#798 - Final Chapter (XI)
Outside Fengyuan City.
Sand swirls like a curtain, the moon dims, and the night makes one doubt the city's existence.
Without any warning, a massive explosion erupted from behind the Qian-Hui army's rear, approaching the front lines with increasing intensity.
Corpses were swallowed by the towering flames, wave after wave crushing countless lives like ants.
When the most important life tablet in the Great Hui Imperial Palace suddenly shattered, Chu Xianping's plan reached its final stage.
As all of this unfolded, the 700,000-strong Qian-Hui army finally collapsed.
"Ah!!"
"Run!!"
"Flee!!"
"Mercy, hero!"
"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
"."
Screams, wails, pleas for mercy – all sorts of chaotic sounds spread like a plague across the battlefield. Banners embroidered with the characters "Qian" and "Hui" fell one after another, immediately trampled underfoot by the surging crowd.
Armor and helmets were discarded, and the defeat was like a landslide.
No matter how loudly the officers shouted, once the rout began, there was no turning back.
If one were to look down from the sky at this moment, the Qian-Hui army would resemble swirling black waves, spreading frantically and recklessly in all directions, eventually disappearing into the edge of the night.
Of course, only a few had the opportunity to escape.
For most, caught between the enemy in front and the "earth fire" behind, all they could do was abandon their weapons and surrender.
"Clang, clang!"
Countless long swords and spears fell to the ground, and soldiers, their faces filled with fear, knelt down, begging the Ning-Shu soldiers, who were enemies just a moment ago, to spare them.
Some even went so far as to chop off the heads of their companions to offer as a token of their "surrender," or pull out some loose silver from their pockets to buy their lives.
Cowardice, fear, despair, betrayal...
At this moment, all sorts of complex emotions were intertwined in this small battlefield, and the bottom line of morality and humanity became increasingly illusory.
For the Qian-Hui soldiers, in order to survive, all of their integrity, dignity, and loyalty to their country had long been thrown to the back of their minds.
And for the Ning-Shu soldiers, for the sake of military merit, for the sake of venting their anger, they were not much better.
"Puchi, puchi!"
The shadows of blades flashed, and heads fell one after another.
Faced with countless enemies who no longer resisted, the Ning-Shu soldiers were now doing only one thing—
People were no longer people, and lives were no longer lives.
When the boundaries between right and wrong, good and evil, and black and white gradually blurred in the night, this battlefield became a Shura field, with only the most instinctive desires of humanity remaining.
From this point of view, perhaps war has never had a distinction between right and wrong.
Or rather, the victor will always be the "righteous" side.
"Changtian!"
On the north side of the battlefield, when Liang Zhen rushed to Wei Changtian's side, the two Kui Dragon people had already fled far away.
When the army first showed signs of collapse, they did not hesitate to choose to run away.
Wei Changtian did not chase after them, but put away the Moon-Picking Sword stance he had not yet used, and stood in the air, silently watching everything that was happening beneath his feet.
To be honest, the sudden collapse of the Qian-Hui army was reasonable, after all, no one could withstand the terrifying explosion just now.
But on the other hand, this was undoubtedly beyond everyone's expectations.
Because before the explosion began, no one would have thought that the situation could become like this.
"Changtian, was this... was this all arranged by you?"
Beside him, Liang Zhen once again looked at the distant flames that were still burning, his tone not one of joy at the victory, but rather with some lingering fear.
"No."
Withdrawing his gaze, Wei Changtian shook his head with a wry smile: "It should be Chu Xianping."
"Chu Xianping?!"
His eyes widened suddenly, Liang Zhen was stunned for a long time, and then at a certain moment, he suddenly blurted out in disbelief: "He was pretending to rebel?!"
"Probably."
Looking at Fengyuan City from afar, Wei Changtian's eyes were very calm.
His mood at this time was the same as Liang Zhen's. Clearly, he had just won a great victory, but he couldn't be happy no matter what.
Was it because Chu Xianping stole his limelight?
Wei Changtian was not this kind of "competitive" person. If possible, he even hoped that he could do nothing, and others would be able to handle all kinds of problems properly.
What's more, if it weren't for Chu Xianping this time, the Ning-Shu allied forces would have had to fight to the death, and he would have been forced to use the Moon-Picking Sword again, and even spend a lot of system points.
But why doesn't he feel happy?
"Uncle Liang, something might have happened in Fengyuan. I'll go back first."
After a moment, Wei Changtian temporarily stopped thinking about these things, turned his head and said to Liang Zhen: "You keep an eye on this place first. If anything happens, tell me."
"Okay."
Hearing that something might have happened in Fengyuan, Liang Zhen's expression immediately became serious: "You go quickly, I won't let anything go wrong here."
"Okay, then I'm leaving."
Nodding, Wei Changtian didn't say anything more, and soon turned into a black shadow and headed towards Fengyuan City.
Not long after he left, several Buddhist monks hurriedly found Liang Zhen.
"General Liang, where is Young Master Wei?"
The monks looked quite disheveled, and should have suffered a lot in the battle with the Kui Dragon people just now.
"Changtian had something to do and went back to Fengyuan first."
Liang Zhen looked at the frowning appearance of the monks and asked doubtfully: "Do you have something urgent to find him?"
"Amitabha, General Liang, can't you see this scene?"
Looking at each other, a Buddhist monk pointed to the battlefield under his feet, his eyes filled with compassion: "Now that the victory or defeat has been decided, why do you still condone your soldiers to abuse and kill the enemy's surrendered soldiers like this?"
"Please, General, quickly give the order, don't harm the harmony of heaven!"
"..."
Their tone was urgent, and their expressions were indignant.
It could be seen that these Buddhist monks were not feigning compassion, but were really unable to bear to see such a scene of slaughtering surrendered soldiers.
Clearly, they were still fighting to the death with the Kui Dragon people just now, but now they turned around and pleaded for the enemy...
Faced with their request, Liang Zhen just smiled and replied casually:
"I understand that you monks are compassionate."
"But I am just a martial artist, and only understand the principle of not being soft-hearted to the enemy."
"Don't worry, I won't do things to the extreme."
"I will order the army to stop the killing after half an hour."
"Before that... if you monks can't bear to watch, then don't watch."
"Your Buddhist sect often says that one can become a Buddha immediately after putting down the butcher knife."
"Anyway, as long as you don't kill, you can become a Buddha, so what's the difference between sooner and later?"
"..."
In the sky, the crescent moon became bright again, and the stars in the sky emitted a faint glow.
It was still early before dawn, and the moonlight passed through the viscous night fog, as if covering this battlefield with a layer of silver gauze.
In the midst of the still-unceasing sounds of killing, this great battle came to an end.
According to statistics, of the more than 700,000 Qian-Hui troops, less than 100,000 escaped, more than 300,000 died in battle, and more than 300,000 were captured.
If the people who died in battle before were added, then of the 1.2 million troops who entered Xin Feng, only 100,000 were able to return to their homeland.
The mountains are snowy, the rivers are frozen, and the wilderness is desolate. Green is the smoke of war, and white is the bones of men.
The war is over.
The war has only just begun.
