Hundreds of miles north of Yincheng, the imperial capital of the Great Xia Empire, is a large river. Even in winter, the river water will not freeze. The yellow river surface is extremely wide, and once there were many cruise ships.
But now, where can you see the shadow of a boat on the river?
Even the bridges connecting the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have long since disappeared.
There are only beacon towers on the south bank, like giants, guarding one side of the long river!
All this is because of a war...
Decades ago, the demon clan moved south in a large scale, and its momentum far exceeded the expectations of the Great Xia Empire.
In a hurry, the Great Xia Empire mobilized all the troops it could muster at the time in an attempt to withstand the fierce offensive of the demon tribe. As a result, the imperial army was defeated one after another, and countless soldiers died on the battlefield.
Then, the then emperor of the Daxia Empire had no choice but to issue an imperial edict.
He asked Crown Prince Li Chenghui to lead hundreds of civil and military officials to move the country southward and set the imperial capital of the empire in what is now Yincheng.
As for himself, he led the last remaining Imperial Guard Army and stayed in Luo City, the then imperial capital!
Luo City is still about a thousand miles away from this big river.
Since then, both Luo City and this homeland of thousands of miles have fallen into the hands of the demon clan.
This big river has also become the northernmost barrier of the Daxia Empire...
…
"I can't go back..."
Outside a dilapidated palace, a man wearing the same dilapidated armor was holding a bowl of hot water: "I just don't know how long we can hold on?"
This is Luo City, the original royal palace in Luo City!
This place is very likely to become the last cemetery of this Northern Expedition army!
Because they are trapped here and have no way out!
"Where is your Majesty?"
Behind this man, another skinny middle-aged man sighed and asked: "How is your Majesty's situation now?"
Hearing this, the man in armor took a sip of hot water and shook his head: "They attacked three more times from last night to this morning. Your Majesty had to activate the Yanhuang Killing Formation three times. Now his condition is very bad!"
After receiving such an answer, the skinny middle-aged man took a deep breath and looked into the depths of the palace: "He... can't last long!"
There, there is a sword!
The existence of this sword can help warriors with royal bloodline create a large formation with extremely strong defense.
As for the price, it requires this warrior to sacrifice his blood!
If more blood can be sacrificed, the formation can also use flying swords to kill powerful enemies outside the formation!
"Do we still have food in the army?" After thinking for a while, the skinny man asked: "Are the Shroud Masters and the others back?"
It turned out that this skinny man was none other than Nie Tianyang, the leader of Xuanjian Sect.
The man drinking hot water next to him is one of his confidants, Cao Meng!
Cao Meng’s other identity is Zi Wei’s father!
Zi Wei, surnamed Cao!
Hearing this, Cao Meng shook his head, looking miserable and helpless.
There is really no food left here...
Months ago, the army's food and fodder had been cut off. In the end, in order to maintain the morale of the soldiers or even just their lives, they had to kill all the war horses that were once extremely important to them and were already extremely rare in number.
The horses were quickly devoured, but the soldiers still had to fight hard.
So some grass roots and tree barks that could be found in the city, as well as bows made of beef tendons, were also used as food by the soldiers...
But even so, grass root bark and Gong Xuan are still not enough!
For this reason, they deliberately let in a few envoys who wanted to persuade them to surrender, and then cooked them and ate them!
"We are a little better. We can refine our own spiritual power. Even if we don't eat or drink for ten days and a half, we can barely protect our lives!"
Sighing, Nie Tianyang said: "But those soldiers below the martial arts level, as well as the wounded, if they can't get food anymore, some of them will continue to die!"
"Hey...you're all going to die eventually!"
Cao Meng drank up a bowl of water, stood up and said with a smile: "Being able to accompany the sect leader to this day makes it worthwhile for me, Old Cao, to die! What's more, it is also my honor to be able to serve the country with His Majesty!"
"Well said!"
Nie Tianyang also smiled: "I, Nie Tianyang, have been able to fight side by side with His Majesty and Brother Cao for so long, even if we end up dying on the battlefield together!"
"Hahaha...good brother!"
"Hahaha...good brother!"
The next moment, the two big hands were held together!
But almost at the same time, a voice suddenly came: "The Shrouded Lord is back, they are back..."
…
The Shrouded Lord is one of the five great lords in the empire.
When the Northern Expedition army was finally defeated and retreated to Luo City, he took on the responsibility of finding food for the soldiers.
The so-called food can no longer expect rice or good meat, it can only be the corpses of ordinary beasts or even monster beasts.
In order to obtain these things, every time, the Shrouded Lord would select three or five masters who were still strong and follow him to sneak out of the city quietly.
Outside, they may hunt some wild beasts in remote areas, or they may directly attack the low-level monsters in the opposing army.
Because once those low-level monster warriors die, they will transform into prototypes and become giant monsters.
Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, the entire Luo City, except for the imperial palace, has been occupied by the enemy. Every time Lord Shroud goes out, he has to face unimaginable difficulties.
There were a few times when they were discovered by enemy spies when they came back. As a result, they not only lost the little food they finally obtained, but also lost five Martial King Realm companions.
What about this time?
…
"Master Shroud, you..."
"Sir, who hurt you like this?"
Cao Meng and Nie Tianyang came and saw an emaciated old man lying on the bed in a room, already dying.
The old man wrapped his whole body in horse leather, and the horse leather was stained with blood.
Beside the bed, a middle-aged man who was also covered in blood bared his teeth and said in a deep voice: "It's the Hungarian Aviation Empire's national division... We just left the city this time, and we were targeted by them!"
"It's that old bastard again!"
Cao Meng suddenly became furious and cursed.
Nie Tianyang was equally sad and angry, but for the first time, he gently placed his hand on the wrist of the Shroud Master and peered attentively.
The shrouded master's condition was very bad. In addition to his physical body being pierced by sword energy, his Dantian was also severely injured.
In such a situation, if he does not receive timely treatment, I believe he will die soon.
And even if he gets timely treatment, he will probably be disabled for the rest of his life. Even if his cultivation level recovers, he will never reach the level of the Martial Master Realm again!
"fine……"
At this time, the Shrouded Lord opened his eyes and smiled bitterly: "After I die, everyone should eat me! It's all meat anyway... Don't think it's too thin... Ahem..."
After a final burst of violent coughing, a large mouthful of blood spurted out from the Shroud's mouth and nose.
Seeing this, Cao Meng and Nie Tianyang looked at each other and saw the helplessness and helplessness in each other's eyes...
After all, this is the dilapidated palace of Luo City.
After all, there is no food here, where can we find good medicinal materials or doctors?
"Report..."
Suddenly, a lieutenant rushed to the door, knelt down on one knee and reported: "The Hungarian Aviation Empire's national division, with ten Martial King Realm masters, is trying to persuade the northern defense line to surrender!"
"Are you here again?" Hearing this, Nie Tianyang smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Cao, please go and tell His Majesty that no matter what happens this time, please stop sacrificing blood to attack! Over there...I
To deal with it!”
"How does this work?"
Cao Meng was shocked: "Sect Master, judging from your injuries, you can't even take one of my punches now. It's up to me to deal with that old bastard!"
At the critical moment of life and death, the two actually started to argue.
But at this moment, the already dying Shroud Master suddenly opened his eyes wide and struggled even more, trying to sit up.
Seeing this, Nie Tianyang quickly stepped forward and helped him sit up.
As soon as he sat upright, the Shrouded Lord laughed: "Hahaha... you are an old immortal, how dare you not listen to dissuasion, hahaha..."