Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 1135 The Entire Army Died for Their Country

The first mural depicts countless soldiers setting out from a massive city.

Flags fluttered and war drums thundered.

The number of soldiers was so great that they couldn't all be depicted on the canvas.

It can only be expressed through layers of overlapping human figures.

Two characters were carved on the city wall. Although the strokes were ancient, it took Tuoba Shan a long time to recognize them.

Tianyuan.

In the second mural, a large army is marching across the wasteland.

Demonic energy surged across the wasteland, and countless demonic beasts poured in from all directions.

The soldiers formed battle formations with spears and shields, keeping the monsters at bay.

The scene depicts a wide variety of magical beasts, some of which even Tuoba Shan, who has seen countless magical beasts, does not recognize.

In the third mural, the army arrives before a huge crack.

It was exactly the same as the crack they were in right now.

The soldiers set up camp at the entrance to the crevice and built defensive fortifications.

Someone discovered something deep within the crevice and looked surprised.

The leading general stood on a high place, pointing deep into the crack, as if he were saying something.

The fourth mural begins to darken.

A purplish-black crack appeared in the sky, and countless dark figures descended from the heavens.

The shadows had no specific shape, only twisted and irregular forms, as if they had been splashed with the thickest ink.

The soldiers lined up to meet the enemy, their battle formation imposing and their spears like a forest.

But there were too many enemies, a dark mass that stretched as far as the eye could see.

In the fifth mural, the battle has reached its climax.

The ground was littered with corpses, some human, some monsters, and black blood flowed like a river.

The soldiers were still fighting, but their formation had been broken, and they were fighting individually.

Some soldiers tumbled down the cliff with the monsters in their arms, some used their bodies to block the cracks, and some were still swinging their swords as they died.

In the last mural, only a few soldiers remain.

They stood at the deepest part of the crevice, with their backs to something enormous.

The object was only depicted in one corner; it looked like a door or a stone tablet.

Their weapons were broken, their armor was shattered, but they still stood.

Even when only a few people remained, they continued to stand.

At the very bottom of the mural, there is a line of small characters.

Tuoba Shan leaned closer to look, studied it for a long time, and then read it out word by word.

"Tianyuan City, Yue Battalion, ordered to guard the Canglang Plain Rift. Besieged by the demonic tide... Day 173, food supplies exhausted. Fight to the last man, do not retreat."

His voice grew softer and softer.

"The entire army...died for their country."

On the mural, the soldiers standing in front of the giant gate are silently watching him.

Millions of years have eroded their faces, making them indistinct, but they stand there, watching everyone who passes by the murals.

Tuoba Shan stood there, staring at the mural, without moving for a long time.

He had been hunting for over a decade, slaying countless magical beasts, witnessing countless life-and-death situations, and seeing countless people fall before his eyes.

He had never felt like this before, his throat felt like it was blocked by something, and he couldn't utter a single word.

One hundred and seventy-three days.

There were no reinforcements, no supplies, and no way out.

They stayed here, guarding until the very last one.

Yan Qing, standing behind Tuoba Shan, also saw the words.

He was illiterate, but he heard every word that Tuoba Shan pronounced clearly.

One hundred and seventy-three days.

Fight to the last man.

No refund.

The entire army perished.

He gripped the knife tightly in his hand.

Zhang Yuan stood in front of the murals, silent for a long time. His gaze swept back and forth across the murals, finally settling on the line of small characters.

Then he reached out and gently stroked the words.

His finger paused for a moment as it traced the words "the entire army died for their country".

“Let’s go,” he said. “There’s more ahead.”

Just as they were about to continue forward, the canyon suddenly shook.

It wasn't a collapse-like tremor.

It was a dull, rumbling impact coming from the direction of the basin's entrance.

"Senior!" Amu ran up from behind, his face grim. "A large number of magical beasts have arrived at the entrance. There are so many that they've blocked the way in."

Zhang Yuan frowned: "How much?"

"I can't see clearly, but there are ironback lizards, gray-maned wolves, and a few iron-skinned rhinoceroses. They're squeezing into the canyon, and the guys at the back of the line have already started fighting them."

Just then, a scream came from afar.

Tuoba Shan's expression changed: "Something happened to the defender."

Zhang Yuan didn't hesitate: "Everyone retreat to the depths of the canyon. Don't linger in battle, fight as you go."

The 100-man squad quickly changed formation, with forwards becoming defenders and defenders becoming forwards.

Several heavy infantrymen held the rear, blocking the passage with their shields to buy time for the retreat.

The archers turned back and fired arrows as they marched, and with each shot a monster fell, but more monsters surged forward to fill the gaps.

The team quickly retreated along the canyon passage.

The battle markings on the rock walls on both sides receded rapidly in the torchlight.

Those dense patterns, twisted and deformed in the light and shadow, seemed to come alive.

Nobody cared about looking at the patterns anymore.

Everyone's attention was focused on the pursuers behind them.

Tuoba Shan led a dozen elite soldiers to cover the rear.

A steel-backed lizard pounced from the side, smashing a heavy shield and knocking the soldier holding it to the ground.

Before the soldier could even cry out, the lizard's teeth had already severed his throat.

Tuoba Shan severed the lizard's neck with a single stroke, but the soldier was already motionless.

He didn't have time to look at the face, or even to drag the body away; he could only continue retreating.

Yan Qing followed in the middle of the group, holding a bone knife in his hand.

His breathing was rapid, and his heart was pounding like a drum.

Every time I turned around, I could see the glint of those magical beasts' pupils in the firelight.

They were purplish-black, blood-red, and dark green, densely packed, like will-o'-the-wisps covering the mountains and fields.

He recognized the soldier who had been tackled by the lizard.

I greeted him this morning when I left, asked him his name, and said we'd drink together after the battle.

That person is no longer here.

"Kid, don't turn around!" Old Yan shouted beside him. "If you turn around, you'll be too slow!"

Yan Qing gritted her teeth, turned her head back, and ran forward as fast as she could.

The canyon seemed to stretch on forever.

It didn't take that long to come here, but now the road back feels like it will never end.

Suddenly, Amu, who was running at the front, shouted, "There's no road ahead!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks at the same time.

There's a dead end ahead.

The canyon ends here, with sheer cliffs on three sides, dozens of feet high, smooth as a mirror, and covered with battle markings.

The battle patterns converge here, forming a huge design.

A mountain peak covered in frost and snow.

It has the same pattern as the White Frost Battle Banner.

But at this moment, no one is in the mood to appreciate it.

Behind them were pursuers.

There was no way out ahead. (End of Chapter)