Chapter 677: Flag

Willow Town.

Li Qingshan forcefully pushed open the wooden gate.

A creak.

A harsh screeching echoed through the courtyard.

Li Qingshan, who had run all the way, was breathing heavily, his forehead covered in large beads of sweat. Anxiously, he walked into the courtyard, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings.

After parting ways with the two Fusheng painting members, Li Qingshan ran back to Willow Town without stopping for a moment. Just as the refugees had said, most of Willow Town's residents had left. Along the way, he only saw countless empty houses, and the entire town was eerily quiet. This intensified the unease in Li Qingshan's heart.

The static-filled sounds of traditional opera drifted from the small house, just as he remembered, echoing through the courtyard. The old opera recounted tales of the Yang Family Generals, who sacrificed their lives to protect their homeland, whose loyal and heroic names would be celebrated for ten thousand years for guarding the nation, bringing peace to its people, and fulfilling their destiny. The song, though sometimes raspy and unclear, provided a familiar sense of security.

Hearing this sound, Li Qingshan's heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled. A look of joy appeared on his face as he quickly ran to the house entrance and pushed the door open.

He called out to his grandmother.

Inside the dim small house, a white-haired elderly woman was leaning against the headboard, her eyes closed, listening to an opera recording. She swayed her head unconsciously, as if completely engrossed.

She hadn't heard Li Qingshan push the door open, nor his surprised call. She simply continued listening to the music, a nostalgic smile playing on her lips.

Knowing his grandmother's poor hearing, Li Qingshan quickly walked closer and called out to her again, louder.

The elderly woman's eyes slowly opened. Seeing the familiar face before her, she seemed a little surprised, asking if her dear grandson had come home.

Her remaining, presbyopic right eye scrutinized Li Qingshan for a long time. A smile spread across her wrinkled lips, and she remarked that her dear grandson looked a bit fatter, complimenting his flowery opera costume, calling it beautiful.

Li Qingshan's opera robe was still stained with blood from the earlier fight. When viewed indistinctly, the stains resembled dancing red butterflies, indeed possessing a unique aesthetic.

Given the current situation, Li Qingshan had no time to discuss such things with his grandmother. He immediately asked in a loud voice about Teacher Qian from next door, inquiring if they hadn't come for her.

Before leaving home, Li Qingshan had specifically asked Teacher Qian's family next door to look after his grandmother. Teacher Qian was a highly respected and reputable teacher in Willow Town, and Li Qingshan had also given them money, so they should have taken good care of her.

But now, the family next door had left, and his grandmother was still here alone.

His grandmother waved her hand, explaining that Old Qian had come and wanted to take her to the city, but she hadn't been willing. She recounted lying on the bed and poking him with her walking stick, after which he left.

Li Qingshan asked why she hadn't been willing to go.

She replied that she was old, that her home was there, and she wasn't going anywhere else.

As she spoke, his grandmother lay back on the bed, her head swaying gently with the lingering opera music, murmuring along with the song.

Seeing this, Li Qingshan sighed helplessly.

To the old woman, concepts like the Realm War or evacuation to the main city were incomprehensible. She only knew that she had lived her entire life in Willow Town; this was her home. Her age, even by the standards of the entire Mortal Realm, was considered long. At this point, she no longer cared about life or death; she only wanted to stay in her homeland.

This stubborn persistence of the elderly woman made her the last person remaining in Willow Town, which, ironically, also protected her.

In fact, from the moment Li Qingshan stepped into Willow Town, he vaguely sensed that it was different from before. Even though the flowers and plants had withered, wisps of silk threads still floated on the branches, emitting a mysterious and powerful aura, as if guarding something.

Just as Chen Ling had said, Willow Town was now the safest place.

Nevertheless, knowing his grandmother was safe, Li Qingshan relaxed completely. He sat down by the bed.

He asked his grandmother if she had received all the money he had sent her during this period.

His grandmother's face broke into a benevolent smile. Stroking Li Qingshan's hair, she told him that she had received the money, complimenting his success in earning so much. She added that she hadn't touched a single cent of it, saving it all for him to get a wife.

As she spoke, she got up and dragged a heavy, locked box from under the bed. Then, she retrieved a key from beneath her pillow and, with trembling hands, unlocked it.

The top layer of the box held a tightly wrapped bundle of cloth. Inside, after unwrapping it, were numerous neatly stacked banknotes, resembling solid bricks. This was the money Li Qingshan had earned in the main city during this time. Each time he received his salary, he kept only a very small amount for personal use, sending the rest back here.

His original intention was for his grandmother to use this money to improve her life, to eat well, or to buy a new radio. He hadn't expected it to remain completely untouched.

Li Qingshan sighed deeply. Just as he was about to say something to his grandmother, his peripheral vision caught sight of the bottom layer of the box, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

He asked what the box underneath was.

His grandmother replied that it was their family's ancestral treasure.

Li Qingshan paused, surprised. He countered that their family was so poor there was nothing but bare walls; where would an ancestral treasure come from?

His grandmother smiled mysteriously, her face crinkling with wrinkles. With trembling hands, she carefully took out the dust-covered box, cradling it like a treasure and rubbing it for a moment before handing it to Li Qingshan.

She told her dear grandson to open it and look.

Li Qingshan's curiosity intensified. He opened the box, and a musty smell of time-sealed dust wafted out. Enduring the strange odor, he looked inside and was slightly taken aback.

Inside the box was a neatly folded piece of cloth, or rather, a flag.

He asked what it was.

Li Qingshan carefully took out the flag. Its surface felt somewhat smooth, as if soaked in some kind of oil, yet despite this, the flag itself was remarkably stiff and fragile, seemingly preserved for countless years.

Li Qingshan attempted to unfurl the flag but found its size immense. Helplessly, he walked into the courtyard and gradually spread it out on the spacious ground.

It was a colossal flag, requiring at least two people to hold poles separately to fully lift it into the air. Its width was equivalent to about a dozen people standing shoulder to shoulder. When Li Qingshan fully spread it out, it nearly covered the entire courtyard.

The vast majority of the flag's surface was covered with numerous signatures. Some were serious and formal, others crooked and shaky, but they all shared one characteristic:

These names had been written in blood, countless years ago.

Beneath these densely packed signatures, which had oxidized to a dark purplish-black, several lines of vibrant, boldly written characters, as if imbued with countless shouts, were etched into the long river of history. The flag bore a declaration:

We, as children, as parents, and as those with fervent hearts, make this solemn vow:We voluntarily dedicate our youth, our bodies, and our lives to forge a path for the future of human civilization, to lay the foundation for the stability of future generations, to step into the wasteland, and to rebuild our home.We will march forward without hesitation, we will be invincible, and we will never return.May the towering structure we build restore humanity's glory.

Li Qingshan's pupils constricted slightly.