It has only been less than three years since I last left this vast land.
Everything has changed dramatically.
The thirty-year-old Iron Eagle Warrior Yuan rode his warhorse and rushed anxiously on the land of Daqin. He didn't understand where the Daqin warriors had gone, why the First Emperor died, why Prince Fusu didn't succeed to the throne, and where the famous general Meng Tian had gone?
In just three years, the land of Daqin had been broken to this point, and wars were everywhere.
What happened in the thirteen years since he left the Central Plains?
The Iron Eagle Warriors of the Black Ice Terrace were not only good at one-on-one fighting, but also had to master intelligence gathering and defense line penetration. So Yuan soon learned about the current situation through different channels. The princes of various countries were rising up, and the land of Daqin was constantly lost. Now the princes of various countries actually agreed with each other that the first one to enter Guanzhong would be the king?
For the old Qin people, this was almost a great shame.
Yuan rode his horse and galloped, the Iron Eagle sword behind him whistling.
He learned that his comrade Zhang Han, who was a teenager, had raised an army to fight against the princes, and planned to find Zhang Han. He was a swordsman, and he would join the army as a general. Even if he could not command the army, he could at least be a fighting general. However, as he hurried on, he saw the scene of the disaster where people were living in misery. In some places, nine out of ten houses were empty.
The murderous intent in his heart became powerless.
The First Emperor wanted to unite the world, but now, the world is fighting each other again.
He was just an ordinary Iron Eagle warrior.
He did not understand the art of war, the military and politics, and he had been away from the Central Plains for more than ten years, and only came back once in the middle. He had no foundation and was not from a noble family. In this chaos, what benefit would it be for a single person with a sword? Personal bravery could not reverse the general trend of the world after all.
In the following chaos, decades of fighting on the battlefield, is it really a good thing for the people? What the naked eye saw was nothing but suffering.
What finally stopped Yuan was Zhang Han's surrender to Xiang Yu and his title as King of Yong.
He would lead 200,000 Qin troops to attack Qin in the opposite direction.
The choice of his comrade in his youth gave Yuan the final fatal blow.
Even the last chance of a comeback and the shelter in this chaotic world disappeared. Yuan was almost like a floating duckweed, rising and falling in this chaotic world, but in the end he still ran towards the direction of Xianyang City, relying on hunting prey to fill his stomach along the way. If he saw the chaotic flow of defeated soldiers, he would draw his sword and disperse them to prevent them from plundering ordinary people.
The elite of the Black Ice Platform of the Great Qin Dynasty turned out to be like the impoverished wanderers who wandered around the countries a hundred years ago.
In August, Yuan was about to arrive at Xianyang City. Along the way, he saw a group of bandits holding swords and surrounding several women. They whistled, waved weapons, laughed and said these dirty words. Yuan didn't want to intervene, but seeing that there were children among them, he couldn't bear to leave, and rode out:
"How dare you do this under the rule of the Great Qin? Aren't you afraid of Shang Yang's law?"
The leader of the bandits was frightened by Yuan's warhorse and sword at first, but when he saw that there was only one person coming, and he was only wearing cloth, he was relieved and sneered: "Qin law? The Great Qin is about to perish, and there is still a fart of Qin law. What? Do you want to help the injustice on the road?"
"Brother, if you like any of them, just speak up. When we are done, we can give you half of them."
After that, they looked at each other and laughed.
A murderous aura overflowed from Yuan's eyebrows.
His expression was calm.
He clamped his legs under the horse's belly, and the warhorse stepped forward calmly.
The Iron Eagle Warrior slowly drew the sword behind him.
He was already thirty years old.
Up to this point, he had fought in the battlefields of the six countries, protected the majesty of the emperor, and then fought in the ocean and killed enemies in foreign lands for three years. This was the most perfect combination of physical strength and experience. It was the peak of a warrior in the true sense. He would not rush forward because of lack of experience, nor would he make mistakes because of lack of physical strength.
He patted the horse, held the sword, and his eyes were deep.
The iron eagle on the hilt trembled with the blade, like flapping its wings to fight the sky.
The Iron Eagle caught the eyes of the bandits, and with the astonishment that only came to their senses at this moment, they were immediately terrified, and shouted: "Iron Eagle Sharp..." The cold sword light cut through the bandits, mercilessly, easily cutting throats, piercing hearts, and killing lives. The last bandit seemed to be desperate, and rushed towards one of the thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls with red eyes.
The last sharp soldier of the Qin Dynasty slapped his horse's back and fell.
The small Qin crossbow on his arm shot out.
It pierced the heart of the bandit, and blood splattered.
Yuan was swift, standing between the bandit and the little girl, covering up the bloody scene, and did not let the villain scare the child, but this seemed to be just his wishful thinking, and the girl who looked fair and tender did not have much ripples in her eyes.
The sharp soldier wearing cloth clothes and wearing the Qin sword on his waist lowered his head.
Seeing that pair of black pupils were quiet and pure, like the high wind hovering above the nine heavens.
......
"Thank you, General."
Although there were a few wrinkles in the corners of the eyes, the woman was extremely graceful and elegant. She smiled and thanked him. Her expression was so calm that Yuan felt that even if he did not take action, these bandits would not be able to do anything to this woman. He stepped back and returned the military salute of the Qin Dynasty, saying: "You are not worthy of being a general."
The woman smiled and said: "But you have a strong smell of weapons."
Yuan did not answer.
He went to hunt and grill food. The youngest girl seemed to be very curious about him.
She often stared at him.
Yuan asked: "What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"
He subconsciously raised his hand and touched it, but he only felt wrinkles on his face. He was slightly startled and then laughed at himself. Perhaps because he set foot on this familiar land, he sometimes subconsciously felt that he was still seventeen years old.
At that time, he was full of strength and courage, looking at the world, like a tiger or leopard that had just been born, and he didn't care about the world.
The little girl shook her head and said, "Have we met before?"
Yuan laughed and said, "Little girl, you are only thirteen or fourteen years old now. When you were just born, I was out at sea. How could I have seen you?"
He tore off the roasted rabbit leg and handed it over, took off the water bag, and drank a mouthful of water.
The woman who claimed to be from the western mountains handed him a copper pot, which was filled with fragrant wine. For some reason, Yuan could sense that the other party had no murderous intention towards him. The woman said, "The general went out to kill the enemy overseas, so he should drink."
Yuan originally said that he was not killing the enemy, but the smell of wine was so strong that he simply took it.
The woman asked him with a smile, "General, what do you think of my appearance?"
Yuan was surprised, crossed his legs on the ground, and replied, "Yuan has lived for thirty years and has seen many women, but none can be compared with Madam, who is dignified and unique in the world."
The woman nodded with satisfaction, but then said, "But some people think that I am just a woman with tiger teeth, good at shouting, disheveled hair and a phoenix head, and even wrote a book specifically describing me as this."
Yuan couldn't help but slap his knees and laughed, "Then he must be blind."
"If I see it, I will beat him up to vent Madam's anger."
The woman looked at him deeply, nodded with satisfaction, got up and left.
Yuan drank the wine in one gulp. The taste was as clear as morning dew, but it also had a rare meaning, as if it could intoxicate even the soul, making him feel a rare sense of tranquility in this chaotic world. He slapped his knees, knocked on the Qin sword, and sang with a hoarse voice:
"Who says I have no clothes? I share the same robe with you. When the king raises an army, I will sharpen my spear and halberd. I share the same hatred with you!"
"Who says I have no clothes? I share the same water with you. When the king raises an army, I will sharpen my spear and halberd. I will work with you!"
His singing was not pleasant, but desolate. The little girl with a pair of black eyes sat obediently on the stone next to him, looking at him quietly, as if she was still thinking about whether she had seen him somewhere before. Finally, Yuan fell drunk and faintly heard a call -
"Jue, it's time to go."
"Yeah."
Jue?
What a good name...
Yuan fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up, there was no one around him and the bonfire had long been extinguished.
A big drunk, hearty and refreshing.
At least he knew what he was going to do.
It was very close to Xianyang City. He galloped to Xianyang City and found his home first, but the chain was already rusty. He had not been home for more than ten years. He was already thirty years old, and he had not married, had no children, wife or children. His mother and grandmother had passed away. It was only because they were the family members of the Qin warriors that they were still well taken care of in the end.
Yuan was silent for a long time, turned over and entered the wall of his own courtyard.
He swept this familiar and unfamiliar place bit by bit.
He went to the original station of the Black Ice Terrace. Even the dust had accumulated very thickly. It was said that it was abolished by Prime Minister Zhao Gao a year ago. Many Iron Eagle warriors were dead or injured and had been exiled and scattered all over the world. Most of them followed Zhang Han, the current King Yong, and became the King Yong's guards.
Yuan, who was no longer young, closed his eyes.
It turned out that he was the first and last Qin warrior of this era.
He stroked the iron eagle pattern on the hilt of the sword and turned away.