Martial Arts Song

Chapter 407 Fireworks
The sky gradually darkened, and "Huhai", the largest city in the south, once again entered the night.

However, unlike in the past, tonight's "Huhai" was not like usual at nightfall, with street lamps and lights from thousands of homes lighting up one after another. Instead, most places were plunged into darkness, with only the five districts of the concession having lights on.

Even within the fifth district of the concession, the street lights were not fully lit, and in many areas close to the edge of the central district, the street lights were off.

The bombing by Ryuo planes during the day destroyed many urban facilities and lines in East City. In addition, the war was not over yet, and they were worried that turning on the lights would be too conspicuous and they were afraid of being targeted by the Ryuo soldiers lurking in the "Sea".

Thus, on the night of October 9th in the twenty-fourth year of the Central Calendar, "Huhai" turned into a city of darkness.

Sanlin District, Zhaole Road.

Chen Qing stood on the roof of Lin Manli's house, looking at the darkness all around him with a frown on his face.

In such complete darkness, there were still continuous gunshots in the distance, and judging from the volume of the sound, the location of the exchange of fire had moved forward a little.

At the same time, low sobs could be heard intermittently from different directions where Chen Qing was.

Apart from this, from time to time, there would be people who packed their bags and were dressed like migrant workers, fleeing hastily in the dark night from Kowloon Avenue or nearby streets towards Chenhang District - those were the only two ways to leave "Huhai" by land.

There is another way, which is from West City, going north from Sancao District, and you can also escape to Zhe Province.

For these migrant workers, they have no sense of belonging to "Huhai" in the first place, and now that they are faced with a war, the first thing they do is to flee here.

However, many of those who fled had tears in their eyes and sad expressions on their faces.

Chen Qing watched all of this with the faint light of the moon above his head, his face expressionless.

He understood that most of these people had relatives who died in the bombing.

Masters are very insignificant in the face of war, let alone ordinary people.

No one probably knows how many people were killed or injured in Ryuying's bombing of "Humkai" during the day, because the war has not ended yet and is still ongoing, and no one has time to make statistics in this regard.

But it is foreseeable that there will be a lot of casualties.

"almost……"

Seeing people carrying suitcases, or simply wrapping things in cloth and hanging them on their shoulders, leaving from the Gangqiao District towards the Chenxing District one after another, Chen Qing felt that he could almost arrange for Chen Yang and others to go to Xicheng.

It happened that at this moment, the "Huhai", whether it was the East City or the West City, was basically plunged into darkness.

As for why he didn't take advantage of this time to take Chen Yang, Chen Zhengzhong, Yang Ying and others away from "Hu Hai" and away from the war.

That was naturally because he understood that "Hu Hai" was the largest city in the south. If they couldn't defend it, then Liuying's offensive this time would probably be aimed at completely destroying the Central Kingdom!

By then, the result will be the same no matter where you escape to, it's just a matter of time.

Instead of wandering around like this and struggling to survive, it is better to stay in "Hu Hai" and see if there is any chance to resist Ryuying's attack.

It just so happened that he had formed an alliance with the martial artists in East City. Although he was not familiar with everyone except Luo Zongping, Lu Hongfeng and Xin Guiqing, they would become familiar with each other after fighting side by side.

If he made great efforts in resisting the invasion of Ryuying during this period, he could also use this as an excuse to negotiate terms with the Central Government officials.

By then, he will have the support of the East City martial artists, military merits, and his strength will soon break through to the realm of the great master of "Three Changes".

All these conditions were enough to support him in negotiating terms with the central government officials, allowing him and the Chen family to move from being in the dark to being in the open, and no longer have to hide like they do now.

This is why Chen Qing did not take his Chen family away from "Hu Hai".

Moreover, Chen Yang and Chen Zhengzhong are full of love for this country. If he leaves "Hu Hai" now, they may not necessarily follow him.

Even if "Huhai" could not be defended in the end, hiding here in the ferry carrying people evacuated from the Western Continent, completely away from the war between Central Kingdom and Liuying, was a much better option than fleeing to the inland of Central Kingdom.

Chen Qing naturally thought about all aspects of the problem before making the corresponding decision.

As the thought came to his mind, Chen Qing turned and walked from the roof of Lin Manli's house to the stairs, then went down the stairs to the first floor.

On the first floor, a few candles flickered, barely illuminating the inner courtyard under the skylight.

As it got dark, Lin Manli found that the lights could not be turned on and there was no light outside, so she took out the candles that she had prepared at home.

Even in a southern metropolis like "Huhai", candles are a common item in every home, because the power supply in the entire central country is not particularly stable at present, and the same is true in "Huhai".

Occasionally, there would be a power outage and candles would be needed for lighting.

The dim yellow candlelight made the faces of the people in the inner courtyard look a little yellower, and also cast swaying shadows onto the surrounding walls.

Under the skylight in the inner courtyard, Chen Zhengzhong, Chen Yang, Yang Ying, Lin Manli, and Jiang Ying all looked at Chen Qing coming down with a little nervousness.

The outbreak of the war made Chen Qing the backbone of all of them, and they relied on Chen Qing more than ever before.

After the bombing during the day, most people living nearby had left, and the surroundings were extremely quiet.

This made the sound of Chen Qing going down the stairs, which he did not deliberately control, clearly audible to everyone.

"Brother Bing, are you ready to leave?"

After seeing Chen Qing coming down, Chen Yang was the first to speak and ask.

After hearing this, the others also looked at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing nodded slightly and replied, "Well, it's almost done. Now the lights are off in the entire 'Hu Hai' except for the concession area, and other people are leaving one after another. We can just blend in with them."

He stayed on the rooftop for a whole day, and all the food was brought up by Lin Manli and Jiang Ying.

After the Ryuying planes evacuated one after another and gunfire broke out again in distant places such as Wusong District and Gangqiao District, he observed the situation on the roof for an entire afternoon.

However, since there was no pressure of shells falling on his head, he also took the time to go downstairs and told Chen Yang and others that he was going to transfer them to a safe place.

Then, Chen Yang and others started packing some things they needed to take from noon and have been waiting for him until now.

Chen Qing naturally also heard the noise made by Chen Yang and others downstairs, but he didn't say anything.

Now, after getting Chen Qing's affirmative answer, Chen Yang glanced at Chen Zhengzhong, Yang Ying, Lin Manli, and Jiang Ying, and then asked: "Then... let's go?"

The four of them had no objections and picked up their packed suitcases and packages.

Seeing this, Chen Qing no longer hesitated, walked ahead and came to the door of Lin Manli's house.

"After we get out, remember to follow me closely and don't get separated."

Before leaving, Chen Qing looked back at Chen Yang and others who were following him and gave them instructions. After hearing this, Chen Yang nodded quickly.

Then, Chen Qing opened the door and walked out.

After he came out, Chen Zhengzhong took the lead, followed by Yang Ying, Lin Manli, Jiang Ying, and finally Chen Yang came last.

This was the result of a discussion between Chen Zhengzhong and Chen Yang, with the men protecting the three women in the middle, one in front and one behind.

Chen Qing had no objection to this.

Protecting women and children has always been the default concept in the minds of Chinese men.

After everyone had left, Chen Yang, who was walking at the end, gently closed the door. Then he turned around and found that Lin Manli, who was walking in front of him, was turning back to look at the house with a reluctant look on her face.

Chen Yang immediately chuckled and said, "Sister-in-law, we are just leaving temporarily. We will come back after avoiding this war. Even if we can't come back in the future, my brother will build a big house for you. Don't worry, my brother is very reliable!"

Speaking of the latter part, Chen Yang patted his chest and made a promise.

After hearing this, Lin Manli immediately withdrew her gaze in embarrassment and smiled shyly as a response. Then she turned her head and glanced at Chen Qing who was walking in front.

Being so close, Chen Qing naturally heard Chen Yang's words and felt Lin Manli's glance.

If it were normal times, he would definitely turn around and scold Chen Yang, but at this moment, he just said: "Let's go, hurry up and catch up."

Then, he took the lead and walked in front, leading everyone out along the alley.

Seeing this, everyone hurried to follow.

Soon, they walked out of the alley and came to the street of Zhaole Road.

The street was pitch black, as it was not the main street of Sanlin District. In addition, due to the war, all the soldiers who had been patrolling here were gone, and no one was in charge of this place for the time being.

Chen Qing did not stop, and led the few people behind him all the way towards Jiulong Avenue along the river - he wanted to go to Xicheng, Liu Yilin's home, and the shortest way was to cross the "Red River".

However, I don't know what the concession has become now. I guess many Central Chinese people will want to take the opportunity to hide in it. After all, during the day, when Ryuying's planes dropped shells, they would more or less deliberately avoid the sky above the concession.

But Chen Qing felt that the joint security team in the concession would not let the Central People's people in.

Therefore, his plan was not to go ashore from the concession, but to drift for a distance and go up from the nearby Jiabei District shore.

It just so happens that Liu Yilin's home is in Jiabei District.

"After Ryuying's planes left, the rising tide of the Red River has almost receded. Although there have been no boats on the Red River since this afternoon, the ferries that have been tied to the riverside all year round should still be there. It shouldn't be a problem to find one and quietly cross the river in the night."

While walking on the street of Zhaole Road, Chen Qing was thinking about the next step of his plan. "Although I have never been a boatman, I have been on the boat for a long time. I remember all the movements of those boatmen when they rowed the boat. With my current 'God' value, I should be able to master it after a few more rowings. If it doesn't work, I can get off the boat and push Brother Yang and the others over."

Just as he was thinking about what to do next, suddenly!
"Da da da da da!"

“Da da da da da!!”

“Da da da da da!!!”

Bursts of intense gunfire came from several directions!

And these gunshots were no longer the kind of gunshots from the distant Wusong District and Gangqiao District where he could only hear the difference between loud and low sounds.

He heard these sudden gunshots very clearly, which meant that the gunshots were not very far from him.

Especially one burst of gunfire, he could even hear the specific direction and number of gunshots, it was right behind the Sanlin District!

"They actually came around here to land, and they came so quickly..."

Chen Qing's face darkened slightly.

The city of "Hu Hai" used to belong to Su Province, but later broke away and became the largest city in the south.

However, many places bordering "Huhai" still belong to Su Province. Such places can be found in both Xicheng and Dongcheng. In Dongcheng, except for Gangqiao District, the other eight districts have land bordering Su Province.

Chen Qing originally thought that Liuying had only landed in the Wusong District of West City and the Gangqiao District of East City today and had an exchange of fire with the Central State’s military. However, he did not expect that Liuying had also sent troops to land in Su Province at the same time and fought all the way here!

"What happened?! Why did I hear gunshots?!"

"Yeah, I heard it too, Bingbing, what's going on?!"

This time the gunshots did not occur as far away as Wusong District and Gangqiao District, so Chen Zhengzhong, Chen Yang and others also heard them.

After hearing the sudden gunshot, Chen Zhengzhong and Yang Ying immediately looked at Chen Qing in panic and asked.

Chen Qing replied with a gloomy expression: "Liuying's troops went around to Su Province and landed, and fought all the way here."

To be precise, it wasn't that he didn't expect Ryuying to land from this side, he just didn't expect them to attack so soon!
"how so?!"

Chen Yang, who was standing at the back, asked with a hint of urgency in his tone: "Didn't our military expect Liuying to land from behind?!"

Chen Qing looked at him and replied, "They should have thought of it, otherwise there wouldn't be such a fierce exchange of fire. It's just that our military has to guess where Liuying will land, so they will send a lot of troops to garrison at various possible landing locations, while Liuying only needs to choose one of the locations to land, which will cause a difference in the number of troops. In addition, Liuying's weapons are indeed better than our military's..."

Chen Qing did not continue speaking. He believed that Chen Yang, who had attended university, would understand.

really!

After hearing the latter part, Chen Yang fell silent.

When Chen Yang remained silent, Lin Manli also looked at Chen Qing and asked in a panic, "What should we do now?"

After hearing this, Chen Qing thought for a moment and said, "Let's continue with our business! You guys should walk a little faster!"

After saying this, he continued to walk quickly.

But before he could take a few steps——

"Hey~~"

A sound of breaking air suddenly came from a certain direction.

Chen Qing was startled and looked in the direction of the sound, just in time to see a beautiful firework exploding in the dark sky!
"Oh!"

(End of this chapter)