Guo Had Been Waiting for Some Time

Those nearby listened with endless sighs, still immersed in that dreadful news, still unable to believe that the river defenses had been breached so easily.

Luo Zhao paced restlessly, the melancholy in his heart piling up, impossible to dispel. A colossal variable! He knew he might be facing a colossal variable.

Although the Song Kingdom still held an absolute advantage for now, and even if the river defenses had been breached, it would not resolve the Yan army's predicament—by all reason, defeating the Yan army should have been no problem—Meng Shanming's single stroke in breaking the river defenses had nevertheless left an indelible shadow in his heart.

The crux lay with Meng Shanming himself. If he could turn the impossible into possible and smash through the river defenses in one blow, who could guarantee that Meng Shanming would not rise against the odds again from the brink of doom?

"Yan Shanming, Qi Wuhen..." Luo Zhao let out another long sigh toward the heavens as he paced.

He thought of how outrageously rude he had been in sending Meng Shanming that white horse, and of Meng Shanming's reply, saying that he would surely return the favor with a lavish gift!

He regretted it somewhat—not his rudeness, for that had been a provocation intended to lure Meng Shanming into pursuit, only for Meng Shanming not to take the bait. What he regretted was leading his army too deeply in. He should have faced Meng Shanming head-on himself, but who could have expected the river defenses to be breached so swiftly?

From his position at the time, this had been a war to destroy the Yan Kingdom. He had to fight for the greatest possible benefit for the Song Kingdom. Wasting his troops in a showdown with Meng Shanming would have been unwise;