You're not bad.

The dark, imposing Southern Continent army surged into the city gates like a tidal wave, and countless sparks fell from the sky, burning onto the black shields.

Behind the army, Gui Luo and Zhou Ziye remained calm, their gazes slowly falling on the faces of the dying people resisting on the city gate.

As the arrows were fired in waves, Tang Qi's bow-drawing speed did not decrease in the slightest. Having been through countless battles, he naturally would not be exhausted in a short time.

But the others beside him weren't so relaxed, especially Ye Qian and Shen Zhiqing.

Although they were able to draw their bows and shoot arrows, they were not people who could fight for long periods of time. After several rounds, they were not only sweating, but even the bowstrings were trembling.

The Southern Continent army opposite them, having removed their soldiers, also drew their bows and arrows, and soon a rain of arrows rained down. Ye Qian, at the forefront, felt a sharp pain in his face, and blood immediately appeared. He was jolted to the ground by the recoil of the arrow, and the soldiers beside him immediately raised their shields to protect him.

"Ye Qian!" Tang Qi turned around and looked at him.

“I’m fine! Don’t get distracted!” Ye Qian replied immediately.

Ye An's voice was muffled amidst the sounds of fighting: "How come the Southern Continent Army arrived so quickly? The intelligence said they wouldn't arrive for several more days!"

After several volleys of arrows, the shields were riddled with arrows, and even the stone bricks of the gate tower were embedded with arrowheads.

"That proves the intelligence was wrong!" Lu Juezhen shouted, clutching his head.

He was completely overwhelmed by the barrage of arrows and hid behind the city wall, covering his head. In his current situation, even peeking out could result in an arrow piercing through him and causing him to bleed instantly.

Although he had trained quite a bit in the past three years and could barely be considered a lowly soldier, he was barely able to catch thieves and suppress bandits under Cheng Junshi's guidance. But when it came to actually fighting on the battlefield with real swords and spears, he was truly willing but unable.

It wasn't that he was afraid of death, but rather that he simply couldn't contribute any effort.

With his mediocre skills, facing the dense barrage of arrows, he was too weak to even dodge, let alone fight them off.

"Have you forgotten the person beside Gui Luo?" Cheng Junshi said, "The Southern Continent army that was observed was just a decoy. The real batch that came was probably secretly hidden by him in the Shuo Dynasty!"

Although Tang Qi wanted to argue, given the current situation, Cheng Junshi's reason was the most likely one.

But...why?

He never wanted to believe that Zhou Ziye would betray his country.

Even now, even though Zhou Ziye is still watching them being slaughtered.

Lu Juezhen, who was hiding behind the city wall, suddenly felt that the sound of arrows had decreased. When he looked up, he saw that the dense arrows had indeed become less dense. He suddenly stood up and looked down. The Southern Continent Army had suddenly sounded the retreat and everyone immediately retreated.

Tang Qi and the others stared blankly at the chaos. Soon, Sheng Xiaoxin and Ye Jin also regrouped their troops and retreated back into the city. Sheng Xiaoxin strode up the city wall and stood in the center, looking down at the Southern Continent army that had regrouped below.

Gui Luo still didn't make a move, but Zhou Ziye actually rode his horse alone to the city gate.

Despite being isolated and facing off against a formidable enemy, he remained calm.

"Open the city gates, disarm and you will not be killed," Zhou Ziye said, looking up at them.

"You're dreaming!" Lu Juezhen was the first to shout.

“If you do not surrender, after we capture Jue City, not one of you will survive.” His voice remained calm.

"So, those cities before, were they really slaughtered by you?" Sheng Xiaoxin asked him firmly.

“It was the stubborn resistance of the garrison troops in those cities that caused the civilians to lose their lives in vain. You are intelligent people, and I expect you to make a different choice from them.” Zhou Ziye’s gaze fell on Sheng Xiaoxin, as indifferent as ever, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"Turning black into white! Zhou Ziye, do you even remember you're from the Shuo Dynasty? What are you doing now? You're trampling on your own homeland!" Ye Qian roared at him with all his might.

“What homeland? This is just a piece of land.” Zhou Ziye stared at Ye Qian: “Your family is here, you are supported by this land, but I am not.”

"What nonsense are you talking about? Didn't you grow up on this land yourself? Aren't you also a person of the Shuo Dynasty!" Ye An said angrily.

"People of the Shuo Dynasty?" Zhou Ziye chuckled, his eyes full of disdain. "To put it nicely, this place is the Shuo Dynasty. To put it bluntly, it's nothing more than your emperor's one-man show. You're really foolish to guard this place and risk your lives for such a person."

Tang Qi, standing beside him, seemed shocked by his words. He never imagined that the boy who had laughed and talked with him under the moonlight about protecting their country would now personally lead the enemy army, breach the city gates, and slaughter the people he had sworn to protect with his life.

He shook his head in disbelief, unable to speak for a long time.

“We are guarding this place not because of Your Majesty, but for the sake of the millions of people of the Shuo Dynasty. Isn’t this also your ideal?”

Zhou Ziye seemed oblivious, even clapping lightly and laughing, saying, "Thank you for letting me know how foolish I was before."

"You will die here today, and no matter how tall the grass grows on your graves someday, no one will remember you." Zhou Ziye looked at them and then sneered, "Your emperor is cold-blooded and ruthless. Everyone fought for him, and everyone died because of him. He only cares about the safety of his capital, he only cares about the safety of his imperial city!"

Zhou Ziye suddenly became agitated, pointing at Ye Qian and saying, "You! All of you! You are all just expendable pawns."

"He wants you to defend the city while he sits comfortably on the throne. No matter how many of you die, he won't care! He can discard anyone without any burden after using them." He continued slowly, "It's not worth dying here for such a person! No matter how tall the grass grows on your graves, history won't remember you. Your lives are insignificant, and dying is insignificant too. Living is what matters."

"Zhou Ziye!" Shen Zhiqing glared at him furiously, her palms even turning cold: "You've betrayed your country... Do you even know that!"

She finally said those two words and finally accepted the cruel reality.

Whether it was because of Shen Zhiqing or those two words, Zhou Ziye actually stopped on his horse, and then chuckled: "Treason? Where is the country? What is there here worth defending?"

Zhou Ziye's eyes suddenly turned fierce: "You guard this land because there are still things you cherish, but I have none left! Don't try to intimidate me with empty titles. He wants to discard us after we've served our purpose. Why can't we resist? I don't recognize that kind of person or that kind of country! I'm not willing to defend it!"

He looked at the person opposite him again: "Ye Qian, Tang Mian is dead, and Zhong Le didn't survive either. The entire Wolf Strategy Army has been taken back. Guess if their deaths have anything to do with His Majesty."

Sheng Xiaoxin was stunned. He realized the hidden meaning in Zhou Ziye's words.

"Try to guess again why I know," Zhou Ziye laughed defiantly. "Because the Zhou family was involved in these things a long time ago."

"Who do you think authorized this?" He looked at Ye Qian and continued without any hesitation, "Why don't you try to guess why you and Ye An are isolated and helpless?"

Before they could speak, Zhou Ziye spoke first: "Because the next one after Wolf Strategy is Li Guang!"

“You, too, are a flag that has been sacrificed.” His voice was calm: “You all are.”

“Life is as worthless as grass, I accept that.” Zhou Ziye looked at them again: “But I am not willing to continue to risk my life for him.”

"Here, I have no choice but to live. What about betraying my country and my ruler? I just want to survive, is that not allowed?"

His words were so powerful that they silenced everyone above the gate.

Zhou Ziye's hatred had been going on for too long and was too deep, growing so deeply that it trapped him completely.

He has the right to break free, the right to escape, and of course, the right to seek revenge.

“I know,” Ye Qian suddenly said.

Zhou Ziye was taken aback. Ye Qian looked at him silently and continued, "I know that Li Guang will be next under Wolf Strategy. I also know that I am just a flag that can be abandoned."

“But he’s the same,” Ye Qian continued, “He’s never been the reason I’m standing here.”

“The soldiers here are here, the land here is here, the people here are here,” Ye Qian continued. “I was born here, I grew up here, I live here, and I will die here. I have no regrets, nor do I have any remorse.”

He stared at the people below, his gaze piercing their hearts: "But Zhou Ziye, do you truly have no regrets?"

"I have no regrets." The person below looked up, speaking softly, with a faint, intangible pain in their voice.

“This place is rotten.” He slowly lowered his head and murmured, “I’m rotten too.”

"Zhou Ke, then let's fight to the death."

Negotiations failed, and another offensive soon followed. This time, Nanzhou set up a ladder, and the Nanzhou soldiers who had passed through the siege of Sheng Xiaoxin and Ye Jin nimbly climbed up the ladder.

"Throw stones at it!"

Stones rolled down the ladder, and the people who rushed up were quickly knocked down, but they quickly got up again, climbing as if there was no end in sight.

Man has no end, but stones are finite. Before long, Tang Qi's offensive weakened. Seeing that the Southern Continent army was about to climb the city gate, Ye Qian immediately shouted, "Pour oil on them!"

Soon, several fiery snakes greedily devoured everyone on the ladder, and screams and shrill cries echoed in everyone's hearts.

Shen Zhiqing, who was closest to the fire, couldn't help but vomit. The fire was so intense that the flesh would smell like roasted meat. The people were burned to a hideous state right before her eyes, charred black. She could even see the despair in their eyes beneath the raging flames.

Shen Zhiqing had rarely witnessed true death. She did not sympathize with the enemy, but only pitied the lives of the living, whether it was herself, the Shuo Army, or even the Nanzhou Army.

Perhaps everyone will have a happy family and a good life later on, but in the face of war, such happiness is insignificant.

Death is so clear yet so powerless.

She doesn't think the world should be like this.

But that's just how the world is.