Chapter 1145: “A Soldier’s Spirit Lives On (2)”

At that time, the generals who served directly under Duke Lin, Jun Xian, were all men of extraordinary ferocity. But after the kingdom was established, the reigning Emperor seeked to weaken the Rui Lin Army’s power and influence and he forced several generals who carried out outstanding military exploits to step down from their positions, stripping them of their military ranks, to serve as Lords of the City in several small cities in the hinterlands.

A group of generals who had been peerlessly fierce and powerful on the battlefield had had no other choice but to leave the army they had pledged their undying loyalty to because of the jealousy and suspicions of the Emperor, shedding their armour and blades, to go to a tiny city to administer over trivial matters.

And against all those repressive arrangements, no one from the Rui Lin Army said a single word in disparagement. They withdrew from the army cleanly, without a single word of grumbling heard from them.

And Long Zhan who stood before the Lord of the City now, was one of those highly ferocious generals who had been coerced to leave the Rui Lin Army!

And he was also the current Rui Lin Army’s High General, Long Qi’s father!

“Senior General Long Zhan! Why are you….. Why are you…..” The Lord of the City was suddenly at a loss for words. All those generals who had been forced to withdraw then were assigned to faraway poor and barren cities. The city Long Zhan had been in was nowhere close to this place and even though Long Zhan was already so advanced in age, he had still gone on to *cloak himself in stars and wore the moon to dash here speedily through the night.

[*Translator Note from Cloud: (Chinese idiom) I assume it means – carried out through the night tirelessly]

“Although I am no longer a soldier of the Rui Ling Army, but these old bones were shaped and formed under the pummeling from the Rui Lin Army. In the current crisis of war, how could this old bag of bones just sit back and do nothing? This city sits upon the route one must take to get to the Imperial City and the Condor Country will need to pass here to lay siege to the Imperial Palace. Although I and my men are already into our withering years, but giving everything this old bag of bones has, I will still be able to buy us some time.” Long Zhan said, strongly determined.

The Lord of the City was still in shock, but he suddenly realized that Long Zhan had come to appear here because the Rui Lin Army’s spirit still lived deep within his heart. Even though he had left the Rui Lin Army, but the loyalty the Rui Lin Army had branded right into his soul would never be eradicated!

“General Long! Please accept a bow of respect from my humble self!” The Lord of the City immediately knelt, his eyes suddenly red as he lifted his head to look at Long Zhan and said: “I am willing to stand with General Long, to resist the Condor Country’s army!”

Long Zhan guffawed out loud. “Great! As expected of a man from our Qi Kingdom!”

The Lord of the City got up and immediately issued the order for everyone to leave the city after evacuating all the citizens, as this place would soon turn to become the lowest depths of Hell.

However…..

Among all of the city’s soldiers, not a single one shifted a step, as they continued to stand firm to guard their respective positions.

“The country must never fall. We are willing to die and live together with the Qi Kingdom! If with my blood and flesh, I am able to gain some time for His Majesty, that would be an honour!” The soldiers were strongly determined. Some among them had even just completed their coming of age ceremony and their faces were still slightly tinged with the green of youth.

[But when the country is broken, their home will be gone. When the country is faced with such a crisis, they must not allow themselves to even think of running to live ignobly.]

[Only when the country stands, one has a home!]

If the Qi Kingdom falls, then they will be no different from the homeless ghosts and drifting souls!

“Good! Good! All men of great calibre!” Long Zhan swept his gaze around to look at the hot blooded young men with tears in his old and wizened eyes, feeling as if he had returned to the past all the way where it had all begun, when he and his brothers had established the Rui Lin Army together with Jun Xian.

That same belief, supported and braced them as they climbed out from merciless battles one after another, their very own comrades who had lost their lives, pushing them forward to never take a single step backwards!

“Everyone hear my order! Defend the city with your very lives! We hold till the last breath, however long we can! We need to buy more time for our brothers within the Imperial City!” Long Zhan called out loudly, his trusty sword sealed under years of dust, finally unsheathed once more!

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