Chapter 507: World: Things as They Should Be (Part )

Desert Hu Yancheng.

After the setting sun slowly disappeared into the distant mountains, the gray dusk slowly descended on the desert. With the arrival of night, the city, which was relatively quiet and peaceful during the day, seemed to have regained its vitality and became more and more lively and noisy.

"Hey you, come and give me a hand!"

"Fuck you, I have a name!"

"Come on! Brothers, cheers!"

"Respectfully, Lord Emperor! Long live the Sandstorm Corps!"

On the main roads in the city, whether it was the sandstorm soldiers in full armor or the original residents of Huyan City, they were like a continuous stream of thousands of ants. Some of them were busy placing all kinds of delicacies and fruits on the wine tables that had been prepared long ago, while others were busy lighting bright bonfires everywhere and putting slaughtered cattle and sheep on the fire racks. People on the roadside were celebrating, children were chasing and playing, and more were in groups of two or three. In the midst of bursts of singing and laughing, they could not wait to clink glasses with each other.
At this moment, the streets and alleys illuminated by the bonfires are bustling with people, and wherever they go there are laughter and joyful conversation, just like a downtown area during a major festival.

Although five days had passed since Liu Bang's Han Dynasty forces were expelled from Hu Yan City, banquets and carnivals such as the one now taking place had never stopped.

It's not that the Sand Storm Corps, which has been so powerful in the desert in recent years, has fallen into decadence or become content with pleasure, but from the moment the Corps was established, Wang Yao, as the supreme leader, has clearly stipulated that every time a city is captured, the granaries and treasuries in the city will be opened to distribute food and wages. At the same time, large banquets will be held for people's entertainment until the next battle begins.

It was in this way that the growing super army of Sand Storm was able to, to a certain extent, effectively prevent malicious incidents such as disturbing the public and looting that might occur after entering the city. This was also Wang Yao's original intention.

At this time, in the crowded central square of the city, accompanied by the loud cheers and whistles of the crowd, eleven dazzling women were dancing as if they were standing under the spotlight. Their movements were light and graceful, their expressions seemed to be both rejecting and welcoming, and they were filled with fascinating youthful vitality.

They are all women with pure desert blood and outstanding looks. Each of them is bright and beautiful, but each has her own characteristics. As they dance gracefully, their every frown and smile are shy, charming, or bright, with the gorgeous fireworks launched by magic soldiers as the background. At this moment, the sound of golden sounds, complex strings and rapid pipes, graceful dances and light songs come together, making the atmosphere of the banquet reach an unprecedented climax.

"Senior, senior! Who is that female soldier? She's the tall one who's in charge of leading the dance!"

In the crowd, a new recruit who had just joined the Sand Storm Corps stared at a female soldier on the field with shining eyes. He grabbed the hand of the veteran beside him tightly as if he couldn't control his emotions, with a look of thirst and longing.

"I, I want to meet her! Tell me quickly, what's her name?"

Like a bull in heat, the new recruit's head was steaming in the carnival atmosphere of the banquet. The moment he saw the other's graceful and voluptuous figure and beautiful and charming face, he seemed to have thought of the name of the child he would have with her in the future!

The old soldier who was entangled on the side followed the direction pointed by the new recruit and looked at the graceful figure in the center of the field. She was wearing a dancer's gauze skirt with the characteristics of the desert, and her appearance was extremely beautiful and her smile was sweet. Even among the group of already outstanding desert women, she looked so dazzling.

Almost instinctively, the veteran glanced at the new recruit who was already eager to kneel down and lick the goddess's jade feet with a look that said "Don't think about it, there is no possibility between you two." "Don't think about it. It's normal for a toad to want to eat swan meat, but for a piece of mud like you who is not even a toad, you'd better give up this unrealistic delusion as soon as possible."

"Why?!" The recruit was obviously very unconvinced after being poured a bucket of cold water. He suddenly felt offended and humiliated.

But actually, it's not really an offense.

On the field, as the woman danced, her long, straight, attractive legs were faintly visible under her gauze skirt. This hazy temptation attracted the attention of the male soldiers watching. As she tossed and turned, her full breasts rose and fell in a fatal arc that made the heart beat wildly. Under her white ankles, which were wearing small gold chains, was a pair of bare feet. Although they danced back and forth on the muddy ground, they were still as white and delicate as jade, spotless, as if all the filthiness of the world could not infect her in the slightest.
Anyone who sees this scene and this beauty will be unable to extricate themselves.

But the old soldier took a sip of the strong liquor from the bowl in his hand, and then said with a hint of alcohol: "Her name is Ling Jingsi, one of the ten great captains of our regiment. Speaking of which, just based on this point, you, a new recruit, are not even worthy of carrying her shoes."

"Captain Wan-Wan-Wan?! Her?!"

Such a young and beautiful woman, is actually one of the ten thousand men in the corps, second only to the first person and above ten thousand people? And this is not some ragtag corps, but the sandstorm corps that has frightened countless local soldiers in the desert in recent years!

The recruit's eyes widened in disbelief, and at the same time, he unconsciously felt a huge sense of frustration and inferiority; the greatest tragedy of being a man is that you can't seek success without encountering it.

Although he was lucky enough to meet the young girl he liked, he was destined to be separated from her because of the huge gap in their status. This was undoubtedly a very discouraging thing.

And it seemed that he was quite satisfied with the reaction of the new recruits. Taking advantage of the alcohol, the old soldier was also in high spirits and continued to speak excitedly: "Even if you have just joined our Sandstorm Corps, you should have heard of it, right? At the beginning, there were only five soldiers following our emperor, and one of them was her. At the same time, she is also one of the nine sons of the current emperor's guard team, the Yaowu Army. I also heard that she is the closest person to the emperor. If we talk about strength, a hundred new recruits like you are not enough to beat her! Tell me, in terms of status, power and background, are you not even as good as a toad?"

In fact, when the old soldier said this, his face was full of longing. Perhaps because of the old soldier's face and the dignity of a man, he did not say that Ling Jingsi was still privately recognized as the most beautiful woman in the corps, and was also the white moonlight that many people, including him, could only admire from afar and not play with.

A beautiful woman is a gentleman's dream; this is an eternal truth. But sometimes, wanting her and whether you can get her is another question.

When the new recruit heard the veteran explain the woman's identity and background, he immediately became like a defeated rooster, and just hung his head and drank alone.

Perhaps there is no distinction between high and low people, but many times you have to admit that there are indeed differences in people. In some special moments, this difference can be so great that people don't even have the slightest desire to covet it.

The old soldier smiled with deep understanding, as if he saw his past self. He sat down and clinked bowls with the new recruits, then looked at the festive crowds around him with deep emotion.

"I like the way things are now. This is something I have never seen or experienced before. Now when I think back, my life before this seems to be filled with fear and numbness. It is no exaggeration to say that I was no different from an animal. Oh, by the way, I joined the Corps a year ago, but you know what? The night before I joined, I was actually ready to commit suicide."

Facing the surprised gaze of the new recruits, the old soldier smiled calmly: "This is nothing to be ashamed of. At that time, my younger brother accidentally bumped into the two-faced monarch Liu Bang who came to inspect, and was ruthlessly beheaded on the spot! My younger brother and I have been separated from our parents since we were young. I'm afraid they were also recruited as soldiers by other forces. So we two brothers can be said to have grown up relying on each other. But the shame is that at the moment my younger brother fell in a pool of blood, I didn't even have the courage to resist. I just thought about dying together as if the sky was falling." As if lost in memories, the old soldier paused. Dun continued, "But on that night, when I climbed to the top of the tower and was about to jump off to end my life, Lord Emperor came. In the midst of the flames of war, he came like a god, leading the Sandstorm Corps to easily defeat the defenders with an almost overwhelming offensive, and at the same time stopped me from committing suicide. Just when I thought that I would be transformed from a slave of a certain hero to a slave of another hero, Lord Emperor told me that I was free from now on, and if I wanted, I could even join the Sandstorm Corps and continue to go deep into the desert to find my lost family."

At this point, the veteran turned around and looked at the new soldier with a relieved smile: "It was not until that time that I realized that I couldn't die yet, I still had things to do, I could still carry the hope of my dead brother and look for our parents who might still be alive. I feel very lucky, because I happened to meet Lord Emperor at the lowest point, and even live a free life that I never dared to think of before. From now on, I don't have to worry about being killed on the spot because of accidentally bumping into a hero, and I don't have to charge into battle like an animal meaninglessly for the selfish desires of a hero, and die in obscurity!"

After saying that, the veteran patted the recruit on the shoulder vigorously and said, "You are lucky too, recruit! The road ahead is still long, and no one knows what will happen next, but you are lucky enough to meet us while you are still alive, aren't you?"

Looking deeply into the veteran's sincere eyes, the new recruit felt inexplicably moved at this moment.

He was not a dull person. He knew that the old soldier in front of him was willing to use his own miserable past to comfort his current loss and embarrassment.
Things in the world are often like this. It is frustrating not to get what you want, but there is no need to force it. After all, no one knows whether something better will happen tomorrow!

In any case, after this special kind of comfort, the recruits at least felt better psychologically.

As if to divert his attention from the beautiful figure on the field that he was destined to miss, he slowed down and changed the subject, "Senior, what kind of person is the Emperor?"

"Why, you haven't met the Emperor yet?"

"Yes, but unfortunately it was just a glimpse. Five days ago when you first entered the city, you saw the back of that adult for a moment. How should I put it? He looked unapproachable and cold."

Seeing the recruit's somewhat timid comments, the old soldier who understood that he was afraid of something immediately laughed: "Don't worry, in the Corps, you don't have to worry about any taboos when talking about a hero. In fact, it's not just you who feels this way, every recruit who has met the Emperor will say this, but as long as you get to know him for a long time, you will know that the Emperor is just a little cold by nature, but in fact, when it comes to caring for us soldiers, he is more enthusiastic than anyone else. He is the only one who truly treats us soldiers as human beings and respects us."

It seems that whenever this legendary figure is mentioned, like many experienced soldiers in the Corps, the veterans will be fascinated and admired, and will talk endlessly.

"And when we were trekking through the desert, many of us were saved by Lord Emperor from the claws and bloody mouths of various demons. And you know, the original intention of establishing the Sandstorm Corps was to help soldiers find their families who were separated by the war in the desert. Although most soldiers still cannot find their families today, the fact that he is willing to put aside his extremely noble status to help us insignificant soldiers is already great enough."

The recruit naturally agreed with this point; in his impression, heroes were always a group of unattainable gods, transcendent beings that even the lowly ants like him disdained to look down on. Born and raised in the desert, he had lived to the age of 24, and he had only heard of someone accidentally bumping into a hero and being killed like an ant, but he had never heard of any hero condescending to help any of them.
The veteran continued, "Of course, in fact, the veterans of our Sandstorm Corps all understand that even if it is not to find our families, we are all willing to follow the Emperor."

"Well, is it because every time you capture a city, the Emperor will selflessly distribute all the money in the treasury to you?" the recruit said subconsciously.

With a bang, the old soldier, who was originally quite approachable, relied on his status as a senior and rudely slapped the new recruit.

"vulgar!"

As the latter groaned in pain, the old soldier said angrily, as if his faith had been violated: "If we were only following these vulgar things, we would not have chosen to follow the Emperor. Do you know? In fact, in the past year or so, facing the gradual encroachment of our Sandstorm Corps, those foreign forces have begun to realize the disadvantage of the situation. Therefore, they have privately sent spies to lure us to leave or betray the Emperor with a large sum of money. But none of us, at least as far as I know, chose to leave or betray!"

Hearing this, the new soldier seemed to realize his own shallowness belatedly. He ignored the pain and immediately began to look serious. He turned to ask, "Then, senior, what are you persisting for? For justice?"

Hearing this, the old soldier sneered and said, "Justice? Haha, if there is any justice in the world, then why can we, the little soldiers, only be driven and enslaved by those heroes forever? Why do we live until now without even a decent 'human form'? Justice, that's nothing but the self-pity of the weak! If it was just for this so-called justice, then the Sandstorm Corps would not fight bravely in every battle, but would just be a group of old soldiers who are afraid of death. Just like what the spies sent by the hostile forces said, we are all just bargaining chips that Lord Emperor needs to annex the desert, but in fact, we know better than anyone that Lord Emperor is not such a power-hungry person. But in the end, no one wants to be someone else's bargaining chip, and no one will voluntarily die, not even us who can't even struggle out of the 'human form'!"

The recruit was silent. The veteran's words were not very profound, but they inexplicably made him feel as if there was some kind of electric current flowing in his heart. He suddenly felt that any rash comments he made would only be an insult to the soldier in front of him, so he chose to listen quietly.

The old soldier looked dazed for a moment, then he seemed to have figured something out and continued, "So, you just asked us why we persisted. In fact, it's better to ask why we are willing to follow the emperor. I can't express it very specifically, but I think it may be because I can feel that it is because the emperor is leading us to find an answer."

"Answer?"

"Yes, a brand new answer that is completely different from the deformed and corrupt ones of the past thousands of years!"

For some reason, perhaps because of the reflection of the bonfire, the new recruits in the dark night actually saw a light in the old soldier's eyes that was not dazzling but extremely hot.

But the old soldier became excited. He was like a sincere believer, sparing no effort to show his inner piety and enthusiasm.

"There may be many answers, but the root cause is the same. I don't know what it means, but I am sure that it will bring great changes to the world! Just like now, it will completely change the fate of all of us soldiers, and it will also make this broken world a little better! That's enough!"

"Although it may be irresponsible to say this, it is precisely because of this seemingly vague answer that I am willing to follow the Emperor wholeheartedly. No, we all are! Not for those yellow and white things, nor for the so-called justice, but just for a seemingly possible answer, but that is enough! Even if there is no posthumous reputation, even if no one in the future will remember the efforts we made today, it doesn't matter! Because I always believe that only when the answer is revealed, you, me, our thousands of soldiers and future generations will realize that everything we did today is right! And only on that day, we soldiers will no longer be just 'soldiers', but will have a 'human form' like those heroes who are high above."

“Someone should sacrifice first, someone should try to prove the truth and pave the way, to seek a better world for thousands of future generations.”

The new recruit was completely stunned and dumbfounded by the veteran's powerful analysis. It seemed that this casual 'answer' had far exceeded his thinking limit and shocked him deeply!
As mentioned before, he was just a new recruit who had just joined the Corps. Before that, he was actually just like countless other soldiers, indifferent, submissive, and unmoved by pain. Even if he occasionally had moments of great passion, they would quickly cool down and disappear under the high-pressure rule of the heroes.

However, right here, just now, he suddenly felt as if he had been reborn! Just like a lost person who had been crawling in the dark for a long time, he suddenly saw the light that could dispel all the darkness.
"It's no longer just a 'soldier', but has a 'human form'." The new soldier lowered his head, chewing on this sentence carefully, and remained silent for a long time.

Then, the recruit suddenly had an extremely strong impulse, an unprecedented desire that surged from the bottom of his heart. He wanted to see the true face of the man who was honored as the Lord of Yunmo 72 City, Emperor Shunmiao! He wanted to know what kind of man he would die for in the future!
If, before joining the Sand Storm Corps, he was just trying to get by, then now, he has made up his mind completely!

Because if there really is such a person who can lead him forward, wash away the previous life without even the most basic personality, and even change this war-torn era and the fate of thousands of soldiers like him who are like animals, then he will sincerely feel that it is worth dying for it!
The above is just one of the countless microcosms of the countless scenes that took place at this grand banquet tonight.

At the same time, on the outer tower far away from the noisy main city, the man who was admired and loved by countless soldiers was standing alone by the guardrail of the watchtower. His tall and straight back was like an indestructible invisible barrier. He replaced the sandstorm soldiers in the rear and stood at the forefront of the vast darkness, firmly isolating the ubiquitous danger outside the city wall.
(End of this chapter)