girl let me check

Chapter 432: A Little Difficulty
The nine towns of Changyuan are different from each other. When Emperor Wu of Zhou, Fang Qianyi, built Changyuan, in order to reduce corvée labor to the greatest extent, he used a large amount of surplus materials from the nine towns in the selection of materials.

For example, the walls of Tianfang Town contain a large amount of Tianfang copper, which has unparalleled hardness in the world.

The walls of Huaiyuan Town contain a large amount of Hetao iron, which has many impurities and is difficult to refine and remove. In order to ensure the defensive power of the walls of Huaiyuan Town, the imperial craftsmen adopted the method of thickening and heightening the walls to make up for the inherent deficiencies of the material.

The wall of Huaiyuan Town is 120 feet high and 120 feet thick. The city is located on a protruding rock, and the towers soar into the sky. From a distance, Huaiyuan Town looks like a basalt made of steel.

Huaiyuan Town is located opposite the foot of the Helan Mountains and in the Hetao Plain, the most densely populated area in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. It is known as the Jiangnan on the Great Wall.

Tao Yunjiang had been to Huaiyuan several times. She had seen herds of cattle and sheep under Changyuan, as well as people grazing them. The water and grass were abundant, there had been no war for a long time, and people lived a rich and happy life, with smiles on their faces.

Tranquil and beautiful, better than heaven, this is the wonder of Huaiyuan, one of the nine frontiers.

But today's Huaiyuan Town is different from what you have seen before.

It's really too quiet around here.

Tao Yunjiang led the Guyuan army on a long journey, fought eight consecutive battles with foreign armies, and finally arrived at Huaiyuan Town within three days.

She led her soldiers across the river and saw a ruin.

Houses were burned, crops fell, and the bodies of Zhou people were scattered all over the fields. The once prosperous Saishang Jiangnan has now become a hell on earth.

Tao Yunjiang gripped the reins tightly, and his eyes turned red instantly.

She had been to this village before. There was a willow tree at the entrance of the village, which was brought here by the villagers from the misty water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

The last time she came here, the local villager proudly told her:

"Miss Tao, the willow trees in the south of the Yangtze River can all survive here. Our Huaiyuan is no worse than those in the south of the Yangtze River!"

Tao Yunjiang found Muramasa's body under the willow tree.

There was a bloody wound on his neck, his throat was cut, and the blow was fatal. It was a common killing technique used by grassland people.

Muramasa held a broadsword in his hand, his head lowered, his eyes wide open, and he died with his eyes wide open. He wanted to protect his village, but ultimately failed.

The tender green willow branches swayed in the bloody wind, and there seemed to be wailing sounds coming from afar.

"This bunch of... beasts..."

Tao Yunjiang's breathing stagnated slightly, and the murderous intent around him could no longer be concealed.

She suppressed her grief and continued to rush towards Guyuan.

She couldn't stop here yet.

Despite five consecutive days of intensive marching, the Guyuan cavalry was still moving very fast.

When Lord Tao was in trouble, all the Changyuan Iron Guards wanted to do something for him. This was true for Guyuan Town and even more so for Tianfang Town.

When everyone arrived at the foot of Huaiyuan City, what they saw was a city wall full of holes.

It looked as if a giant had carved it with an awl.

The wall, which was originally as neat as a giant steel curtain, was now riddled with hundreds of large holes, the edges of which were filled with molten and solidified iron.

A section of the city wall several dozen meters long collapsed, revealing the remains of burnt houses in the city.

The foreign army that besieged the city was nowhere to be found, and the Great Zhou army that took the city was nowhere to be seen. The entire Huaiyuan City was silent, like a lonely dead city.

Tao Yunjiang's ominous premonition became stronger and stronger, and an indescribable panic enveloped her heart.

The girl slapped the horse's back hard, and the horse jumped over the ruins of the city wall and rushed towards Huaiyuan City.

The Guyuan Iron Guards followed behind her, and everyone entered one after another through the gap in the city wall.

Every Guyuan soldier, everyone who saw this scene, couldn't help but feel an uncontrollable grief and anger in their hearts.

The streets of Huaiyuan Town were filled with corpses, some of them were from foreign races, but more of them were Changyuan Iron Guards.

Corpses were piled up all over the streets, and the stench of decay and tung oil mixed together. The smell in Huaiyuan City was so foul that it was almost impossible to breathe.

The Changyuan Iron Guards looked at the hellish scene before them and were speechless for a long time.

Huaiyuan...has fallen.

After all, they were still a step late.

"Where is Mr. Tao?"

Suddenly someone asked.

Everyone came back to their senses as if awakened from a dream.

They did not see any trace of Tao Yan, and everyone still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts.

Tao Gong is a powerful person who has reached the sixth level of Mingwu, so he will definitely be able to escape! As long as Tao Gong is alive, Huaiyuan Town will not be destroyed.

"Let's go find Miss Tao!"

The Guyuan Iron Guards dismounted and walked carefully through the pile of corpses.

They were unwilling to trample on the remains of their comrades.

Finally, the Iron Guards found Tao Yunjiang in front of the Huaiyuan Town Government.

The girl stood in front of the military residence in a daze, looking at the mansion that had turned into ruins, without saying a word.

She released her Qi to the maximum, but still could not detect any breath of life from the ruins before her.

The Guyuan Iron Guards quietly walked behind her, silently took off their helmets, and knelt on one knee, like a crouching black cloud.

According to the Iron Guard’s military rules, when seeing the deceased, one must perform salutes.

No matter who these people were, when they came to Changyuan, they became the Changyuan Iron Guards, sharing the same name with them. They mourned the dead, and although they were speechless, they had already said a thousand words.

"Is there anyone...still alive?" Tao Yunjiang said softly.

No one answered.

"Search the city for survivors," she said.

"Here!"

The Iron Guards formed into small groups and dispersed.

Tao Yunjiang stood there, not going anywhere. She waited stubbornly, as if she was waiting for the relative she was most familiar with.

The sound of wind and sand roared, and dusk came quietly to Huaiyuan Town.

After an unknown amount of time, Tao Yunjiang heard a burst of messy footsteps coming from behind him.

The Guyuan Iron Guard soldiers came forward, surrounding a man.

The man's armor was stained with blood, and a gap in the bone could be vaguely seen at his shoulder.

Tao Yunjiang recognized him.

Song Shiyi, the garrison commander of Huaiyuan, was a third-rank official in the empire and a loyal old subordinate of Tao Yan who had fought in many battles.

"Uncle Song, where is my grandfather?" the girl asked in a trembling voice.

Song Shiyi fell to his knees with a thud, and the strong and brave general burst into tears.

"The alien race's siege weapons are extremely powerful. Even if we fight to the death, it will be useless."

"After Huaiyuan City was breached, Lord Tao opened the north gate with his personal guards to protect the retreat of our wounded soldiers, broke out to the north, and led away all the foreign troops."

He said with red eyes.

"It is my incompetence that I cannot protect Lord Tao... It is my incompetence that I cannot protect Lord Tao!"

Song Shiyi tremblingly took off the long sword from his waist and handed it to Tao Yunjiang.

"This is Lord Tao's Juebei Sword. Before he left, he asked me to give it to you."

Tao Yunjiang took Jue Bei and felt his brain was a little confused and dizzy.

She could feel the sword in her hand wailing.

Faint cries were heard from the crowd of Changyuan Iron Guards.

It is difficult for those who are not members of the Changyuan Iron Guard to understand their feelings towards Tao Yan. He is the faith of almost an entire generation of Iron Guards and the spiritual pillar of their perseverance and struggle.

As long as Tao Yan is there, the morale of the Changyuan Iron Guards will not be shaken even if they fight to the last man.

Now, the pillar is broken.

"No... I'm going to find Lord Tao!" an Iron Guard general said angrily.

"That's right, if he's alive I want to see him, if he's dead I want to see his body!"

"Mr. Tao won't die! He will come back! I'm going to find him!"

The voices searching for Tao Yan grew louder and louder, and finally everyone turned their eyes to Tao Yunjiang.

"Miss Tao, take us to find Mr. Tao!"

The Iron Guards said earnestly.

Tao Yunjiang's body shook slightly, her face was pale, and her peach blossom eyes no longer had the former spirit.

The girl didn't say anything, but everyone could feel her grief. "What are you guys doing?" Finally, the deputy garrison commander of Guyuan stood up and said angrily, "Do you want to make everything that Lord Tao has done for us go to waste!?"

"Then what should we do? Should we do nothing and just watch?!" The general who spoke just now also had red eyes.

"Master Tao saved my life, and I can't just watch him die without helping him. I can't do that!"

"If you can't do it, go back home and farm. Changyuan doesn't need an emotional bastard like you!"

"Say it again if you dare!"

The two were about to fight, and the atmosphere was getting more and more tense. Tao Yan's whereabouts were unknown at this critical moment, which had already made all the Changyuan soldiers lose their composure.

"enough."

Everyone paused for a moment.

Tao Yunjiang held the Juebei Sword and turned around slowly. She did not cry, but her face, as beautiful and pure as a spring peach, was filled with coldness and determination.

"The entire army will rest for one night and retreat to Tianfang tomorrow." She said calmly.

"But Miss Tao..."

"boom!"

A huge wave of blood and energy emanated from behind the girl, and the enormous pressure made everyone present feel terrified.

"That's my grandfather," she looked at the man who spoke, her tone gentle but full of deep hatred, "I want revenge more than you do."

The wind from Huaiyuan brought blood and stench. As dusk fell, the night engulfed the ruined city walls.

"Now is not the time, understand?"

She looked at him coldly and said word by word.

"I...understand." The general's forehead was covered with sweat, but he had no choice but to agree.

"Everyone, please step back." Tao Yunjiang said.

The Changyuan Iron Guards dispersed like the tide, leaving only Tao Yunjiang there.

The girl stood there for a long time, until the crescent moon set in the west.

There was a slight salty taste at the corner of her mouth, and she reached out her hand subconsciously, but touched the water stains.

Before she knew it, the girl's tears had already wet her cheeks.

"grandfather……"

She sobbed.

……

……

Fang Weihan and others entered the city from Liuting Gate, one of the four eastern gates of Changming. The Eastern Palace Guards divided the cavalry unit into two parts.

Master Zhao led 10,000 guards to the center of the Qiantian Tongming Formation under the Yingtian Temple, intending to use the spirit stones they carried to reactivate the city-protecting formation.

Fang Weihan and Chen Yuxian led 6,000 soldiers to the north main gate Jianyuan Gate to look for Fang Tang.

The two troops separated near Changxingfang in Dongcheng District, with the Nei army heading north and the Yuhou army heading west.

Since the distance from Liuting Gate to Yingtian Temple is closer than the distance to Jianyuan Gate, before Fang Weihan and Chen Yu arrived at Jianyuan Gate, Mr. Zhao and others had already arrived near Yingtian Temple.

There is no one around Yingtian Temple. The once bustling Tianjie is now extremely desolate, like a deserted city.

The core of the Qiantian Tongming formation is located underground in the Yingtian Temple. The entrance is a solemn and imposing courtyard, which is usually defended by the gate guards.

Most of the Qimen guards were taken to Yecheng by Fang Zun, and the rest were also involved in the battle to defend the city. Without an energy source, the large array eye had no defensive power.

"Move quickly!"

Master Zhao called upon the guards behind him to lead the soldiers to break in through the door.

He said to Pei Jie who was standing beside him:

"Pei boy, thank you for reactivating the formation!"

"I will do my best." Pei Jie bowed.

Master Zhao led everyone to break open the gate, found the underground passage leading to the center of the formation, and ran all the way.

The passage was pitch black. The East Palace Guards led the soldiers to illuminate it with torches and spirit stone lamps. The swaying shadows of the lamps looked like a floating sea of ​​fire.

Soon, they found the center of the Qiantian Tongming formation.

The Qiantian Tongming formation is composed of sixty-four small formations, and among the sixty-four small formations, every eight small formations are controlled by a central formation, which is located in the eight directions of southeast, northwest, etc., called the Eight Direction Formation. The Eight Direction Formation is controlled by a Tianyuan Formation, which is the one in front of them.

The Tianyuan Formation uses the sixteen corners of the Tianyan to form a four-sided line, which intersects at a point in the formation, facing a four-legged giant tripod that is fifteen people tall.

This tripod is the Qiantian Furnace, which provides energy for the formation.

"Fill this big cauldron with spirit stones!" Master Zhao shouted.

"No...something's wrong!" Pei Jie suddenly said, "Second Master, there's something wrong with this Qiantian Furnace!"

"What's the problem?" asked Mr. Zhao.

"There should be a connecting prism made of a dragon bead at the bottom of the furnace. Its function is to direct the spiritual energy generated by the furnace to the formation."

"But now... this prism is gone!"

"This thing is irreplaceable! Without it, Qiantian Tongming cannot function!"

Master Zhao looked intently at the bottom of the cauldron and found that there seemed to be something missing there!
"Damn it, could it be that this Qiantian Tongming formation has attracted thieves?" Master Zhao was horrified.

A voice sounded from behind the crowd.

"There are no thieves in the battle array, but there are thieves in the country."

Master Zhao's spear was ready to strike, with blood and energy rising, and was about to pierce his throat.

Yu Hou led the soldiers to surround the man, and the torches in the soldiers' hands illuminated his face.

"Wang Tun?!"

Mr. Zhao was stunned and couldn't help cursing.

"It's you, the fuck?!"

The middle-aged man raised his head. Although he was wearing a coarse cloth gown, his aura from being in a high position for many years was still undiminished.

"King Guangling Fang Weihan really has some strategies."

Wang Tun said lightly.

"Once you truly open the Qiantian Tongming, perhaps the siege of Changming can be easily resolved."

"But unfortunately... in the end, it failed."

He raised his hand, and the prism in his hand ignited under the light of the spirit array. But in a flash, it was completely burned out.

"Secretary Wang, why are you doing this?"

Pei Jie questioned him in disbelief.

In Pei Jie's opinion, even though the Shangyuan Wang family once chose to cooperate with foreign races, now that the Great Zhou is in danger, he should certainly not be confused about right and wrong.

Did he want to destroy the thousand-year-old reputation of the Uehara Wang family? !
Wang Tun sneered:
"Why? To ensure the stability of my Wang family."

The aged Minister of the Central Secretariat opened his arms, completely ignoring the murderous soldiers of the Great Zhou in front of him, like a hero ready to face death calmly.

"Come on, kill me."

He looked at Master Zhao and said calmly.

Master Zhao stared at him intently, almost unable to control the spear in his hand.

"General Zhao! General Zhao!"

Si Yu led the soldiers to rush out from the tunnel and said urgently:
"Foreign cavalry spotted in the direction of Yingtian Temple! They have engaged our army!"

"Damn it... where did these foreign cavalry come from?! Hasn't the north gate been breached yet?" Master Zhao cursed angrily and looked at Wang Tun.

The Imperial Secretariat Minister stood there calmly, as if he had calculated that the Eastern Palace Guards would not kill him.

Master Zhao turned the gun around and struck him directly on the temple with the barrel of the gun.

"Boom!"

Wang Tun rolled out, hit the wall of the tunnel and fainted.

"Take him with you! Let's go find Wei Shuai!" Master Zhao ordered urgently.

"The formation cannot be restarted, the plan has changed, we must evacuate Changming immediately!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)