Chapter 1635 – The Approaching Star

　　”Brother Seven Nights, who is he?”

　　In the distance, Wu Quan couldn’t help but ask as he watched Huo Zaiwei’s back as he rode forward.

　　”Huo Daizi.”

　　”Is that the Huo Daizi who …… sealed the wolf?” Wu Quan spoke in surprise, “Why do I perceive the aura of the [Dominating Emperor] on him?”

　　”He was originally the [Domination Emperor] and the first strong person in the history of Grand Xia to break through to the human ceiling.” Lin Qiye explained, “At the same time, he is also the oldest founder of the Night’s Watch.”

　　Lin Qiye’s gaze landed on Huo Zhiwei’s back, and the other party’s words and phrases from not too long ago once again lingered in his ears, his expression somewhat complicated.

　　Although [Dominating Emperor] could allow one to grow to a terrifying level in a very short period of time, the cost was also extremely high, Huo Zaixiao didn’t say how long he himself would live, but Lin Qiye could tell from the impatience that vaguely appeared in his eyes that this Champion Marquis didn’t have much of his life left.

　　Hearing this string of titles, Wu Quan nodded in surprise, then as if he thought of something.

　　”Right, isn’t this Western Han? Why don’t they speak ancient languages?”

　　Lin Qiye looked back at the fifteen year old teenager and explained with a light smile, “Ancient languages like zhiyu are written, a refined language used by the ancients specifically to record things for use, and their daily communication was in vernacular, however, vernacular languages like spoken language are extremely prone to regional and era differences, just like how many dialects are there in modern day Daxia for example? There was also the nineteenth-century Daxia people’s habit and way of speaking, which was also different from modern times.

　　But a hundred years, can cause such a huge difference, then if a few thousand years apart, and then use the vernacular language to record the events, the modern people will look like a heavenly book. Thanks to the ancient language, a fixed body of writing, it’s possible for future generations to read and understand the history books.”

　　Wu Quan suddenly realized.

　　But as if he thought of something, he asked in confusion, “Brother Seven Nights, didn’t you say that the vernacular language would change after a long period of time? The Western Han Dynasty is already more than two thousand years from our time, right, so why do I feel that the way they speak is not much different from us?”

　　Hearing these words, Lin Qiye suddenly froze in place.

　　Right …… Why are the people of this era so similar to modern people in their speaking habits? Even if we don’t consider the dialect differences brought about by geographic location, just because of this time gap of over two thousand years, the way the Western Han people speak should be very different from modern times.

　　Before Wuquan woke up, Lin Qiye didn’t even notice this problem, he thought it was because the language magic array that Meilin had left in his soul back then had worked, so it allowed him to communicate with the Western Han people without any barriers …… But why could Wuquan understand them as well?

　　Lin Qiye frowned and pondered for a long time, but there was no answer …… He was not a professional scholar after all, so he could only put this doubt aside for the time being.

　　The military formation marched forward on the barren earth, and since most of the soldiers were on foot, the speed wasn’t fast, and Lin Qiye didn’t know where he had gotten to, he only knew that the daylight in the sky was gradually sinking in the west, and they seemed to be far away from the vicinity of the desert as well.

　　Wu Quan followed behind Lin Qiye, dozing off while riding his horse, and only regained consciousness when the army ahead suddenly stopped.

　　”Why did it stop?” Wu Quan glanced at the sky, it seemed to still be early.

　　Lin Qiye didn’t say anything, and after an unknown amount of time, a general steered his horse to Lin Qiye’s side and spoke respectfully:

　　”My lord, the Marquis has an invitation.”

　　Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow and nodded: “Good, I know.”

　　Lin Qiye turned his head and instructed Wuquan to say a few words before approaching straight to the front of the military formation, only to see Huo Zaiwei, Zhan Yuwu, Yan Zhonghe and a few generals gathered together, their faces a bit gloomy.

　　”Without the black dog teeth, the utility of the Evil Repellent Formation has been weakened by half …… Nowadays, this evil spirit is becoming more and more rampant by the day, and if we station ourselves in the middle of nowhere, it’s just like a sheep entering a tiger’s mouth ah!” An old general stroked his long beard and spoke solemnly.

　　”What can we do if we don’t station ourselves? The nearest city is also dozens of miles away, and even if we arrive overnight, it’s impossible for these 30,000 generals to enter the city, and as long as we’re in the wilderness, we’re doomed to be in danger.”

　　”The scouts we sent to the nearest city have already returned, and they don t have black dog teeth there either ……”

　　The crowd fell into silence at the same time.

　　”We are still a few days away from Chang’an?” Right at this moment, Huo Daizi suddenly spoke up.

　　”Back to Marquis, there are at least five more days.” Yan Zhong replied.

　　”Five days ……” Huo Daizi raised his head to look at the gradually dimming sky, his brows slightly furrowed, “And what if it’s a day and night journey?”

　　”Day and night traveling? Marquis, this nighttime is infested with tons of evil spirits!” A general warned.

　　Huo Daizi didn’t reply, he just frowned as he gazed at Yan Zhong.

　　”If we travel day and night, without sleep and at full speed …… we can reach Chang’an in three and a half days.”

　　”What if we abandon another seventy percent of the provisions?”

　　Hearing these words, the faces of all the generals changed, “Marquis, what are you doing? Although the evil spirits in the wild are dangerous, we are not in such a hurry to rush back to Chang’an, are we?”

　　”Yan Zhong.”

　　”If we abandon seventy percent of the provisions …… again, we can reach Chang’an in two days!” Yan Zhong clenched his teeth and replied.

　　Huo nods, “Pass the order down, leave seventy percent of the provisions in place and move at full speed immediately, make sure to arrive in Chang’an before the third night comes!”

　　”Yes!” Without the slightest hesitation, Zhan Yuwu turned around and passed the order to the army.

　　The rest of the generals freeze in place, seemingly unable to understand why Huo Zaiwei is in such a hurry to rush back to Chang’an.

　　”Marquis, that exorcism formation ……”

　　”Continue with the formation, even without the Black Dog’s Teeth, the others can still have some effect.” Huo Zaiwei turned to look at the crowd, “After the army moves in a while, Yan Zhong, you go sit on the west wing, Song Qing sit on the east wing, Yu Wu bring people as a vanguard to open up the road, and this waiter sit on the center of the army, as for the rear wing ……”

　　Huo Zaiwei’s gaze fell on Lin Qiye and he opened his mouth for advice:

　　”Lin Qiye, would you be willing to sit in the rear for me to prevent evil spirits from following and sneaking in? If you’re willing, after returning to Chang’an, I will personally ask for a reward for you.”

　　Everyone’s gazes fell on Lin Qiye, except for Yan Zhong, everyone else’s gazes were filled with surprise, they knew that the Marquis had brought back a young man from Xue County, but they never thought that the Marquis would attach such importance to this young man.

　　The rear of the army was the weakest and most dangerous position, and the fact that the Marquis had asked him to guard it showed that he was very cognizant of his strength.

　　Lin Qiye didn’t hesitate much before nodding, “No problem.”

　　After receiving Lin Qiye’s reply, Huo Qiye’s expression obviously relaxed a bit, he quickly gave a few more orders, and Lin Qiye then directly steered his horse towards the tail of the army.

　　The dim remnants of the sun disappeared and the sky and earth were plunged into darkness, Lin Qiye rode his horse while looking up at the starry sky, his brows frowning tighter and tighter as he opened his mouth with some uncertainty:

　　”…… These red-colored stars, aren’t they a bit closer than yesterday?”