"Mother, why are you here?"
Seeing Little Wood's panic, the old woman smiled faintly.
"It's so late, and the red candle in your room still hasn't gone out. As your mother, how could I possibly sleep?"
"I still have something to do. I'll go back in a little while."
Hearing Little Wood's words, the old woman stepped forward, raising a hand to touch his scarred face.
"My son must have suffered greatly out there."
"No, I was quite formidable out there. I'm already the general commanding an allied army of eight hundred thousand."
As he spoke, Little Wood's eyes instinctively avoided his mother's gaze.
"No, you haven't been living well. Someone is forcing you to make a choice."
"How could that be? I'm a general now. Who could force me?"
At that, the old woman smiled and shook her head. "You are flesh of my flesh. Others may not understand you, but how could I not?"
"My son Chang Sheng was never a born commander. He is ordinary, plain, but he is still my good son."
"To have come this far, there must have been an expert guiding you from behind the scenes."
"And now, he wants to take his reward from you—take the most precious thing in your heart."
"And the price of taking those things will be my life, won't it?"
"No, how could that be?"
Little Wood forced out a smile and kept taking deep breaths, as though trying not to let his tears fall.
Yet the General Chang Sheng, who had never taken even half a step back before countless battles, was defeated by his mother's gaze.
"Mother, I was wrong. I don't want to do this. I don't want to lose you."
Little Wood broke down in tears. The old woman gently gathered him into