Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 1167 Beacon Fires Over Feihong City

Gu Dashi thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a suitable name for the sword.

Nothing he ever used in his life was worthy of being named.

His boots were patched and repaired repeatedly.

His bow was the cheapest kind in the military camp.

His old knife had several chips on the blade.

But when he held the new knife, an indescribable feeling rose from the hilt, flowed down his arm, and reached his chest.

The knife seemed alive, slightly warm in his palm, as if it were breathing.

He eventually named it "Ergou" (Second Dog).

Because he couldn't think of any good names, and Er Gou was the first dog he had ever met in his life. That dog lived for fifteen years, longer than any person he had ever met.

He hoped the knife would be just as durable.

"Er Gou" was hanging at his waist at that moment, the blade slightly cool from the morning breeze, a stark contrast to the scorching heat of the previous two days.

Gu Dashi reached out and touched the hilt of the knife, feeling a little more at ease.

Below the city walls, the wasteland stretches into the far distance, merging with the gray horizon.

There was nothing there—no monsters, no smoke, no noise.

"What are you looking at?" a hoarse voice came from the side.

The speaker was an old soldier surnamed Liu, whom everyone called Head Liu.

Liu Tou is almost forty years old this year. He has been standing guard on the city wall of Feihong City for more than ten years, and his face is full of wrinkles etched by wind and sand.

He didn't belong to any contract soldier unit; he was just an ordinary veteran city guard, holding the most ordinary spear and wearing a worn-out leather armor.

Gu Dashi honestly replied, "I don't know... I just feel it's too quiet."

Liu Tou followed his gaze, glanced at the distant horizon, and spat on the ground: "It's too calm, that's not right."

He said nothing more, leaned on his spear and walked away, leaving Gu Dashi alone on the city wall.

Gu Dashi stood there for a long time.

The wind blew in from the north, carrying a faint, fishy smell.

The taste was so faint that he initially thought it was his imagination.

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That night, the fishy smell grew stronger.

It didn't get stronger little by little; it was like a bucket of water being poured over you, suddenly becoming so strong that it made you want to vomit.

The warhorses in the camp began to neigh restlessly, pawing the ground with their hooves and exhaling thick white breaths from their nostrils.

The newly contracted gray-maned wolves also began to stir.

They paced back and forth at the edge of the camp, making low whimpering sounds in their throats.

Tuoba Shan walked out of his tent, his face solemn.

Without saying a word, he walked directly towards the city lord's mansion.

The council hall of the city lord's mansion was brightly lit.

Zhang Yuan sat in the main seat, with a map spread out in front of him.

He was listening.

Listen to the sound of the wind.

When Tuoba Shan lifted the curtain and came in, he saw Zhang Yuan's fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the map, the rhythm very slow, one tap after another.

"Did you hear that?" Zhang Yuan asked.

Tuoba Shan stopped and listened for a while.

He heard it.

Amidst the sounds of the wind and the crackling of the campfire, a deeper voice was slowly approaching from the north.

That wasn't the sound of the wind.

That's the earth shaking.

It is the resonance produced when countless iron hooves stomp on the ground at the same time.

The sound came from a great distance, like a giant heart beating deep underground.

"The beast tide is coming," Tuoba Shan said.

"Here it comes." Zhang Yuan's fingers were still tapping on the table. "It will arrive before dawn."

The council chamber fell silent for a moment.

Tuoba Shan asked, "Should we notify all the battalions to prepare?" Zhang Yuan looked at him, his gaze as calm as a still pond: "They are already prepared."

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Before dawn, the beast tide arrived.

A gray line appeared on the wasteland north of Feihong City.

That line stretched across the entire field of vision from east to west.

It's as if someone used a giant pen to draw a line on the horizon.

Then, the line grew thicker, closer, and clearer.

Those weren't lines; they were countless magical beasts: gray-maned demon wolves, iron-skinned rhinoceroses, iron-backed lizards, purple-eyed demon apes...

Dense and overwhelming, like a tidal wave surging from the north, it was slowly advancing towards the walls of Feihong City.

Gu Dashi stood on the city wall, gripping the hilt of "Er Gou's" knife, his heart pounding like a drum.

He has seen monsters in his life, many monsters.

He worked as a scout for eight years; every year he had to deal with Warcraft several times.

But he had never seen so many magical beasts appear at the same time.

Liu Tou, standing next to him, also held a spear, squinting as he watched the approaching gray wave.

The old man didn't look well, but his hands were very steady.

"Are you scared?" Liu Tou asked.

"I'm scared," Gu Dashi honestly admitted.

"Being afraid is the right thing to do." Liu Tou spat into his palm and gripped his spear tightly. "Those who weren't afraid are all dead."

……

"Waaah—"

The first wave of attack officially began with a muffled horn call.

Those gray-maned wolves were faster than expected.

When they reached the foot of the city wall, they did not slow down at all. They used their front legs to push off the bricks and leaped more than two zhang (about 6.6 meters) high!

The wolf's claws scratched at the city wall, leaving a trail of sparks and several deep claw marks!

Gu Dashi stared at the first demon wolf that leaped onto the city wall.

The wolf was a size larger than its kind, and with its gaping maw, it lunged at his neck!

That speed, that power!

Back then, it was a wolf just like that that wiped out an entire scout squad in one go!

"kill!"

Gu Dashi raised his hand and swung his knife.

This strike had no method, no skill.

It was purely based on the instincts he had honed for eight years in the scout camp.

Quick, accurate, ruthless.

"Er Gou's" blade sliced ​​across the wolf's neck, and the wolf's head, along with a large clump of black blood, flew off. The wolf's body rolled twice on the city wall before coming to a stop.

Gu Dashi was panting heavily. He looked down at the headless wolf corpse, then at the trembling knife in his hand, and then grinned.

The smile was so brief, almost imperceptible.

Then the second wolf pounced.

He dodged the wolf's claws to the side and stabbed the wolf in the ribs with his backhand.

As the blade pierced through, he felt a slight tremor emanating from the blade.

Those are the demonic runes inside the blade, automatically absorbing the blood and demonic energy of magical beasts.

He could feel a warm force flowing from the hilt of the sword back to his palm, creating a subtle resonance with the internal energy within his body.

His strength recovered a little bit in that instant, not much, but it was definitely there.

That's the secret of that knife.

Zhang Yuan stood at the highest point of the city tower, overlooking the entire section of the city wall.

He didn't draw his sword, he didn't make a move, he just stood there and watched.

He watched the contract soldiers, who were going to the battlefield for the first time, and their performance on the city wall.

Some of them were in a flustered state.

Some people were blinded by rage.

Some people huddled behind the wall, shivering. (End of Chapter)