Huo Qiyuan grasped the long sword dancing in mid-air, holding it in one hand, and looked at the two men embracing in front of him with a blank expression.
He even had time to wander his mind. Looking at the expressions on their faces, Huo Qiyuan felt that their relationship was not as simple as superior and subordinate… rather, it was like lovers.
Although Huo Qiyuan was straight, his eyes were not blind, and his vision was very good. He saw clearly the subtle expressions on their faces and the affection in their eyes.
He remembered that when Leng Nuo was seriously injured and on the verge of death, Lin Rongrong looked at him with the same expression.
Thinking of Wang Wentu, who had just fought with him, he looked like a delicate scholar, speaking in a soft voice. Although not like a woman, he had a somewhat androgynous appearance.
Could it be that Huo Qixiao liked men?
At this thought, Huo Qiyuan frowned, but he quickly returned to normal. These were all irrelevant. Whether Huo Qixiao liked men or women had nothing to do with him.
On the Da Yu Dynasty's side, seeing that the strategist could no longer hold on, and the commander was not operating according to the previous deployment, the remaining surviving deputy generals and all the soldiers stood dumbfounded, looking at each other, not knowing what to do next.
Should they proceed with the original plan? But where was the original plan now? All plans had been disrupted.
Their arrow formations were useless against the enemy. Even their proud divine fire cannons were no match for the small items the opponent casually threw.
Not to mention the giant eagle in the sky, which was staring at them menacingly. The two people held in the eagle's talons were holding unknown hidden weapons and aiming them at the deputy generals.
As soon as anyone dared to approach the divine fire cannon, a bloody hole would immediately appear on their head. After Huo Qixiao jumped off the city wall, the other deputy generals hid in new positions, able to see the battle below while ensuring they wouldn't be targets.
The other soldiers, without orders, put away their crossbows. Some were still standing straight, holding their ground, while others had already collapsed on the ground in fear.
Their eyes showed more or less fear and confusion, feeling as if their path forward was obscured by an endless dense fog. They were like headless flies, only able to collide randomly in the fog, hoping for mercy from heaven to give them a way out.
They dared not imagine how this battle would be fought. If they lost in the end, what fate would await them?
Would the people of Huaxia kill surrendering soldiers? If they were lucky enough to survive, would they be re-enlisted, or sent to the border regions to do hard labor? Would they even live to see their families again?
Suddenly! A small sobbing sound rang out abruptly. No one went to find out who made the sound. Because soon, the sobbing sounds from the team grew louder and louder, and finally, nearly half of the people couldn't help but cry.
The fear of the unknown was the most effective way to break a person's psychological defense line. Similarly, a dead end with no visible way forward could also drive people to collapse. A group of people scared themselves to death, and before the entire army even engaged the enemy, they had already scared themselves half to death. This war was thus lost by more than half!
Leng Ren and the others did not stand idly by while Huo Qiyuan and Wang Bingchang were fighting. The few of them dispersed and ran to the rear of the team, each leading a small team of ten, infiltrating from the most hidden places along the outer edge of the city wall.
Just as the deputy generals and soldiers of the Da Yu Dynasty were eagerly waiting for their commander to finish his fight below the city wall, Leng Ren and his group had successfully hidden themselves on the edge of the city wall, waiting for the right moment to easily breach it.
Huo Qiyuan here was still a bit stunned looking at the two men in front of him. Wang Bingchang had almost stopped spitting blood. Huo Qixiao dragged him back, leaned him in the shadow below the city wall, and then took a water pouch from his waist to give him some water.
“Wentuo, are you feeling any better?”
Unexpectedly, it was worse when he tried to give him water. The moment Wang Bingchang drank the water, he started vomiting again. The two mouthfuls of water he drank turned into blood-red streaks, and his face became paler, showing the greenish-gray color only seen in the dying.
“Qi… Qixiao… I… I can’t… accompany you anymore… I… I’m sorry… That day… this life… was worth it…” Wang Bingchang, spitting blood foam, made a vague farewell.
He used all his strength to raise his hand to touch Huo Qixiao’s face. As the last breath dissipated, Wang Bingchang’s head tilted, and he completely fell asleep in Huo Qixiao’s arms. His raised hand also slipped from mid-air.
Huo Qixiao grabbed his falling hand, gently pressed it against his own face, and tears fell in large drops, hitting Wang Bingchang’s wet and pale face. He tightly hugged the person in his arms, his mouth agape, but no sound of crying came out.
Wang Bingchang was gone! From now on, he would be all alone in this world! No one would wait for him to hold an umbrella in the rain, no one would go back and forth for his favorite food, and no one would take care of him wholeheartedly when he was sick…
Although Huo Qiyuan found this scene a little strange, he did not disturb them.
After a while, Huo Qixiao placed Wang Bingchang on the ground to lie down, tidied his clothes, and wiped his face with the hem of his own clothes. He usually liked to be clean, and he would change him into his favorite clothes later.
After arranging Wang Bingchang's body, Huo Qixiao got up, picked up the long sword that had fallen on the ground. He walked step by step towards Huo Qiyuan.
Huo Qiyuan looked at his former cousin with complex eyes. Both his demeanor and his fierce gaze were so different from the person in his memory. His current state was completely different.
“Huo Qiyuan! Huo Qiyuan!” Huo Qixiao called his name fiercely. The second time, it was like a beast roaring, as if something would erupt from his body the next second.
Huo Qixiao rushed towards Huo Qiyuan with his sword. The sword energy was sharp and intimidating. With every sword strike that fell, it seemed to contain boundless hatred, as if he wanted to chop the person in front of him into pieces! Huo Qiyuan did not yield either. His eyes narrowed, and he raised his hand to counterattack heavily.
In fact, Huo Qixiao’s martial arts were slightly weaker than Wang Bingchang’s in the past. However, today, as if stimulated by Wang Bingchang’s death, he unleashed his body’s infinite potential and fought Huo Qiyuan for over a hundred rounds.
When he finally succumbed, he was covered in injuries. Although Huo Qiyuan was not as seriously injured as him, he had also sustained many wounds. His hand was cut by Huo Qixiao with a very deep gash, and blood dripped continuously along the long sword.