Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 377 - 236: Four Starts

Chapter 377: Chapter 236: Four Starts

What Li Hongyun hadn’t expected was that after he had chosen his innate abilities, the trial didn’t start immediately; instead, a kind of cutscene played first.

He was originally at the city wall of Cen Bridge Inn, but the moment the trial began, his vision swiftly ascended, overlooking the entire city.

He could clearly see that Cen Bridge Inn seemed to have erupted into chaos!

The usual stream of merchants had suddenly dwindled significantly, and those that remained hurried along. These merchants typically traveled north, passing through the two official roads north of Cen Bridge Inn, continuously heading to the northern strongholds, and some well-connected traders even managed to cross the borders patrolled by the Qi Army to conduct smuggling businesses with Jin Country.

But now, a large number of merchants began fleeing south instead.

Some were escaping to the Capital City Da Liang or even further to the distant south.

At the same time, soldiers carrying urgent military intelligence arrived at the inn on fast horses, barely resting before they mounted another horse and continued racing toward the direction of the capital.

Moreover, there were many panicked locals in the vicinity.

They were flustered, scrambling to do various things.

Those who were well-informed had already started packing their belongings, preparing to flee to the capital—even becoming refugees there was better than waiting to die here;

Some, slow to react, didn’t understand why Cen Bridge Inn was in such a state of unease. Many of them were local farmers who, as usual, went to tend to the nearby farmlands. After all, even with major events unfolding, the fields couldn’t be neglected—once neglected, someone would go hungry;

A significant portion of the populace had perhaps sensed the tense atmosphere of an impending war. Yet, uncertain of what fate awaited them, they naturally could not make any definite responses.

To most ordinary people, the realm had enjoyed peace for a long time, and this place was right under the emperor’s nose; even if a battle might occur, how significant could it be?

To the north lay the Yellow River, a significant natural barrier. From the defensive line along the Yellow River to the capital, there were many military strongholds and a large number of soldiers. Should a battle ensue, Jin soldiers wouldn’t be able to break through the defenses quickly. Perhaps waiting and observing a bit longer was a better choice.

If the Qi Army could win, that would naturally be the best outcome; if the Qi Army couldn’t win, then upon hearing of a crushing defeat and seeing fleeing soldiers, figuring out an escape to the south seemed timely enough.

After all, fleeing south to become a refugee based on uncertain news was ultimately a difficult decision to make.

In ancient times, most ordinary individuals were tied to their lands; they couldn’t take their entire households or the crops in their fields with them. If Jin soldiers didn’t come and they became refugees on their journey south, the loss would be unbearable.

Thus, Cen Bridge Inn, a vital node linking merchants from north and south, was already sensing the warmth of the spring river water, hinting at what was to come. Still, ultimately, very few people truly understood what it all meant.

Li Hongyun’s vision ascended once again.

His view shifted to encompass the entire northern region of the Qi Dynasty.

By this time, the northernmost Yan had already fallen.

The reason for describing it as "fallen" was that a small part of Yan had once briefly belonged to the Qi Dynasty.

When Jin Country was established, the Qi Dynasty had momentarily cooperated with Jin. Due to absurd performances in collaborative battles, it was ultimately Jin who had conquered Yan.

The rulers and ministers of the Qi Dynasty creatively redeemed Yan with a lot of money and resources, buying what turned out to be a ghost town. Then, exhausting the nation’s resources, they attempted to reinforce Yan, hoping it could again become a northern barrier.

However, each step, seemingly insignificant when viewed alone, culminated in unacceptable severe consequences.

Because they couldn’t defeat the army and seemed to maintain a decent relationship with Jin, they planned to regain Yan through redemption;

Because they had bought a ghost town, continuously infusing Yan with people, money, and various resources to re-establish it as a northern barrier seemed like the right decision;

Moreover, at that time, the general stationed in Yan leading an army stronger than all of Qi’s forces was thought to be potentially loyal if offered high rank and wealth.

However, after Jin forces split into two groups and marched south, this stationed general, after some resistance, realized aligning with Qi would yield no good results, and eventually defected, becoming a servant to three different masters.

As a result, not only did Qi Dynasty hand over a significant amount of money for Yan to Jin for nothing, but they also continued to lose more resources, including people, materials, and a capable military force pumped into Yan.

Among these were many craftsmen, which further accelerated the technology spread from the Central Plains to the north, laying the groundwork for the eventual fall of the Qi Dynasty.

As Li Hongyun’s vision followed Jin’s advancing troops southward, crossing Yan Jing, Jin’s army encountered little resistance—wherever it met Qi forces, they collapsed instantly.

Or more accurately, "collapsed instantly" was already a compliment, for only a very few of the Qi forces actually faced Jin head-on; most had not even seen Jin soldiers before disintegrating into disorderly retreats or mutinies, vanishing without a trace.

The Yellow River might have been a formidable defensive barrier, but in such an ineffectively defended scenario, crossing it was merely a matter of sending a few more boats back and forth.

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