Mountains and rivers are waiting for you to return

Chapter 253 Allied Banquet
"He and Lu Xulan went to the main command camp to look for you, but they didn't expect you to be here before them." Grandma Axun thought they were funny.

Sure enough, not long after, Zhang Sheng, Lu Xulan, Gu Jinheng, Da Xian, Gong Yang Zisheng and others rode to the northwest camp on horseback.

Pei Nai didn't expect that they would bring Senior Qu Baiyi with them as well.

Because he was following his master, Gungun also chased after the horse team, running all the way and panting heavily.

Pei Nai went to Gu Jinheng's mount, took down the leather water bottle hanging behind his saddle, scooped up a handful of water with his hands, and fed it to Gun Gun.

Zhang Sheng took a long object wrapped in white cloth from Grandma Axun, and as the king of the Valley Kingdom, he handed it to Senior Qu Baiyi with a solemn expression.

Pei Nai then understood why they brought Senior Qu here.

Qu Baiyi lifted the white cloth that wrapped the item and saw the Shang Bai stick inside, which had been wiped clean and properly kept.

The entire body of the jade was flawless and white, with the lines on it undulating and twisting, just like his and Qu Mufeng's intertwined and regretful life, it was the old sending off the young, the ultimate sorrow in the world.

Qu Baiyi's weather-beaten hands began to tremble. He picked up the Shangbai stick and tears flowed like a fountain.

Zhang Sheng and others bowed to him.

Qu Mufeng sacrificed his life to save the Valley Kingdom. They are grateful for this and will remember it for the rest of their lives.

Pei Nai had already comforted Senior Qu before, and now he could no longer speak and could only wait for him to recover.

When Gungun saw his master crying, he stopped drinking water and ran back to Senior Qu's feet. He jumped up with his front paws, put them on Senior Qu's knees, licked his hand, and rubbed his head against him.

Gu Jinheng was afraid that Pei Nai would be sad because of Senior Qu, so he patted her and said, "Have you seen all the weapons?"

"I've seen the bows and crossbows, swords and guns. They're very well made." Pei Nai came back to his senses and continued, "I haven't had time to see the artillery and chariots. I heard from Grandma Xun that they were newly developed by the mechanical wizards. They are very powerful!"

Gu Jinheng nodded, "Then let's go and take a look together?"

"Okay!" Pei Nai took his hand and walked towards the direction of the large weapons together.

In the next few days, the Wu tribe seemed to have retracted its tentacles.

The border was silent, with no new movement.

The Eastern Frontier Allied Forces also remained in place, and both sides were in a standoff and observing.

Pei Nai and his men were not in a hurry. After all, most of the powerful countries in the East had sent troops to join the war. They had well-trained soldiers and sufficient food, and were evenly matched with the Western Allied Forces.

Gu Jinheng can also deal with Lei Laiweng and his army of poisonous people.

The only variable in the final battle is Yue Cang.

If Pei Nai fails, Yue Cang's three hundred years of martial arts skills will be enough to kill hundreds of thousands of people by himself.

What's more, once Pei Nai was defeated, the other generals would be no match for Yue Cang.

The morale of the allied forces in the East has been further reduced and cannot be boosted. They will surely be defeated by the West and suffer a great defeat.

From then on, the countries in the Eastern Border did not have enough combat power to resist the Wu tribe and the Western Border Allied Forces, and the countries in the Eastern Border, including Tianyao, Qilu, and the Kingdom of Mountain Valley, were bound to fall.

That would be a hellish future for the entire Upper North Continent.

Hundreds of thousands of corpses were lying on the ground, and the flames of war spread across the world.

The Wu people never treated prisoners of war well. The land and countries they conquered, from the royal family to the livestock, were all their spoils of war.

The elderly who have no labor force will be ruthlessly dealt with first, beautiful girls will be sent to Yue Cang's harem, women will become playthings of powerful people or sold as prostitutes, and men will be captured as slaves, doing hard labor for the rest of their lives until they die of exhaustion.

Therefore, people's future is hanging on the edge of a knife, and is at risk.

Everything will be determined by the outcome of this battle.

The confrontation between Pei Nai and Yue Cang will also determine the outcome.

She alone carries the lives of people from all countries east of the war zone. If she were a weak-willed person, she would surely be anxious and unable to sleep.

Although Pei Nai was under pressure, he was still cheerful all day, which greatly boosted the morale of the troops in the East Territory. Tianyao was the leader of the East Territory Alliance, and more than half of the countries here were vassals of Tianyao.

They had been waiting for the imperial edict sent by Chaoyang. Regarding what Xiao Mingyi had said to Pei Nai, the Eastern Allied Forces would establish an interim Imperial Council as the Marshal, which would be composed of the leaders of each army, and all war resolutions would be decided by voting at the Imperial Council.

Han Ruize, Da Xian and others were all unhappy about this.

After all, at a time of great war, the Allied forces are without a commander, and the Imperial Council will take too long to make a decision, which may delay the critical moment and cause unpredictable consequences.

But Pei Nai and Gu Jinheng chose to accept it, and the others didn't say much.

Fortunately, all the armies of Tianyao and Qilu stood on Pei Nai's side. In addition to the support of the Valley Kingdom and the reputation of the Zhubei Spear itself, most of the time, the Eastern Border Allied Forces would follow Pei Nai's orders.

However, Pei Nai did not have the position of commander-in-chief, so his title was not legitimate.

Even the only military position he had was the commander-in-chief of the Pei Family Army ten years ago, which is not recognized by Emperor Tianyao yet.

Therefore, there will be some voices in the military of other countries.

Occasionally, some people would be dissatisfied and would come into conflict with the Tianyao and Qilu armies.

As for why Pei Nai was not given the position of Marshal, any discerning person could see that the Pei family and Duke Duan Ding were too powerful, and Zhu Bei Qiang was now famous for his military exploits and his achievements were so great that they frightened the lord.

Her nephew, Emperor Tianyao, whom she and Duke Duan Ding had supported, is now wary of her.

This gives many people with ulterior motives the opportunity to cause trouble.

Gu Jinheng, Han Ruize, Da Xian and others helped her solve a lot of problems and calmed down many incidents these days, but they didn't mention it to her for fear of affecting her.

She pretended not to know and continued to practice martial arts every day, creating new moves.

Occasionally, she would invite Gongyang Zisheng, Han Ruize, Shao Liran and Huyan Weizhao to practice shooting with her in preparation for the final showdown.

Unable to wait for the Western Territory to take action, everyone in the base camp was bored.

Over time, anxiety and worry will spread among people, which will not be beneficial to morale.

Pei Nai took the initiative to hold a celebration banquet for the Battle of Lu Shi, and at the same time invited allied forces from various countries to participate in a large-scale joint banquet for the allies, so that everyone could relax and get to know each other.

Finally, all the troops were willing to attend the banquet, which was held in an open space east of the war headquarters.

Gu Jinheng greeted Tianyao Border in advance.

Liquor and fresh ingredients were shipped in by the carts and delivered by express train, arriving the next day.

Each army prepared food, moved tables, brought their own plates, and exchanged and shared dishes with other armies.

The food sent from Tianyao was also cooked into tempting delicacies by military chefs and sent to the tables of various armies.

The delicacies were piled up in plates, rich and delicious, mixed with the strong aroma of wine, the fragrance spread from ten miles away and could be smelled in the main camp.

Ten thousand long tables, millions of people, and no end to the banquet on the plain.

To prevent traffic jams, they divided the area into several large banquet areas, separated by wooden fences to ensure that there was enough space for vehicles and horses to pass through.

The activities and music in different banquet areas were different, and the soldiers clinked glasses and drank.

Everyone moved around the banquet areas from time to time, joining in various drinking games, making new friends, and enjoying the feast.

Pei Nai went to practice martial arts early in the morning, and when he came back, Gu Jinheng was already busy.

She forgot to say hello to the Silver-Armored Guards when she went out, so without anyone to lead the way, she rode a horse to the banquet venue.

The scene before her was beyond her imagination. She didn't expect everyone to come so early.

There was a bustling crowd and the sound of drums and gongs all around.

The environment was complicated and the roads were winding. She couldn't find the main banquet area where Tianyao and Qilu were, and she accidentally got lost.

(End of this chapter)