On the high city walls, several figures stood in the center. This towering city wall was the wall of Taiyuan, no less grand than the walls of other major cities in different regions. These people were all ability users, and standing in the middle were an old man and a young man.
The identity of this young man was also not simple. He was Chen Xintie, the leader of the Thirteen Taibao of Taihang Mountain. His illusionary arts could even affect ability users, and the range was extremely vast. Ordinary ability users could not harm him at all, because as soon as they approached him, these ability users would fall into a hallucination.
"I heard that the people below acted recklessly, forcibly collecting taxes, creating a large number of refugees. These refugees have already defected to the other side," Chen Xintie said to the old man beside him.
"I didn't expect this either. The result of our discussion was to have the people below guard strictly and prevent He Qiuan from getting supplies. As a result, the people below acted on their own and even snatched the grain from these people, creating a large number of refugees!" the old man said helplessly.
This old man was the patriarch of the Chen family, holding immense power. Many matters in the entire Taiyuan region required his approval to be carried out. Although he held no official position, his status no longer needed an official title to be recognized.
"It's probably not as simple as acting on their own, but taking advantage of the disaster!" Chen Xintie said coldly. "I know their character well enough. They can use a chicken feather as an arrow. After snatching the refugees' food and money, they naturally lined their own pockets, and instead, they are messing things up for us!"
"These matters no longer need to be investigated, because we need them to help us defend the city now. Moreover, although those people are a bit greedy, they are all loyal and will not betray us," the Chen family patriarch said slowly.
"If this kind of thing continues to happen in the future, I estimate that all the refugees in the surrounding areas will run away, because the exorbitant taxes and levies here are too many!" Chen Xintie said in a deep voice, showing his deep concern for the future of Taiyuan.
"With your abilities, you should have a way to deal with these people," the Chen family patriarch suddenly asked.
"Grandfather, please rest assured. Although these people are numerous, as long as I lead my brothers to launch a night raid, they will definitely suffer a defeat and have to retreat. For so many years, I have not revealed my true abilities, so many people do not know how powerful I am. Now it is time for me to make a stunning appearance!" Chen Xintie said immediately. It turned out he was the grandson of the Chen family patriarch.
"Since that's the case, I am relieved. If it really doesn't work out, retreat to the city quickly. We have the city walls to rely on, and the city will not be easily breached," the Chen family patriarch quickly said.
"If we really want to defend Taiyuan, then we should not rely on the city walls, because I know that on the opposite side there is Qin Kewei, who once pushed down the city walls of Yanjing, let alone the city walls of Taiyuan. To achieve victory, we can only fight in the open field!" Chen Xintie said later.
...
As night fell, the army led by He Qiuan of Ice City was ready to rest. The team had now become extremely large. In addition to ten thousand soldiers, there were also many refugees. These refugees immediately defected after receiving food and then followed the army towards Taiyuan.
The army was still one day's journey away from Taiyuan. After one more day, the army would reach the city walls of Taiyuan.
He Qiuan sat in his tent. The tent was brightly lit, and he was looking at a map, contemplating the battle for tomorrow.
He was also very worried about being attacked at night, but he had not encountered any resistance along the way. After careful consideration, he understood that the enemy must have concentrated all their forces in the city of Taiyuan. Therefore, if he wanted to fight a decisive battle, he had to go to Taiyuan.
"These people are like a shrinking turtle, hiding in the city and not coming out. If we want to win, we must find a way to break through this city wall!" He Qiuan thought to himself.
In the apocalypse, various cities built tall city walls to protect themselves. With the existence of city walls, many forces could rest easy, as they did not have to worry about their cities being easily breached. The simplest way to breach a city was to bury explosives and blow up the city walls. Without cannons or gunpowder, city walls were simply indestructible.
"If all else fails, I can only ask Sister Qin to help destroy the city walls. We are also avenging her this time, so she should not refuse my request," He Qiuan thought to himself.
He Qiuan suddenly felt his eyelids twitching, as if he had a premonition that something bad was about to happen.
"Could it be that I've been too stressed these past few days? Otherwise, why would my spirit be so fragile?" He Qiuan thought to himself, his mind racing.
However, He Qiuan's vision suddenly blurred. He thought it was because he had stayed up late reading, so his eyes were strained. He couldn't help but reach out and rub his eyes. When he opened them again, he was stunned, because he suddenly found himself in a battlefield filled with smoke and fire.
"Where is this? How did I get here? I was just in the tent a moment ago?" He Qiuan was stunned. He had clearly been in the dim tent looking at maps and books just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, he had arrived in an unfamiliar place.
No, this place was not unfamiliar; it was exceptionally familiar. This was Yanjing six years ago.
Now He Qiuan was completely confused. He remembered that Yanjing had been completely destroyed, but now, in the blink of an eye, he had returned to the scene. There were dense flocks of mutated birds flying in the sky, mutated beasts devouring people on the ground, and a city on the verge of destruction.
"Did I time travel? Did I go back to six years ago? Or am I dreaming now?" He Qiuan muttered to himself.
As he was wondering, a violent cough suddenly came from behind him. He couldn't help but turn around, only to be surprised to see his aged great-grandfather behind him, saying, "Hurry up and charge out, don't stop! You'll be in danger if you keep stopping here!"
He Qiuan was dumbfounded to see his great-grandfather appear before him, as he never expected that the scene from that time would reappear before his eyes.
"Is this real or fake? Did I dream of the past? Or did I just space out on the battlefield? Perhaps everything that happened in the subsequent six years was just my imagination? Perhaps I haven't broken out of the city yet?" He Qiuan thought to himself.
As He Qiuan was in a daze, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm. He couldn't help but look down and found a cut on his arm, with blood flowing out.
Then, the scene flashed by, and He Qiuan found himself back in the tent. He opened his eyes and saw a person standing beside him, holding a short knife in his hand. It was this person who had cut him just now. This person was his good brother Ma Longshan, who had gray feathered wings on his back. It was he who had taken him away from the sky during the internal strife in Yanjing. He never expected that he would attack him now.
"What are you doing? Have you been bought off by someone and are trying to harm me?" He Qiuan looked at the other person in shock.
"City Lord, what nonsense are you talking about? If I hadn't given you a cut, you would still be lost in the illusion!" Ma Longshan said.
He Qiuan came back to his senses and asked, "What do you mean? Explain it clearly!"
"I'll tell you what happened right away. We've been attacked, and the entire camp is in chaos. It's estimated that Chen Xintie is behind this. I heard long ago that his illusionary arts could affect many people, and I didn't expect him to use this kind of attack now," Ma Longshan said helplessly.
"What? The entire camp has been affected? How could it be so serious?" He Qiuan was extremely shocked to receive this news.
Ma Longshan said, "Let's not say anything more. The enemy has already attacked, and your area is a key target. We must leave immediately. If we leave any later, we won't be able to retreat safely."
"If we just leave, what about the others? Are they also lost in the illusion?" He Qiuan said, clutching his wound. Fortunately, the pain from the wound allowed He Qiuan to wake up from the dream.
"At this time, we can't worry about others anymore. You are our general. If you are in trouble, everyone will fall into chaos. In any case, I will take you away now!" Ma Longshan said in a deep voice.
Then the two of them walked out of the tent. Ma Longshan bent down, letting He Qiuan lie on his back. He Qiuan took this opportunity to observe his surroundings and found that the soldiers in the camp were all in chaos, moving around everywhere, crying and wailing, completely lost in the illusion.
"I never expected that we would suffer such a crushing defeat tonight. I don't know how many soldiers we will be able to rally after this," He Qiuan said through gritted teeth.
Even ability users could not withstand this strange attack and would instantly fall into memories, recalling terrifying events from the past. In the illusion, they would feel that everything around them was incredibly real. Therefore, after seeing the situation in the camp, He Qiuan knew that he had suffered a crushing defeat.
"At this time, we can't worry about others anymore. I'll take you away first. As for the others, I've already told them to gather in Taihang Mountain," Ma Longshan said quickly.
He Qiuan lay on Ma Longshan's back. Then Ma Longshan flapped his wings and flew directly off the ground, heading into the distance. Under the cover of night, their actions were not noticed, and there were hardly any people paying attention to the sky. Thus, the two of them successfully flew away from the battlefield.