Chapter 245: The Crossroads of History
Frontier.
Bright red blood on the snow.
Intermittent, in patches.
Because it is winter, the corpses have not rotted even after several days.
Not long ago, Old General Meng brought his men past this village, asked for some water to drink, and sometimes came to trade for things.
But at this moment, the village is deathly silent.
There is not a sound.
Only the sound of Old General Meng and his men’s footsteps on the snow.
This village has been massacred.
There are adult corpses, and infant corpses, but no women.
This is the standard Liao method of attack.
Except for women, all men and children are killed.
Women are snatched back to be used as breeding tools to continue their lineage, while food and wealth are all taken away.
They do not farm, and when winter comes and snow flies, having no food source, they come to attack the Chu Kingdom.
The Liao people are inherently vicious and bloodthirsty. When they were strong, they once killed all the way to Jiangzhou, painting the land red and terrifying the Chu people.
They do not build, they only destroy barbarically, slaughtering like hemp.
If it were not for Old General Meng guarding the frontier, such tragedies would likely happen every few years.
It is also because of General Meng’s guard that the younger generation has forgotten that tragedy.
The current Emperor has likely forgotten too, after all, the Liao people only killed their way to Jiangzhou and did not enter the capital.
Seeing the infant’s corpse, Old General Meng could not help but close his eyes.
Before his men could even move, he picked up the infant himself and held it gently in his arms.
He is especially fond of children.
Extremely fond.
If nearby children ran into the camp, Old General Meng would at most scold them a few times and give them some snacks.
Children are the future hope of a family, and also the future and hope of a country.
He cannot bear to see children die like this. They have only been in this world for so long, they have not grown up yet, and they died just like that; his heartache is indescribable.
Old General Meng has led troops to war for many years and could be said to have slaughtered countless people, but he has never killed a child.
They buried the corpses of the entire village.
The old man who was speaking a few days ago was frozen stiff now.
There is no luck involved; the Liao people are vicious by nature.
Old General Meng exhaled a few times, turning into white mist.
This winter, the snow fell early. Their supplies are not enough to survive the winter, and they will definitely come to raid again.
Cold and freezing, his wrists hurt slightly, and the wind cut his face like a knife.
Everyone was silent.
Old General Meng felt desolate in his heart.
There is no end to the war.
The Liao people seem to be getting stronger.
Previously, they could not pull off such surprise attacks, killing and leaving without a trace; they had no news at all, feeling as if there were a mole.
He felt that he would also die here one day.
Perhaps this is his burial ground.
He had a premonition that he would die here.
His premonitions are always accurate.
The Imperial Court is in chaos, and the Liao people are constantly provoking.
He cannot attend to both ends.
Those who are loyal to the monarch always die first.
How sad.
Old General Meng even received news from the capital that some unknown female shaman predicted the Meng Family would have no heirs, and everyone actually believed it.
Pitiful.
The wind and snow grew stronger, and the unearthed corpses seemed to be quickly covered by snow.
If those civil officials came, they would probably compose a poem: “What a great snow, how beautiful.”
Misfortune never comes singly.
With this snow, if they march to the next village, they might be too late.
The Liao cavalry has a speed advantage; even if they walk through the snow, they might continue to collect corpses like this.
“Cough, cough.” Old General Meng coughed a few times.
It was cold, and every time he opened his mouth, he sucked in cold air.
After burying those corpses, Old General Meng prepared to continue leading his troops forward.
The wind and snow were heavy.
The soldiers were also somewhat numb.
Their bodies were frozen numb, and their minds were also somewhat numb.
Because when watching the corpses of their own kind, the intense emotions had already passed.
They were already learning to get used to it.
Anyone could die.
Today it is them, tomorrow it might be themselves.
Actually, they should have died long ago.
Several battles against the Liao people were narrow escapes.
This is largely due to the food and clothing that the Jiang Family continuously sent over, driving the trade routes here, using meager profits to ensure the basic living conditions of the soldiers.
After burying the corpses, they simply lit a fire, cooked a meal, at least ate something hot, had strength, and then continued to pursue.
This time the Liao people were unusually vicious, slaughtering villages along the way, as if intentionally luring Old General Meng to kill them.
Old General Meng ate in silence; sometimes even knowing it was a trap, he had to charge in.
This is an overt scheme.
“I kill your people, you don’t move, I keep killing, and when they are all dead, you will eventually come.”
He was just silently adjusting his emotions.
His own death is actually nothing; one always dies.
He just couldn’t let go of his wife, children, and grandchildren.
His son is honest.
His grandson is sincere.
They were taught too well.
Sometimes Old General Meng felt the Chu Kingdom was unworthy of his descendants.
So when Shaoxia wrote saying she wanted to live at the girl’s house for three years, he agreed without hesitation.
His family already has this old man selling his life for the country, constantly on the verge of death, so someone must survive.
His family line is thin, and he worried and regretted that if he died, he wouldn’t even see his descendants continue.
People believe in ghosts and gods.
He believes too.
Because every battle is a life-and-death struggle; if you don’t believe in ghosts and gods, what do you believe in?
Being able to survive is all luck, snatching a life back from the hands of ghosts and gods.
If history had not changed.
After finishing this meal, General Meng would lead his troops to set off and pursue the Liao people.
The Liao people set a trap, and with the betrayal of the person General Meng trusted most, General Meng would die in battle.
Covered by snow and wind.
The body would only be dug out two months later.
This group of people would all die.
At this moment, they were eating big mouthfuls of food.
Eating instant noodles, jerky, and dry buns; it was very sumptuous.
They were also dressed quite warmly, with cotton in their clothes, which was relatively warm.
This winter was very cold, but they were living better than in previous years.
While General Meng was eating, halfway through, a communications soldier ran over.
“Born. Born.”
“What is born?”
“General, your grandson’s wife has given birth, twins, she gave birth to two sons in one go.”
The communications soldier was running with snot, the snot frozen into dregs, unable to suck it back, finishing in one breath.
The noodles in Old General Meng’s hand fell with a clatter, half the noodles splashing on him, but he didn’t feel the heat.
There were still noodles in his mouth, not chewed yet, and he swallowed them in big gulps.
Then he laughed ha ha ha.
Laughing and laughing, his eyes turned red.
It is really cold.
Today, he personally held an infant’s corpse and buried it carefully.
While burying, he muttered, “In your next life, be born into a good family, at least somewhere warmer, this place is too damn cold.”
His Meng Family has descendants now.
His grandson had twins in one litter.
He has great-grandchildren.
“Ha!”
Old General Meng let out a long breath.
“Extra meal, extra meal tonight, take out everything you have to eat, have a good meal. Pay respects to the departed souls, celebrate the new life.” Old General Meng picked up the half-bowl of noodles on the ground and said to everyone.
“Extra meal. Pay respects to the departed souls, celebrate the new life.”
“Pay respects to the departed souls, celebrate the new life.”
“Pay respects to the departed souls, celebrate the new life.”
The voices passed on.
In the distant mountains, white snow shook off the trees.
They did not know what they were celebrating.
Suddenly it seemed very lively and exciting.
The ambushing Liao people were very impatient.
The wind and snow were heavy tonight.
If the other side did not come, they would suffer for a night and get sick; the Liao people’s lives are lives too.
They received accurate news that General Meng would definitely come.
But it was delayed, and they heard laughter and shouting, feeling some impatience.
Old General Meng was very excited.
Avoiding the crowd, he pulled his old partner of many years, who had fought side by side, to cry and howl.
He hugged him and cried very uncharacteristically.
While crying, he suddenly felt the knife on his old partner.
Old General Meng was incredulous.
Action was faster than thought; he pulled out the knife and stabbed it into his old partner’s back.
“Brother Yubei, why? Why did you betray me?”
The wind and snow were dense.
The Liao people were still waiting.
Tonight Old General Meng could not come; he celebrated having great-grandchildren, and immediately lost his best partner, he laughed and cried, continuing to bury people.
The north wind blew, snowflakes drifted.
The branches snapped with a click.
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