Chapter 682: Going South
After Aetius left, Valentinian, at the instigation of Maximus, began to hold a large banquet and prayed to God, asking him to let Attila know how unforgivable it would be if he set foot on Roman soil.
While the whole of Ravenna was still wondering why the officers' families had to move south, the sudden carnival completely captured the attention of all the citizens of Ravenna.
After all, empty speculation is not as attractive as the real bread in front of people. The citizens of Ravenna were immersed in the carnival, so they put aside the doubts about Aetius and the nobles' departure.
After all, as Augustus, Valentinian had no other abilities, but he was famous for his generosity at banquets. He was not stingy with the fine wine and meat in his warehouse, and he would satisfy everyone's requirements, whether they were nobles or commoners.
He wanted nothing else but to stand on a high platform and hear the citizens shouting his name while holding up bread and barbecue.
"Valentinian! Valentinian!"
Valentinian raised the wine glass in his hand and looked at the cheering crowd below. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth to laugh wildly.
"What a wonderful feeling! This is conquest. I conquered the hearts of the citizens of Ravenna with bread and wine. This is far better than those guys wielding weapons." Valentinian praised himself shamelessly. Behind him, Maximus and other courtiers praised Valentinian again and again.
What a wonderful feeling! Valentinian himself couldn't help but revel in it, "Isn't this what an Augustus should be like!" Valentinian sighed to himself, he opened his arms and looked up at the dark sky, where the stars kept twinkling.
Valentinian couldn't help but say, "Look, the whole world is at my feet. Look, both in heaven and on earth, they are calling my name over and over again. I am great, I am supreme rule and glory. I am Augustus, the legitimate ruler of the Roman world. I am immortal!"
Valentinian boasted, holding up the half-empty wine jug in his hand and laughing wildly at the citizens below who were shouting his name.
The senators behind him kept nodding in agreement. The table in front of each of them was filled with all kinds of delicacies. They ate with relish, making a mess of the table.
It was hard not to suspect that they were nodding their heads simply to admire the deliciousness of the food and that they didn't take Valentinian's words to heart at all.
Of course, Valentinian did not need their approval. He himself was already deeply intoxicated in infinite fantasy. Listening to the endless cheers from below, his smile looked ferocious and violent.
Not far away, Maximus was holding a wine glass, his right hand gently shaking the silver wine glass, looking at Valentinian's back, with a meaningful smile on his face.
At the frontline outpost in the Lower Pannonia province, as night fell, there was silence all around. The soldiers who had been relieved from their shifts sat in the carriages, and the old horses pulled the carriages forward slowly. The exhausted soldiers on the carriages finally got their rest time.
The sentry post not far away was getting farther and farther away, and the faint light from the lit torches was gradually fading away.
"I can finally have a good sleep." The old soldier lying in the car stretched and looked up at the stars above his head.
"Oh my God, when will this monotonous and boring life end?" The old soldier sighed, but even though he was complaining, he was just complaining. After all, apart from the stable source of income from this job, he had no land to farm, no wife, and no children. He didn't even know what would happen to him when his rough and old hands could no longer hold a weapon.
"Oh God, please put an end to this!"
The old soldier sighed and closed his eyes. This sigh sounded more like a longing for something to end this purgatory-like life.
What exactly is hell? Some people say that living is struggling in hell, some people say that if you do bad things, you deserve to go to hell, and freedom is heaven.
The real hell is to face a life like a stagnant water with surging ambitions.
He is like a fish lying in stagnant water. Staying in the water is painful, but if he jumps out of the water, he will die.
Next to him sat a young boy, young enough to be his son, the youngest one.
The boy's eyes were full of intelligence and vitality, which reminded the old soldier of his past self. He even felt a little regretful. If he could have followed Constantius, he would have become an officer of some importance. However, one only gets one chance to choose in life. He could only sigh that things in the world are impermanent and feel sad that this new kid was about to follow him on this road of no return.
"Look, what's going on there?"
Before the old soldier could lament his tragic fate, the soldier pointed to the rear and exclaimed. The old soldier came to his senses and hurriedly looked up at his feet. There, right there, the watchtower was burning with a raging fire for some unknown reason. The entire watchtower was on fire, like a huge torch, burning with flames.
"What's going on? What happened?"
Seeing this scene, the doubtful old soldier was suddenly awakened. He sat up quickly, his eyes full of flames jumping like flames. Years of experience told him that this matter was no trivial matter.
"What's going on? Do you want to go back and check the situation?" the young soldier asked, his voice trembling with unknown fear.
"No, we can't go back." The old soldier said, turning back and patting the groom's shoulder and shouting: "Quick, speed up, speed up!"
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"Oh, God, what happened?" complained the unaware groom.
"Don't worry about it, damn it, if it's any later, we might be doomed!" The veteran yelled, and his attitude didn't seem like he was lying.
In this situation, the coachman was a little panicked. He waved the whip at the old horse, trying to make it speed up, but the old horse was too old. It was already its limit to be able to pull the carriage. How could such an old body withstand any more blows?
No matter how the groom whipped the old horse, its progress became slower and slower. Suddenly, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came from the darkness behind him.
“Damn it!”
The old soldier turned around again and saw countless torches swaying like starlight, and then gathered into a torrent and rushed towards them.
"It's too late! It's too late!"
The old soldier shouted and jumped off the carriage, but the moment he landed he felt a heavy punch on his back. The impact made his whole body lean forward, followed by severe pain. He turned around and saw a black arrow stuck in his back.
Ignoring the pain, he took a step forward, leaving the driver and the recruits behind, and ran towards the grass on the left side of the road. However, every step he took was accompanied by severe pain. Eventually, his steps became heavier and his breathing became rapid. Finally, his legs went soft, his eyes went dark, and he fell to the grass.
(End of this chapter)