Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

Chapter 157: War 4

After hearing Xiao's words, Meng Liyun fell silent.

She didn't know what to say.

It seems that Xiao has always been like this, but it also seems to have changed a little.

If he really felt that there was no need to save people, as he said, why did he bring the useless young girl along for so long? Why did he use his body to block the arrow when it flew towards him? Why...

If she recalled carefully, Meng Liyun found that many things were different from what he said. He had obviously saved others and saved herself, so why did he say such cold words?

But if you think about it again, there seems to be nothing wrong with what he said.

Since the reunion, he really paid attention to other people's choices. He never forced others to make a choice, nor did he worry about other people's choices. Whenever others made a decision, he would not interfere. Before, she just thought that he respected other people's choices, but now she thought that he might just be indifferent.

Meng Liyun lowered her eyes and said nothing more.

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Xiao turned his head and said nothing more.

This short episode did not seem to affect the relationship between the two. Meng Liyun was silent for only half a day before she regained her energy.

But the good times did not last long. Within a few months, they encountered a group of refugees on a slightly flat dirt road.

They said it was because of the war.

A rebellion broke out on the edge of the city where we were originally located, and everything changed almost overnight.

Large-scale conscription began in the area where they were located, and almost all young men were drafted into the army and forced to rebel.

They had taken advantage of the chaos at night to crawl out from a cave beside the city wall. After days of fleeing, several of them had already died.

Meng Liyun looked at the dusty, pale and skinny kids in the team, hesitated for a moment, and gave them the two fish left over from hunting in her backpack.

"What was the rebellion about?" Meng Liyun asked.

The people around the child almost glued their eyes to the two fish. When they heard Meng Liyun's question, they answered.

"It seems that it's because of the people above... They said it was the royal family. What party or what... fighting is going on among them? We don't really know. Anyway, a big war is about to break out."

A prophecy.

Soon, news of wars spread from all over the country, and even the two who had lived in the mountains for many years were involved. Xiao was almost captured and forced to serve as a soldier.

After asking around, they finally understood the cause of the war.

The emperor was obsessed with cultivating immortals, and spent a large sum of money to hire a monk, wanting him to teach him the art of longevity. After the monk contacted the sect, he agreed.

The emperor did have some talent. Within a few months he had mastered the basics and was able to use some magic.

Seeing that the emperor's spirit had indeed improved and such a miraculous thing had happened, the royal relatives and powerful officials also started to think about recruiting monks, either openly or secretly.

When various forces were obsessed with cultivating immortals, they had no time to care about state affairs, because it took a lot of money to invite those immortal gates. As a result, taxes increased, problems in various places were not solved, the economy was depressed, and people were living in misery... Some people began to think of rebellion.

Then he secretly organized an army of 100 people, including monks, and took advantage of the fact that the others were still obsessed with cultivating immortals to give them an unexpected slap in the face.

Originally, the rebels wanted to fight a quick war, occupy as many city-states as possible and expand their own power before other forces could react.

Although at the beginning it was just as he expected, and he captured dozens of cities in succession, various independent cultivators who were dissatisfied with the high-ranking officials and generous salaries in the court also responded.

However, those high-ranking officials did not want to give up their territories so easily, and they began to fight against them. In addition, there were some high-ranking officials who secretly supported monks. Several forces soon became entangled, and it was difficult to tell who was superior for a while.

Meng Liyun wanted to hide in the mountains, but if she was not careful, she might hide in a war zone or in the same place as an army that was about to go to war, and eventually be dragged into the war.

When the generals used strategies to attack the enemy, they did not think about how many innocent lives would die in the mountains.

The horse that had accompanied Meng Liyun and her husband for several years was also chopped to death and eaten during the war. Although it was more convenient for them to move around without the carriage, Meng Liyun couldn't help feeling sorry for the horse every time she thought of it.

Meng Liyun looked at the burning canyon and the wild beasts fleeing in the forest, feeling mixed emotions.

Because one side deliberately set the fire, the monks of the other side kept exploding each other in mid-air. Some wanted to use talismans to put out the fire, but were stopped by the other side. The remaining fragments were just a drop in the bucket. The ordinary soldiers who didn't know how to cast spells could only find a way to survive in the burning forest.

Meng Liyun wiped the dust off her face, sat on a rock, and suddenly felt a little sad.

"Can't we stop them?" Meng Liyun bent over, unable to tell whether she was sad or something else.

"How to stop it?" Xiao glanced at her, then looked at the dry stream next to him, and suddenly frowned.

"Are we just going to watch them burn like this?" Meng Liyun felt a little reluctant as she watched the originally lush green forest being burned into such dark red colors.

"They are fighting because of the struggle for power, which is caused by the incompetence of those in power." Xiao licked his cracked lips and said, "Even if we can stop them for a while, they will still fight in the end, and they may even be more brutal than they are now."

Hearing this, Meng Liyun lowered her head and followed Xiao's gaze to look at the exposed riverbed. Suddenly, she felt something was wrong.

"This... the stream shouldn't have so little water, right?" Meng Liyun suddenly stood up, her eyes widened as she thought of something, and she looked at Xiao with a bad look.

"Get out of here quickly."

Xiao said as he pulled her towards the surrounding mountains.

This place is right between several high mountains. The stream spreads from the mountains to the bottom and then extends outward. Now the water flow has obviously decreased. It is very likely that the surrounding streams have been blocked. If this is the case...

Before Meng Liyun could think about it, she saw the fire on the mountain suddenly go out. Instead, thick black smoke continued to pour out from top to bottom, and there were sounds in the forest. An ominous premonition spread in her heart.

That ominous feeling finally came true.

Meng Liyun watched the water gushing out of the forest. Almost instantly, the water submerged her, submerging her whole body in the water and washing her away.

In the process of rushing, Meng Liyun hit several trees and was almost knocked unconscious. She held her breath and just when she was about to lose consciousness, she was finally firmly grabbed by a hand.

"never mind."

Meng Liyun's eyes turned pale. When she heard a familiar voice in her ear, she couldn't help but take a deep breath and gasped violently.

Oh no, I almost died there...

Meng Liyun felt a little scared when she thought about it. Suddenly she realized something. She looked around and found herself on the edge of a cliff. Behind her was the battlefield where she was just now.

"This..." Meng Liyun looked at Xiao.

The owl was soaked all over, as if it had been washed all over from head to toe.

"They ran out." Xiao's face looked a little ugly. He glanced at the valley again, his eyes becoming more gloomy. "They are going to flood this place with water."

Meng Liyun also felt it without Xiao saying much.

Without saying anything more, Meng Liyun looked at the valley gloomily. Seeing the extinguished flames and the black smoke, she couldn't help but grit her teeth.

The thick black rock smoke rose upwards, dyeing the sky a deep ink color.

Dark clouds covered the sky and a strong wind suddenly came.

Seeing the corpse vaguely floating in the forest, Meng Liyun pursed her lips.

"Let's go." Xiao said, turning around, "The army will be here soon."

Meng Liyun didn't say anything and just nodded.

……

The war raged, smoke rose, artillery fire roared, and corpses were everywhere.

Looking at the rotting corpse on the road, wild dogs not far away were eating a child who looked only five years old.

The child's head was torn off by the wild dogs, and his chest was bitten open. The scarlet blood stained the slightly long noses of the dogs, which was particularly glaring.

"...Really, there is no other way?" Meng Liyun couldn't tell how she felt, she just felt a blockage in her heart.

"I didn't." Xiao obviously also saw this scene, his eyes remained indifferent. He looked at the numb crowd around him and closed his eyes.

"Why hasn't this war ended yet?" Meng Liyun sighed and lowered her eyes.

"..."

Xiao didn't answer her, and she didn't need an answer.

The corpses piled up like grass and trees smell foul, and the blood flowed like red in the river.

The bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no cock crowing for thousands of miles.

The war cannot be changed, even though the source is because of those in power, but simply killing them all will not change anything.

She couldn't stop the war, and she had no power to stop it.

The bloody war involved almost everyone who could be involved. The flames of war raged across the land, the people were displaced, and the wild animals in the mountains were almost extinct. There was no paradise anywhere.

Meng Liyun followed a group of refugees, rushing on the road. Because of the war, the crops were gone, food was in short supply, and the people were starving. They started by eating wild trees, and later sold their children and daughters, and even exchanged their own children for cannibalism. In the end, they could not find a place to buy and sell, so they had to eat the finer soil on the ground to fill their stomachs.

However, because it could not be digested, abdominal distension soon occurred and the person died.

Those skinny people looked at the corpses without feeling much sadness. Instead, their eyes glowed green as they stared blankly.

Listening to the sounds of others sharing food, Meng Liyun covered her eyes and sat aside dejectedly, feeling depressed and uneasy.

"Obviously, this is not a famine year." Sensing the arrival of Xiao, Meng Liyun murmured, her dry lips slightly opened, her voice weak, "How long...will it take for it to end?"

"If it's shortest, it'll be a few years; if it's long, it could be even a hundred years." Xiao patted her shoulder, as if to comfort her.

"...I miss my parents." Meng Liyun suddenly started crying, "I wonder how they are doing..."

"I heard you say before that they are very powerful." Xiao touched her head, "They will survive."

Of course Meng Liyun could tell that this was Xiao's consolation. The corners of her mouth twitched uncontrollably. She couldn't help but turn around and hug his legs, burying her head in his waist and abdomen, and burst into tears.

Xiao did not push her away. Instead, he gently touched the back of her head and patted her back soothingly.

……

Finally, they followed this group of refugees to the so-called imperial capital.

As soon as he arrived at the city gate, he was stopped by soldiers.

Meng Liyun's eyes were dark from hunger and her reactions were much slower. Feeling the crowd in front of her, she slowly raised her head and looked at the soldiers on the city wall.

The city gate was closed, and the officers and soldiers on the city wall were looking at them and whispering about something.

Xiao glanced at her and pulled her hand. Before she could react to what was happening, they were already in the city in a flash.

Meng Liyun blinked and looked at Xiao.

"Wait here." Xiao didn't say much, left this sentence and disappeared.

In fact, even if he didn't say it, Meng Liyun wouldn't run around.

She didn't have much strength left.

Meng Liyun thought about it and sat down.

Xiao brought her to a corner of the city. She didn't know where it was and didn't have the energy to think about it. She just sat down against the wall behind her.

Just when she was about to fall asleep, she heard a noise in her ears. She opened her eyes and found that several tall and thin people were surrounding her. She didn't know what they were trying to do.

Meng Liyun frowned, put her hands behind her waist, and stared at them.

"A refugee who sneaked in?"

"It looks like either a beggar or something."

"Isn't the city gate closed?"

"Then he should be a beggar, right?"

These men were talking about her. She was wearing sackcloth clothes, their eyes wandering all over her body, they were frivolous and rude, they must be the hooligans in the neighborhood.

Seeing that Meng Liyun didn't say anything, one of them suddenly stepped forward and reached out to pinch her chin, but she dodged.

"Oh, you have quite a hot temper." The man raised his eyebrows and teased.

Meng Liyun stared at them gloomily, gripping the scimitar tightly behind her and pressing her back against the wall.

"You look very hungry, right?"

"Give us a treat and I'll cover your food for a month, how about that?"

"One meal is not enough? It will take at least several months——"

"Get out." Meng Liyun's eyes became more and more ferocious, her whole body tensed up, staring at the few people closely.

"Hey, don't be shameless!"

The man said this and wanted to take action.

Meng Liyun dodged sideways and waved her arm. A white light flashed and blood plasma appeared.

The man who stretched out his hand didn't know what was happening before he saw the blood spurting out and dyeing the whole world red. Then he fell to the ground, lifeless.

There was silence for a moment, and the atmosphere changed.

Meng Liyun stared at them. Seeing their companions dead, the remaining ones began to panic, staring at her in doubt, their legs began to tremble, and when they met her gaze, they finally couldn't help but run away.

Meng Liyun panted and looked at the man at her feet. She was afraid that the men would come back, so she searched the man's body for valuables and wanted to leave. But after taking a few steps, she ran into Xiao who had returned.

"Why do you want to run around again?" When Xiao saw her like this, he grabbed her wrist and said in surprise.

Before Meng Liyun had the chance to explain, Xiao stuffed a few crisp pears into her hands.

Meng Liyun didn't even bother to explain and just lowered her head and started chewing.

When she lowered her head to chew, Xiao glanced around, saw the corpse on the ground, understood something, and pulled her away.

Meng Liyun followed him obediently, chewing as she walked. Halfway through chewing, she thought of something and held out her hand to him: "You eat."

"I've eaten." Xiao glanced at her and stuffed another steamed bun into her hand.

Meng Liyun stuffed the pear core into her stomach, took the steamed bun, said thank you and started eating.

Xiao took her and hid in various places in the city during the day, and at night he took her to the mansions of nobles and royal families to find food.

Looking at the various delicacies left in the kitchen, Meng Liyun's eyes widened.

Even before the war began, she had never seen such luxurious food.

After stealing the food, the two sat on the roof and ate slowly. Meng Liyun looked at the exquisite pastries, thinking about what she had seen on the road, and suddenly lost her appetite.

“…Why?”

Meng Liyun's nonsensical words made Xiao look over.

Xiao didn't say anything and patted her on the shoulder.

The refugees outside the city have not been allowed in yet. I heard from people on the road that it seems that they still want to wipe out the victims.

Meng Liyun suddenly felt so ironic.

Meng Liyun looked at Xiao, who seemed to have little presence beside her, thought of something, and shook her head with the corner of her mouth.

She suddenly understood what the god on Xiong'er Mountain had said to her late at night many years ago.