Chapter 236: The unlucky star Qiao Feng, the protagonist’s graveyard!
Qiao Feng hesitated for a while and said slowly:
" This is a city that is under siege by the enemy. We are the defenders in the city."
After a pause, he emphasized:
"This city, as well as the attackers and defenders, originally had nothing to do with us, but we had to fight."
"I am Zhang Wuji." Zhang Wuji stepped forward, bowed, and introduced Yin Li:
"This is my sister Yin Li. I am a little confused about what Brother Qiao said. We are outsiders. The city and the attackers and defenders here have nothing to do with us. So why do we have to fight?"
Yin Li said:
"That's right. If the defenders in the city are strong and a few of us won't make a difference, can't we just hide and not fight?
"If the enemy forces outside the city are strong, we can surrender! Anyway, neither side has anything to do with us, so surrendering is not shameful, right?"
Qiao Feng smiled and said in a low voice:
"The strength of the attackers and defenders is quite different. There are only 3,000 defenders in the city, but there are more than 50,000 enemy troops outside the city.
"It's just that... the defenders in the city are not of the same ethnic group as us. They are all barbarians with high noses and deep eyes. But the enemy outside the city is not even human. No matter dead or alive, if they fall into their hands, there is only one end, that is, they will be chopped up and used as military rations.
"So surrender is impossible. Hiding and not joining the war... is possible, but it is not the right choice."
Ni Kun smiled and said:
"I am Ni Kun, paying my respects to Brother Qiao. I wonder what Brother Qiao meant by saying that the enemy outside the city is not human?"
Di Yun said:
"Yes, if the enemy is not human, could it be demons?"
Qiao Feng nodded seriously:
"The enemy outside the city can really be called demons. When the battle begins, you will know what's going on when you see the enemy."
Di Yun, Zhang Wuji and Yin Li looked at each other in silence.
Ni Kun was also thoughtful.
Qiao Feng continued:
"The attack and defense of the city will last for forty-five days. If we cannot defeat the enemy during this period, the city will surely fall."
"Forty-five days?" Zhang Wuji asked curiously, "How did Brother Qiao know that this battle would last forty-five days? Could it be that Brother Qiao could predict the future?"
Qiao Feng chuckled, a hint of sadness flashed across his eyes:
"It's not that I can predict the future, but I have experienced five battles to defend the city, and this is the sixth time."
Zhang Wuji, Di Yun and Yin Li were completely confused and didn't know what was going on.
Ni Kun frowned and said:
"After the city falls, time will go back to before the attack and defense began, and repeat over and over again?"
Qiao Feng glanced at Ni Kun and nodded in appreciation:
“That’s exactly what Brother Ni said.
"On the forty-fifth day, the enemy will break into the city. If you can survive until then, you must hold out until nightfall while being slaughtered by the enemy.
“After dark, time and space flowed, and everything returned to the beginning of the city’s attack and defense, starting a new round of attack and defense.
“Whether the defenders, enemy troops, or the previous ones, whether they died in the battle or not, they can all be reborn.
"But once we outsiders die in the war, we will never come back to life."
Zhang Wuji and the other two were dumbfounded and shocked.
"Time is like flowing water, it never returns. After the city fell, everything went back to the beginning, repeating over and over again... How is this possible?"
Qiao Feng said:
"I couldn't believe it at first, and thought I was under some kind of magic. But after experiencing it twice, I realized that everything was real..."
Ni Kun asked:
"Brother Qiao just said that outsiders like us cannot be reborn after death... So, were there other outsiders who came before us?"
Qiao Feng's expression became even more gloomy:
"I didn't come here alone. When I first came here, I had two companions. One was called Linghu Chong, and the other was called Mao Shiba. They were both warm-hearted men.
"But in the first siege, Linghu Chong only lasted until the twentieth day before he was tragically killed in battle. Mao Shiba also only lived one day longer than him.
"I held out alone until the forty-fifth day, when the city fell and the enemy entered, slaughtering people. I wandered the streets, fighting for my life, until finally it was dark. Suddenly, light and darkness alternated, time and space flowed, and I returned to the beginning, back to this barracks...
"However, my two companions did not appear again. The ones who appeared here are two newcomers."
He looked at Ni Kun and the other three and said with emotion:
"The two newcomers were a man and a woman, one named Duan Yu and the other named Li Wenxiu. They were both good people and had experienced the test of the monster in the room and a dangerous place. But they still died in this battle.
“There were three more times after that, two with new people and one without.
"The new recruits in those two attacks included both skilled kung fu fighters and those who knew magic and could perform a few tricks, such as shooting freezing rays and burning palms. But without exception, they all died in the 45-day brutal offensive and defensive battle.
"I was the only one who survived time and again. Every time, I was in the barracks, welcoming new people, and watching them die in the brutal battles..."
At this point, this tough guy like Qiao Feng actually had red eyes, his voice choked, and his broad chest heaved violently. He had to raise his head and close his eyes. It took him a long time to calm down.
"I'm sorry for losing my composure and making you all laugh." Qiao Feng said in a hoarse voice.
Ni Kun sighed in his heart: Boss Qiao, you are simply doomed to fail!
Several times, all the companions you refreshed died. The halos of the protagonists such as Linghu Chong, Duan Yu, and Li Wenxiu were useless. You were the only one alive...
It's a good thing that we are all kind people, otherwise after hearing what you said, we would have to stay away from you to avoid being killed by you.
"Brother Qiao, you are so grief-stricken for your companions, that's just your true nature." Zhang Wuji bowed and said, "After so many offensive and defensive battles, Brother Qiao, have you ever thought about how to end it all and leave here?"
"Of course we have thought about it." Qiao Feng took a deep breath, exhaled heavily, and said gloomily:
"Since the second battle, I have been trying to find the 'door' to leave.
"I have tried to search in the city. This city is not big, it is a military fortress, so it is not difficult to search. However, I have searched the entire city and found no clues to the 'door'. We have also tried to venture out of the city and search outside the city, but we still couldn't find the 'door'.
"During the fourth city defense, a fellow barbarian named Alice , who claimed to have been a 'security supervisor', was agile and could move small objects with her mind. She suggested that we should defeat the enemy outside the city before we could find the door. So we tried every possible way to create a chance of victory.
"We tried sneaking into the enemy camp at night and assassinating the enemy leader, and we succeeded by chance, but it was useless. The enemy army did not become chaotic or withdraw, but immediately put forward a new leader.
"We also tried burning the food supplies, but it was useless. The enemy could even use their own dead soldiers as rations.
"The fifth time, which was also the last time, I tried to break out and look for reinforcements. I finally persuaded the commander of the garrison to organize dozens of elite soldiers to fight with me to break out. However, after leaving the military fort a hundred miles away, there was fog all around. No matter which way I went, I would end up back at the place where I first entered the fog..."
Well, there is no Alice in Resident Evil. How many protagonists are buried in this copy? It is definitely a graveyard for protagonists!
In addition, Ni Kun also almost understood it.
The copy in this "cube" is not a complete world at all.
Instead, it is like a game copy, with very limited characters, plots, regions and time.
In the previous rainforest copy, there was only a rainforest of unknown size.
This battlefield copy only consists of this military fort and an area outside the fort with a radius of only a hundred miles.
The duration of this copy is only forty-five days.
The so-called repeated reincarnation is just like the refresh of the game copy. Regardless of whether the task is completed or whether you can leave this place, the copy will be refreshed to welcome the next batch of trial-takers.
"The copy in this cube can only be considered a half plane or a small world at best. Compared with the reincarnation world outside, it is too cramped and has limited room for development..."
Ni Kun pondered in his heart and asked Qiao Feng:
"Brother Qiao, after all these attempts, haven't you found any clues about the 'door'?"
Qiao Feng shook his head and smiled bitterly:
"Qiao is incompetent. I have gone through five reincarnations in vain, but I still haven't found any clues..."
"Then, won't we be trapped here forever?" Yin Li's voice trembled a little: "Won't this place become an endless hell?"
"No." Zhang Wuji said calmly, "There must be a way to leave, but I haven't found it yet."
"Brother Zhang is right." Although Qiao Feng had gone through five reincarnations and watched his companions die tragically one after another, his fighting spirit was still high and he said excitedly: "I failed to find any clues in the previous five times, but it was just because I was incompetent. This time, there may be a chance to find clues."
After a pause, he said solemnly:
"The battle will begin in half an hour. During this time, I need to explain everything to you in detail.
"The enemy outside the city is a group of hideous humanoid monsters, most of whom are slightly shorter than ordinary people, but very strong and powerful. There are also some who are extremely tall, as tall as Qiao, or even taller than Qiao.
“That kind of extremely tall demon is not only extremely powerful, but also agile, wearing heavy armor and carrying heavy weapons, and is very difficult to deal with.
"The vitality of ordinary demons is not stronger than that of ordinary people. Cutting their throats, piercing their chests and abdomens, or chopping off their heads will kill them. They will scream and wail when they are injured, and sometimes they will lose their morale and flee in battle. The vitality of tall demons is slightly stronger. Sometimes they will shout and fight fiercely even when their stomachs are broken and their intestines are spilling, until they bleed to death.
"In short, you can regard ordinary demons as the most elite and powerful soldiers. And regard the tall demons as fierce generals..."
Zhang Wuji, Di Yun and Yin Li were all listening attentively, and it was obvious that they attached great importance to Qiao Feng's advice.
Gold-type masters basically all have one characteristic, which is that they are powerless against the military.
Not to mention a powerful army composed entirely of brave soldiers and with countless numbers, even if it is an ordinary army, once the number of people increases, the gold-type masters will basically be defeated and have no ability to fight against it.
There are very few people like Guo Jing who are good at charging into the enemy line and can kill several enemies in the army.
Zhang Wuji, Di Yun and Yin Li were not fierce generals or berserkers, and their current condition was average. If no one gave them advice and care, it would be questionable whether they could survive three days on the battlefield.
As for Qiao Feng, he was one of the few martial arts masters who was good at charging into battle. Even though his power was suppressed and weakened to only 10% of its peak, he did not rely solely on his power to make a living.
In terms of martial arts skills, Qiao Feng, who has never used any internal force cheats and relies entirely on his own practice, is not considered to be the best in the Tianlong world.
But he is gifted with extraordinary talents, his muscles and bones are much stronger than ordinary people, and he has the god of war that makes him stronger when facing stronger opponents and extremely brave in actual combat. Even if his skills are severely weakened, he can still be extremely brave.
That is why Qiao Feng was able to survive five reincarnations and accumulate extremely rich experience in battle, and give some advice to the newcomers here.
"Of course, there are benefits to joining the battle."
After introducing the enemy's situation, Qiao Feng talked about the benefits of joining the war:
"Killing the enemy will earn you 'merit'. I don't know who records these merits, but after each battle, if you have achieved anything, you can go to the government office in the military fort and find a clerk.
"The clerk has a very detailed record of the military achievements of us outsiders. We can get merits for killing, seriously injuring, and assisting.
"Killing an ordinary enemy will earn you three points of merit. Seriously injuring an enemy, crippling them or making them incapable of fighting, will earn you two points of merit. Assisting in killing an enemy will earn you half a point to one point of merit, depending on how much effort you put in.
"Once you have accumulated a certain amount of merit, you can exchange it for rewards from the clerk. The rewards are quite rich, including various weapons, armor, some magical potions, and food.
"Some potions and foods, after being taken, can temporarily increase strength and agility, or make skin, flesh, tendons and bones as tough as rock, greatly improving survivability on the battlefield. Some potions and foods can quickly restore physical strength, skills, and injuries.
"There are also some more valuable potions that can permanently increase strength and agility, permanently make the skin, flesh, tendons and bones tougher, and recover faster after injury. Of course, such potions are very expensive, and you need to accumulate a lot of merit to exchange for a bottle.
"In addition, you can also exchange for some skills. Most skills have a usage limit, and once they are used up, they are gone and need to be exchanged again. Some skills are once-in-a-lifetime. But the prices are very expensive..."
Listening to Qiao Feng's introduction of the rewards for exchanging merits, Zhang Wuji and the others were not surprised.
They can also be considered experienced "reincarnations" and are accustomed to the "common sense" of defeating monsters and getting treasures.
Here, killing enemies will not drop treasures, but you will gain merits, which can be exchanged for rewards. In essence, it is also a kind of "killing monsters and dropping treasures".
After listening to Qiao Feng's introduction to the meritorious service rewards, Yin Li asked curiously:
"Brother Qiao, you have experienced five reincarnations, and even sneaked into the enemy camp at night to assassinate a general. Haven't you accumulated a huge amount of merits and become very strong?"
Even if your skills cannot be restored quickly, just by constantly increasing your strength, agility, stamina, and recovery ability, and by learning "skills", your strength can also soar!
If his skills can be recovered a little more, he will be even more powerful, and being invincible will not be a dream.
Qiao Feng shook his head and smiled bitterly:
"How can there be such a good deal? Temporary effects or various skills, potions, and foods with a certain number of uses are fine, they can be used repeatedly. But those that are permanent are not only expensive, but also have their limits. Once the limit is reached, they will lose their effectiveness.
"I have taken a potion that increases strength three times. The first time I took it, I gained 200 kilograms of strength, the second time I only gained 160-170 kilograms of strength, and the third time I only gained 130-140 kilograms of strength. In total, I gained 500 kilograms of strength in the three times.
"But after taking it for the fourth time, I only gained a dozen pounds of strength... Compared with its high price, taking it again is obviously not worth it. It is better to use the merits to exchange for other more practical rewards."
Ni Kun thought that this was probably to prevent the reincarnationists from finding the door and then staying here to repeatedly gain merit and sprint to become the Sword God of Shilipo.
If it is really possible to add attributes endlessly, then it is only a matter of time before I become a superman by staying here.
Yin Li said enviously: "Brother Qiao was able to survive on the battlefield and hold on to the end. After this strengthening, I'm afraid he can be a match for thousands of people now."
Qiao Feng shook his head: "Qiao is neither invulnerable nor invincible. How can I be a match for ten thousand men on a battlefield like this?"
He warned the crowd:
"The enemy is not a bunch of idiots. On the contrary, they are extremely ferocious and bloodthirsty. Each of them is skilled in combat and has good coordination. You must not be complacent and underestimate the enemy."
Zhang Wuji and the other two nodded repeatedly: "Thank you, Brother Qiao, for your advice. It will save us a lot of trouble."
"Looking at your age, this is probably your first time experiencing a battlefield like this. When you first enter a battlefield, don't think about killing the enemy to gain merit. Try to save your life first and get familiar with the cruelty and bloodiness of the battlefield."
As he spoke, Qiao Feng took out four test tubes that were half filled with gray liquid and threw them to the four people:
"This is a potion that can make your skin as hard as stone without affecting your flexibility. It doesn't last too long, less than half an hour, but it can save your life at a critical moment."
Zhang Wuji and the others quickly took the test tube and said embarrassedly:
"This, this potion is so precious, Brother Qiao, you..."
Qiao Feng smiled carefreely and sighed:
"Qiao Feng is incompetent. Not only did he fail to find the door to get out, he also failed to save any of his companions from the previous times... This time, I hope you can survive. Regardless of whether you find the door or not, at least you have to hold on to the end."
In fact, he also provided help to his partners in previous times as much as possible, and even repeatedly provided protection and assistance on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, none of them were saved.
"Thank you, Brother Qiao, for your generous gift." Zhang Wuji and the other two bowed in greeting.
Ni Kun did not refuse Qiao Feng's kindness because he had an arm shield, leather armor, and various life-saving skills. He also took a test tube and bowed to Qiao Feng:
"Thank you, Brother Qiao."
"Don't be polite, it's just a small matter, not worth mentioning."
Qiao Feng jumped off the kang again, dragged out a large box from under the kang, opened it, and took out four sets of mail armor, a breastplate, and a helmet.
"This is the equipment I saved up before. It is much tougher than the ones provided by the defenders for free. It is not invulnerable, but at least it can resist strong arrows and barely block the swords and spears that are not powerful enough. But please note that it cannot resist heavy weapons such as axes and hammers. It can only offset part of the force of the close-range attacks of the demon generals."
Zhang Wuji and the other two did not hesitate to exchange greetings. They stepped forward and each took a piece of mail, a breastplate, and a helmet and put them on.
As for weapons, the three of them had their own customary weapons, so there was no need for Qiao Feng to provide any.
Ni Kun did not go over to put on his armor. He tapped the black arm shield on his left arm and said with a smile:
"Thank you, Brother Qiao, but I have my own protective gear."
Qiao Feng said: "This shield is too small, Brother Ni, you..."
Ni Kun opened his shirt again and showed his leather breastplate: "This armor is invulnerable to swords and spears."
Qiao Feng then nodded, "It seems that Brother Ni has gained a lot before coming here."
Ni Kun asked, "Before Brother Qiao came here, what other small worlds have you experienced besides that white room?"
Qiao Feng sighed and said:
“I’ve only experienced one, and it was also a city defense battlefield, but it was far less cruel and bloody than this battlefield. The enemy as a whole was also far less powerful than the demons here. Only a very small number of elite soldiers could compare with the demon soldiers here.
"At that time, Linghu Chong and Mao Shiba were still alive and experienced that battlefield with me. Speaking of which, the two sides in that battle had some connection with me. Linghu Chong and Mao Shiba had also heard of that battle."
What we experienced was a "rainforest".
So different "reincarnations" may not experience the same copies because of their different door opening paths?
Is it just that the difficulty is roughly the same?
Ni Kun thought to himself and asked, "I wonder which battle it was?"
Qiao Feng said, "It was a battle in which the Mongols attacked Xiangyang. To me, it was a future event, but to Linghu Chong and Mao Shiba, it was history that had already happened."
Ni Kun raised his eyebrows and asked, "Who is guarding the city? Are there any martial arts masters helping to defend the city?"
“No.” Qiao Feng shook his head. “The defender of Xiangyang City is called Lü Wenhuan. The defenders are just Xiangyang soldiers and civilians. There are no martial arts masters…”
So is it a fragment taken from real history?
For a tough guy like Qiao Feng, even if his power was suppressed to only about half in the first copy, with his fighting ability, he should have been able to make a difference in the Battle of Xiangyang in real history.
He was able to survive five consecutive reincarnations on the battlefield here, which must have been due to his considerable gains on the battlefield in Xiangyang.
At this moment, a shrill horn sounded outside. Qiao Feng's expression changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice:
"The enemy is about to begin attacking the city! Come with me, I will take you to familiarize yourself with the battlefield first!"
After saying that, he picked up a shield and a machete and strode out of the barracks.
Ni Kun, Zhang Wuji and the other three did not hesitate and quickly followed him.
