After walking through several small alleys and crossing a not-so-wide road, the red brick wall of the bus dispatch station finally came into their view.
Loudspeakers hung on the electrical poles along the road were cyclically broadcasting prerecorded messages:
"...to the front lines, to Qiyang and Elao, the homeland needs you! Fight, compatriots! Let your blood flow for the unity of our country..."
Most of the refugees they encountered along the way were rarely young adults in their twenties but mostly middle-aged people in their forties.
The majority of young adults had been forcibly conscripted by the two factions at the start of the war, sent to the two major war zones of Qiyang City and Elao City to reinforce the lines, while many citizens trying to escape conscription fled towards the border of Yin Country with their families and set up tents.
