Durin's Diary

Chapter 917 Taohuawu

The old man heard that his son, Dulin, had written a lengthy treatise, which had passed the seal of a certain emperor's great-granddaughter and was now being presented to the general's mansion... This was two days later.

He clicked his tongue and finally gave up the idea of ​​going to the general's mansion to ask for wine today. As an old man who had lived for so long, he sat on the first floor of the teahouse, watching people come and go.

On the old television set on the TV stand, the story of the Three Passes and Four Seas broadcast on the evening news was both familiar and strange to him.

The reason I'm familiar with him is because he once lived like that, just like the soldiers on TV, he suffered hardships, endured torment, and spent his time in trenches, facing countless difficulties and dangers.

It felt strange because he hadn't lived like this for decades; the trenches, the laughing young people, the desolate desert—everything seemed so unfamiliar.

Before this, he lived like the marshal in his memory, fighting alongside young people on the front lines, adorning his military record with the heads of countless aliens and their generals. The rank of marshal was only ever given to those who crawled out of piles of corpses on the front lines.

After that, he was like a lost soul who couldn't find his home, living a miserable existence in Qiantang, in the capital, and in every place where he wasn't needed—he had been removed from the register of officials and no longer had his former identity. In the old man's eyes, the so-called official position in the rear was nothing more than a fig leaf for them to cover up their misfortunes.

The former Marshal Mo is dead; now, all that remains is a small old man who has lost almost all his beloved family and friends.

Just then, the teahouse owner arrived. He sat down in front of the old man and expertly washed the teacups.

He was once a soldier under Xiao Lao'er. He stayed at Yumen Pass for three years and served for another four years. In the seventh year, four of his brothers died in battle elsewhere in one day. According to the military law of Changtang, he was forced to retire.

The old man searched for him for a long time on the battlefield, and finally found him in a semi-abandoned military cave. He kicked the old man's butt all the way to the military post.

He knelt down at the end, saying he still wanted to be his soldier, but the old man had personally stripped him of his uniform and told him to get lost.

Compared to Changtang, that empty home needs this young man more.

Fifty years have passed in the blink of an eye. The young man who was twenty-six back then is now all white-haired and wrinkled. He has been guarding this huge business and has seven children. The children are tough and five of them survived the war. Now he has a house full of grandchildren.

A young man came over, bowed, and then presented dried fruit and snacks.

The old man nodded—this vast capital city had no home for him; whether it was the Candle Dragon Pavilion or the Celestial Master's Mansion, they all felt unfamiliar to him.

In the beginning, he would occasionally go to the general's mansion to ask for some wine. Sometimes he would sleep on the lawn in the park, sometimes he would sleep in the roadside pavilion, and sometimes he would be impeached by the censor for being unkempt.

So he ended up staying overnight at the shops of his former subordinates, or sneaking into unused houses to sleep.

If the censor doesn't see him, he won't impeach him.

Then one day, the imperial censor who came back to visit his ancestral home found the little old man sleeping in the corridor.

That damned bastard! He's been impeaching a homeless old man for seven whole days! Doesn't he realize that land in Beijing is incredibly expensive? How is this old man, who's been deregistered and has no pension, going to buy a house? Is he going to trade his whole family's lives for it?
[Qiantang profanity]!
Finally, the emperor's great-grandfather couldn't bear to see it and gave the old man a small courtyard, nominally still royal property, but for the old man's use.

With tea and snacks, we can save money on dinner.

With this thought in mind, the old man patted the child who ran over to greet him. In the past, when he returned to the capital to report for duty, he would visit the homes of his old subordinates and pet their children like this. After some time, some of these grown-up children would come to Yumen Pass and follow him through life and death, drinking the blood of foreign races and eating their flesh.

A reason to live?

Of course, it's all for the sake of the families we have behind us.

Some people live far away, some live close by, but if they retreat here, everyone's home will be doomed.

Just then, a young man in a red robe walked in; he was a member of the inner guard.

He hurried up to the old man and said, "My lord, the General is waiting for you in the Golden Hall."

What happened? Thinking this, he stood up again: "I'm sorry, it looks like I won't be able to have this tea today."

He sighed to his old subordinates.

The latter nodded, stood up, and accompanied the old man outside.

People came and went, and as the old man was getting into the car, he finally spoke: "Marshal, I have always had a question on my mind."

The old man paused for a moment, then turned to his old subordinate and said, "Ask away."

“You killed someone that day. Did you regret it? You didn’t have to kill anyone. You would still be the marshal, and my child would still be your soldier. Wouldn’t that be better?”

The old man thought for a moment, then smiled and said, “There are always some things in this world that require capable people to do. Others do not do them, either because they are afraid of their own safety or because they love their reputation. I am just an old man who has lost my beloved, lost my relatives and friends, and has lived in Yumen Pass for three or four hundred years. So they love their reputation and their own safety. I am just seeking justice for those thousands of men.”

Ultimately, I'll do what they can't do.

Upon hearing this, the old man knelt on one knee with a military salute: "Sir, I heard that your son is in Zhennan. Next year, I have two grandsons. Will they be able to serve under him?"

“He won’t stay long. There are more important places that need him. He should go to Yumen. Seventeen generations of your family have lived there. You should be used to it by now. Don’t go running around.”

"Alright, Marshal, please take care. Let this old soldier see you off one more time."

"it is good."

The old man got into the car.

As the car started moving, and as the old man in the rearview mirror was helped up by his grandson, the old man wiped his eyes and finally sighed softly.

“My lord, my great-grandfather was also one of your soldiers. He said that you shouldn’t have been involved in naval affairs. He also said that Prime Minister Lin had been discussing the punishment of that family with the navy for the past few days.”

"You don't understand," the old man said only one sentence.

Yes, the young people didn't understand. At that time, almost all the Marines in the Navy had no will to fight. The young Marines were willing to risk their lives for their country, their homes, and their comrades, but no one wanted to be left on the beach to die.

The young men were so enraged that they wanted to assassinate the high-ranking generals, to risk their own lives, in an attempt to awaken them and make them hear the voices of the surviving Marines.

If no one responds, the children in the South will use even more ruthless methods to kill that family next time, even if it means being labeled as a rebel.

I really don't want to see infighting among my fellow villagers.

Some people cherish fame, while others cherish life, because they still have attachments in this world. But this old man was already over four hundred years old at that time, and his beloved relatives and friends had all been swept away by the torrent of time.

So he stepped forward and, on the long street, used a marshal's sword he had brought back from Yumen Pass... to personally kill so many people he had sworn to protect.

Don't fucking bully honest people. Honest people are afraid of everything, but when they lose everything, they are no longer afraid of death.

The old man was a hot-tempered, stubborn, honest man who had seen countless cycles of life and death and had nothing left to lose.

So you're shameless, I'll chop off your heads.

Why? Because the evergreen vine and the five stars (three in front and two behind) that I had on my shoulders back then gave me this confidence!

The Marines are indeed from your Navy, but any kid who fights on the ground with two legs is a kid from my Army!
That's it.

(End of this chapter)