The Subject Wishes to Fight to the Death, Why Did Your Majesty Surrender First

Outside the city, fifty thousand Di Army soldiers stood in a dense, dark formation, with five Origin-Opening Realm experts hovering in the air, their pressure weighing down like mountains.

On the city wall, the Seventh Prince stood at the very front, his moon-white robes snapping in the wind.

His face was pale, yet his eyes burned with a raging intent to fight.

He drew his blade, pointing the edge directly at the forces outside the city, his voice thundering across the entire army:

"Soldiers of North-Rejecting City!"

Everyone looked toward him.

"Today, the Di People have come with their entire force, intending to trample our city into the dust!"

His voice was impassioned, every word striking the hearts of his men like a hammer.

"But who are we? We are the soldiers of Great Zhou! Behind us lie the people of Great Zhou and the territory of Great Zhou! We cannot take a single step back! We cannot lose this battle!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the field like lightning, each word as sharp as a blade:

"This Prince states it here today—those who flee shall be executed without mercy!"

"Those who desert in the face of battle, beheaded!"

"Those who fear the enemy and hold back, beheaded!"

"Those who shake the morale of the army, beheaded!"

The three "beheaded" commands, each more ruthless and heavy than the last, sent a shiver through everyone's heart.

The Seventh Prince turned around, his gaze sweeping over every face, his eyes filled with absolute resolve:

"This Prince stands with you today! If the city stands, we live; if the city falls, we die!"

A heaven-shaking roar erupted from the city wall!

"Kill!!!"

"Kill!!!"

"Kill!!!"

Li Jinshui stood in the crowd, raising his blade and shouting along with the others, yelling louder than anyone else.

Yet in his heart, he was cursing wildly.

Yanmen Pass had already fallen, the one hundred and fifty thousand troops were finished, so how the hell was North-Rejecting City supposed to hold?

Five Origin-Opening Realm experts, over a dozen Pulse-Opening Realm experts, and fifty thousand soldiers—what were they supposed to defend with? Filling the gaps with their lives?

He stole a glance at the hot-blooded soldiers around him, then looked at the impassioned figure on the wall, a bitter taste rising in his heart.

He wanted to run.

He really wanted to run.

But the Seventh Prince had just said that those who flee would be executed without mercy.

Whoever ran would die.

If he ran now, he would be the first one to be cut down.

He gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge.

No.

The Seventh Prince wasn't a fool.

If he dared to stay and fight to the death, he must have some kind of trump card, right?

Could Elder Chen take on five people alone? Or were there reinforcements from the capital? Or was he hiding some Mystic-Penetration Realm artifact?

Li Jinshui stared at the Seventh Prince's back, his mind racing with calculations.

The Seventh Prince had treated him so well before, giving him cultivation techniques and jade tokens; surely he didn't intend for him to die here?

There had to be a trump card.

There had to be.

He took a deep breath, gripped his Black Iron Blade, and followed the crowd as they charged down the city wall.

As he rushed past the Seventh Prince, he deliberately slowed his pace and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Your Highness! This humble general swears to follow you to the death! If the city stands, we live; if the city falls, we die!"

The Seventh Prince looked down at him, nodding slightly, a hint of gratification appearing in his eyes.

Li Jinshui felt a surge of joy.

That flattery had hit the mark.

There was a trump card, there definitely was.

He charged forward even more fiercely.

The war drums began to thunder.

The city gates swung wide, and the Zhou Army surged out like a tidal wave!

The two armies collided once again!

This time, it was more brutal than any encounter before.

The Pulse-Opening Realm and Origin-Opening Realm experts of the Di Army did not strike immediately; they simply hovered in the air, watching the slaughter below with cold indifference.

They were waiting—waiting for the Zhou Army to be sufficiently exhausted before moving in to finish them off in one fell swoop.

Li Jinshui charged at the very front, unleashing the White Tiger Blade Technique with all his might, his blade light flashing like snow!

The first Di soldier fell.

The second, the third...

[+9]

[+3]

[+1...]

Yet, in his heart, he was still waiting.

Waiting for the Seventh Prince's trump card.

Waiting for the miracle that would allow North-Rejecting City to turn the tide.

Half an hour.

For a full half-hour, the slaughter never ceased.

Corpses piled into mountains, and blood flowed like rivers.

Li Jinshui was drenched in blood—his own, the enemy's, he could no longer tell the difference. His eyes were bloodshot, and he knew only to swing his blade mechanically, again and again.

Where was the trump card?

Where was it?!

He snatched a moment to glance back at the city wall—the Seventh Prince was still standing there, motionless, as if waiting for something.

But he could afford to wait; the soldiers below could not!

Another quarter-hour of fighting passed, and the men around him grew fewer while the Di soldiers grew more numerous.

Li Jinshui finally reached his breaking point.

Damn it, to hell with the trump card; if he didn't run now, it would be too late!

He was just about to signal Monkey and Er Gou to retreat—

At that very moment, a cry of shock erupted from behind him.

He whipped his head around, only to see a figure launch itself from the city wall, flying frantically toward the south!

The figure was so fast, moving like a streak of light, instantly clearing the wall and the houses within the city as it sped away to the south!

It was the Seventh Prince!

He flew with such urgency, such speed, that he didn't even look back once.

His voice drifted from the distance, hoarse and hurried, yet it pierced clearly into everyone's ears:

"Everyone! Scatter and flee! Regroup at North Plain City!"

As the words fell, he had already vanished into the distance.

Li Jinshui froze.

His blade hung in mid-air, forgotten.

The soldiers around him were stunned as well.

What?

The Prince had run away?

The man who had stood on the wall just moments ago, declaring, "While the city stands, we live; if the city falls, we die"—he had run?

The man who had just said, "Those who flee will be executed without mercy"—he was the first to flee?

Li Jinshui's mind went blank, followed by a surge of monstrous rage.

"I curse your ancestors!!!"

He screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking, veins bulging, spit flying from his mouth!

"Didn't you say 'while the city stands, we live'?! Didn't you say you were with us?! You sent us to die while you ran away?! And you had the nerve to say 'those who flee will be executed'—you were the first to run!!"

As he cursed, he suddenly understood.

The Seventh Prince never intended to hold the city.

All those words, that fighting spirit, that resolve—it was all an act!

An act for the Di People, to make them believe he would fight to the death, keeping their Origin-Opening and Pulse-Opening experts from striking prematurely!

An act for the soldiers, to make them obediently go to their deaths and stall the Di Army!

Once everyone was entangled and the attention of the Di People was entirely focused on the battlefield, he seized the moment to use a secret art and flee instantly!

In this way, it would be too late for the Di People to pursue him!

As for those he left behind, those who trusted him, those who laid down their lives for him—they were all pawns, all discarded pieces!

Li Jinshui trembled with rage.

That guardian—

He turned his head abruptly to look at the sky.

The aged figure had already soared into the air, his aura surging instantly, becoming so violent it chilled the soul!

The originally hunched back straightened, piercing light shot from his cloudy old eyes, and true qi surged around his body, becoming several times stronger than before!

"Imperial Secret Art: Blood Burning Soul-Incineration!" Huyan Zhuo's exclamation came from afar. "He's gone mad! This secret art can only last for a quarter of an hour; he will surely die after that!"

The old man ignored him, merely glancing back in the direction the Seventh Prince had fled, a look of relief curling the corners of his lips.

He had known all along.

He had known the Seventh Prince's plan from the start.

He had stayed behind precisely for this moment.

To trade his life for the Seventh Prince's chance to escape.

Li Jinshui watched that aged figure meet the five Origin-Opening Realm experts, watched the earth-shattering collision, and watched the violent shockwaves sweep outward—

A strange, indescribable feeling surged in his heart.

That old man had done it willingly.

But what about them?

What about these soldiers, these people who had been abandoned—who had ever asked if they were willing?

"BOOM—!!!"

A deafening roar shook the heavens.

The old man, fighting five opponents alone, had forcibly held them back!

Yet everyone knew he could only hold on for a quarter of an hour.

After a quarter of an hour, he would undoubtedly die.

And the Seventh Prince was already nowhere to be seen.

In the sky, Huyan Zhuo trembled with fury, cursing loudly:

"Damn it! Damn it! To think he actually let him escape!"

He turned abruptly and roared at the Di People Pulse-Opening Realm experts below:

"What are you standing there for?! Pursue! Chase down those fleeing Pulse-Opening Realm experts! Don't let a single one go! Especially that woman in purple; she is from the Yun Family—take her alive!"

A dozen Di People Pulse-Opening Realm experts snapped out of their daze and scattered in pursuit!

Li Jinshui suddenly realized the situation.

Now was not the time for cursing!

He had to run!

He turned and sprinted madly toward the city!

"Monkey! Er Gou! Follow me!"

Monkey and Er Gou were standing there in a daze, faces full of despair, but hearing his shout, they followed instinctively.

The three of them ran like madmen, charging against the current of the crumbling army!

The first to react was Yun Ruoxi.

She stood not far away, her face ashen, and with a fierce grit of her teeth, she turned and fled! She unleashed the full power of her Pulse-Opening Realm, moving as fast as a gust of wind!

The other four guest experts also reacted, scattering in flight!

Then came the Pulse-Opening Realm generals, the Inner Strength Realm squad leaders, and the Body Forging Realm soldiers—

Everyone was running!

A total rout!

"The Prince has fled!"

"Run for your lives!"

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

Screams, wails, and curses merged into a chaotic din!

The Di Army's Pulse-Opening Realm experts finally moved, pursuing them through the air, killing the fleeing Zhou Army soldiers with a single strike each!

One fleeing Pulse-Opening Realm guest expert was caught, his head shattered by a palm strike, his body flying three zhang away.

Another was cleaved in two by a blade, his entrails spilling across the ground.

Another person was caught, let out a miserable shriek, and never got back up.

Li Jinshui ran for his life; his mastery of Inch Step allowed him to weave through the crowd, but the screams behind him were growing closer and closer!

He glanced back and saw a Di Army warrior in the Pulse-Opening Realm chasing in his direction, sending a soldier running behind him flying with a single palm strike!

The soldier shrieked as he flew through the air, slammed into the ground, and stopped moving entirely.

Li Jinshui's scalp tingled, and he ran even faster!

The city had descended into total chaos.

The commoners had no idea what was happening; they only saw countless soldiers flooding through the city gates, their faces filled with terror, shouting, "They've fled!" "The Prince has fled!" "Run for your lives!"

Some began to cry, some began to loot, and others scrambled desperately toward the south!

But the south gate had not yet been opened!

The guards had long since fled, leaving the gate locked, and a crowd of people was crushed against it, wailing to the heavens!

Li Jinshui rushed to the gate, slashed the bolt in two with his blade, and kicked the gate open!

"Run!" he roared at the commoners. "Run south!"

Then, taking Monkey and Er Gou with him, he plunged out of the city and sprinted wildly toward the south!

Behind him lay a landscape swarming with routed troops, filled with screams and wails, the slaughter of the Di Army, and the city on the verge of falling.

As he ran, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar erupted from behind.

He glanced back.

In the distance, that aged figure was still locked in a fierce battle with five Origin-Opening Realm experts, but his aura was already beginning to wane.

The quarter-hour was almost up.

Then, that figure suddenly detonated, transforming into a mist of blood that filled the sky.

The five Origin-Opening Realm experts were pushed back by the shockwave, their expressions looking incredibly grim.

Yet they only paused for a fleeting moment before Huyan Zhuo pointed toward the south and bellowed:

"Pursue! Give chase! Don't let a single one of those Pulse-Opening Realm cultivators escape! Especially that one surnamed Yun!"

Five figures in the Origin-Opening Realm shot off in the direction of the Seventh Prince.

Li Jinshui withdrew his gaze and kept running.

His eyes stung fiercely; he didn't know if it was sweat or tears.

But he had no time to wipe them away.

He only knew that the man who had said "I am with you all" was the first to run.

The man who had said "Those who flee will be executed without mercy" had run the fastest of all.

The man who had given him the cultivation technique and the jade token had used them all as pawns to buy his own life.

And he still had to thank the bastard for it.

Because that jade token was still in his breast pocket, and that cultivation technique was still in his breast pocket.

He had to survive.

Only by surviving could he master the technique.

Only by surviving could he reach the Heavenly Cloud Sect.

Only by surviving could he—

He gritted his teeth hard, forcing the surging emotions back down.

Run.

Run for his life.

Run to North Plain City.

Run to a place where he could survive.

Behind him, the battle cries of the Di Army drew ever closer.