Chapter 2: Escape

  The autumn wind howled, blowing up a ground of fallen leaves, carrying endless desolation and rolling towards the distance. The dark cloud layer seemed to press down on the ground, the air was so stifling that it seemed about to explode. Endless refugees dragged their children and wives, extending endlessly towards Dingzhou, the largest city in the border of Great Chu. The grassy plain army was defeated, 30,000 Great Chu border troops collapsed, and the outer defenses of Dingzhou, Weiyuan, Zhenyuan, and Fuyuan were all lost within a few days. Tens of millions of people from Great Chu were directly abandoned to the barbarians. The barbarians' crazy burning, killing, and looting turned countless villages into ruins, with corpses scattered everywhere, and countless households were taken away. The black smoke from the burned villages covered the sky and sun, and the entire outer defenses of Dingzhou were shrouded in a gloomy mist.

  At this time, Li Qingzheng sat cross-legged on a hillside far from Dingzhou City. The days of fleeing had left him exhausted, but also made him understand many things. Looking at the endless stream of refugees below, he saw defeated soldiers or groups of people rushing past on horseback, everyone with only one goal in mind - Dingzhou City, where there were still solid city walls and tens of thousands of troops that could protect their safety.

  Looking up at the sky, I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. I somehow ended up in this era and possessed the body of another man named Li Qing. I don't know if it's because of some past life's karma that I need to repay in this life. As for my current self, I really don't know whether to be happy or sad. Being alive is good, but this world... I don't know how much longer I can survive.

  For several days, he had been constantly merging with the memories of this body and also continuing the legacy that originally belonged to it. To say that Li Qing's body was indeed much stronger than his previous self. Just those eight distinct muscles on his chest and abdomen were something that his previous self had dreamed of having but was too lazy to cultivate, making it impossible for him to obtain. Moreover, this guy's background was also quite interesting. Thinking about this, the corners of his mouth twitched again, and the wound on his leg started hurting once more. "Damn it," he cursed inwardly, "I wonder if I'll get rabies or not."

  "Let's go, Lieutenant!" a voice with a thick beard said from behind. At this time, dozens of defeated soldiers had followed Li Qing, who were gathered around him during his escape. These people were not good guys, some were those who wanted to rob Li Qing of his weapons and were beaten down by him before surrendering, while others were encountered when Li Qing organized an ambush against the solitary barbarians. In short, they all looked ferocious and were daredevils who dared to kill and slash.

  "Let's go!" Li Qing stood up, the barbarian army was still wandering outside, don't look at the few days ago when they encountered a few scattered barbarians, their own group rushed forward and killed them with pleasure, but as soon as they encountered a large team, it would be a meat dumpling hitting a dog, throwing into the water without even making a splash. At this time, being able to get closer to Dingzhou by one step meant more safety, after all, in Dingzhou, there were still 20,000 Great Chu border troops guarding.

  At this time, Li Qing couldn't care about anything else, survival was his only goal now, as for other things, he would take it one step at a time. However, being surrounded by the hostile gazes of refugees in the crowd made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. The hateful glares from those enraged eyes made Li Qing secretly worried that these irrational refugees might suddenly swarm up and tear him to pieces at any moment.

  If he hadn't been holding a long spear in his hand and wearing a war knife at his waist, Li Qing believed that these people would have killed him by now. For the past few days, even when sleeping, Li Qing had to keep half an eye open. However, the insults still occasionally pierced his ears, and Li Qing was speechless about it. He felt that the refugees' hatred for them soldiers was justified, although he himself was somewhat innocent. They had to pay taxes to the imperial court from their meager income, plus the border tax of Dingzhou, which was precisely used to support soldiers like themselves.

  Having taken other people's offerings, they naturally have to protect other people's safety, but they didn't do it. Thinking of this, Li Qing felt a little ashamed. In the midst of these insults, Yun Qi School Lieutenant Li Qing hung his head and remained silent.

  But the soldiers around Li Qing didn't think so, hearing the unbearable curses, one by one revealing a ferocious expression, their faces twisted in anger. "Li Colonel, they're too arrogant!" Wang Qiyuan, with his whiskers bristling, gritted his teeth, "It's not that I'm not fighting to the death, I've already killed several barbarian soldiers under my blade, but what's the use? The army is defeated, I won't run, why should I die in vain?"

  Gaunt cavalryman Jiang Kui's face was gloomy, his eyes occasionally glancing at the sorrel high-headed horse about a hundred meters away from him. That was his mount, which had been stolen by a group of refugees two days ago. At that time, he was alone and almost beaten to death. If his martial arts skills weren't good enough, he would have died. Today, he saw his horse again, tied to a cart by those refugees, serving as a draft horse.

  "Colonel, I'm a cavalryman. My horse is my life. Such a fine warhorse, and they're using it as a draft animal. It'll be ruined in no time."

  A dozen or so soldiers gathered around Li Qing, "Commander, give the order and we'll take care of this. We've had enough of this nonsense!" The crowd was in an uproar, although they were defeated soldiers, they had been on the battlefield and seen blood before. Now that they were all together, their momentum surged, and they looked at Li Qing with anticipation. As long as Li Qing gave the order, they would take action. Although there were many refugees, if they really clashed with these gathered soldiers, once they saw blood, the refugees would likely disperse in a panic. At that point, it would be like driving a flock of sheep with a tiger.

  A small, scrawny soldier quietly pulled out a short knife from his boot, the blade stuck to his forearm, and he licked the corner of his mouth with the tip of his tongue. His eyes gleamed with ferocity as he scanned the surrounding crowd, seemingly searching for his next target. This guy was named Feng Guo, and it was unclear what he had done before, but judging from the way he held the knife, he was a skilled killer.

  The loud shouting of these soldiers made the refugees who were not far from them alert, seeing this group of defeated soldiers with fierce eyes, the refugees couldn't help but feel fearful and involuntarily slowly retreated backwards. In an instant, the originally noisy road suddenly became quiet.

  Li Qing suddenly drew out his battle knife, and the fleeing soldiers couldn't help but reveal a glimmer of joy in their eyes. Jiang Kui even lifted his foot, ready to rush towards his own warhorse.

  "Shut up!" Li Qing shouted, and in the midst of the fleeing soldiers' stunned expressions, he raised his battle knife and said: "These people are right to scold us. We eat our rations and become soldiers precisely to protect them. But we've been defeated, letting their families be torn apart and their homes destroyed. They have every reason to hate us. Whoever dares to harm these refugees, I'll cut him down! Everyone, behave yourselves!"

  The crowd fell silent, and Jiang Kui reluctantly withdrew his foot. They were all veteran soldiers who had spent many years in the military camp, where the strict hierarchy of the army had permeated their very being. Although Li Qing was not one of them, according to battlefield discipline, scattered soldiers must accept the unified command of any officer with a higher rank than themselves, otherwise they would be beheaded. Moreover, after spending these days with Li Qing, the crowd had also been won over by his bravery, and on their escape route, they had even managed to kill dozens of lone barbarians.

  Li Qing sheathed his sword with a clang, but in his heart he was relieved. Fortunately, these defeated soldiers still had some discipline and shame, and fortunately, he was just a school lieutenant; otherwise, today would not have ended well. He himself was injured, while Wang Qinyan and the others were unscathed. Looking at their stature, if they really fought one-on-one, he wouldn't be their match.

  Seeing the defeated soldiers lower their flags and stop drumming, the surrounding curses rose again. Looking at the changing expressions of several people around him, Li Qing worried that he would lose control of the situation and couldn't help but resent the refugees around him as well. Damn it, you can bully a defeated soldier, but there are over ten here, all of whom have seen blood, if we really fight, you're not worth anything.

  "Let's go, today we suffered humiliation here, and tomorrow we'll find the barbarian soldiers to take it back." Li Qing held his long spear and walked towards Dingzhou, with over a dozen defeated soldiers following him.

  At this time, Dingzhou was already under martial law, the grassland army had been defeated, and the 30,000-strong border army had been annihilated, leaving the prosperous city of Dingzhou directly exposed to the barbarian army's edge. And Dingzhou had not seen war for decades. The once prosperous city looked bleak, residents closed their doors, shops were shut down, and on the streets, except for the occasional passing troops, almost no one was visible.

  "Ma Mingfeng, you son of a bitch!" The angry roar echoed far and wide from the Dingzhou camp. General Xiao Yuanshan was furious, two brigades and six battalions, plus four fortresses, 30,000 soldiers, all lost like this. The gates of Dingzhou were wide open, and the strategic advantage against the barbarians that he had maintained with great effort for many years was gone. From today on, the offense and defense positions of Dingzhou would be reversed.

  The Da Chu army system, one army with three cooperations, one cooperation with three camps, one camp with three wings, one wing with three scouts, and one scout with three fruits. The Dingzhou army, under Xue Yuanshan's five years of painstaking operation, had rapidly increased its combat effectiveness. However, this battle was unavoidable. Originally, the left cooperation, middle cooperation, and six camps, together with the garrison troops from the four military forts, had a total of 30,000 men advancing together. But the left cooperation commander, Ma Mingfeng, disobeyed orders and led his light cavalry out alone, leaving Xue Yuanshan's middle cooperation too far behind. They were caught off guard by the barbarian great Khan and surrounded, defeated. To rescue him, Xue Yuanshan had no choice but to deploy the middle cooperation, which then fell into the barbarians' ambush, resulting in a crushing defeat. This battle could be said to have lost all the gains from Xue Yuanshan's five years of hard work. It was unbearable for Xue Yuanshan not to be angry. "General, please calm down. General Ma's army was defeated and his whereabouts are unknown. The top priority is to ensure that Dingzhou is not lost, before discussing anything else." Shen Mingchen, Xue Yuanshan's chief aide, anxiously advised, looking at the helmetless and armorless Xue Yuanshan who had escaped back.

  "Ma Mingfeng, I'm going to kill you!" Xiao Yuanshan gritted his teeth and drew his sword, slashing wildly at the tiger-shaped wooden case. Several swords later, the case was already smashed to pieces. His anger still not dissipated, he raised his hand and threw the sword with great force, grazing the helmet of a personal soldier who had just stepped through the gate, sending it flying off in an unknown direction.

  Those guards were frightened stiff, Zhang's mouth was wide open as he stared at Xiao Yuanshan, his lips moved but not a sound came out.

  "What's all the commotion about?" Xiao Yuanshan thundered at his personal guard.

  That angry roar finally called back the soul of that personal soldier. "General, Governor Zhou invites you to discuss matters at the yamen."