Chapter 0986: The Refugees’ Plea

The fire was devouring their homes. The surviving residents stood loosely nearby, quietly watching their property and loved ones turn to ashes. There was no sadness or joy on their faces, but a confused expression. Some people were holding buckets in their hands but did not go forward to put out the fire. More people were empty-handed, as if the fire had nothing to do with them.

The population of the town was not large to begin with, and only three or four hundred people were left at this time. They were like small animals on an isolated island who had never seen a ferocious beast. They stared at it showing off its power, not understanding what it meant, and not knowing that a disaster was imminent.

Humans and demons were preparing for a decisive battle in the distance. The town officials continued to oppress the people, but this was not a fatal problem. The decisive battle would definitely win. It was just a question of who would be lucky enough to come back alive. The officials were also easy to deal with, and everyone knew how much they had to pay.

How could the disaster come inexplicably? What about the Imperial Capital and Daotong Tower a hundred miles away? Aren't the Taoists protecting all humans? In the past year, the magic from there made mortals feel relaxed and happy, and made them believe that all problems would be solved, but what suddenly popped up was destruction.

The magic of Daotong Tower disappeared last night. The practitioners felt it clearly, but mortals were unaware.

The fire gradually weakened, and the night showed a cold face again, as if silently mocking human ignorance. Everyone realized that the disaster took less than three hours from the beginning to the end.

"What on earth is going on?"

"Where is the town garrison commander? Where are the constables? They should know something."

"They are all dead. I saw the government office being hit by two fireballs in succession, and no one inside escaped."

"I am the only one in my family who ran away from the town. How can I explain to the head of the family when he comes back? Woohoo..."

"Old Luo, isn't this your son? Isn't he... didn't he die a few months ago?"

"He was burned alive again by a fire. Look, my son is not the only one alive."

Although they did not get any explanation, the survivors finally got rid of their confusion and showed their emotions. Some stamped their feet and cursed in the street, some cried loudly, some felt grateful, and some rushed into the ruins of the town to find some useful property. There were several young people in the crowd who were particularly eye-catching. They were supposed to join the army, but they all died of illness one after another, or were missing for various reasons. Now they are all standing here alive.

All the government officials were burned to death, so the people naturally would not meddle in other people's affairs.

Three figures flew in from a distance, one landed, and the other two stayed in midair.

"It's the talisman master!" The crowd gathered around and asked about the situation.

The talisman master who landed was about 40 years old, wearing a seven-layer crown on his head. He should be an important figure in the Longbin Society. He raised his hands and said majestically: "Listen, the area within a radius of 500 miles has been attacked. The situation outside 500 miles is not clear, but the imperial capital is still there, everyone should go there to take refuge."

The crowd had more questions, "What's going on with these fires? Are the demons attacking?" "Do the Empress Dowager Ci and Empress Xun know about this?" "Why don't the Taoists put out the fire?"

The seven-layer crown talisman master waved his hand and said with a little anger : "I don't have time to explain this to you. If you still want to live, go east. Longbin will recruit laborers. People over 15 and under 40, regardless of gender, stand up."

"What? Even women have to work as laborers? Fifteen is still a child."

The Seven Crowns were furious and threw a paper talisman on the ground. A thick smoke rushed up more than ten feet high. The people all shut up. They had long been accustomed to obeying the orders of the government. If there were loopholes to exploit, they would naturally not let them go. However, no one dared to resist in front of the officials.

Talisman masters are not officials. They have a higher status than officials.

Several young people who avoided conscription first walked to the place designated by the talisman master, looking back at their parents with pale faces, followed by more than 20 young women. There were also some boys and girls in the crowd, trying to bend their knees to appear shorter, but they were all pointed out by the Seven Crowns.

"He is only fourteen years old, Master Talisman Master, only fourteen years old. He has a brother who has been conscripted by the Holy Talisman Army. My man was just burned to death." An old woman begged.

"As long as he is tall enough." The Seven Crown pushed away the old woman who was pestering him, and the talisman conjured three long logs, ordering the selected laborers to sit on them. "This is an unprecedented war. The enemy comes from all directions. No one can escape. Everyone must participate. Today is them, and tomorrow is you."

The three talisman masters in the air and on the ground performed talismans at the same time, taking nearly fifty young men and women into the air and flying to the southwest. Most of the mortals on the logs were going to the sky for the first time in their lives. They were so scared that they dared not move, and they couldn't even look back at their relatives.

This conscription was even shorter, as sudden as the fire attack, and it was not in accordance with the regulations. Even the names of the people were not recorded. It was not until the talisman master disappeared that the people reacted, and it was too late to ask.

The families who lost their loved ones again burst into tears.

"Don't cry, go to the Imperial Capital, maybe you can see them there."

"But the talisman master took them to the southwest, isn't the Imperial Capital in the southeast?"

The remaining people had no other choice but to take the few remaining belongings and walk on the official road to the Imperial Capital. Sometimes they cried sadly, sometimes they sighed in confusion. If there was no place to go ahead, they would really collapse.

At dawn, a small group of knights galloped from the direction of the Imperial Capital. The people stopped by the roadside, and a hope arose in their hearts.

There were ten knights in total, nine soldiers of the Yellow Fu Army and a five-layered crowned talisman master wearing iron armor.

"Where do you want to go, people?" The five-layered crowned talisman master asked in a literary tone. He was very young, about 23 or 24 years old, with a delicate face of an aristocrat.

"To seek refuge in the Imperial Capital." Someone answered timidly. Although the Dragon Bin Society had a higher status, the people were still more afraid of soldiers in armor. If there were runners with swords, they would be even more afraid.

The five-layered crown frowned slightly, and when some people gathered around, he shouted: "Last night, the Daotong Tower collapsed, and the Imperial Capital was destroyed by the sky fire. My Fu family survived and has set up a camp 30 miles away from here. You can go and seek refuge."

This news immediately caused the crowd to explode, surrounding the ten knights, and the people behind them also hurriedly caught up.

"Didn't you say that the Imperial Capital was fine?" "Where are the people who were taken away?" "Give me back my son!" "Give me back my daughter!"

Wu Chong Guan had never experienced such a thing before, and his face turned red. No one listened to what he said. Finally, nine soldiers drew out their talisman swords, and the people stopped the siege. Many people were still crying.

Wu Chong Guan breathed a sigh of relief, "Don't panic, listen to me. The Imperial Capital was in disaster, and the people were in dire straits. The Fu family turned the tide and saved the people from the water and fire. Only a few dozen villains from the Longbin Society took advantage of this national disaster to establish their own faction. I am Fu Lin from the royal family, and I was ordered to hunt down the traitors."

The people stared at the young knight blankly, not understanding a word.

Wu Chong Guan had to change the way he spoke, "Dozens of high-level talisman masters from the Longbin Society betrayed the Holy Fu Dynasty. They took your relatives away, and they had no good intentions."

The crowd was quiet for a while, and suddenly there was a loud cry, and the worst thing happened.

The five crowns kept waving their hands, signaling the people to stop crying, "Where did the traitorous talisman masters flee to? Let me lead the troops to catch them."

Everyone understood this sentence and pointed to the southwest. One citizen was not so credulous and plucked up the courage to say loudly: "Those three talisman masters can fly, can't you beat them?"

"The traitors are guilty, how dare they resist the Holy Talisman Army?"

The people were silent. They didn't understand magic and couldn't tell who was strong and who was weak, but from the words of the royal family Fu Lin, they couldn't hear the possibility of victory.

Fu Lin noticed the people's distrust and was slightly annoyed. He waved his hand, and the nine soldiers behind him rushed up to disperse the crowd. Fu Lin rode forward and secretly made up his mind to take down the betrayers in one fell swoop.

The people who fled were either old people or children. Fu Lin saw two exceptions, a middle-aged man with ragged clothes and ugly appearance, and a young and beautiful woman wearing a flame Taoist robe. The woman hid behind the man, not like a couple, nor like a master and servant, but like abducting people.

If it were normal, Fu Lin would definitely take care of this trivial matter, but today he had important tasks to attend to. After a little hesitation, he still left quickly, feeling deeply sympathetic to the woman's experience.

The people who fled were in a panic. Some continued to move forward, hoping that the royal camp really existed, while others stayed where they were, at a loss.

The old couple of the Luo family did not move, the old woman cried, and the old man was anxious. He finally left his son at home, but he didn't expect that he was deceived by the talisman master of the Longbin Society. If he had known this, he might as well join the army, at least he could escape this disaster.

In critical moments, some people think faster. Old Man Luo also saw a man and a woman standing on the side of the road. They looked too young and unfamiliar among the refugees. No one remembered how they got into the team. Old Man Luo remembered the tattered clothes. The old woman stopped crying and looked at her husband in surprise, not understanding what he was going to do. "I recognize you. You are... you are Mu Xingqiu?" Old Man Luo believed that such tattered clothes could not be found within a radius of dozens of miles. Mu Xingqiu hummed. Zuo Liuying asked him to come up with a new name, but the other party remembered him, so there was no need to make up a name. "You have become different." "Yeah." "Did you kill the banshee?" Mu Xingqiu pointed to the Shouque behind him. Old Man Luo was shocked. He remembered that this woman was the banshee in white, but she was much younger and looked timid, without that crazy energy. Old Man Luo knelt down, "Please save my son."

Mu Xingqiu shook his head. He didn't catch up with the three talisman masters to recruit laborers. Even if he caught up, he might not interfere. He walked in the crowd, just wanting to feel their emotions, not to help.

"The disaster is not over yet. You will die anyway. What's the point of saving you?" Mu Xingqiu said this without feeling guilty at all.

But Old Man Luo just kowtowed. Some people saw it and didn't know why, so they also came over to kowtow. They didn't dare to breathe, but Mu Xingqiu remained unmoved. When the people kowtowed, he shook his head, "I have no reason to do this. It's meaningless. There is still magic power waiting in the sky between heaven and earth. You should care about your own life and death."

Mu Xingqiu was not very good at casting spells, but he was extremely sensitive. He found that the sky fire last night was just the beginning. He didn't know when the next wave of disasters would come. Mortals had nowhere to escape, and most talisman masters would not survive.

Old Man Luo raised his head, finally realizing that begging was useless. Half desperate and half angry, he said loudly: "Have you eaten a bowl of porridge in my house?"

"I have." Mu Xingqiu still remembered the taste of that bowl of porridge. For the hungry, it was an impressive delicacy.

"I want a reward." Old Man Luo said even louder, and the people who knelt with him were extremely surprised. It seemed that it was impossible to make the other party take risks for a bowl of porridge, even in the most loyal era.

Mu Xingqiu did not refuse immediately, he felt a faint emotion arising in his heart.