Chapter 499: World Border Journey (13)

Nearing noon that day, everyone successfully checked into an inn in the town. It was not a large inn, but for everyone who had been trekking in the desert for 12 days, having a place to temporarily shelter from the wind and rain and wash off the dust was a rare opportunity.

As for lunch, it was as lively as ever. The heroes who had been eating demon meat for more than ten days were like hungry ghosts when they saw a table of home-cooked food. After sitting down, they started to eat without caring about their image. They could almost be described as wolfing down. Hua Mulan's occasional food grabbing behavior frequently attracted the roar of protest from Baili Shouyue, who was already protecting his food. Shen Mengxi, who was "following the example", also took the opportunity to start to attack Baili Xuance's food, which directly made the young and energetic little wolf dog instantly explode. He backhanded a bowl on Shen Mengxi's little head. Soon, the table was in chaos and the bowls and chopsticks flew everywhere.
At the huge dining table, only a few soldiers seemed unhappy. They had searched the city today, but unfortunately they could not find any clues about their families.

Wang Yao glanced at the frustrated expressions on the soldiers' faces and ignored the noise. He ate his meal slowly and said calmly, "The reason why a goal is a goal is because it is not easy to achieve. At least you have successfully taken the first step today, right?"

After hearing this, the soldiers' depressed mood improved a little. That's right, how could everything go smoothly from the beginning? At least today has a good start!

Thinking of this, Ling Jingsi took the initiative to raise the teacup in front of her and toasted it to Wang Yao. She pursed her rosy lips, looked deeply at the serious man beside her and said with a smile: "Master Wang Yao, can I toast you with tea instead of wine? If you were not here today, we would not have the capital to negotiate with the other party, let alone enter this town. This is all thanks to you."

In fact, if Wang Yao had not accompanied them on this trip, the journey of Ling Jingsi and others would never have been so easy; now the situation in the desert is extremely tense, with various major forces involved. Amid the separatist conflicts, almost every place will resist and be hostile to all outsiders. After all, no one knows whether there will be enemy heroes with ulterior motives who have mixed in.

In this situation, it was impossible to even enter the city, let alone get information. The only way was to either defeat the enemy or take a detour, as we did today.

"In that case, what should we do with the captured cities?" At this time, Leah suddenly asked in a low voice.

This is a question worth pondering
Wang Yao picked up the teacup, clinked it with Ling Jingsi's symbolically, then drank the fragrant tea and fell into deep thought.

Ling Feng said excitedly: "Of course, he will be under the command of Lord Wang Yao!"

The other two soldiers, the Zhang brothers, also echoed in agreement: "That's right! If things continue like this, maybe Lord Wang Yao will soon become the new generation of the Desert King! Hehe, then we can also benefit from it."

笃.
Wang Yao gently put down the teacup, attracted the attention of the soldiers, and then said meaningfully: "We are not attacking the city, and this is not what we are doing now. Remember, we are fighting to find your lost family members. No matter where you go in the future, don't forget this original intention."

Wang Yao didn't make his words too clear.

But he knew very well that a team without beliefs would have no fighting power. Conversely, if a team fights purely for its own desires, although it has a certain fighting power, it will often collapse the fastest when facing a stronger enemy. Only when the beliefs they uphold outweigh their own lives can such a team be invincible.

Staying alive and finding the most important family is undoubtedly a good belief, because it can make people burst out with unimaginable strength and perseverance at a certain moment of life and death, which is beneficial to increase the soldiers' chances of survival on the battlefield.

This dinner took three hours and cost a whopping 3 gold coins.

Faced with the mountain of dishes on the table, the person who was ultimately responsible for paying the bill was Hua Mulan, who was unanimously believed to have eaten the most. This made the originally happy woman depressed on the spot, because her monthly salary was only 6 gold coins, and this meal almost consumed her entire 2 months' salary.

"Why do I have to pay the bill alone? You guys should have a share too, right?!" A woman in front of the counter shouted in extreme dissatisfaction.

Everyone ignored him and went up to the accommodation room on the second floor as if they had all gone deaf.

At night, in the simple but warm guest room, the candlelight flickered. Wang Yao sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed, as if waiting for someone.
After a while, there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Master Wang Yao, I'm coming in."

Ling Jingsi opened the door and walked in. Her long hair was wet and hung down to her waist. She seemed to have just finished bathing, and she was faintly emitting a fragrance like the fragrance of flowers. But it was worth noting that she was wearing a resurrection armor under her robe, which was obviously not the outfit for getting ready for bed after bathing.

Before Ling Jingsi could speak, Wang Yao said, "Did the guards in the city come to visit us?"

This is actually the reason why Ling Jingsi is wearing the resurrection armor.

The woman was still a little confused and could only reply blankly: "Huh? Why do you know?"

Wang Yao did not answer, but just took her downstairs.

After going downstairs, as expected, just as Wang Yao had expected, the hall on the first floor was already filled with many unfamiliar soldiers.

They were all the town guards. As representatives, only 10 thousand captains entered the inn, and there were 100 centurions waiting quietly outside. It could be said that the management of the army were all here.

"Everyone, please take a seat." Wang Yao sat on the main seat like a host and politely invited everyone to take a seat. Ling Jingsi accompanied him on the side, but his expression was unconsciously staring at everyone with a bit of vigilance.

Anyway, she still hadn't figured out why these soldiers gathered here, so she instinctively thought they might be here to cause trouble.

Wang Yao's frank and casual attitude also caught the ten centurions present off guard. In fact, they came to see Wang Yao on purpose, but it seemed that the other party was not surprised at all?
For some reason, a terrible thought arose in the soldiers' minds at the same time; this man knew they were coming!
"Sir?" Finally, a captain who was obviously the most authoritative stood up as a representative. He asked carefully, "We are summoned here to know what your plans are. So that we can make corresponding preparations in time according to your needs."

Among the soldiers, those who could rise to the position of a captain were not simple figures, at least they had good vision. Even though Wang Yao had not shown up since he entered the city, the captain quickly accepted the fact that their town had changed hands again, and guessed that Wang Yao was a hero.

After all, only heroes can deal with heroes. Being able to "force" Genghis Khan to hand over the occupied town without bloodshed can only mean that the other party is not only a hero, but also a higher rank than the former!
This is the world where force prevails and the winner takes all!

"Soldier, can you tell me your name first?"

"Captain Jin Yong, the garrison commander of Baihua City." Wang Yao looked at Jin Yong calmly and said, "Okay, Captain Jin Yong, I'm a newcomer and I know very little about your town. For now, can you please tell me what your plans are if I hadn't come?"

"It's my honor, sir." Jin Yong lowered his head humbly. He was inexplicably excited because talking with Wang Yao made him feel like he was in spring breeze. Although his expression was indifferent, the man's polite manners made him feel that this was different from those high-ranking heroes he had met before.

Basically, the heroes never look at these soldiers with a straight face. Even when communicating with them, their expressions are extremely arrogant and disdainful. There is no way. This is a manifestation of the status gap caused by the inherent system. Anyone who has the strength to fight ten thousand people will naturally feel superior. This is inevitable human nature.

Jin Yong said truthfully: "According to the plan, the Khan, that is, Genghis Khan, originally planned to lead us to attack the Beech City 5 kilometers to the west in 100 days, because there are no foreign heroes stationed there yet. This is also one of the reasons why we came to visit tonight. If you also plan to annex the Beech City, we can order the soldiers below to prepare according to the original plan."

The situation in the Yunzhong Desert, which can almost be said to be a lawless zone at the moment, is roughly the same. Foreign heroes occupy the city by force, and then forcibly conscript soldiers everywhere, plunder resources, and use this as capital to expand or build up their own forces, and finally compete for supremacy in the desert!

The reason why Jin Yong said this was because he had reason to believe that Wang Yao was also one of the heroes in this ambitious group.

However, Wang Yao did not answer Jin Yong's question directly, but asked a second question instead: "When I entered the city today, I saw that most of the residents in your Baihua City were pale and thin. The desert is already short of resources, so I am a little curious. Are you getting your food and grass by plundering the residents' rations?"

Jin Yong was obviously stunned for a moment. He didn't understand why Wang Yao cared about such things. He subconsciously replied: "Sir, isn't this normal?"

Wang Yao narrowed his eyes slightly, and stared at the captain in front of him with a somewhat cold gaze.

Jin Yong seemed to be frightened by his creepy eyes. He realized that he must have said something wrong. He immediately knelt on the ground and said tremblingly: "We have no choice. After Genghis Khan forcibly occupied our Baihua City half a year ago, he has been ordering us to prepare food and grass. If we fail to complete the specified amount of food and grass, we will be shot on the spot! But as you can see, the desert is short of resources, and many years of war have resulted in a harvestless harvest. In the end, we can only exploit the local residents."

At the end, his voice gradually became lower, and the other centurions also lowered their heads. It can be seen that they were helpless. After all, as locals, who would be willing to harm their fellow villagers and deprive them of their rations if they had a choice?
Wang Yao was able to detect the anger hidden in the soldiers' eyes because of their fear, so he said, "Okay, in that case, I hereby announce that Baihua City will cancel all external military operations from now on."

As soon as he finished speaking, the centurions below looked at each other in bewilderment.

Jin Yong was also slightly surprised, but soon calmed down: "Sir, do you mean that you have another goal?"

After all, the desert is vast and there are many cities. Every decision maker usually has his own direction on where to attack first.

In the end, Wang Yao still denied it.

"No." He corrected calmly, "What I mean is to permanently cancel all external military operations and shift the focus to improving people's lives. You, including all the soldiers in Baihua City, no longer have to obey the orders of any heroes, nor make unnecessary sacrifices in any wars. You will only have one responsibility in the future, and that is to defend the people of this city from the invading demons and protect them from living and working in peace and contentment."

The huge lobby fell into complete silence following Wang Yao's words.

It seemed to be too sudden, and everyone looked at Wang Yao in amazement. They could not believe that such words would come out of the mouths of these "profit-seeking" heroes!

In fact, if they had a choice, most people would not choose such a bloody military career. They would rather have a family and a warm stove. But reality never allows them to do so. After being forced to join the army, the years of war began to make them numb, and the oppression of heroes has long become the norm. Gradually, they lost their ideals and became zombies who only knew how to obey the orders of heroes.

It seemed that killing and being killed, and obediently becoming stepping stones for heroes, were already destined to be a fate they could never escape.

However, today, a hero suddenly said that they no longer had to obey the orders of any hero, and no longer had to shed blood and sacrifice for those meaningless wars. This made it difficult for the soldiers to adapt for a while, and it felt so unreal!
Jin Yong, who also felt that he must have heard it wrong, asked in disbelief, "Sir, are you serious?"

Wait, maybe they found the wrong person? This person is not actually a hero? No, if he is not a high-level hero, how can he win without fighting?

But how can we explain the current situation? After seizing the city, the ambitious hero did not care about expanding his power, but instead cared about the local people's livelihood?

Jin Yong felt a little confused.

So he mustered up the courage to continue asking: "Sir, who are you? What is your purpose?"

Wang Yao simply replied, "I don't have any purpose. If I have to say, going west all the way into the desert is one of them. At the same time, I am also helping my friends find their families who were separated by the war."

At this point, he paused, as if thinking for a moment, and then continued: "You all go back. After you go back, you can tell your subordinates and companions that from now on you are all free. Those who don't want to fight can take off their armor and return to the fields to reunite with their families, or they can continue to defend this Baihua City as a soldier. Of course, if you are separated from your family, you can choose to go deep into the desert with us. I will do my best to help you find your families. Afterwards, if anyone wants to leave, I will also give you some of the money I have earned along the way, at least enough for you to retire and return home and live a superior and prosperous life."

The next day, the team set out again after resting for a night in Baihua City.

However, this time, the team suddenly grew larger, with 1018 more soldiers from Baihua City, including the former Baihua City Captain Jin Yong.

A small number of them also wanted to cross the desert to find their families, but most of them wanted to follow spontaneously, such as Jin Yong.

To use what he told Ling Feng afterwards: "I feel that Lord Wang Yao is doing something great. Although I can't explain it clearly yet, I firmly believe that this will definitely bring about earth-shaking changes to our desert. This feeling has given my shabby life new meaning. It is also the life I want in the future, so I want to follow him and am willing to give everything I have for it, including my life!"

He gave a passionate speech under the morning sun. Although he looked a bit like a crazy psychopath, it did not prevent his figure from shining like light under the morning sun at that moment.

(End of this chapter)