169: Sorry, we lost! (Seeking monthly ticket)

Jiangan County, located in the southeast of Shu Land, is six thousand eight hundred li from Jinguancheng.

It is only two thousand li from the Ten Thousand Mountains outside Youmen Pass.

In a dilapidated civilian house in a remote corner of the east city of the county, a brother and sister, dressed in patched clothes, were cooperating with each other; the brother blew on the fire, and the sister stirred the thin porridge in the hanging pot with a wooden spoon. However, the porridge water inside contained pitifully few grains of rice.

But the siblings treated it very seriously!

"Brother, it's ready." The sister took a soup spoon carved from wood, scooped a little, tasted it with her tongue, then picked up a cracked grey porcelain bowl from the ground and poured the thin porridge into it.

Then, she carefully carried the bowl, fearing to waste the precious food inside, and walked into the dim inner room.

Inside, there was only a bed made of wooden boards and earth, and then a simple wooden box; the furnishings inside were basically clear at a glance.

However, on the bed, a person was lying, dressed in green armor, with the right chest plate shattered, covered in dried, mottled bloodstains. The person was unconscious, lips pale and dry, breathing so faintly it was almost imperceptible. A saber was also strapped to their waist.

This was the person the siblings found collapsed at their doorstep the night before, during a heavy rain, after hearing a commotion outside.

Judging by the attire, it was clearly a soldier.

But this armor was different from the thin armor of the city guards in the county; it was extremely heavy.

With the intention of saving a life, the siblings expended great effort to drag the person inside, helped wipe their clothes dry, and then fed them the precious rice paste they usually saved, sustaining the person's faint breathing. They had originally planned to go outside the city to gather some herbs the next morning!

However, as soon as dawn broke the next day, before the siblings could leave the city, the county yamen suddenly issued a warning, beating drums and announcing that a group of rebels, in collusion with demons, had attacked and occupied a nearby county. They ordered the city to be sealed and placed under martial law, then publicized that anyone encountering suspicious individuals could report them to the authorities for a generous reward.

The siblings were immediately startled. The brother wanted to report to the authorities, but was stopped by his sister.

Because, when the sister was wiping the armored man, she found a silk handkerchief embroidered with mandarin ducks tightly clutched in his hand, which she recognized as having been embroidered by a woman!

Most importantly, she also found a token!

This token reminded the sister of a few years ago, when she was only thirteen or fourteen. She had gone outside the city to gather herbs to supplement the family income and encountered a monster in the mountains. When her life was hanging by a thread, someone saved her. The figure of that person was already very blurry, she only knew that the adult claimed to be a Patrolling Mountain Commandant, and she remembered that token vividly.

It was identical to this one!

"Brother, support him!"

A slender girl with a mole at the corner of her eye, dressed in coarse linen, sat on the bed.

The brother grunted in acknowledgment, cupped the man's head with both hands, and laboriously lifted it. Then, the girl fed the unconscious man the rice porridge.

After about half a tea's worth of time, most of the rice soup-like porridge had been fed into the man's mouth.

At this point, the brother lowered the man, looked at his sister, and frowned slightly, saying, "Sister, do you really think this person is the same Patrolling Mountain Commandant who saved you back then?"

"He wouldn't be one of the rebels the county yamen mentioned, would he!"

"I heard that someone reported a person, also wearing armor, saying they were a rebel, and the county yamen sent people to capture and kill them. That person got a lot of silver."

"I won't be mistaken, Brother. Don't even think about it." The girl frowned slightly.

"What kind of person do you take your brother for? If this person is truly the same Patrolling Mountain Commandant who saved you a few years ago, whether good or bad, we siblings owe him this favor." The brother, who looked somewhat shrewd and had lived by his wits in the market for years, glared and said.

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the saber strapped to the man's waist. He couldn't help but reach out and touch it, saying, "So beautiful. I envy those who can embark on the Martial Dao. If only our parents..."

Just as he said this, the man on the bed suddenly let out a hoarse roar,

"General!"

The next second, he suddenly opened his eyes, as if from a nightmare, his eyes bloodshot, like a frenzied beast.

The siblings were startled, jumping in fright.

The next second, the man's hand suddenly clamped around the brother's neck and lifted him up.

"Who are you?"

"Where is this?"

The man's voice was hoarse, but his murderous gaze made the siblings tremble.

"This is our home. When we found you, you were unconscious at our doorstep." The girl quickly spoke.

This sound seemed to pull the frenzied man back to his senses. His eyes flickered, as if recalling something, and the strength in his arm loosened. Then, his eyes quickly turned red, his lips trembled, and he cluthed his head in pain:

'General, your subordinate is incompetent...'

The brother among the siblings almost collapsed onto the ground, rubbing his neck which had nearly been twisted off. He gasped for several deep breaths, first pulling his sister back a few steps, then grumbled indignantly:

"It's like a dog biting Lu Dongbin, not knowing a good heart. If my sister hadn't insisted you were a Patrolling Mountain Commandant, I would have sent you to the authorities long ago. Who knows if you're a rebel or not?"

The girl quickly tugged at her brother, her gaze turning to the man who seemed greatly impacted and appeared to be in pain.

The young brother, seeing a grown man like this, gradually lowered his voice.

The air was silent for a while. The man on the bed slowly recovered from his emotional immersion, then looked at the frail, pale-faced siblings, opening his mouth weakly, his eyes, however, unusually intimidating:

"What did you just say about rebels?"

The girl was not afraid; she just looked at the man's eyebrows and eyes, and spoke softly:

"As soon as dawn broke yesterday, the Jiangan County Yamen sounded the drums and issued notices everywhere, saying that a group of rebels, in collusion with demons, had attacked and occupied other counties. The entire county is now under martial law and sealed off!"

Upon hearing this news, the man's face changed, "Did they also issue a bounty, a bounty for people like us?"

"Big brother, how did you know?"

"Because this county has already been controlled by demons." The man's voice was full of coldness.

The siblings' sallow faces turned somewhat pale.

"Big brother, that joke isn't funny at all." The brother stammered.

The man on the bed was about to speak when his ears suddenly twitched. He immediately looked towards the outside of the room, then at the young siblings, and said in a low, rapid voice:

"Someone's here!"

"It's two yamen runners."

As he spoke, he seemed to sense something, then summoned his Banshan Tiger Talisman from the girl's arms, which flew into his hand.

Then, the man blew a breath onto the palm-sized black token, and instantly it transformed into a bronze mirror that could be held in one's hand.

He then threw this hand-held bronze mirror to the brother, his eyes containing a subtle Killing Intent:

"Later, you go open the door, and just shine this bronze mirror at the two arriving officials, and you'll know."

The brother wanted to object, finding the idea absurd, yet he inexplicably caught the bronze mirror.

Just as he was about to speak,

"Bang bang bang"

Loud knocking came from outside the door.

"Open the door"

"Open the door"

"Yamen patrol."

The siblings were startled, indeed, the man had been right; it was truly the voices of two officials. Remembering the man's words, they couldn't help but feel their hearts pound.

"I'll open the door." The brother took a deep breath, hid the palm-sized round bronze mirror in his sleeve, covering it with his hand, then walked out of the inner room to open the door.

"Creak"

The wooden door, revealing a crack, was opened. Indeed, outside the door stood two yamen runners dressed in red round-collared robes and green official robes.

Two pairs of chilling eyes instantly made the brother shiver.

The two yamen runners entered the house without a greeting, their eyes scanning the interior.

"Officers, what can I do for you two? This house is just where my sister and I live. We depend on each other and are a bit poor, so we have no tea." The brother chuckled unnaturally, his face awkward.

"Routine patrol. Have you encountered any suspicious people recently?" One yamen runner's face was somewhat stiff, staring intently at the young man.

The young man's heart tightened, and he quickly shook his head, "No..."

"Where's your sister?" the yamen runner asked again. The young man was about to call his sister out when he saw the two yamen runners turn towards the inner room in unison.

"That person is still inside!" The young man's heart leaped to his throat. He quickly rushed forward, trying to stop them, but it was already too late.

However, when the two yamen runners walked in, there was only the younger sister in the room.

The man on the bed was gone.

"My sister is a girl, it's inconvenient for her to come out and greet the officers." The young man quickly explained with a forced smile.

The two yamen runners scanned the room, then left without saying anything, their faces stiff.

The young man stood at the door, smiling ingratiatingly and saying a word of farewell. Then, his eyes flickered, and he slightly raised the sleeve hiding the bronze mirror, revealing a corner, and shined it towards the backs of the two yamen runners.

The next second, the young man's eyes suddenly widened, and his heart almost stopped beating.

In the corner of the bronze mirror, on the backs of the two "yamen runners," there were clearly two lumps of something resembling white fur, clinging to them.

At this moment, in the bronze mirror, the two clumps of fur on the yamen runner's back suddenly opened a pair of blood-red eyes and looked towards the young man's position.

In that instant, the young man recoiled his sleeve as if electrocuted, his hair stood on end, and fear surged within his heart.

Just then, a familiar voice came.

It was the man's voice from the bed, entering his ears.

"Don't make eye contact with these things. Act natural, turn your head, and go inside!"

The young man did as he was told, trying hard to keep his lips pressed together.

Once inside, he shut the door with a "bang," then, as if drained of strength, slumped against the door and sat down.

At this moment, the man's figure materialized from the air, and a Talismanic Incantation also fell off.

Seeing the man, the young man finally believed his words, his eyes wide with terror, and he stammered, "B-b-big brother, it-it really is a monster!"

"I told you I wasn't lying!" The man's tone was very indifferent.

"What exactly is going on? How are all these yamen runners..." The young man couldn't finish his sentence, still finding it hard to believe.

"This place has already fallen. The demons have you all cooped up!" As the man said this, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"Tonight, I'll take you out of here."

"I wonder if anyone managed to bring back news of our fall?"

As night fell, anxious whispers could be vaguely heard in Jiangan County.

"How long will this city lockdown last?"

"Where exactly did these rebels come from? The county yamen didn't explain clearly, it's all so muddled."

"The yamen people came to patrol today. I saw Old Yang, but when I called him, he acted as if he didn't know me, with a cold face, scaring me to death. Damn it, I even helped him out back then."

"..."

Meanwhile, on a rooftop in the eastern part of the county, a surprised voice rang out.

"Brother Xie, this Talismanic Incantation is truly miraculous; it can even make us invisible."

"Shut up, don't speak."

"Remember, don't move around."

Then, there were a few sounds of shifting tiles, followed by a gust of wind, a whistling sound, as they flew towards the eastern city wall.

At this moment, the eastern city wall was utterly silent, as if merged with the darkness of the night.

The city wall was pitch black, without a single lamp lit.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and on the city wall, a bright yellow light curtain suddenly lit up.

Then, a startled cry suddenly rang out above the city wall.

Above, a flash of fire suddenly appeared, and three figures revealed themselves from the air.

The Talismanic Incantation failed, and Xie Tianhao, along with the siblings, were forced to reveal themselves.

At the same time, on the dark city wall, pairs of green eyes lit up.

"Hehehe."

"We've caught a big fish."

"It's a Patrolling Mountain Commandant!"

Xie Tianhao's face was grim; it seemed this county had indeed fallen.

He let out a shout, "Whoosh," drew his long saber, and slashed downwards. More than ten three-foot-long white saber lights descended sharply.

Then, he swiftly moved his feet and waved his hand.

"Go!"

He led the siblings out into the darkness beyond the city wall.

Behind them, roars echoed, and figures either leaped down from the city wall or transformed into streaks of light, chasing after the three.

Xie Tianhao was already severely wounded, and now he was also carrying a pair of siblings. He urged his Divine Ability, a streak of light, to fly for over ten li, but he was quickly losing control.

Behind them, two black clouds relentlessly pursued, with faint green cold glows flashing within them.

Just then,

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

From high in the sky, two thunderbolts, like meteors chasing the moon, struck the two black clouds with a roar.

Two roars erupted.

Then, several dark figures shot out from below, "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," and began fiercely slashing at the two black clouds.

Within just a few breaths,

The two black clouds dissipated after a pained shriek.

Xie Tianhao's expression changed in surprise. He stopped and turned his head to look.

He saw three streaks of light flying towards him, revealing figures in identical green armor.

"You all..."

He was momentarily overcome with emotion, his face quickly flushed, as if he had seen family.

"Let's go, we'll take you to see our General!"

Ten minutes later, the three green-armored figures flew over a hundred li with Xie Tianhao and the two siblings, finally landing in a mountain valley.

In the valley, there was a chilling sight of iron armor.

A silver figure stood atop the mountain peak!

The three green-armored figures landed first, kneeling on one knee.

"Greetings, General!"

Behind them, one person quickly saluted,

"Xie Tianhao, formerly the Tenth Mountain's Leading Commandant, greets the Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General!"

As he spoke, the man couldn't help but choke up and lower his head, "I'm sorry, we lost the position!"