Chapter 373: Saving the villagers

The old village chief pushed the children behind him and stepped forward: "Military lords, we have no food left—"

The Qiang soldiers didn't let him finish, smashing the back of a sword onto his shoulder; the old village chief fell to the ground, trying to crawl twice but failing to get up.

Several Qiang soldiers jumped off their horses and rushed into the crowd to grab women.

Hair was pulled, and screams rang out.

The boy rushed up clutching his wooden stick, only to be slapped in the face by a Qiang soldier with the flat of a sword, flying two zhang away, his face burning with pain.

Lying on the ground, he saw his mother being dragged out of the crowd by two Qiang soldiers, while another soldier reached out to grab a four-year-old child.

Just at this moment of despair, a golden light shone behind him.

The boy turned his head and saw something he had never seen in his life.

A light gate—a light gate taller than a city wall, slowly opened in the void directly in front of the village entrance, golden patterns flowing on the frame.

A ship flew out from the gate.

The ship was ridiculously large, its hull covering half the sky, the shadow beneath it covering the entire ground.

A figure in white stood at the bow, fluttering like an immortal.

More people were walking out of the light gate.

Soldiers wearing different styles of armor, holding flags of different colors—

Black flags, red flags, yellow flags, red flags with black characters.

The Qiang soldiers' swords stopped.

Their horses began to retreat, circling disobediently, hooves scraping the ground.

The leading Qiang soldier pointed his sword at the spirit ship and shouted something, but no one heard clearly what it was.

Gu Shanhe stood at the bow, looking at the group of Qiang cavalry below, then at the fallen commoners and the women being dragged out.

He raised his hand, and a green spirit sword flew from his sleeve.

The moment the sword left his sleeve, it turned into a dozen light shadows.

Each shadow swept over the head of a Qiang cavalryman, and with a flash, heads fell.

It took less than three breaths.

The corpses fell from their horses, blood flowing into the soil, soaking the cracked mud.

The warhorses scattered and fled, the sound of hooves fading into the distance.

The old village chief climbed up from the ground, blood still on his head.

He looked at the ship in the sky, at the white-clad person at the bow, and then at the soldiers in different armors behind him, and knelt down with a thud.

"The Immortal has arrived! I am the village chief of Huaishu Village, and on behalf of the villagers behind me, I thank the Immortal for saving our lives!"

Everyone behind him knelt.

The boy also knelt, his knees hitting the ground, his mouth full of blood foam, unable to speak.

His mother knelt beside him, hugging his head and crying.

Gu Shanhe used a high-level spell—Healing Technique.

Instantly, the injuries on these villagers were fully restored, not even a scar left behind.

The village chief led the villagers behind him to kowtow and thank him again.

Gu Shanhe told them to rise.

With another wave of his hand, a box and a bottle of water appeared in front of each person.

Self-heating rice and mineral water.

The villagers looked at the plastic boxes, not daring to move.

Gu Shanhe demonstrated it himself—pulling the tab, waiting for the steam, lifting the lid.

The first young man to lift the lid was stunned.

The white rice was steaming, water droplets accumulated on the lid, and the smell of meat was fragrant.

He sniffed it, sniffed it again, then picked up the small plastic spoon and shoveled a large mouthful into his mouth.

After chewing twice, his tears fell into the rice.

The old village chief held his box, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

He didn't eat, but first kowtowed to the spirit ship: "Immortal food bestowed by the Immortal..."

He couldn't finish the rest.

Gu Shanhe had Ying Zheng send a team of Qin soldiers to escort these people away.

Ying Zheng nodded, and Meng Tian led the team personally.

Gu Shanhe closed his eyes, his Nascent Soul divine sense spreading out, every figure within a thousand li appearing in his sea of consciousness.

He found it.

"Found him, the one who issued the Order to Kill the Hu."

The spirit ship turned, and the eight hundred thousand troops turned with it.

Encountering several small-scale Hu cavalry along the way, they were picked off by the forward firelock shooters before they could even get close.

Every team had zero casualties.

Ran Min stood on the city wall of Yecheng.

This city wasn't large, and the walls weren't high, but they would hold for as many days as they could.

He had been holding out for nearly two months; the provisions were gone, and the rolling logs and stones on the wall were almost used up.

The Hu people outside had surrounded them in who knew how many layers, attacking day and night, and they had been defending day and night.

He had just cut off the third arrow shaft—a flaming one, stuck on the battlement before it could burn.

Then he looked up and saw a ship flying in the sky.

The hull covered half the sky, and beneath the ship was a dense army, with at least seven or eight types of flags—

Black flags, red flags, yellow flags, red flags with black characters.

Those soldiers were different from the armies he knew; he hadn't seen the style of armor, the formation, or the rhythm of their walking before.

Ran Min's hand on his sword was shaking.

"Open the city gates."

The deputy general beside him was stunned: "General, we don't know what that is—"

"Anyone who can fly so many types of 'Han' flags cannot be an enemy."

Ran Min walked down the city wall, "Open the city gates."

When the city gates opened, the spirit ship had already descended to less than ten zhang from the city wall.

Gu Shanhe walked out of the cabin, followed by the eight emperors, who lined up and stood at the bow.

Ran Min led a dozen remnant soldiers out, kneeling on one knee at the city gate: "I am Ran Min; may I ask who you are—"

Gu Shanhe: "The one who issued the Sky Screen to you before."

Ran Min's pupils contracted violently.

He looked up at the person in the black dragon robe—cold-faced, hands behind his back, his gaze like two knives.

"I am Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng."

"Han Gaozu, Liu Bang."

"Han Wudi, Liu Che."

"Han Guangwudi, Liu Xiu."

"Tang Taizong, Li Shimin."

"Song Taizu, Zhao Kuangyin."

"Ming Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang."

"Ming Chengzu, Zhu Di."

"Sui Wendi, Yang Jian."

With every name reported, Ran Min's heartbeat quickened.

When they finished, his lips moved, but no sound came out.

The First Emperor stood before him, alive, his gaze filled with scrutiny.

Ran Min lowered his head: "I am Ran Min, I have met the Immortal and the Emperor Majesties."

Gu Shanhe walked to Ran Min: "I will help you end this war, wipe out all the Five Barbarians, and unify the north."

"After unification, you will sit on this throne."

Ran Min was stunned for a moment, looking up at him: "I will sit on it?"

"You issued the Order to Kill the Hu, saving hundreds of thousands of Han people; you are worthy of this position."

Gu Shanhe paused, "After unification, practice benevolent governance and be good to the people."

"I will come back to check in a while."

Ran Min was silent for a while: "I will strictly follow the Immortal's decree."

Ying Zheng added coldly from the side: "I will come to watch."

Ran Min:...

Liu Bang cracked a melon seed in the back: "Brother Zheng, don't scare him."

Ying Zheng didn't answer.

…… ===== CHAPTER 374 =====