Chapter 1141: “Flames of War Rise (6)”
The city that they had just come out from not long ago, was suddenly blown up into smithereens right before their eyes. The flames surged towards the sky, painting the dim horizon in a red glow!
The city was gone…..
In a blink, it had turned into ruins, a scene of fire and destruction as the earth shattering explosion greatly startling their hearts.
A noisy clatter suddenly sounded from among the group of refugees.
A large wicker basket placed upon a horse had suddenly fallen to the ground, and from the basket, a heap of blood stained metal badges had fallen out in a loud clatter.
Mu Chen’s eyes stared very hard at the badges and he almost seemed to dash over in a hurry to fall to the ground next to the heap of metal, wiping the blood stains off the badges with his trembling hands.
[The Rui Lin Army, must have…..]
Mu Chen suddenly felt like a lightning bolt had hit him!
Upon the neck of every single Rui Lin Army soldier, hung a name tag just like these. When they died on battlefield and it was difficult to retrieve their bodies, their name tags would then be brought back to their hometowns to be handed over to their families.
Mu Chen had never once thought that the soldiers guarding the city to the death would actually be men from the Rui Lin Army!
Blood and mud had covered the armour they were wearing which did not allow people to see which army they had been from.
Having freed the warhorses, they had already fully intended to die together with the enemy and with the destruction of the city!
They knew that they would no longer be able to return to their home soil in glory and they had taken the name tags from everyone to place upon one of the horses that was leaving the city, hoping that the name tags that carried their last will would have a chance to be delivered into the hands of their family members.
“Argh! ! !” Mu Chen knelt on the ground and screamed with his head tilted back facing into the sky, as hot tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes.
He had promised Jun Xie that he would support the Rui Lin Army well. Although he had usually not interacted much with the Rui Lin Army, but everything he had done in this period had been to strengthen them. And today, he had not even known that the men who had shared the same battlefield with him were men from that very ferocious fighting unit!
At that moment, everyone was silent. After seeing the pile of name tags, they all understood that the Rui Lin Army soldiers within the city had expended their own lives to gain them time for their escape. They had used their own blood and even their lives to write the Rui Lin Army an immortal song of praise!
“Master…..” Those disciples who had scolded the soldiers for being heartless and unfeeling just before they left now had their heads hanging down in shame.
The soldiers’ rude and brash demeanour had exactly been because of the high regard they had for Mu Chen, as they knew that there would only be death for anyone who remained in the city, and hence, they had said such hurtful words to chase Mu Chen out of the city.
A light drizzle then fell from the sky, to splatter upon the land, turning everyone’s clothes wet. The icy cold rain had in an instant, turned into a heavy downpour, the drops of rain splashing upon the name tags, drumming out clear sounding clinks, washing off the blood and mud off little by little.
Mu Chen lowered his head and carefully picked up those name tags to put them all back into the basket. He then placed the basket upon the horse and lifted his head, looking into the rain soaked path ahead of them.
“Let’s go! We cannot let their sacrifice be in vain!”
Their hearts feeling as if it had been cut by a knife, they could not afford to stop themselves from continuing to go forward. They needed to live, to carry on the will of the Rui Lin Army soldiers who had remained behind in that city, to bring back the name tags imbued with their brave souls and strong will, to be delivered into the hands of their family!
Under the heavy downpour, the group that had stopped picked themselves up again, moving forward as the icy cold rain washed over them, but failing to wash away the sadness and pain in their hearts. The path beneath their feet was muddy and treacherous, but the unforgettable memory of the Rui Lin Army soldiers in the city, remained in their hearts as the eternal protectors of the Qi Kingdom!