The final stretch of road to Tong Pass was especially arduous.
They were still marching at forced speed, with no chance to rest.
King Zhou had even cruelly shouted that there was a peach grove ahead, deliberately whetting their appetites with peaches that did not exist.
The soldiers did not know whether there really was a peach grove. Even if there was, they probably would not get any peaches. What they did know was that, besides suffering heatstroke, they had no water to drink.
Even the most carefree among them began to wonder: was King Zhou really still the sage king who had given them hope of survival and rescued them from the utter darkness of slavery?
How could such an enlightened ruler do something so incomprehensible?
How was this any different from the nobles who had oppressed the slaves?
The people being enslaved had merely changed from slaves into soldiers, while the treatment they received was hardly different.
Those noble slave owners had driven them to work in much the same way, berating them and denying them food and water until their tasks were finished.
In stark contrast to the thoughts of the rank and file, the accompanying commanders carried out King Zhou's orders with perfect, unspoken accord.
At first, they had still remonstrated with him, tried to find ways to let the soldiers rest, and shared their own water.
But as time passed, however much their hearts ached, however unbearable they found it, those generals no longer stepped forward to help when they saw soldiers collapse. They merely ordered them to wait where they were for the laborers.
Either you collapsed during the forced march and waited for the laborers behind to pick you up, or you kept marching at forced speed and did not rest until you