bullyxtreme Chapter 454 The North's Current Situation, Rumors
Chapter 454 The North's Current Situation, Rumors
Chapter 454 The North's Current Situation, Rumors
The bleak wind was blowing the weeds on the side of the road, and the two men walked silently on the road.
The man walking in front of the windbreaker was up and down, thinking about how to plan the world better.
He has put on the Dark Night Wind again. This kind of modern style clothes, after the cognitive camouflage of space, looks like a nobleman's cloak to Gu Lanting, and there is no sense of disobedience.
As the sun slanted to the west, the shadows of the two on the ancient road were gradually elongated.
Lu Chen was thinking, Gu Lanting was originally a man of few words, and he could only obey orders when he was with the Duke.
Going around the hill, Lu Chen saw the cooking smoke ahead of the road, and the two quickened their pace.
"It's the village of Nikoli."
Gu Lanting's hometown is in the north, and he has an impression of many villages in this land, explaining to the Duke.
After getting closer, Lu Chen realized that this small village was already in ruins, with almost no intact houses to be seen.
At the entrance of the village, there was a gray-haired old man, holding an old pipe in his hand, sitting on a big rock, smoking a cigarette, watching the sunset.
"Old man, what's wrong here?"
Lu Chen brought the old man back to his senses. The old man turned his head and saw the two of them, especially Gu Lanting, who was wearing military uniform, and shivered in fright.
As if he had exhausted all the strength in his old body, he stood up in a jerk, and ran towards the village.
But Gu Lanting was faster, and the old man didn't see the opponent's movements clearly, so Gu Lanting went around to the front and stopped him.
Gu Lanting's thinking is very simple. Since the Duke opened his mouth, he wanted to ask questions. How could you run away?
The old man had no hope of escaping, so he begged: "Master Jun, Lord Jun, we really have nothing left here, and all the taxes that should be paid this year have also been paid. I beg you to give me a way to survive!"
Lu Chen frowned, "What's going on?"
Seeing the old man's frightened face, he said again: "We are not in the army."
At least not yet.
Hearing this, the old man was stunned for a moment, and then looked at the military equipment of the Keya Empire on Gu Lanting, a little disbelieving.
"He has already retired. We came out from the capital and traveled the mainland."
Lu Chen explained, and made up another reason.
The old man looked at Gu Lanting suspiciously, and then looked at the young man who seemed to be of a higher status. The man was wearing a cloak, but his temperament was also like a soldier, but there was some aristocratic power in his bones.
"Traveler?"
The old man sat down suspiciously, seeing that the two of them didn't act violently, and they were explaining nicely, he felt slightly relaxed.
"Yes, old man, did something happen in your village?"
Lu Chen looked at the dilapidated village, only two children were chasing and playing in the distance, and the adults who were repairing the houses also had sad faces. It was clear that it was time to bury the pots for cooking, but only a few houses were smoking.
"Hey, young people, when you come out to travel, what is the best place to choose, and run to our northern border, what is there to see?"
The old man sighed, tremblingly picked up some tobacco leaves he had collected on the mountain from his chest pocket tremblingly, and lit them again.
He is 87 this year. Unless the opponent is the top powerhouse in the empire, judging from his face, he should be called a young man.
But except for those who join the army, those who have successfully practiced magic and battle qi are all big shots. How can a big shot have only one guard when they go out?
"We were just traveling randomly, and happened to be in the north."
Lu Chen said.
The old man shook his head and sighed, "It's too hard in the northern border. Just now you either asked me what happened to the village, or it was plundered by the imperial army."
Lu Chen was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect such a thing to happen, "Is the imperial army plundering civilians?"
"Isn't it? It seems that the young man is indeed from the capital, and his family should be considered wealthy, so he seldom goes out."
The old man thought that the man in front of him was the kind of traveler who came out to see the world for the first time. "In recent years, there has been a famine in various places, especially in the northern border. It is said that the supply of food and grass for the army on the Great Wall is also lacking. Those military masters can't eat enough. Just turn around and rob our common people..."
He clenched his skinny old hands, "When the harvest was good more than ten years ago, the military masters couldn't eat, and we are happy to give some. After all, they are guarding the Great Wall. If the creatures from the abyss cross over, the first ones to suffer are The people of our northern border."
"But...now that we don't have enough to eat, how can we give them food?"
The old man's old face was full of helplessness and indignation, "If we don't give it, they will rob, smash and burn. The young people in the village are not angry. Some of them were killed after they did it, and most of the food was robbed. Now they are tight Feed it to the children, I am afraid that within a few days, some people in the village will not be able to stand it."
Gu Lanting was listening, with a hint of anger in his eyes.
"Didn't you respond to the above?"
Lu Chen's voice was flat.
The old man let out a long puff of smoke and seemed to have calmed down a bit, "What's the use of responding, to the consul in this area? How dare he offend the defenders of the Great Wall? After all, we are just ordinary people, how can we talk to big shots?" fighting."
He sighed again and again, "Oh, old man, I'm fine. I've lived my life long enough. I only pity those young people who died and those children who didn't have enough to eat. Now it's just a matter of life."
"Is there no disaster relief in the empire?"
Lu Chen wondered, even though the empire in his previous life disappointed him with the final outcome of the war, it managed the country well, and when there was a famine, it would pay close attention to the people in the disaster area.
Mentioning this, the old man's expression was a little mocking, "Heh, in recent years, the food in the whole country has been insufficient, and the big shots in the capital are only concerned about themselves, so why do we care about the life and death of people in this remote place?"
After finishing speaking, he realized that his words were inappropriate, and the person in front of him seemed to be from the capital, "Young man, I didn't mean to target you."
But at this moment, he was no longer uneasy. After the initial shock, he calmed down and looked away. Anyway, according to this momentum, they will not live long, and they will starve to death sooner or later.
In the nearby barren forest, even the shadow of monsters can't be seen, even if there is slime, cut it into shreds and boil it in boiling water, it tastes like a vermicelli.
Now if I continue to be hungry like this, I can only gnaw on the bark.
Lu Chen shook his head lightly, indicating that he didn't care.
"Hey, I really miss the time when Duke Godzilla was still there. Back then, the Great Wall army was much more disciplined."
The old man was a little emotional, seeing the weird expressions of the two travelers around him for a moment, he explained: "You must have heard too many unreliable rumors, so you have such a big prejudice against the Duke of Godzilla, in fact, the Duke is not like Rumors are so bad."
Lu Chen asked with great interest: "I just came out of the house and rarely interacted with people. What do the rumors say?"
The old man was stunned for a moment, and looked at Lu Chen suspiciously, "You don't know how to fish, do you? Our village really has nothing to gain. Even if we have to convict us again, we will die."
"The old man misunderstood, I really haven't heard what you said."
Lu Chen shook his head. It seems that the atmosphere of the Keya Empire is not very good.
The old man thought for a while, and then said: "The northern border is actually better. I heard that rumors in the mainland are spreading wildly, saying that the Duke of Godzilla killed the guardian dragon of the mainland for the witch of the elves. The abyss instigated something."
Lu Chen felt weird, these people really dare to make up.
"Old man, I haven't seen anything in the market. They say that the elf princess is the medium for the recovery of the Lord of the Abyss, and that the Duke of Godzilla has secretly reached an agreement with the Abyss. I don't know if it is true. Don't make judgments."
The old man took a deep breath, but because it was only low-quality tobacco collected by himself, he choked on some and coughed a few times.
"Ahem... But old man, I still understand one thing. No matter what those people say, these are just speculations, aren't they? Besides the thing about the guardian dragon, Duke Godzilla didn't do anything to our continent of Aika. What a bad thing, for the humans of our Keya Empire, it is like a patron saint, guarding the border for many years."
The old man knocked on his cigarette stick, "The old man has short knowledge and can't tell whether the rumors are true or not, but the Duke has done so much for the human race, but they are all true. Taking a step back, the Duke is still alive." At that time, no army came out to loot the village."
Lu Chen didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He didn't have a sense of "substitution" for Duke Godzilla. It sounded like he was talking about someone else, but Gu Lanting held his head high and looked proud.
"So, old man, I am really sincere. Can the Lord Duke come back, regain control of the military, rectify the atmosphere of the army, defend the mainland against foreign enemies, and protect the dragon? He is not protecting our human race. I have never enjoyed his favor, old man. For a lifetime, the guards of the Great Wall in the north have always been our human race, and the Duke of Godzilla is the most reassuring."
People like to chatter when they get older, and the old man seems to be talking vigorously, and it is rare for a traveler from outside to stop talking for a while.
Seeing that the two young men are both qualified listeners, he also seemed to be pointing the country when he spoke at this time: "But, let me tell you, the old man, the Duke of Godzilla is really, for a woman, She's still an elf woman, so she got involved with the guardian dragon, and I don't know whether to say that she is a hero, a sad beauty, or a disregard for the overall situation."
Gu Lanting frowned, but Lu Chen smiled warmly, and even sat on the boulder with the old man, like a village chatter.
"The man protects the girl he loves. Isn't this a good story?"
Lu Chen asked with a smile.
"What's the matter? That's an elf woman. We don't talk about our hundreds of years of hatred, and I heard that the elf princess is indeed abnormal. Usually elves have light golden hair, but she is dark red, which makes people very uncomfortable." Is it hard to think of the abyss..."
Speaking of this, the old man seemed to realize that he had made a mistake, and waved his hand again: "Of course, I think Duke Godzilla definitely didn't join the enemy, but he might be fascinated by the elf woman. After all, I heard that the girl She's beautiful."
Lu Chen was thoughtful, it seems that the rumors about him in the mainland are very bad, and they are advanced layer by layer, and even the analysis is logical.
He knew that Eriyi's hair color was natural, but the original elf princess should also have this color. There may indeed be some problems in it. The guardian dragon is probably not crazy, so he should pay attention.
"what……"
The old man seemed to have thought of something, "Just thinking about it, it seems that Duke Godzilla has been in prison for 20 years, and this year should be the year he will be released from prison, but 20 years have passed, and things have changed."
"Is the old man not optimistic about Duke Godzilla's comeback?"
Lu Chen looked like he was asking for advice. He was off the battlefield in his previous life, and sometimes chatted with some village elders.
"Old man, of course I personally hope that the Duke can return to the peak of power, but that is impossible. Now almost the whole country knows that the faint king is very dissatisfied with the Duke and will not let the Duke regain power."
The old man is not optimistic about this matter, even though he admires the Duke of Godzilla, but now that all kinds of power have returned to the faint king, why do you fight?
And I heard that the Duke of Godzilla is very trustworthy and sticks to the legacy of the previous monarch. Even if that stupid king kills his brother, the Duke may not resist.
"Grandpa, let's eat!"
At this moment, a little girl's cry interrupted their conversation. Lu Chen turned around and saw a seven or eight-year-old girl with a shofar braid running towards them.
The little girl looked a little thin, her face and clothes were dirty, but her eyes were bright.
"Little Lika, grandpa is not hungry, you and mother go eat."
The old man smiled kindly and waved the little girl back.
The little girl was a little scared when she saw Lu Chen and Gu Lanting, but she still said timidly to her grandpa: "Mom said that grandpa will starve to death if he doesn't eat..."
Lu Chen also stood up with a smile, and he almost understood that the old man is just an ordinary person after all, so he just needs to listen to some words.
Hearing what the little girl said, the old man hesitated, but his granddaughter was very stubborn, so he decided to accompany little Lika home first, and then drink some water to pretend.
Opportunities still have to be reserved for young people, he has already lived enough.
He glanced at the two travelers, "Our Nikoli Village is very hospitable, but right now we don't have the conditions..."
It seems that after chatting for a long time, it is a bit unreasonable not to invite others to settle down. The old man thought for a while and said, "Why don't you... come to the old man's house and sit for a while?"
Lu Chen looked up at the crimson sky. It was estimated that it would be dark soon. It would be fine to stay in this village overnight, so he nodded and said, "Thank you for taking me in."
The old man held Lika's hand in front and said, "It's fine to stay, but don't even think about eating. At most, I'll give you a drink of water."
Lu Chen and Gu Lanting followed the old man to a dilapidated house on the other side of the village. The courtyard wall had collapsed, and only one house was intact.
At this moment in the courtyard, there was a pretty woman in her twenties, wearing coarse clothes, carrying several bowls of clear soup and walking towards the big stone in the courtyard, which should be the "dining table".
(End of this chapter)