Accompanied by Ye Xiangming, Wang Chen climbed the walls of Qing'an County Town.
The County Assistant Lord looked several years older, with far more white in his hair, a haggard expression, and weary eyes.
Even before the bandit army had arrived, he had begun conscripting soldiers and organizing the city's defenses, toiling day and night and exhausting every thought.
Though Ye Xiangming himself possessed formidable martial skill, time showed no mercy.
Looking at the boundless bandit encampment outside the city, he could not help sighing. "You should have left."
Earlier, Ye Xiangming had discussed with Wang Chen the possibility of having the latter take his family away from Qing'an County and flee south from the calamity and chaos.
But Wang Chen had politely declined.
The catastrophic drought that had struck the Nanli Kingdom was clearly the result of the great tribulation affecting the Mountain Sea Realm.
Even if they fled elsewhere, could they escape the great tribulation?
The answer was clearly no!
Wang Chen shook his head. "Dai'er doesn't want to leave either."
Ye Xiangming gave a bitter smile. "Then we can only stay here and fight for our lives."
He knew that his son-in-law was no ordinary scholar. His strength and cultivation were likely no weaker than his own.
Ooo—
Before Ye Xiangming's words had even faded, a deep horn sounded suddenly from beyond the city walls.
The bandit army had moved!
The tens of thousands of bandits did not engage in production and lived entirely by plunder. They could not possibly besiege the county town for long, so this attack had been inevitable.
Thousands upon thousands of refugees hoisted crude wooden ladders and surged toward the city walls like a black tide.
Most of them were barely clothed, and the weapons in their hands were mostly wooden spears