"This is your traitor, Song Kang!"

"Unfortunately, I, the Khan, disdain to take in such a disloyal person. Xiao Zhixing, why don't I help you eliminate this traitor?"

The knife had already fallen onto the rope.

Xiao Zhixing looked at him coldly.

Song Kang? The garrison commander of Guixiong Pass?

Since he betrayed the enemy, why was he treated badly by Xiao Kui?

Or is it all an act? Or is there something else going on behind the scenes?

"This humble general has not betrayed the enemy!!"

Suddenly, the man slowly awoke and roared hoarsely:

"I, Song Kang, promised the late Emperor that I would defend Guixiong Pass to the death! This humble general has not betrayed the enemy! Cough cough cough—Xiao Kui, if you have the guts, just kill me! Ahh, late Emperor, Song Kang is ashamed, Song Kang failed to defend Guixiong Pass! Ahhh—"

The mournful howls echoed tragically on the walls of Guixiong Pass, and the spring breeze seemed to begin to feel cold and biting.

He struggled violently, seemingly trying to fall directly off the city wall:

"Kill me, hahaha, cough cough, cough cough... Song Kang has gone down to join the late emperor. Xiao Kui, you'll come down sooner or later. I'll be waiting for you!"

Xiao Zhixing only thought for a second before drawing his bow and shooting an arrow.

Doo!

The rope snapped, and Song Kang plummeted down, laughing loudly, "Late Emperor, Late Emperor, your humble servant has arrived—"

A streak of blood-black lightning shot towards the city wall.

"Princess!"

"Young General!"

Su Zhen, Xiao Bei, and the others were terrified and immediately led their men to give chase.

Under a barrage of arrows, Xiao Zhixing and his Blood Night cavalry became one, impenetrable to Ruoshuiwu's water.

Tap tap tap, ding ding ding ding ding.

With a shout, she leaped from Xue Ye's back and caught Song Kang in mid-air.

Blood Night howled, its movements perfectly synchronized with hers. It caught them slightly below, its hooves whistling through the air as it turned and fled.

Xiao Kui gritted his teeth. He was so close. If he could have hurt her, he could have at least dampened her spirit. What a pity.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Xiao Zhixing swung his sword backhand to deflect the dense barrage of arrows while running, shouting:

"Xiao Kui, the traitors of my Great Sheng will be dealt with by my Great Sheng. You should think about it. With more than 100,000 of your Northern Barbarian warriors dying, will your position as Khan be secure?"

Xiao Kui waved his sleeve, his face pale, and turned away from the city wall.

Xiao Zhixing ran back to the front of the formation and handed the man to Su Zhen, asking, "Is it Song Kang?"

Su Zhen, sporting a shiny bald head, dismounted and caught the man, placing him on the ground. He brushed aside the disheveled hair to identify him, "It's Song Kang."

Xiao Zhixing dismounted, half-squatting down to meet Song Kang's bloodshot eyes. "What exactly happened?"

Song Kang's face twitched, filled with extreme hatred and sorrow, his heart ashen. "It's all my fault, I trusted the wrong person, it's all my fault, I have nothing to say—"

Xiao Zhixing: "Look at my face, and think carefully before you say anything?"

Song Kang's dazed, insane eyes slowly fixed on her face. "!Princess!?"

His hoarse, weak voice almost broke.

Xiao Zhixing chuckled, "Now you have something to say?"

She neither admitted nor denied her relationship with Xiao Yan.

Song Kang's gaping mouth trembled a few times, and tears of blood streamed down his face. His tendons in his hands and feet had been severed, and he writhed and crawled laboriously on his knees, wailing hoarsely.

“Xiaolian deserves to die! Xiaolian is a sinner for all time! I lost Guixiong Pass! I have failed the late Emperor! I have failed the Princess, cough cough, cough cough… Xiaolian’s heart is ashen, I beg you, let Xiaolian atone with his death!”

"Coward! Don't you want to take back Guixiong Pass?"

"Take it back? Hahaha, take it back? Even the scholar has lost it..."

He raised his eyes, filled with blood and tears, and looked through her gaze into a certain direction:

"Fifty thousand comrades and hundreds of thousands of civilians died because the scholar-official trusted the deputy general. How can I have the face to live on in this world?"

Xiao Zhixing looked down at his stubborn kneeling figure and sighed, "Why bother?"

"It must be done! Song Xiaolian is not afraid of being infamous, but his heart is broken and he cannot save himself!"

"If Song Xiaolian doesn't die, it won't appease public anger! It won't be enough to rouse the army's morale! Cough cough—I beg you to grant my request!!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The wind howls, and spring in the north is particularly harsh.

The sound of kowtowing struck people's hearts with each thud.

None of Su Zhen and the others dared to speak out.

Xiao Zhixing looked up. "Your last wish."

"Save my comrades, cough cough cough cough—there are still 20,000 of them, being taken to the grasslands by the northern barbarians, all of them are brave and valiant men—"

"Okay! I promise you."

"Thanks!"

Bang! Song Kang, the young general most trusted by Emperor Xiao Yuzhen of Yin, who had guarded Guixiong Pass for twenty-five years, committed suicide by severing his heart meridian and returned to Guixiong Pass.

"Find a good place to bury him."

Let him stay here forever, and watch the return of Guixiong Pass with his own eyes, so that his journey to the underworld will be easier.

[Waaaaah—I'm crying so hard—]

【well--】

Ugh, even though I already knew his fate, it still hurts so much...

Song Kang, courtesy name Xiaolian, was a top-ranking military scholar, bestowed the title of "Triple Champion" by the late Emperor of the Shang Dynasty. In the tenth year of the Shang Dynasty's reign, at the age of sixteen, he began his campaign against the northern barbarians, achieving numerous military exploits. He was later enfeoffed as Duke Lian, and was known for his unwavering loyalty and valor in guarding the borders.

Before his death, Emperor Yin ordered him not to return to the capital and to defend Guixiong to the death. Dynasties changed, but he kept his promise, ensuring that Guixiong remained unconquered for twenty years. He was a shining star of military talent, second only to Marshal Xiao!

[Waaaaah, stop talking, I'm crying like a baby, even though it was the first time I saw him.]

[Until his death, he did not seek justice, nor did he plead for the survival of his family; he only begged to save his comrades. He felt ashamed for having failed his heroic deeds. The simple words in the history books cannot express his despair and disappointment.]

The young general must have sensed his determination to die, so he didn't force him. Alas!

[Waaah, my beloved goddess Rushu, what should I do? Her uncle committed a terrible crime, her father died, what will become of her?]

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