Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

Iron Wall Pass Camp.

The hall was warm and inviting, and a whole lamb was roasting in a huge bronze oven, sizzling with oil.

Wang Jin, one of the veterans who stayed behind at Tiebi Pass, was slowly and methodically slicing a piece of crispy skin off a lamb leg with a small knife.

Beside him, a woman of about sixteen or seventeen years old was trembling as she poured him wine.

Perhaps she poured it too quickly, and a few drops of wine splashed onto her hand, burning her and making her shiver.

"waste."

Wang Jin didn't even raise his head, only managing to squeeze out two words from his throat.

The woman was so frightened she almost dropped the wine jug.

"Haha, Brother Wang, why bother arguing with a little girl?"

At the next table, there was another fat man, Li Gui, who was also dressed in general's armor but whose face was flushed from drinking.

He pulled the maid beside him into his arms, his large hand wandering inside her clothes, causing the maid to let out a suppressed gasp.

"Come on, drink! Once General Wu takes Black Wind City, I've heard that the man surnamed Lin has several wives who are as beautiful as celestial beings. When that happens, we brothers can each have one. Wouldn't that be wonderful!"

Li Gui raised his glass and offered a toast to Wang Jin from afar.

"General Wu's 50,000 troops could easily flatten Black Wind City. What can that Lin fellow use to stop them? His head?"

"Yeah, I heard that kid's a pretty boy. Someone like that probably can't even get good in bed, hahaha!"

Several junior officers sitting with him also began to lewdly laugh, making the atmosphere in the hall even more filthy.

Wang Jin cut off a piece of mutton, dipped it in salt, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.

He didn't participate in the vulgar discussion, but the curve of his lips showed that he was enjoying it.

A group of defeated soldiers left here by Wu Zhong like trash, with wine, meat and women, what more could they ask for?

However, just as everyone was immersed in pleasure—

"Report—!!"

A piercing roar suddenly came from outside the door.

Immediately afterward, a soldier covered in blood and with tattered armor scrambled in.

He slipped, leaving a long trail of blood on the smooth floor, and finally crashed into a pillar with a "bang".

The aroma of roasted lamb, the woman's fragrance, and the aroma of wine were instantly overwhelmed by a strong smell of blood.

All the laughter in the hall stopped abruptly.

The maid in Li Gui's arms took the opportunity to break free and hid in a corner, trembling with fear.

The soldier who had crashed into the pillar seemed to feel no pain. He struggled to his feet, then knelt down on the ground and let out a beast-like howl in Wang Jin's direction.

"Defeat! General! Utter defeat!!"

"General Wu's army... is completely wiped out!!"

The drunkenness on Li Gui's face vanished instantly.

He rushed over in three strides, grabbed the fleeing soldier by the collar, and slapped him hard with his large palm.

"Snapped!"

"What the hell are you spouting?! How could an army of 50,000 possibly be defeated!"

The fleeing soldier's face immediately swelled up, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

But he seemed numb, only looking at Li Gui with a terrifyingly empty gaze.

"It's really...it's all true..."

"Our cavalry charged in, and they were wiped out without even a bubble appearing... That formation, it moved, it deformed, like a gaping maw!"

"We wanted to retreat into the woods... but then the outside of the woods exploded... like divine retribution in the wrath of the gods!"

"Then... black-clad cavalry charged out of the woods... and cut us down row by row..."

"Those aren't human...they're...they're demons crawling out of hell!"

The voices of the fleeing soldiers trembled more and more, growing weaker and weaker until finally turning into incoherent sobs.

Li Guisong released his grip, staggered back two steps, and sat down heavily on the ground, muttering to himself.

"Impossible...this is impossible..."

He scrambled back to the table, grabbed the wine jug, and gulped it down.

The cold liquor dripped down his chin, soaking his shirt, but he was oblivious, only shivering uncontrollably.

Where is General Wu?

Wang Jin's voice rang out, still steady, but he put down the small knife in his hand.

The fleeing soldier shuddered, as if he had remembered something even more terrifying.

"General... General Wu has gone mad! He was scared out of his wits on the spot! And then Elder Zhao... ripped out his heart!"

"Elder Zhao took over the army, but... that devil named Lin Mo... just two punches, only two punches! And Elder Zhao was gone!"

"Lin Mo and his men are currently leading an army of ten thousand towards our Iron Wall Pass!"

"Bang!"

The wine jug in Li Gui's hand fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

"Open...open the door and surrender..."

"Even General Wu couldn't withstand that guy! We can't beat him... If we surrender, maybe we can still save our lives..."

"surrender?"

Wang Jin suddenly laughed. He leaned on the table and stood up with a limp.

"Fatty Li, do you think this is a village brawl where you can just kneel down and call someone 'Dad' and call it a day if you can't win?"

"Then how about we run away?"

Li Gui was completely at a loss.

"Where do you want to run?"

Wang Jin grabbed a spear from the side and slammed it heavily on the ground.

"Three hundred miles outside the pass, it's all a desolate, godforsaken place."

"Are we, a bunch of lame and one-armed men, going out to provide food for the wolves?"

Wang Jin pointed the tip of his gun at the roof beam above his head.

"We only have one way out now..."

"We will fight them to the death right here at Iron Wall Pass."

"Are you crazy? Wang the Cripple, you're crazy!"

Li Gui screamed.

"What will we use to defend ourselves?"

"We're less than a hundred old, weak, sick, and disabled people? They could drown us with a single spit!"

"We are old, weak, sick, or disabled, but this isn't an obstacle!"

Wang Jin limped to the center of the hall and looked around at the officers who were equally terrified.

"The walls of Iron Wall Pass are thirty meters high! The gates of Iron Wall Pass are forged from fine iron!"

"If we just close the door, even if Lin Mo has incredible abilities, he'll be powerless to do anything but watch helplessly from outside!"

"As long as we hold our ground! Hold out until the imperial reinforcements arrive! We will have accomplished a great feat!"

Even if... even if we can't hold on,

A fierce glint flashed across Wang Jin's face.

"We can still make it if we run then!"

He ignored the still hesitant crowd and gave the order directly.

"Zhao Wu!"

Zhao Wu was startled.

"Send a few men to write to the Northern King of the Imperial Court requesting support!"

"yes!"

"Li Gui!"

"exist!"

"Take our men and block the gate shut! With stones, wood, whatever you use, I want that gate harder to pry open than a baby's leg!"

"Zhang Biao! Take your men into the city and arrest people! Anyone between ten and sixty years old, even if they're lads, grab them all and send them to guard the city walls!"

"Tell them that a monstrous demon king has come from outside the city, one who eats people without spitting out bones! If he breaks through the barrier, everyone will die!"

"Men were chopped into mincemeat, women were treated as military prostitutes! Their children were strung together and eaten like candied hawthorns!"

"If you want to live, pick up your weapons and get back onto the city wall!"

Wang Jin, leaning on his spear, issued these orders with a cold gaze.

As he watched the busy crowd, he suddenly felt a long-lost surge of passion reignite within him.

Once upon a time, he was also a brave general, moving freely among thousands of troops with a long spear.

Until one day, he accidentally took an arrow to the knee.

Despite his deep resentment, he could only retreat to the second line and become an insignificant garrison commander in this iron-walled pass.

Today, this crisis on the verge of despair, this iron-fisted control of the overall situation, has actually brought back the feeling of dominating the battlefield in his younger days!