Even emperors have it tough, so don't be too picky about the entries.

Wang Yuanji's whip shattered the soldiers' courage, but it could not shatter the song.

The song "Ascending the Hill" from the other side of the river plays every hour.

The song made people feel uneasy.

The next day, the singing began again.

At this moment, not only Chen Shao, but also dozens of people from Hedong joined Chen Shao in singing.

Wang Yuanji once again used his powerful horsewhip to suppress the rebellion.

As night fell and the moonlight shone down, my homesickness intensified.

The Hedong army finally collapsed amidst the songs from all sides.

A soldier stared at Wang Yuanji's riding whip, then turned and knelt down.

The second, the third...

"General... let's surrender."

"General, the brothers really can't hold on any longer, our parents are waiting at home..."

"General, even if you don't think about yourself, think about these 100,000 brothers. If this continues, we will all starve to death here."

"General!"

The thousands of people closest to him all knelt down in unison.

Pleading, despair, guilt... but the will to fight was gone.

Wang Yuanji raised his whip, but this time he ultimately did not strike.

He stumbled back a few steps.

It slowly swept across each face.

The ambitions of destroying Chen Shao, capturing the capital, vying for control of the Central Plains, and even unifying the six kingdoms all vanished in an instant.

lost.

He had to accept this reality.

One hundred thousand elite troops marched out of Hedong, but without fighting a single hard battle, they suffered a crushing defeat.

He looked up at the sky.

The crescent moon, like a hook, hangs in the west.

The song was still lingering, echoing wildly in his ears.

"Be careful, for the comings will never cease..."

Be careful, you must come back, don't leave your life out there.

Wang Yuanji closed his eyes, and two streams of tears rolled out from his sunken eye sockets.

He suddenly felt dizzy, followed by a spinning sensation, and he couldn't stand up straight.

The whip slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a thud.

"General!"

Two soldiers hurriedly helped him up.

Wang Yuanji pushed them away.

Unsteady on his feet, he picked up the horsewhip and walked to the riverbank.

"Pass on the order..."

"The entire army...surrenders..."

The moment he uttered those words, it was as if his soul had been ripped away.

The person was still standing there, but already looked like a walking corpse.

The surrounding soldiers were stunned for a moment, then burst into earth-shattering cries.

Seeing this scene, Wang Yuanji felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow.

The feeling of being at one's wit's end washed over me.

He gave a wry smile:

"Today's defeat is not due to inferior troops or poor strategy."

"The only reason for our defeat was the heretical Taoist Chen Shao!"

He still can't understand how someone could throw a whip to cut off a river.

In retrospect, Li Jinglong's clownish tricks were nothing more than Chen Shao's strategy to embolden his troops.

To make oneself scoff at this.

Actually... he really is good at it!

"Heavens above!"

Wang Yuanji stood on the banks of the Dutian River. The once calm water suddenly began to lap against the shore, the sound of the waves like drums.

With his last ounce of strength, he suddenly looked up and glared at the sky.

Why has Heaven treated me so cruelly?

"I, Wang Yuanji, joined the army at a young age, became a general at twenty, and was stationed in Hedong at thirty!"

"These 100,000 elite troops from Hedong were won with my life!"

"The imperial court is rife with demons and monsters, utterly corrupt and decadent. I have spent half my life preparing for war, waiting for the day I can march my troops into the Central Plains and rebuild the Great Yan dynasty!"

"But today... my sword hasn't even been drawn, my troops haven't even fought a proper battle, and I've already been defeated! Defeated! Defeated by a young man who relies on sorcery!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, then suddenly clutched his chest, bent over, and a mouthful of blood welled up inside him.

He spat the blood on the ground, his eyes bloodshot like a demon's.

"Chen Shao! I refuse to accept this!"

He staggered forward another step, the river water already up to his ankles.

"I have lost today, not because I, Wang Yuanji, am incompetent, nor because I am inferior to you!"

"It's because God is blind!"

"Your Chen family has ruined this beautiful land, why hasn't Heaven forsaken the Chen family! Why?!"

He roared with all his might, and in his extreme rage, he burst into wild laughter.

"It's true what they say, good people don't live long, but bad people live on for a thousand years!"

"Chen Shao! Yuanji admits defeat today! But if you're a man, let my brothers go."

"They're just soldiers, following orders. If you want to settle scores, settle them with me, Wang Yuanji!"

The Hedong army came to their senses and knew what he was going to do.

The crowd scrambled and stumbled toward the riverbank.

"General, you mustn't!"

Wang Yuanji turned around and glanced at them.

"Don't come any closer! This is how I'm going to die. A hero has his own way of dying! I, Wang Yuanji, have always been proud and have a strong sense of honor!"

Standing on the opposite bank, Chen Shao watched Wang Yuanji walk alone towards the river, and a feeling of regret for his talent suddenly arose in his heart.

He raised the bark trumpet.

Shout loudly:

"General Wang! This battle is not your fault, there's no need for this."

"Since you have lofty ambitions and I also have a heart to save the world, why not submit?"

"I guarantee that the Great Yan will not repeat the mistakes of the past, and that the previous situation will never happen again. Join me in conquering the world, and I will show you a true golden age!"

Wang Yuanji paused for a moment.

The wind rippled the river's surface, creating concentric circles of waves. He stood alone on the bank, not turning back, his silhouette appearing even more desolate.

Behind him, tens of thousands of soldiers knelt on the ground, their cries gradually ceasing as they stared blankly at their commander.

Wang Yuanji and Chen Shao met each other's gazes across a box of Zhishui.

His eyes held no hatred, no resentment, only unwillingness and the pride that belonged to this warlord in a chaotic world.

"Chen Shao".

"I am not fortunate enough to enjoy your golden age. I will wait in the afterlife to see if the Great Flame under your command can bring about change or become just another cannibalistic world!"

Having said that, he didn't look at Chen Shao again, but turned to face the kneeling soldiers, straightened his tattered armor, and bowed deeply.

"Brothers, Yuanji has failed you."

After saying that, he leaped into the surging river.

Water splashed up and then fell back down.

The river surface quickly returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

Only the horsewhip that had been with him for half his life floated alone on the water.

It rises and falls with the current.