On the endless grassland, a convoy of about fifty or sixty people was traveling eastward along the official road.
Although it is an official road, it only has landmark stones placed on both sides and the pavement of the dirt road is compacted in a very careless way. Moreover, because the road surface is not wide enough, the team's cycling guards even cut off the lane on the other side.
Also occupied.
There are four carriages protected by these guards wearing lavender armor. Their shapes and decorations are low-key and restrained, but they can still convey the aura of a superior person.
In the carriage at the front, an old man and a girl were sitting.
The old man has snow-white hair, a slim figure, and a straight waist. He wears a pure black civil servant robe, holds a dragon-headed crutch in his hand, and is meditating with his eyes closed.
The girl had black hair and black eyes. She was wearing a blue turban and a long dress with complex patterns, which are common among nomads. She was holding a silver short gun in her arms, quietly lifting the curtains of the carriage and looking out.
"Miss Sibia," the escort accompanying the carriage noticed her movements and said, "the speed of the convoy is acceptable, and we should be able to reach the inn to rest before sunset."
"Well..." The girl known as Sibiya blinked, lowered the curtains, and turned to look at the old man beside her: "In order to prevent the ministers from going against the grain and misbehaving, Grandpa Qiaoli went out to the imperial capital again to bring order to the chaos. It is really a great blessing for the country.
"
Her voice was clear and clean, and her words were quite formal, but her half-smiling expression made the whole sentence sound more like a joke.
"Since I decided to return to the imperial capital, you have laughed at me four times along the way." The old man known as Qiao Li opened his eyes and glanced at the girl next to him: "The 'current minister' acted recklessly, and the 'former minister' came out to stop it.
, is it so funny?”
"It seems normal on the surface, but from the perspective of those who know the inside story..." Sibia blinked: "It's a bit funny no matter how you think about [Dong Zhuo] going to stop [Lü Bu] from doing whatever he wants."
"Oh, if the empire is handed over to [Fengxian], it will definitely become what it is now," Qiao Li closed his eyes again: "With just force, there is no way he can put [war], [plague], [
Famine] and [Death] are blocked from the borders of the country, and in terms of his ability to govern the country, he may be able to barely carry the shoes of the [Monarchs] who have left."
"Then why don't you leave?" Sibia put his chin on his hands: "Why do you, [Lu Bu] and [Liu Bian] all insist on staying in this [world that has ended]?"
"You have asked me this many times," Qiao Li said slowly: "They can take their relatives, friends and even all their courtiers to leave, but I can't. Although the person I want to wait for is no longer in this world,
But only this world has traces of her, and I can’t guarantee that I’ll still be able to find clues about her after leaving here, and maybe she’ll come back one day?”
"Humph, both of them are like this," Sibia turned around: "That guy [Lu Bu] claimed that his Diao Chan was missing and would never leave until he found it back. But [Liu Bian] was the most outrageous, saying that he
His father is the emperor, his sister is the emperor, and his brother is the emperor. He also wants to live the addiction of being an emperor. But it has been [3,700 years] and he has not been enough? Just take the [Elixir of Death]
Are you throwing up? Moreover, the 'races' of the people under his rule have obviously changed several times, what kind of strange [crazy empire that lasts forever] is this?"
"Because of this," Qiao Li raised his eyebrows: "Since the people he governs are no longer [Han people] but [foreign races], then whether these people are dead or alive has nothing to do with him, and he can govern them however he wants."
"Didn't we provoke the 'Rebel Army' as a result?" Sibia sighed: "As a result, you who have retired have to come back to clean up the situation."
"Who says I'm worried about those rebels?" Qiao Li shook his head: "Unless they gather all the Imperial Equipment, they will never be an opponent of [Tianxia Wushuang]."
"Aren't you worried? Then why are you going back to the imperial capital? Beat [Lu Bu]?" Sibia tilted her head.
"...I thought that as [Qilin], you would feel it more clearly than me, but you didn't feel it?" Qiao Li opened his eyes slightly, looked at Sibia and said: "[Jiangzuo Meilin], she
came back."
"!!!" Sibia's eyes widened. After being stunned for a few seconds, he suddenly opened the curtain and jumped out. He kicked a guard off the horse with his feet, then grabbed the reins and ran away on the horse.
"Miss?!"
"Miss Sibia?!"
"Okay, there's nothing to do along the way. She's already exhausted. Let her run away. We'll continue marching as planned." Qiao Li stuck his head out and said to the slightly panicked guards.
"Yes, minister."
"It's the former minister."
About an hour later, the sun set in the west, giving the grassland and the convoy a layer of gold, and the city wall of the post station where they were scheduled to rest also appeared on the horizon. Sibia, who ran away on horseback, still did not return.
"Minister, we are almost at the inn, look..." the convoy captain came to the car and asked Qiao Li for instructions.
"Follow the usual practice," Qiao Li waved his hand: "Just arrange a few more people outside the inn. If it gets dark, light a torch. There is only one official road, and she can't get lost."
"Yes, minister." The guard captain saluted Qiao Li, then stepped back and gave instructions loudly.
——Everyone, please be alert and don’t let down your guard!
——Search the inside of the inn carefully! Don’t leave anything in danger!
——You, you, and you, put on torches and patrol the surrounding grasslands!
At this moment, the voices in Jolly's ears suddenly became unreal and blurry. The guards responded and talked to each other in overall sentences that were almost inaudible, but specific words were extremely clear.
——Captain, do you need to be on guard at the [river]?
——Ha, this mission is too [easy].
——After escorting the minister to the imperial capital, we should be able to be promoted to [Bronze] Bronze level adventurers.
"...!" Qiao Li's eyelids twitched, he gripped the faucet crutch in his hand tightly, and was about to lift the curtain and rush out, but after taking two deep breaths, he still sat in the car without taking any action, and continued to pretend to be indifferent and listen to the blur coming from the window.
sound.
With intentional connections, he quickly pieced together the sentences carried by the wind:
【Thousand miles of grass, He Qingqing, ten days of divination, no growth.】
"Hehehe..." Qiao Li chuckled, the wrinkles on his face trembling: "I haven't heard this voice in [thousands of years]. Although the content is that I am going to die soon, but,
I'll just pretend you're shy."
————
"Grandpa Jolly!"
"Miss Sibia! Please slow down!"
When the convoy entered the gate of the post station, the guard captain was negotiating with the post officer, and when the guards began to set up defenses around the station, Sibia, who had run away for a long time, rushed back on horseback.
"Xirong! Xirong is coming!" After arriving in front of Qiao Li, Sibia dismounted, handed the reins to other guards, and pointed in the direction of the grassland and shouted.
"Calm down, you have to stay calm in the face of big things, even though it's not a big thing," Qiao Li comforted Sibia and waved to the guard captain who came after hearing the news: "Go and set up defenses. Don't worry about this place for the time being."
"I just wanted to go to a less crowded place to sense the location of [Jiangzuo Merlin]," Seeing Qiao Li looking over, Sibia took the initiative to explain: "As a result, I found the 'Xirong' following the convoy far behind. They were originally
It seemed that he was planning to attack the inn at night, but after I discovered him, he took the initiative to chase me."
"Yes." Qiao Li nodded and walked up the stone wall surrounding the inn.
The grassland under the setting sun may be considered a beautiful sight to people in big cities, but to herdsmen in the Western Regions, it is just ordinary. They can only look at the clouds to judge the weather tomorrow.
However, if there are hundreds of "Xirong" galloping under the sunset, that is another matter.
Tap tap tap, tap tap tap.
If you just listen to the sound of Xirong running, you might think it is a group of cavalry, but if you follow the sound, people who have never seen these foreign races will have completely opposite doubts: Why are there no riders? Or, why are there no horses?
But in the end, it will only become a unified question: What kind of monster is that?!
At this moment, running around the inn are strange creatures with the upper body of a strong man and the lower body of a powerful horse. They are either holding throwing spears or carrying bows and arrows. Although they have not taken the initiative to attack, they are still running.
During the process, he would occasionally use his wits to launch sneak attacks with hidden arrows at the guards posted on the city walls and gates.
Ding!
Sibia raised his hand to deflect an arrow that was shot towards Qiao Li: "No matter how many times I see it, I can never accept this half-human, half-animal monster."
"This is just one of the 'Xirong', a centaur," Qiao Li leaned on a dragon-head crutch motionless: "They are different from the 'Southern Barbarians' monsters with human bodies and animal heads, and their minds are only about killing. Even if they have human heads and animal bodies,
As long as we can communicate, we can still be considered human beings, but it's obvious that the guys who are preparing to kill us don't want to communicate."
"Are the other two types of 'tree monsters' and 'harpies'? Half-human, half-deer and half-human, half-bird." Sibia snorted: "That means there is no sea in the Western Region, otherwise there might be half-humans and half-birds."
A half-fish monster."
"I've actually always wanted to ask..." Qiao Li looked at Sibia.
"Absolutely, no," Sibiya glared at him: "Either human body or [Qilin], I definitely don't have such an ugly posture."
"[Xi Lv Lv——]" The head of the "Xirong Centaur" outside was obviously human, but it made a horse neighing sound.
With this loud neighing, the centaurs began to use their throwing weapons to launch missiles at the inn.
"Obviously, with their size, even a stone city as small as the inn cannot be attacked. They can only kill as many people as possible through shooting in order to break down the door." Qiao Li commented.
"So, if I hadn't discovered the clues in advance, forcing them to attack in advance and rush into the inn at night, these people would have been in misery." Sibiya continued.
"Raise shield!" "Dodge arrows!" "Shoot!"
On the other side, the guards and the station defenders made a perfect response. No one of their own was hurt by the arrows. At the same time, they also launched a wave of counterattacks with military crossbows, shooting down more than a dozen centaurs.
"There is nothing to see. I was originally worried that there would be some kind of Xirong that could climb the wall or fly." Qiao Li shook his head, turned and walked down the city wall: "Sure enough, letting these guys with strong racial consciousness cooperate is a good thing in itself.
Such a luxury."
After the old man walked down the city wall, he found that the girl who was originally following him had not followed and was looking up with a strange expression.
"..." Qiao Li's eyelids trembled and he raised his head to look at the sky.
Under the clouds dyed red by the setting sun, nearly a hundred black threads were protruding from the void, swaying like seaweed and pointing at the guards, servants and staff of the inn below.
"Tsk, tsk... let me see, what is it this time?" Qiao Li used the dragon-head crutch, took two steps out, raised his head and observed carefully: "Oh, it's still the same old thing, split in half by a giant axe, and
The throat was cut with a knife, and the head was torn off with bare hands... Oh, this is a bit new."
Qiao Li turned to look at Sibia: "You will be skinned alive."
"Let me see who has that ability," Sibia turned the short spear in his hand twice and said angrily: "I have lived in the Western Region for so long without any trouble, and I met you as soon as I returned to the imperial capital. It has indeed become a human world.
Is it hell? No one or thing that can change it is allowed to come near."
"It does seem so." Jolly nodded slowly.
"I don't think they have any intention of coming down. If they turn around and turn back now..." Sibia squinted at the black thread in the sky.
"Then you rush to the imperial capital by yourself?" Qiao Li interrupted her.
"No……"
"Although this world has been riddled with holes by those 'extraterritorial darkness', as long as [Jiangzuo Meilin] comes back, everything will be solved." Qiao Li shook his head: "I can go to the Imperial Capital, and I will definitely be able to go.
"
【——】
The floating black thread seemed to understand what he was saying and began to slowly extend downwards.
"I can only protect the [big Han people]. With this pile of things coming down, no one here except you can escape!" Sibiya stared at the black thread, tightened the silver gun in his hand, and spoke in an angry tone.
"So, you quietly tried to protect other people who were 'killed' by these things?" Qiao Li looked at Sibia and raised the corners of his mouth.
"What, what? No? They are obviously the people under your rule, and they look like humans." Sibia tilted her head.
Boo hoo hoo——
At this moment, the black threads in the sky began to spread toward the "Inn" like ink soaked in water.
"Haha, I mean——"
Qiao Li suddenly twisted the dragon-head cane in his hand, and it suddenly ignited into a purple-red fire. In the fire, the original ordinary cane melted and deformed, and finally turned into a red-black long knife with ferocious serrations.
At the same time that the long sword was transformed, Qiao Li used his backhand to slash it towards the black thread in the sky.
Although the distance was still far away, and there was no sword or fire light at all, the black silk threads suddenly curled up like cotton wool being roasted by flames, then retracted at extremely fast speeds and disappeared.
Until then, Qiao Li's voice came belatedly:
"——If you want to save someone next time, you can borrow [Asura] from me."
