As the battle raged at sea, many of the frozen lands on the periphery of the Arctic Circle were not quiet either. This was because numerous insects had emerged from the sea. Many of these were spiders, specifically adapted to aquatic life. The spiders seemed to sense the loss of body heat and sought to move south for warmer climes.
However, they could not leave the sea as vast expanses of it had frozen over. They could only travel by land. But many people were stationed by the shore, mostly those responsible for reception. For the water spiders, they were incredibly hungry and, under the circumstances, launched an attack directly on the humans!
Naturally, humans had to fight back when attacked. These armies were originally unable to participate in the battle against the sea beasts, as it was a case of gods fighting and mortals suffering. But they had their own mission: to guide the warships from the sea. Unexpectedly, they encountered an insect attack and thus joined the fray.
Battles erupted between the two sides in many locations. Many water spiders were frozen to death in the cold weather, while the human side also suffered considerable casualties.
After all, these insects reproduced at an extremely rapid pace; their numbers could double in just a few months, a capability humans did not possess. With the advantage of numbers, the insects' strength increased. They relied on their numerical superiority to charge into the human ranks, causing immense casualties.
Ultimately, humans could only huddle within their own defensive lines, daring not to move about freely.
It was a pity that even after breaking through the human defense lines, the water spiders eventually encountered the endless frozen earth and could only freeze to death on the shore, rather than reaching the warmer regions to the south.
Under these circumstances, people finally had a moment to breathe. If the fighting continued, they would surely be defeated, as humans were already incredibly weak. Prolonged combat would pose a serious problem for their endurance.
However, at this very moment, two young men were walking across the frozen lands of Siberia. The ground beneath their feet was as hard as iron, with ice shards that could easily pierce their feet. What was most deadly was the extremely low temperature, which prevented any plant life from surviving. Even the most cold-resistant pine forests had withered.
Thus, in the initial years, vast numbers of wild animals and birds had perished.
This place was no longer suitable for human survival due to the extreme cold, which neither humans nor other animals could withstand. Only by going elsewhere was there a chance of survival. Under normal circumstances, no one would reside here.
Yet, under these conditions, two young men were walking. These two young men moved with incredible speed, completely disregarding the harsh surrounding environment, and instead followed their own course of action.
These two young men were, of course, Du Fansheng and Yue Cangshan. Originally, neither of them would have been allowed to go to the battlefield. But they had their own ideas. If they did not contribute at this time, they would be considered cowards. Therefore, no matter what, they needed to prove themselves on the battlefield, so they had quietly slipped away.
Yue Cangshan had also been deceived. Previously, he had been told that he would be allowed to depart together once he completed his mission. However, half a month later, Shen Feng had left Yuzhou with his men without notifying him, clearly having tricked him into leaving so he would miss this battle.
Recalling his mission, Yue Cangshan immediately sighed, "I was clearly given the mission, yet I failed to complete it. I have truly failed to live up to my uncle's trust!"
Du Fansheng replied, "Regretting it now is useless. Let's find a way to make up for the mistakes we've made. Didn't you say your master left many markers along the road? Let's quickly follow these markers; we can definitely change the situation!"
The reason Yue Cangshan said he failed his mission was that while he was in the process of carrying it out, Du Fansheng had already arrived. Yue Cangshan was forced to kill indiscriminately, resulting in a city flowing with blood. Guo Lili herself also died in this incident, and even the child in her womb could not be saved.
His original mission was to resolve this trouble and, more importantly, to rescue the hostages, preventing the people of Yuzhou from being held captive to give birth. However, he ultimately failed to achieve this goal, which made him feel extremely distressed.
Therefore, his mood had been low recently, and he did not know how he would face his uncle. If Guo Pinming were to react, it would not be good. Moreover, Guo Lili herself had been imprisoned for several years, enduring various torments. She had finally seen a glimmer of hope for rescue, only for him to ruin it. Thus, his first mission ended in failure.
Now, Yue Cangshan could only divert his attention to avoid being too upset.
Since both of them needed to rush to the battlefield quickly, following the traces left by their master along the way did help to distract them significantly and allowed them to quickly shift their focus from their sorrow. Although their moods were affected, it was not particularly severe.
The main battlefield this time was within the Arctic Circle. This was originally the area of the Arctic Ocean. In the summer, it was all sea. However, due to the extremely low average global temperature, it was covered in ice year-round. It would take ten to fifteen days of travel to reach here. This was only because they were ability users, which greatly increased their speed. For ordinary people, it would take even three months to reach the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Yue Cangshan said, "Before my master sent me back, he also gave me an instruction. He said that if we are needed to save the situation, we must follow the traces he left behind and ultimately send the army home. This way, it will shake the hearts of the ability users in China."
"Your master's plan is indeed correct. If we do this, we will definitely be able to change the tide of the battle. No one would have expected that the ones who could shake their foundation would be the two of us!" Du Fansheng said confidently, appearing completely unconcerned about the upcoming battle.
Yue Cangshan then said, "We don't seem to have any blood relation, and we didn't grow up together. How can we be considered brothers? Please rephrase that."
"If you're going to be so literal, then it's not fun. After all, our fathers were sworn brothers. By that logic, we should be considered brothers too! Now, we still need to work together to achieve victory. How can you doubt our relationship?" Du Fansheng asked in return.
In Xiao Long's opinion, he and Yue Cangshan by his side were already considered brothers. After all, they had known each other since childhood, and they would have to face battles together when they grew up. If this wasn't brotherhood, what else could it be?
However, Du Fansheng's statement was not accepted. Yue Cangshan seriously stated, "No, if we simply call ourselves brothers like this, then this brotherhood is too cheap. In my opinion, to be brothers, there should at least be some ceremony, such as a sworn brotherhood!"
Due to his childhood experiences, Yue Cangshan did not have many friends, so he valued family very much. Therefore, people like brothers were held in high regard in his heart and were definitely not people to be casually called upon.
"Look, look! There's a church ahead. If we need to swear brotherhood, let's hurry there. Swearing brotherhood inside a church, you won't have any objections then, will you!" As if on cue, Du Fansheng suddenly spotted a tall building ahead, with a tall cross erected at its top. It was clearly a church.
There were many religious sects on Earth, and Christianity was one of them. Christianity also had various branches, generally divided by region, which could result in several types. However, no matter how Christianity changed, their iconic cross remained immutable. Therefore, in the wilderness, as long as one saw a building with a cross on top, it could generally be identified as a church.
The two men headed towards the building with the cross. As they approached, they took a closer look and found that there was indeed a church before them. Moreover, the church had been abandoned for a long time. However, the statue of Jesus inside the church was not damaged.
"See, there's a statue of a deity here. You need a sense of ritual, so I'll give you that ritual. Although we can't cut a chicken's head and burn yellow paper, kneeling before the statue now to make an oath is fine, right?" Du Fansheng said with a smile.
Yue Cangshan frowned and said, "It's not that I dislike you as a brother, but I just feel that holding our sworn brotherhood ceremony in a foreign church seems a bit inappropriate. We Chinese people should worship Chinese deities. For example, worshipping Guan Erye, or even worshipping the Tathagata, would be better than worshipping this Jesus!"
"Then you don't understand. All religions in this world are more or less the same; they are meant to guide people to believe in those illusory deities. We young people should not believe in so-called gods. And now, although this is a foreign religion, it's just a statue that perfectly suits the ritual you need. Isn't that enough? Why be so picky? Do I need to find a place to draw a portrait of Guan Erye at this time?" Du Fansheng said.
Upon hearing this, Yue Cangshan finally nodded. He had been successfully persuaded. After all, his life experience was limited, so he could not refute some of the reasonable arguments and could only believe the other person.
Afterward, the two youths knelt before the statue of Jesus and began to make their oath. The content of their sworn brotherhood was relatively simple, mainly involving vows of shared life and death. And if they violated this oath, they would incur the wrath of both gods and men. These oaths were all clichés; anyone who had read some novels or stories would understand that these so-called oaths were fake.
"Alright, from now on, I'll be your elder brother. You follow me, and I'll protect you. If anyone dares to bully you, I'll electrocute them. From now on, my name will be 'Lightning King,' and I don't believe anyone will dare to provoke you!" Du Fansheng declared.
"Since you are older than me, I will call you Big Brother. However, your nickname sounds quite intimidating. Where did you get it? Also, help me think of one!" Yue Cangshan quickly said.
Du Fansheng replied, "I can't remember where I saw it. It seems that decades ago, there was a doctor who specialized in treating people with lightning. His surname was Yang, and his nickname was 'Lightning King,' so I'm using that nickname. Since you use ultraviolet rays for combat, why not call you 'Purple Qi Comes East'?"
"This nickname doesn't seem to have much meaning. I don't want it!" Yue Cangshan did not understand the meaning of this nickname and was somewhat displeased.
Du Fansheng then said, "You don't understand this. This nickname is very resounding. When the founder of Taoism, Laozi, passed through Hangu Pass, there was an unusual phenomenon in the sky: purple qi came from the east for ninety thousand miles. This is the kind of scene that appears when a sage emerges. You don't understand such a good appellation, which truly pains me!"