Chapter 916 Desolate Land
Along the way, one could often see troops of the Tianhun Empire passing by on horseback.
Tang Lan knew that there had been frictions between the Tianhun Empire and the Douling Empire recently, and that they were getting worse.
To the north of Shrek City is the border area of the three parties. Apart from Shrek City, the Tianhun Empire and the Duoling Empire have had many frictions on the border.
Both sides have been increasing their troops on the border for several months, leading to the current critical moment.
Recently, the Tianhun Empire invited Mu En, the head of the Sea God Pavilion of Shrek Academy, to mediate and ease the serious conflicts between their two empires.
But they didn't expect that Mu En was still in seclusion, which made things more tense. Even the people around him chose to stay at home and live elsewhere.
The houses seen along the way were the same after Tang Lan's repeated explorations, with no signs of life.
This place has become a no-man's land.
"The famous wasteland is ahead. There are some tips on the way. You better sit tight!"
Seeing the sun gradually setting to the horizon, Che Tu, who was sitting in the front, suddenly reminded Tang Lan and others.
Tang Lan had already seen the barren land on the map. After crossing the barren land, the famous Qingshan City was less than thirty miles away.
The reason why this place is called the Desolate Land is because of the great war that took place here when the Heaven and Earth Empire was divided.
According to historical records of Shrek Academy, after the split, the Douling Empire and the Tianhun Empire deployed hundreds of thousands of troops and fought here for three full months.
Both sides dispatched countless powerful soul master corps for this purpose.
For a time, the mountains and rivers were broken and the earth was scarred. Even though so many years have passed, this place has not changed much.
The most important thing is that the breakthroughs in soul guides made by various parties during that period of time made rapid progress.
In the last period of time, even the powerful soul guide cannon was used.
Ordinary soldiers in it will be killed in less than an hour. This place can be said to be a real battlefield meat grinder.
It was not until decades later that the real reason gradually became known to the world.
It turned out that the Tiandou Empire was split into two empires, and the powerful soul guides used in the war between the two empires were actually secretly supported by the Sun-Moon Empire.
They were far away on the other side of the ocean, selling their soul guides in exchange for various conditions.
To this end, the two empires almost consumed more than half of the national strength of the former Tiandou Empire, and also made the Sun and Moon Empire across the ocean unprecedentedly powerful.
Only in the end did a war break out between the two continents.
"Stop, where are you from? No one is allowed to enter here without permission, go back quickly!"
Tang Lan and his group's carriage team had not gone far when they were stopped by a group of soldiers from the Tianhun Empire.
The leading sergeant rode his horse and circled the carriage for a long time before starting to drive it away.
"Go, lift up the carriage curtain for me. I want to see who's in there and who's so arrogant!"
Seeing that Tang Lan and others did not react at all, the sergeant immediately gave orders angrily.
Then, six soldiers went to the troika and tried to lift the curtains of the carriages.
"Humph, open your dog eyes and see what this is!"
However, the next moment, Ma Xiaotao's cold snort came from the carriage.
Tang Lan turned around and saw Ma Xiaotao taking out a token from her ring. There was a lotus pattern on the token, and it was made of pure gold.
The sergeant took it and glanced at it casually, seemingly not taking it seriously. But a few breaths later, the guy fell off his horse with a thump.
Then he crawled to the carriage where Tang Lan was, knelt down and begged for mercy, "I didn't know you were here, I didn't recognize you, please spare my life, spare my life!"
Tang Lan looked out through the gap in the window and clearly saw that the soldier's crotch was wet.
After seeing the token clearly, this guy was so scared that he wet his pants.
But even so, the other party did not dare to move at all.
Seeing his men standing there at a loss, the sergeant cursed, "You stupid people, why don't you roll over here and kneel down? Do you want to implicate your own people?"
Upon hearing this, the ordinary soldiers were terrified and quickly knelt on the ground with their heads buried in the ground, not daring to lift them up.
"Let's make it up. You will escort us through this place. We are going to Qingshan Town to stay for the time being!"
Ma Xiaotao sighed lightly, forgiving these people's sins.
"Little man obeys!"
The sergeant respectfully handed the gold medal to the coachman, who then passed it to Ma Xiaotao.
Then he rode on a fast horse and led his men to gallop ahead, shouting as he went, "The Imperial Master is here, everyone make way, anyone who disobeys my order will be executed!"
His voice echoed over and over again in this desolate land.
The soldiers and generals of the Tianhun Empire had to stand respectfully on both sides of the road, not even daring to look up at the carriage.
The Tianhun Empire has clear regulations on status. Rebellion is a serious crime, let alone offending a big figure like the National Master who is second only to the emperor.
Everyone knows that the honorary imperial teacher of the Tianhun Empire is Mu En, the current head of the Sea God Pavilion of Shrek Academy.
It was the position of the Imperial Master of Destiny that the previous emperor had specially bestowed on Mu En in gratitude for his kindness, and he also sent people to forge three golden identity tokens exclusively for the Imperial Master.
Later, he announced to the world that anyone who saw the imperial teacher Jin Ling was like seeing the emperor, and that the three armies could be mobilized to execute the enemy first and report later.
It can be said that almost everyone in the Tianhun Empire knows that the national teacher is a high-ranking official of Shrek Academy.
This time, he should be heading to the imperial city of the Tianhun Empire, so all soldiers need to give way to him and perform escort duties.
But after leaving the deserted land, Ma Xiaotao ordered these people to go back.
By the time everyone arrived at Qingshan Town, the sun had already set, with only a little red glow shining in the sky.
But the town here is extremely lively. If Tang Lan didn't know that this is a small town, looking at the bustling scene of people coming and going around, he would have thought this was a small city.
The reason why Qingshan Town is so lively is ultimately due to the barren land.
As everyone knows, the Desolate Land is a strategic location. No matter whether it is the Douling Empire or the Tianhun Empire, as long as they occupy the Desolate Land, then the road ahead will be flat.
Both sides were able to advance dozens of miles a day, thus gaining the initiative in the battle.
To this end, the Tianhun Empire focused on building Qingshan Town less than thirty miles behind the wasteland.
Although it is a town, the scale of the buildings here is indeed comparable to that of a small city.
Not only are there a large number of troops stationed around it, it is also the place for logistics supply for the Tianhun Empire.
In addition to the soldiers of the Tianhun Empire, there are also a group of bounty hunters here.
