Whew, whew-

The air was filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder.

Tulip City!

The whole sky was dark, formed by the thick smoke rising from the ground.

The smoke was mixed with a little spark, and from time to time there were some explosions.

At the moment, Tulip City, Middle Street.

Doors are closed and deserted.

Occasionally, one or two stray cats and dogs pass by.

The Imperial Family's Imperial Forest Army has already set off from Wangjing City, and reinforcements from Huiquan Province will arrive soon!"

"Foreigners... I won't be able to do it for a few days!"

A dark-skinned, short-haired, twelve-year-old boy with a bag slung over his shoulder was bouncing through the broken alley.

He was alone on the whole street, but he didn't care.

He just shouted repeatedly.

"Extra, extra...... Freshly baked, just rushed out of the Tulip Daily!

"Freshly baked ......"

At this moment, the door on the side was suddenly opened from the inside, and a head poked out.

"Hey, boy, get a newspaper!"

The boy was overjoyed, and saw a fat old man in the crack of the door, waving to him.

The child took out a newspaper from his bag, "Chenghui, three yuan!"

The man looked pained, "Three pieces, you slander me!"

"Uncle, there's a war! The newsboys of the entire West Street, and I'm the only one who dares to come out! This is exchanging my life for money. If it weren't for my mother... I'm not in good health, do you think I'm willing?"

The member nodded and touched his head: "Then it can't be so expensive, robbing money?"

As he spoke, the man still handed over a few coins.

"Uncle, three yuan, why do you give ten yuan?"

The outsider laughed and scolded: "I'm happy! Stay away from the west and go to the east." ”

"Thank you, uncle!" That black charcoal lives at the bottom, and he has seen a lot of people and worldliness, how can he not know that this person is taking care of him?

"Filial piety comes first. Take good care of your mother!" the man shouted at his back.

"Derre!"

The boy had turned a few corners, and had barely taken a few steps, when he heard a loud bang and a cannonball falling on him.

"Ah!!" the man shook and slammed the door shut.

The surroundings gradually became quiet, and no one dared to come out. Occasionally, a scared cry can be heard.

After a while, there was a rustling sound.

The man squeaked open the door, looked left and right, and saw that there was no one, so he let out a sigh of relief and secretly walked towards the child.

As soon as he walked a few steps, he saw that a living child was already a ball of flesh and blood at this moment.

He was stunned, sighed, and went back again.

He closed the courtyard door.

In the courtyard, a young girl was rushing out at this time, and said, "Fifth uncle, it's a rocket again...?"

This girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, has a smiling face that is a little baby fat, not tall, but has a heroic spirit.

This person, if Li Wuxian is there, he must recognize that this person is Nie Hongdou.

The fifth uncle nodded, "It's a pity, the kid who sold the newspaper just now was unlucky...... Alas!!"

Nie Hongdou's eyes turned red: "Again...... Rockets?"

She seemed to have forgotten that she had already asked.

The outsider sighed, "The foreigner's rocket is haunting, many neighbors have been killed inexplicably, and my soldiers in White Rock City have suffered heavy casualties......

However, in recent days, we have found that their shells are not as dense as before, as long as these foreign devils run out of ammunition, our army will definitely make them look good!"

Nie Hongdou smiled bitterly and responded casually.

Her fifth uncle seems to be an outsider, but he is just a wealthy craftsman, how can he know anything about war?

"What is written in the newspaper," Nie Hongdou diverted the topic.

The fifth uncle unfolded the newspaper, and what was written on the top, just as the newspaper boy reported - Wangjing City has launched elite troops to increase the number of troops in Yujin City, and Huiquan Province has also transported troops by water and land.

"Bang bang!"

There was a gunshot in the distance, and the fifth uncle put the newspaper away, "Let's go to the cellar first!"

Nie Hongdou nodded, and the two entered the cellar.

In the cellar, the lights are like beans.

There was a bed in the corner, and on the bed lay an old woman.

At this moment, the old woman was half-seated with a pillow behind her back.

She looked at the window with cloudy eyes.

Above her head, at the top of the cellar, a palm-sized ventilation window was opened.

Through the window, only some greenery can be seen in the gutter outside.

On top of the greenery, there are still a few thin piles of snow.

"Mother, you're awake. Nie Hongdou had just gone down the cellar and hurried to the old woman's bedside.

The old woman took a few breaths and said, "The foreign devil's cannon is blowing up again?"

Nie Hongdou went up and tucked the corner of the quilt for the old woman, and said, "We are about to win, and the foreigners have retreated several streets in the past few days." She also didn't explain that this was a new weapon for foreigners, more powerful than ordinary cannons

The old woman shook her head: "How is it so easy......?"

"Mother, don't say a word!" she hurriedly patted the old woman on the back.

On the other side, the fifth uncle hurriedly poured water for her.

"I'm fine, Doudou, you're always small, don't be sensible......

How can it be so easy to fight? When I was a child, foreigners also fought once in our Yujin City, and that battle was fought...... Alas, I'm scared when I think about it.

After three months of fighting, we couldn't hold it anymore and retreated to the center of the city.

In the end, we dragged our family into the ancient city building, and at that time, the army was gathered there to protect our people.

And after that...... The foreigners began to attack the city.

Our men will defend the city. And the old and the weak, the women and the children, went up and threw them with stones, with bows and arrows, with spears and knives...... It was a terrible scene, and the foreigners' cannons kept blasting at the city gates..."

Nie Hongdou's mother coughed a few more times.

Nie Hongdou feigned anger and said:

"Mother, don't say it, foreigners are not three-headed and six-armed, if we can win them once, we can win them a second time!"

There seemed to be a twinkle in her mother's eyes:

"Won? hehe, how easy is it. Thanks to the many people who practiced martial arts at that time, they were not afraid of death and protected the people. I remember... Among them, there is a person who practices martial arts, he is very powerful, except for the cannons of foreigners, he is not afraid of others, and he is fine when bullets hit him.

Relying on him to sneak attack the heads of several foreigners from time to time, the foreigners' army did not dare to press, so that we Gur'ans were next to each other, next to each other, and also suffered from winters like this......"

In the end, the royal family came forward and negotiated with the foreigners...... And the fighting ceased. ”

A flash of memory flashed in the old woman's eyes.

Nie Hongdou squeezed out a smile and said: "It's okay to talk, as long as we don't fight, our club can still make a lot of money, but it is all because Little Brother Li has been attached to us before, and many martial artists have come here." Now the club has just started to make a lot of money, but we can't continue to play because of the war with foreigners!" she wanted to divert the conversation from other aspects.

"Don't worry," at this time, the fifth uncle poured water, also walked to the bedside, and said:

"Sister, we only occasionally have some misses of rockets that fall here, and foreigners won't hit this side. In the past, those people in the west, before the foreigners called, the army would notify them in advance to withdraw to the ancient city tower. ”

The old woman sighed: "It's the ancient city tower again, it's been a few decades, the country is still the same as before, what age is this, fighting with foreigners, and finally having to rely on the city wall of the ancestors to protect the people."

Also, let's talk about it, what's the good thing about talking? Last time we talked about it, we had an extra lease of land in Yujin City for no reason, and this time we talked about it...... I don't know what it is...... I'd rather be a peace dog than a troubled world. ”

Although Nie Hongdou's mother is not highly educated, these words made Nie Hongdou and her fifth uncle stunned.

.

(As an aside, when I wrote this chapter, I inexplicably remembered the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the LGQ incident, and a recent incident in a neighboring country, and I was a little depressed for a while.) ）