Chapter 13 Chapter Twelve

The next day, the sky was gloomy. The leaden gray cloud pressed tightly on the deserted city, like an extremely empty eye, staring at the carnival that was still going on. The bonfire has never been extinguished since it was lit.This is the freedom that they have been looking forward to and praying for for a long time, and they cherish it very much.Even in bright sunlight, they still like to see the burning fire. That means carnival. If there is no carnival, what is left of this filthy city? Acacia stood under the city wall, sighing softly. The bonfire suddenly dimmed, and was divided into countless torches, held in the hands of the common people, slowly moving towards Xiangsi.

Xiangsi hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, restrained her sad face, and looked at the people in these deserted cities. In the front was a white-haired old man, followed by dozens of other old men, leading all the people in the city, walking towards Acacia respectfully and solemnly.They seem to be performing a solemn ceremony, and every step they take carries the sky and the earth. The old man held something in his hand. Xiangsi's body shook suddenly. It was a golden battle armor, so dazzling under the reflection of the torch and the dawn.Delicate flower branches are engraved on the surface of the armor, celestial maidens woven with gold silk are flying in every corner of the armor, and auspicious clouds form the delicate lines of the body, which looks so gorgeous and elegant.A golden mask is placed in the middle of the armor.

Acacia knows this golden armor. That day in Tianshou Village, at the bottom of Ganquan Well, in order to lure away the Mongolian soldiers, she exchanged clothes with Princess Daming, wearing this golden armor, and started this heartbreaking journey to the frontier.This golden armor accompanied her to the deserted city, but when she collected the desolate blood for the catastrophe, it was taken off and discarded in the deserted city. She couldn't help thinking of Yang Yizhi.The white figure who had accompanied her to walk in the deserted alleys and collected the blood of the desolate bit by bit.How many times, when she turns her head by chance, she can always feel those eyes looking at her, their eyes are so gentle.

Unlike him, he would never tell her what to do.But just accompany her silently, no matter how ridiculous her decision is.Then, do everything in your power to help her fulfill all her wishes. But don't let her know.He wants to make everything a miracle, and only her name will be engraved forever. He always silently guards everything about her. Not only for herself, but also to protect her kindness, her wishes, and her beliefs. Acacia couldn't help feeling a pain in her heart. Why let him meet her?What kind of joke did God make? The golden light shone on her face, and her tearful eyes felt a sting.Xiangsi stopped thinking about it suddenly, but saw the old man kneeling in front of her, holding the armor high with his bony arms.

She took over the golden armor. The people in the deserted city urged her with their eyes, she hesitated, unwrapped the package, and put on the armor one by one. A blue silk petticoat embroidered with clouds of seven colors. Engraved with gold thread into the softest lambskin lined boots. The golden locket written with ancient talismans and the names and taboos of Taoist gods. Forged into a bright helmet of a phoenix with wings spread. And the exquisite and graceful, soft and solemn golden mask, which gently fits on Xiangsi's beautiful face. Under the dim light of the torch, in the deserted and desolate sky, she is so eye-catching and brilliant, like a goddess who descended from the heavens, spotless, seductive and majestic.

She is the goddess of lotus in the deserted city and Princess Yongle of Ming Dynasty. The people in the deserted city sighed in admiration.They would like to see their savior incomparably beautiful and majestic. No one saw the tears of lovesickness under the mask. Time and space seem to be overlapped together because of the gentle closing of the mask.After several months of hardships, it seems to have returned to the origin of fate. The deserted city is still a city waiting to be redeemed, but she is exhausted and can no longer lead them. She could only hope that Meng Tiancheng, who had galloped towards the Central Plains, would be able to bring that person back.

Green Zijin, Youyouwoxin. That would be the only salvation for the deserted city. The elders exchanged glances lightly, and they knelt down to bid farewell to Acacia. Lovesickness with hazy eyes fell into a confused imagination, and did not notice their faces, which were so sad and determined. They bowed down to their lotus goddess, as if kneeling down to the gods of the heavens.Then, without raising their heads again, they slowly retreated. The bonfire then turned into a torch and disappeared into the hazy and damp air.The whole city seemed to be completely empty. Acacia sat quietly under the city wall.The tall and decadent city walls seemed to collapse at any moment and bury her.She forced herself to think, but couldn't think of anything, couldn't think about anything.

She is wrapped in magnificent golden armor, she is the only beauty in the deserted city. Everything is silent, and the deserted city seems to have died. People seem to finally get tired, get rid of the carnival, and disappear in every street. It seems that only lovesickness is sober. For some reason, the faces of those old men suddenly appeared in her mind. So sad, yet so decisive. She felt a burst of panic in her heart and couldn't help standing up. The dead silence of the deserted city immediately surrounded her, making it difficult for her to breathe.She looked around helplessly, but could only hear her own empty heartbeat.

At this time, a sharp and distant whistle sounded, and Xiangsi's expression suddenly changed! The whistle was so familiar, as if she had heard it before. The shrill sound of the whistle aggravated the uneasiness in her heart, and she couldn't help but ran away in the direction of the whistle. Her footsteps stopped suddenly. She pressed her chest hard, as if she would die in the next second.The golden armor suddenly became so cold, like a knife embedded in the chest. It was in the east of the deserted city, a small valley. The continuous Daqing Mountains turned into numerous mountains here, hidden in the sticky and damp mist, only supporting this small valley on the side of the deserted city.The mountains and rivers in the north are full of big trees. This hill is covered by all kinds of trees. It has been lonely and lonely since ancient times, and no one has set foot on it.

Now, it's all broken. One by one torches are gathered in the deepest part of the valley, and all of these torches are blue.Four huge bronze tripods are lined up in the very center of the valley. Fierce monsters are engraved on the body of the ancient and clumsy huge tripods. Every three of them wrap around one tripod, propping up the heavy tripod. Acacia's body couldn't help trembling. Because all those huge monsters looking up to the sky have no eyes. Their empty eye sockets are extremely deep, staring at the hazy sky, as if expecting the mercy of the heavens.Their anticipation was full of resentment, their sharp teeth clenched tightly on the tripod's body.

One by one torches were slowly thrown into the cauldron, and several feet long emerald green flames surged out of the cauldron, like green lotuses in the last days, directly burning the blue sky.A sharp whistle followed, long and silent. Almost all the people in the deserted city gathered here, throwing torches branch by branch. The tripods were ignited one after another, and the deep blue light became more and more intense, making the valley a monstrous scene. Xiangsi bit her lips tightly, she suddenly remembered that when she first came to the deserted city, she encountered such a horrible scene! Now, repeat. Among the four giant tripods, more than a dozen people bowed down.They were all wrapped in snow-white robes, and they knelt down slowly and monotonously with the shrill whistle. What they bowed to was a pitch-black dagger with fierce snakes carved on it. The snake also had no pupils. A dull prayer sounded like moldy May rain. The person in front suddenly tore off his white robe and respectfully placed it on the ground.He knelt down facing the deserted city, holding up the pitch-black snake dagger with both hands. Xiangsi suddenly discovered that he was the old man who gave her the golden armor in the morning! The people behind him also tore off their white robes, spread them on the ground, and knelt down. They stared at the snake dagger and knelt down seven times, their old faces showing joy. They all offered golden armor to Acacia, and then knelt down to bid farewell to the old man. Suddenly, a shrill hiss sounded, and the old man in the middle suddenly raised the snake dagger high and inserted it into his heart! Dapeng's blood splashed out like a fiery lotus, blooming on the pale robe.The joy on the old man's face reached the peak, he suddenly pulled out the snake dagger with his hands, and handed the dagger to the next person. Then slumped down. The person who received the dagger, like him, held the dagger and bowed solemnly. Then, he stabbed the dagger deeply into his chest. Xiangsi shouted: "No!" She rushed towards the crowd. The surrounding people immediately panicked.The deep and quiet valley became noisy and violent.Xiangsi tried her best to break free from the crowd, and jumped into the beast cauldron.She was just in time to snatch the dagger from the old man's hand. Thick new blood flowed down the blade, Xiangsi gripped the dagger in a panic and exclaimed: "You—what are you doing?" The old men were panicked by the appearance of Acacia, and it was too late to do any parry.After a long time, they just came to their senses. They knelt down around Xiangsi and shouted in a low panic, "Dear celestial daughter, please return the dagger to us!" Holding the dagger tightly, Xiangsi hissed, "What are you doing?" The panic of the old people made themselves more and more frightened. They beat the ground and cried out in a hoarse voice: "Let us die! Let our death bring food to the deserted city!" Their faces were pressed against the dirt, and their faces were filthy. Acacia was briefly confused. Die, bring food?Is it begging for a gift from the gods? The old man cried: "God answered our begging and gave you to us. We dare not ask for anything anymore. We only want food, food!" He raised his bony hand bones and opened them to Acacia. At that moment, Acacia suddenly understood. That is food!Their blood, their flesh. A biting cold pierced through her heart, and she almost knelt on the ground, unable to support her body. food. The food obtained in the cruelest way is also the blood sacrifice of ancient evil. Use your own body as food to feed hungry offspring. Xiangsi clenched her teeth tightly, and blood flowed from between her teeth.She suddenly felt so weak and powerless. She is known as the goddess of lotus, but she cannot save the city. They followed her and believed in her like a god. Like her, they took up hoes and bamboo poles and bravely resisted the Mongolian cavalry.There is no training, no equipment, only the belief in the goddess of the lotus, which breeds infinite courage.They defeated the invincible Mongolian cavalry. They took a free city. But there is nothing in this city, only ruins.Empty and broken, it needs a blood sacrifice to continue. All the people knelt down, kneeling down to their lotus goddess. At this moment, all living beings are in despair, all things are extinguished, and only death exists. Acacia's eyes sank on the golden armor.That is the only, the only remaining glory. A crazy idea suddenly poured into her mind, she stood up suddenly, and said in a deep voice: "Wait for me, I will definitely bring you food!" She ran out of the valley.Her teeth clenched a lock of hair, and her face was extremely determined.