Chapter 213 The Beggar and the General

The miracle that the Pangshan Taoist priests needed appeared in a very unique appearance, and many people did not even recognize it at first.

That morning, more than a dozen soldiers stood in a row, their armor was torn, only three of them held weapons in their hands, and the others were bare-handed. They ran all the way and just arrived at Duanliu City, volunteering to join the garrison.

"Has anyone fought with the demon soldiers?" Mu Xingqiu asked. He was still a "general", and the soldiers and civilians in the city called him that, thinking that this was more intimate than "immortal".

The soldiers looked at each other, and no one said a word.

Mu Xingqiu sighed in his heart. The newly joined soldiers in recent days were all like this, and had never participated in a war. When the city guards heard that the demon soldiers were coming to kill them, they fled first, and the soldiers guarding the city naturally followed suit. They were young and strong, but they were not fully prepared for the upcoming battle. They only knew that the city was protected by immortals and was very safe.

All the soldiers who had come into direct contact with the demon soldiers and survived by chance ran away, treating Duanliu City as a place to pass by, crossing the bridge and running towards Dongjie Kingdom without looking back, leaving behind only fear.

Fear is the vanguard of the demon clan. The fugitives recalled the strength and cruelty of the demon soldiers, and their faces were all horrified. "There is no way to fight them." They said as they walked, "Especially those strange beasts, they are rampant and human power can't resist them."

The Taoist priests of Pangshan are trying to fight against this omnipresent fear: Yang Qingyin killed two flying demons hovering in the sky in succession, but she encountered a problem. Most ordinary people can only see the result of killing the demon, but can't see the fireball she sent. The low-key nature of the five elements magic has become a disadvantage at this time; Xin Youtao put on worldly clothes again, running around among the refugees entering the city every day to comfort them and persuade the fleeing soldiers to stay; Shen Hao and others have to show their powerful strength to the new soldiers every day to boost their confidence.

What Mu Xingqiu needed most at this time was a real general, experienced, good at deploying troops, and able to give full play to the strength of the defenders of Duanliu City.

There was a commotion at the gate of the military camp, and a group of unexpected people came.

"Mu Xingqiu!" A familiar voice outside the camp called out his name loudly. "Mu Xingqiu, it's me, don't forget your old friends when you become a general!"

It was a beggar in tattered clothes, his face was dirty and his original appearance could not be seen. The dozens of people around him were almost the same as him. Among the refugees who had poured in in recent days, this group was the most miserable.

Mu Xingqiu left the new recruits behind and almost jumped to the gate of the military camp, ordering the soldiers to let him go. He grabbed the bold beggar and was very surprised, "You...how...you escaped, haha, you escaped! You escaped too!"

The gatekeepers looked at each other,

General Mu never put on airs, but he had never lost his temper like this, and he was even a little incoherent.

The beggar grinned, "I didn't escape. I almost did. I almost did. I turned around and saw Laozu Peak..."

"Come in and tell me." Mu Xingqiu grabbed the beggar's hand, and the melancholy of the past few days was swept away. He had never been so happy since the attack on Laozu Peak. As he walked, he shouted to the Taoists scattered in various parts of the military camp: "Shen Hao, Yang Qingyin, everyone come here quickly. Look who's here!"

The group of beggars laughed even more happily. The person who was shaken by Mu Xingqiu raised his hand to wipe the dirt on his face, revealing some of his true face. He shouted in a louder voice: "Yes, look who is still alive."

Thirty or forty disciples of Zhiyong Institute, led by Daliang Shen Xiuming, traveled all the way and finally came to Duanliu City. Shen Tongyou, Mu Feihuang, and Zhao Dayi from Yelin Town were among them.

All the Taoists from Pangshan gathered together. Some of them were not familiar with Zhiyong's disciples. They had looked down on them in the past. However, today's reunion made everyone overjoyed. Xiao Qingtao rushed over and hugged Shen Xiuming and cried. The long-standing grudge between the two because of Erliang and Shen Xiuwei suddenly became unimportant.

The soldiers in the barracks were stunned. In their imagination, the immortals would not act so ecstatically.

Xin Youtao took everyone to the main hall of the barracks and prohibited outsiders from entering. They questioned each other and quarreled endlessly. Finally, they calmed down and listened to Shen Xiuming's story of their escape.

That night, Zhiyong received an alarm from the incense burner of Laozu Peak. Everyone was panicked. Only a few people obeyed the order and fled to the south immediately. The other disciples were hesitant, thinking that Laozu Peak would definitely solve the crisis. Shen Xiuming had no idea about the experience of these people. He was the first group to escape.

They first fled to Xianrenji, where they stayed for a while and found that the fire in Jinghu Village was getting bigger and bigger, so they set off again along the official road, and soon caught up with the residents of Xianrenji, and fled to Baizhang City together.

That morning, the people on the escape road heard a loud noise behind them, and the road under their feet was up and down like a boat in the sea. Looking back, they found that a huge volcano was slowly moving forward, and the place it passed was Laozu Peak.

The refugees were thus divided into pieces, and the disciples of Zhiyong Institute were still gathered together, not knowing where to flee, but just trying to stay away from the volcano.

They first ran to the capital of Xijie State, thinking that it was the safest place, but who would have thought that it was overlapping with the direction of the demon soldiers' attack, and they encountered danger several times on the road, and even fought with a small group of demon soldiers. Soon they changed direction and fled to the southeast, not daring to approach any city, and could only move in the wilderness, and finally all became beggars.

It was not until a few days ago that they heard that there was a group of Taoists guarding Duanliu City, so they traveled day and night to come here. When they heard the names of the prince and General Mu, they immediately knew who they were.

After the joy comes the sadness. The Old Ancestor Peak is gone, hundreds of Taoists died in the battle, Zhiyongso, Jinghu Village, and Xianrenji have all been razed to the ground, and there are even more casualties.

Shen Hao broke the silence and patted Shen Xiuming on the shoulder, "It's a miracle that you have been able to avoid the demon soldiers all the way here."

Shen Xiuming and others did not take credit, but automatically stepped aside, "If it weren't for Master Pan San, we would have lost our way and run into the demon soldiers."

Master Pan San looked more like a beggar than anyone else, with a smile on his old and tired face, "I have fought against the demon soldiers and have some experience, and I am also familiar with the Xijie Kingdom. Your Highness, I wrote you a letter the night when the Old Ancestor Peak was attacked. I don't know if you received it."

"No, it was too chaotic at the time. The flying talisman probably couldn't reach the top of the Old Ancestor Peak. I'm glad you're alive." Xin Youtao's excitement had long passed. When he saw the old soldier in the crowd, he thought of his sister, so he didn't say hello.

Master Pan San guessed the prince's thoughts, "I received a letter from the princess on the way."

Xin Youtao jumped in front of the old soldier, "What did my sister say?"

"At that time, the capital had not fallen. The princess said that the demon soldiers were so powerful that they could not be defeated. She decided to lead people to withdraw from the capital and seek help from the major vassal states and the Shengfu Dynasty. She asked me to pay attention to the news and reunite with her at any time. Your Highness, please forgive me, the road is too dangerous. I destroyed the letter."

Xin Youtao let out a long breath and looked at Mu Xingqiu excitedly, "My sister is still alive, still alive! She is smarter than the entire Xijie Kingdom royal family combined. She knows how to avoid the enemy's edge and retreat to advance, just like Zuo Liuying..."

Mu Xingqiu found that there was another acquaintance in the crowd. Among the fugitives, his clothes were relatively neat and he was holding a baby in his arms. Zhang Lingsheng's eyes dodged and he whispered, "General Mu... General Mu."

"Don't call me that. Everyone here is a disciple of Pangshan, including Master Pan San."

"I'm just an old soldier, but I can't bear the four words 'disciple of Pangshan'." Master Pan San said with a smile.

The inn definitely couldn't accommodate all these people. Xin Youtao knew that his sister had left the capital in advance. He was very happy and immediately went out to arrange accommodation and food for everyone. Several female disciples helped Zhang Lingsheng take care of the baby. That night was too chaotic, and Zhang Lingsheng and his wife got separated. He insisted on walking down only because of the fatherly love in his heart. He almost exhausted his years of practice and really needed some help.

Several young men from Yelin Town gathered together. Speaking of Guan Jinwu who stayed in Laozu Peak, all of them were very sad. Shen Xiuming said, "Isn't Duanliu City recruiting soldiers? Let us join. Although we have never been soldiers or fought in wars, we have practiced for a few years and are better than ordinary people."

Mu Feihuang and others were originally going to join the Xuanfu Army, waiting for the prince to write a letter of recommendation after refining the magic weapon, so they were also very enthusiastic.

Mu Xingqiu was in need of reinforcement, so of course he would not refuse, but these disciples of Zhiyong Institute still could not solve the most urgent problem at the moment-the Xuanfu Army of Duanliu City had no qualified commander.

Until then, Mu Xingqiu's eyes turned to Pan Sanye again. This was an old soldier with rich combat experience. He led a group of young people through the territory occupied by the demon soldiers to Duanliu City. The most important thing was that he was appreciated by the princess and even received her letter on the way to escape.

Mu Xingqiu only met the princess once, and there were several letters after that. He admired her knowledge and vision very much.

While Shen Hao was introducing the situation to several young men in Yelin Town, Mu Xingqiu walked up to the old soldier and said solemnly: "Duanliu City needs a real general."

"I'm a soldier, not a general. I get flustered when there are too many people."

"That's not a problem. How many people do you think you can command?"

The old soldier thought for a while, "Eight or nine hundred people? At most one thousand, if there are more, my eyes won't be enough."

Mu Xingqiu laughed, attracting everyone's attention. Mr. Pan San was slightly dissatisfied, "Master Mu, don't look down on me like this? I said I was a soldier, wwah. Not a general."

"No, no, you are the general I'm looking for. There are only more than 300 soldiers in Duanliu City at present. Can you command them?"

Pan Sanye was not modest either. He pursed his lips and thought for a while, "There are still military rations for me to eat a few full meals, right?"

"Yes."

"I want the prince's appointment letter, which must have at least an official seal on it."

"That's for sure."

"Haha." Pan Sanye laughed twice, "Who would have thought that I, Pan Jufu, would be able to become a general after retiring for many years. It would be worth it even if I died on the battlefield."

"A thousand demon soldiers are coming to Duanliu City. General Pan, we don't want to lose or die, we just want to win."

"A thousand demon soldiers? It seems that I, General Pan, have to spend some effort." The old soldier showed a confident smile on his dirty face, and he already had some of the temperament of a general.

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