With the arrival of Yuwen Sheng's army to provide support, the nomadic barbarians instantly lost their previous arrogance, and this small-scale invasion was quickly quelled.
However, the losses caused by this are incalculable.
How can you estimate the value of human lives?
Zheng Quchi was cautious, scouting the area as he went, and groping his way back the way he came, fearing that a barbarian might jump out from the bushes or crevices in the rocks.
My heart was filled with unease when I saw the artisans who had been shot to death along the way, especially near the quarry, where the scene was like a bloodbath.
Some of them were people she knew, people she had chatted with, and people she had lived in the same shanty with. Others were people she didn't know, but she would occasionally brush past them. Their faces were frozen with the fear of death as they lay on the ground, their blood flowing down the hillside gullies.
Even though it's bright daytime, it feels like standing in an extremely cold and damp place, chilling you to the bone.
There was a strange sense of melancholy and absurdity. In such a short period of time, she seemed to have become accustomed to the foul, rusty smell, no longer feeling nauseous as she had at the beginning.
Her experiences during this period have been more dramatic, thrilling, and complex than the sum of her previous twenty-odd years.
Dan Bian tiptoed back from who-knows-where. He looked around in surprise, then rushed to Zheng Quchi and asked with concern, "Chizi, are you alright?"
The situation had been so chaotic and tense that Zheng Quchi had completely forgotten about him, and he himself had no idea where he had gone at the crucial moment.
She glanced at him; he was neat and clean, not like someone who had escaped a disaster.
A sudden doubt flashed through her mind, but having learned some cunning from these people, she remained calm and shook her head.
"I wasn't hurt; Qiu saved me."
Upon hearing this, Shan Bian believed it immediately. He exhaled and frowned, saying, "I didn't expect these barbarians to send people to probe so quickly. I just saw that the city wall on Guixu Ridge has been completely burned down. It seems that Yuwen Sheng will speed up the construction of the city wall so that he can deploy troops to defend Guixu Ridge."
City walls?
Zheng Quchi pondered, seemingly talking to himself, "Tell me, if the walls of Guixu Ridge had been strong enough to withstand the barbarian cavalry and arrows, wouldn't this disaster have been avoided?"
Dan Bian, lacking any sense of morality, said, "If they hadn't known that the city walls on Guixu Ridge were destroyed, why would these barbarians have come to test us? But given the state of Ye, it's bound to fall sooner or later."
"Why couldn't it hold on?" She suddenly looked at him, her brown eyes reflecting the sunlight, as if filled with light, shimmering and breathtaking: "I think it could hold on."
She shook him off and hurried up the mountain. She looked at the ruins of the city wall, the flames climbing up the wall and billowing thick smoke. This part had been burned and collapsed, and the remaining section looked like a crooked earthworm crawling among the brown soil and lush trees of the mountain.
Due to the undulating terrain, it has suffered severe subsidence and sinking; she even saw a section that was tilted to the point of near collapse.
She made a rough estimate of the potential problems.
One reason is that the foundation is not stable enough.
Insufficient strength is the second issue.
The third reason is the inability to adapt to changing circumstances...
Based on her guess, she went to the vicinity of the city wall to conduct an on-site investigation and inspection.
Although the wall surface was built with stone blocks or bricks, it was obviously unsuitable in some areas. Their workmanship was not rigorous enough, and the gaps were not tight enough. She had seen grass roots and tree roots growing in the gaps, which could easily cause the wall to loosen and collapse.
She continued to inspect the sections, noting that some flat areas could be built with stone bricks, while others were inconvenient for various reasons and could be replaced with a different type of wall.
Fuxian County has historically been arid and receives little rainfall. In fact, a more suitable wall structure could be used to expedite the project, such as rammed earth construction or a combination of earth and stone bricks. During ramming, the ramming joints are interlocked, resulting in a dense and compacted wall that absorbs more soil and is less prone to collapse.
It would be a big mistake to rely on only one material or process; adapting to local conditions is the most suitable approach.
Zheng Quchi had a general idea in mind. Today she was just here to get a general idea of the site. If she wanted to implement the project in detail, there were too many things to prepare.
When she returned to the shantytown, she saw the county magistrate, who had returned to the county to recuperate, arrive at Guixu Ridge. He was wiping away sweat with a look of panic and anxiety, followed by a group of soldiers and garrison troops waiting at the entrance.
A short while later, a fierce and elite cavalry force arrived on horseback, their banners fluttering and their thunderous power overwhelming.
The arriving army had a completely different aura from the county magistrate's side. The later-arriving army was well-trained, and they lined up neatly in a row. Their black armor robes gleamed with a dark, iron-blue hue under the cold white light, which was quite shocking.
Looking at the distinctive embroidered star pattern on the banner, it turned out to be the Seven Constellations Army under Yuwen Sheng's command.
The two groups of people met, and the county magistrate immediately stepped forward and gave a deep salute to the Azure Dragon Commander of the Seven Constellations Army. The two sides then began to negotiate about the barbarian's surprise attack and invasion.
Yuwen Sheng didn't come. Where did he go?
Zheng Quchi subconsciously searched for his trace in the army.
She wanted to see him, but after waiting for a long time, he never appeared at Guixu Ridge.
I recall Wei Yao saying something like, "With the general here, none of these animals will escape."
He wouldn't be going there himself with a sword..., would he?
The thought of those nomadic barbarians made her clench her teeth, but looking at her fingers, which were still trembling slightly after so long, she knew she was still afraid.
These barbarians are tall and strong, one of them being twice her size. They are brutal and savage, and show no humanity towards outsiders, carrying out genocidal massacres on anyone they catch.
But thinking of Yuwen Sheng, he seemed even more ruthless and vicious than these people. Indeed, evil people always have their own evil counterparts to punish them. Those of them who had suffered all kinds of humiliation and slaughter at the hands of the barbarians could only rely on him for revenge.
Having experienced it firsthand, she now truly understands what Yuwen Sheng means to the Kingdom of Ye.
It is a sense of security in times of crisis, a confidence that there is always a way out, and an ever-burning flame in the face of despair.
Thinking about it this way, some of her previous bad impressions of him seemed to dissipate, and she didn't find him so scary anymore.
Well? !
As Zheng Quchi inadvertently looked up, a blood-red light obscured the sun. Towering mountains stood majestically, with sheer cliffs and a chilling, icy atmosphere. She saw a troop of black-armored cavalry gradually emerging from a narrow mountain path, as if they had just returned from a hell of decaying bones.
The leader, in particular, wore a demon mask and was covered in scarlet blood. He resembled both a valiant Asura and the King of Hell, who decides life and death.
In the stillness, she swallowed.
No, he's still just as terrifying, especially now. He probably just finished killing his enemies, and his lingering murderous aura makes him even more frightening.
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