The imperial court is ceding territory from our northern border? Then we'll rebel!

Tian Kui is dead.

He ended his life in a resolute and tragic way.

He lay in the rough coffin, blood gushing from the wound in his chest, quickly staining the bottom of the coffin a dark red.

His wide-open eyes remained fixed on the sky, as if making a silent accusation.

The area around the commander's tent was deathly silent.

All the guards and generals who witnessed this scene stood frozen in place, their minds blank.

Their great general, the one who had led them in countless battles and was invincible, died just like that.

He died in front of the enemy's command tent, in a coffin sent by the enemy.

Immense sorrow and humiliation overwhelmed everyone like a tidal wave.

"Great General!!"

Someone let out a mournful wail, instantly igniting everyone's emotions.

The cries were deafening.

Countless soldiers threw down their weapons, knelt on the ground, and wept bitterly towards the direction of the commander's tent.

Many of them didn't even know what had happened.

All they knew was that the general was dead.

Their world has collapsed.

Deputy General Zhang knelt on the ground, looking at Tian Kui's body in the coffin, tears blurring his vision.

He followed Tian Kui for twenty years, rising from an unknown soldier to the position of deputy general.

In his heart, Tian Kui was not only his commander-in-chief, but also his mentor, and a father and brother figure to him.

Now, his beloved teacher has died tragically before his eyes, and he is powerless to do anything about it.

An excruciating pain nearly made him faint.

He suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the black-armored knight—Chen Liu.

"I kill you!!"

With a roar, Deputy General Zhang leaped to his feet, grabbed the longsword of his personal guard, and charged at Chen Liu like a madman.

He doesn't want to think about anything now.

He only wanted to kill the murderer who drove the general to his death and avenge the general!

However, he was fast, but Chen Liu was even faster.

Just as he rushed close, Chen Liu didn't even draw his sword.

He simply turned to the side and lifted his foot.

A simple and direct side kick.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

Deputy General Zhang's burly body was kicked away like a tattered sack, crashing heavily to the ground a dozen steps away. After struggling for a few moments, he could no longer get up.

Chen Liu withdrew his foot without even glancing at him, as if he had merely kicked away a troublesome stone.

He walked to the coffin and looked down at Tian Kui's corpse.

Then, he drew the sword from his waist.

It was a very ordinary standard-issue military knife, with several nicks on the blade, clearly indicating that it had been through countless fierce battles.

"What are you trying to do?!"

The guards around him were shocked and instinctively wanted to step forward to stop him.

Chen Liu did not answer.

He simply raised his hand and brought the knife down.

"Snap!"

A crisp sound.

He cleanly and decisively severed Tian Kui's head, which remained open in death.

Fresh blood gushed from the severed neck, splattering all over Chen Liu.

He didn't care at all, casually picked up the still-bleeding head, then took out a cloth bag he had prepared beforehand, put the head inside, and tied it to the saddle.

After doing all this, he turned around and scanned the terrified generals and soldiers around him with his emotionless eyes.

"I'm taking Tian Kui's head with me."

"The Marquis has accepted his favor."

"From this moment on, your lives are given by the Marquis."

"Lay down your weapons and stand by. This is the only thing you can do, and the only thing you must do."

"If anyone disagrees, or tries to pull any tricks..."

Chen Liu's gaze fell on the coffin that was still steaming.

"This coffin is still empty."

After saying that, he ignored everyone else, took his horse, and turned to leave.

He came alone.

He left alone.

There was just a heavy cloth bag on the saddle.

His tall figure, under the gaze of countless eyes filled with a mixture of fear, grief, and bewilderment, gradually receded into the distance, eventually disappearing at the edge of the horizon.

Only after his figure completely disappeared did the oppressive atmosphere in the punitive expeditionary camp finally erupt into a chaotic uproar.

The commander-in-chief was forced to commit suicide, and his head was taken away by the enemy as a trophy.

This would be a devastating blow to any army.

The morale of the troops has completely collapsed.

"What do we do? What do we do now?"

"The Great General is dead, and General Zang is dead too. Whom should we listen to?"

"Surrender? Are we really going to surrender to the Northern Frontier Army?"

"What can you do if we don't surrender? Didn't you hear what that man said? The Marquis's army is already on its way!"

"I don't want to die! I have a wife and children at home..."

Panic and confusion spread rapidly among the millions of people, like a plague.

The once well-organized military camp began to descend into chaos.

Some people threw down their weapons, collapsed to the ground, and wept bitterly.

Some people started packing their bags, seemingly trying to escape in the chaos.

Even worse, some units that had long-standing grudges actually came to blows over minor arguments.

The entire camp was in complete chaos.

Deputy General Zhang was helped up by several of his personal guards. He clutched his chest, which was throbbing with pain, and looked at the chaotic scene before him, feeling as if his heart was being torn apart.

He knew it was over.

This army of seven million, which once commanded the attention of the entire Great Yan Dynasty, is now utterly finished.

"All of you, shut the hell up!"

Deputy General Zhang mustered all his strength and let out a furious roar.

His prestige was still intact, and his roar temporarily quelled the chaos in a small area.

His eyes were red as he looked at his bewildered colleagues around him.

"Have you all forgotten the General's last order before he died?"

He said, "Let's live on with our brothers!"

"Is this how we try to survive, in this complete chaos? Before the Zhenbei Army even attacks, we'll have trampled our own people to death!"

His words made the surrounding generals lower their heads in shame.

"General Zhang, what should we do now?" a lieutenant asked in a trembling voice.

Deputy General Zhang took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He knew that from the moment Tian Kui died, the burden of these millions of people had fallen on his shoulders.

He cannot fall.

He glanced at Tian Kui's headless corpse, a resolute glint in his eyes.

"Pass on my orders!"

"First, give the general a grand funeral! Let him rest in peace!"

"Secondly, unite all units and discipline the soldiers. Anyone who takes advantage of the chaos to cause riots, loot, or rebel will be executed without mercy!"

"Third..." he paused, then said in a hoarse voice, "Send someone to lower the surrender flag."

"We... await the judgment of the Marquis of Zhenbei."