran of a hundred battles, and immediately made the most correct decision.

"Yes, light the beacon fire, what if there are many people, I have hundreds of thousands of people in Jiaodong, and women, children, old and young can form an army!" Ma Liang was excited, his face turned red, and he puffed up his chest and shouted.

Wang Meng shook his head helplessly, but instead of damaging Ma Liang's enthusiasm, he slowly sat on the ground and said in a voice that only he could hear:

"Our human race has long been tempered by peace, and the Xi clan has been lying on the salary for tens of thousands of years, this time the soldier Da Chen must be completely prepared, if my human race still does not want to unite and fight against the same party, my human race is in danger!"