Lord of the Desert

Chapter 430 Convergence
"They only held out for three days, and were defeated on the 23rd of the first lunar month, which means it was ten days ago."

Hong Fan looked to the north and then towards the carriage.

The two guards who had been leaning against the wheel and injured by the insect soldiers seemed to have died, and a few suppressed sobs were heard around them.

"I don't know the exact situation of Huaxue City and Tiewa Pass, but rushing north is not a good idea."

Hong Fan looked away and gave some advice.

At this time, Shen Shaochuan saw that the genius in front of him had the intention of leaving, and he suddenly wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeves, bowed his hands, and spoke loudly.

"Mr. Hong, I have an unwelcome request."

Hong Fan naturally guessed what the other party was going to say and just shook his head.

"Sir, please escort us north and save us!"

Shen Shaochuan forced the words out, and when the other party didn't answer, he turned back and called his family's names.

Sure enough, the carriage curtain was lifted and women and children looked out.

"Master Hong, don't underestimate me because I don't have any skills. My uncle is a master of martial arts in Yingyang City. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to afford such a good guard."

Shen Shaochuan pointed at several martial artists not far away.

"If you can lead us north to Yingyang City, Shen is willing to pay three thousand taels, no, five thousand taels as a reward!"

He made big promises, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

Hong Fan could clearly see that the other party was just making empty promises.

Not to mention whether a relative who is thousands of miles away is worth five thousand taels in the eyes of a congenital warrior. Even if he is, the price is not enough to make him risk his life.

But he didn't feel angry at the moment.

Birth and death are the ultimate realities of life.

Therefore, what the other party did was not only deception, but also a struggle with no other options in a desperate situation.

"I can't take you north. Besides, I passed Yingyang City on the 27th and saw that most of the city had already retreated to Feiyan Pass."

Hong Fan explicitly refused.

"If Yingyang City doesn't work, we still have Feiyan Pass. As long as you are here, we can conquer Yaogong Mountain..."

Shen Shaochuan begged in vain, and finally fell to his knees - Tiewa Pass had been breached, and he felt that the person in front of him was his only chance of survival.

"Please have mercy, sir!"

Behind him, others also knelt on the ground.

"I came here for a mission, and I also want to find someone."

Hong Fan sighed and explained to himself.

"Are you here to see Gu Yixin, sir?"

A middle-aged guard interrupted at this time.

"Do you know where he is?"

Hong Fan looked at him and asked.

"If you agree to lead us north, I will..."

The guard wanted to make up a story, but he felt inexplicable pressure under Hong Fan's gaze. In the end, his eyes flickered and he could not continue.

"Please do as you please. If I find my brother's family, I will find a way to deal with you."

Hong Fan uttered the last sentence and quickly flew into the air.

Seeing that his chance of survival was about to end, Shen Shaochuan hurriedly climbed up, his brocade robe covered with dust. He first pleaded urgently, then cursed at the air, until veins on his forehead popped.

But when Hong Fan's figure really moved away, he knelt on the ground again in despair, and kowtowed repeatedly in the direction where Sha Yi was moving away.

It is windy at high altitudes.

Hong Fan could no longer hear the noise they made.

······
A quarter of an hour later, Hong Fan returned to the streamside where he first discovered traces of camp.

This time he followed on foot and indeed saw human tracks heading north for half a day before turning east.

With the direction determined, the search range was greatly narrowed. That evening, after traveling 90 miles east, Hong Fan saw a few pillars of smoke outside a light forest. He could not help but run at high speed. Before he entered the forest, he saw a man who had heard the noise and came out to meet him.

He was dressed in gray linen clothes, had dark skin, a face as flat as a spatula, and carried an old rifle...

If not something new with ancient ideas, then who else could it be?
"Brother Gu (Hong Fan)?!"

The two met again after a long separation, and they were so excited that they hugged each other tightly. Hong Fan was completely relieved, while Gu Yixin felt his heart warm and his eyes were red.

Although he was slow, he knew that the other party could only come to this remote place for him.

Before the two of them could calm down, three or four more warriors came rushing over at high speed.

Hong Fan glanced at the few people and then looked deeper into the forest, where he saw many tents standing there, bustling with more than a thousand people!
He had thought that his sworn brother would save people, but he didn't expect that he could save so many people, far from being able to bring a whole family with him...

As a genius on the list, Hong Fan’s arrival excited everyone.

Then, with Gu Yixin's introduction, he met his elderly parents, two brothers and sisters-in-law, and three nephews and nieces who were under ten years old.

These nine people were dressed in half-new, thick clothes, had thick accents, and behaved like farmers.

Afterwards, several leaders of the camp sat around the campfire in the center with Hong Fan.

The two sides exchanged names and identities and information over the best local food - a few fried white flour cakes and roasted venison.

It turned out that Gu Yixin went to investigate alone on the night when Maoyan City fell, but did not take action when he saw the insect tide was too strong. He quietly came back and gathered more than 200 villagers from the two villages to evacuate to the southeast overnight.

After that, they traveled east for nearly 900 miles over 20 days and met two groups of people who escaped from Huaxue City south of Chaojiang River. They then combined their forces to form a group of over a thousand people.

The person with the highest military force in the current camp is naturally Gu Yixin, while the ones who are usually in charge of management are Nie Bo, the defender of Huaxue City, and Xi Zhi, the captain of the city defense department.

"On the 17th day of the first lunar month, we discovered a swarm of insects across the river from our lookout post on the north bank of Chaojiang River. By the time the news reached Huaxue City, the swarm was still thirty miles away."

Xi Zhi recalled.

"The first reaction of the garrison at that time was to prepare for war."

His eyes were fixed on the campfire, and the branch in his hand unconsciously turned the firewood, and the rising sparks quickly turned cold and gray in the wind.

"I didn't expect that an hour later, a swarm of insects would come, led by two tree god guards and more than ten thousand real insects. As for the sub-insects in the sky and on the ground, they were overwhelming..."

When Xi Zhi said this, he couldn't help but bite his back teeth, showing obvious fear.

"Are the Tree God's personal guards also insects?"

Hong Fan asked doubtfully.

He could feel that this captain of Huaxue City was also an expert at the level of communication between heaven and man.

"The Tree God's personal guards are also insects. According to legend, they are special individuals cultivated by the Tree God in his body. Unlike real insects that look similar, these personal guards have different appearances and abilities. They are extraordinary. Each of them has at least the combat power of the Yuanci level. Not only can they fight, but they also have intelligence that is no less than that of humans and can speak."

A middle-aged man sitting opposite Hong Fan added.

His name is Yin Feihu. He has innate cultivation and is the leader of a faction in Liudi City.

"There are two more Yuanci fighters?"

Hong Fan frowned when he heard this, and remembered the horrific wound on the Maoyan city wall with a diameter of several meters.

[So it was a Zerg combat force at the Yuanci level that took action? ]

Hong Fan thought silently.

[This is very different from the information I got from Xu Guinian...]

He looked at Gu Yixin and saw that he had a normal expression and obviously didn't understand the trick yet.

“There was no Yuanci stationed in Huaxue City. When the Tree God’s personal guards showed up, morale almost collapsed immediately. To be honest, my hands were weak at the time and I couldn’t even hold the knife tightly.”

Xizhi continued.

"It was then that we understood why Maoyan and Liudi City could not even get a single message through. The garrison was completely hopeless and ordered everyone to flee. Everyone who could escape was allowed to escape. At that time, most people chose to head north."

"I was going to Tiewaguan as well, but when I went down to the city to look for my family, I met Lord Nie. He insisted that we leave the city from the east and go against the flow of people to the back of the insect tide. I didn't expect that I would actually escape with my life in the end."

He smiled bitterly, waved his hand to call a snot-nosed child who was half-hidden behind a tree about ten meters away, and gave him the barbecue that he had no appetite for.

The child left happily.

Gu Yixin hugged his knees, his pupils reflected the firelight, and his breathing became heavier.

(End of this chapter)