Zhao Shu glared at him fiercely, her face flushed red, and she looked shy. She secretly waved her fist, her expression full of threat.
Having felt sweet enough, Wei Tingsi raised his voice to stop them, "Quiet."
His words were like an imperial edict. As soon as he spoke, the audience fell into complete silence. Every soldier held their breath, staring straight ahead, waiting for the general to speak.
"Soldiers, what is our mission?" His voice was loud and full of energy, but he shouted it out as if he were roaring.
This was the first time Zhao Shu had seen Wei Tingsi like this—a lion-like figure, disregarding his image and lacking refinement, yet standing on the reviewing stand like a pillar of heaven, shouting these words with his life on the line.
Every word he wrote was imbued with his entire life, making people believe in him and want to answer the question with their own lives.
He seemed to have grown taller, reaching a height that made people look up to him.
As soon as the words were spoken, tens of thousands of soldiers below the stage shouted in unison: "Defend our homeland!"
These four simple words, neither fancy nor beautiful, strike a chord with people. When someone says "protect the country," others will look down on them and think, "Pshaw, protect the country..." It carries a hint of sarcasm and distrust.
But when tens of thousands of people shout in unison, "Defend our homeland!", it is the sound of thunder.
Zhao Shu recalled a saying: "All your peace and sunshine are earned by those indomitable soldiers with their youth, sweat, and even their lives! They are the ones who keep darkness out of the country. While you are wasting your life at home, they are shedding their blood and honing their skills in the mud, all for the sake of 'Defending the country!'"
"What should we do when someone tries to divide our territory and plunge our loved ones into misery?" At this moment, Wei Tingsi seemed to have transformed into a god of war, exuding a murderous aura and unstoppable force.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Waves of roars rose higher and higher, igniting the blood in their bodies, and their soaring fighting spirit soared to the sky.
Wei Tingsi drew the sword hanging at his waist and planted it on the reviewing stand. "Anyone who wants to quit can step forward now, take off their battle robes, lay down their weapons, and leave. If you quit now, I won't consider you a deserter."
"We will defend our territory and expand our borders, and we will never retreat!"
"We will defend our territory and expand our borders, and we will never retreat!"
"We will defend our territory and expand our borders, and we will never retreat!"
The resounding voices expressed their determination and ambition. Even if they were to die or be maimed, even if they faced mountains of knives and seas of fire, even if they were to be buried in a foreign land, they would never back down or lay down their weapons. They would fight until the last drop of blood was shed!
Inside his body, the blood belonging to the battle spirit was burning and boiling, and the killing intent shook the heavens!
Wei Tingsi looked at his soldiers with satisfaction. Very good, they had not embarrassed him or disappointed him.
"Soldiers, please kowtow to the parents who gave us life and raised us to adulthood. It is difficult to be both loyal and filial. Please forgive your parents for not being able to fulfill your filial duties."
All the soldiers silently thought of their parents far away in their hometowns, and knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times.
After the three kowtows were completed, soldiers distributed paper and pens one by one, and Xia Guang also sent a copy to Wei Tingsi.
Zhao Shu was curious: What were they going to write?
After handing the paper and pen to Wei Tingsi, Xia Guang also took out his own paper and pen and began to write furiously.
Zhao Shu peeked over and saw that he was writing a suicide note.
Everyone buried themselves in writing their wills, which they had already prepared in their minds and had written countless times. Their handwriting was ugly, crooked and messy, and the strokes were not beautiful, but every word was a heartfelt statement that they had thought about for a long time.
Wei Tingsi never wrote his will before, because he didn't know who would read it in the future, but now he picked up his pen and started writing.
Zhao Shu's gaze followed the movement of his hand, her heart pounding. Generals die in a hundred battles, soldiers return after ten years; she feared he would stain the battlefield with blood. In truth, expanding territory was not important, nor was receiving tribute from all corners of the world; it had nothing to do with her.
But this person, the one writing his will, is related to me.
Men say that a true man should achieve great things, establish his own territory, defend his country, and not be afraid of war.
But how many women waited at home, their hair turning from black to gray, only to receive a suicide note and news of death, never even receiving their remains.
Zhao Shu thought to herself that she was conflicted at the moment, and she knew that someone had to do this.
After about half an hour, everyone had finished writing their wills, and someone collected them all and put them in an iron box.
Wei Tingsi, clutching the suicide note, walked up to Zhao Shu, took her hand, and said, "If that day ever comes, open it again. Don't blame me for selfishly dragging you into this quagmire."
“I am a cold-hearted and selfish person, and I am slow to warm up. But I am not stagnant. I believe in you. The person in the world who can take your life has not been born yet. This.” She waved the suicide note. “I am keeping it for you. Without my consent, Yama will not dare to take you. If he dares to take you, I will go to the Yellow Springs and the Netherworld and turn the underworld upside down.”
"Without my permission, you can't even lose a single hair, understand?" She knew a long time ago that there would be a war, and she also knew that he was very powerful.
But now history has changed; the King of Shu and the King of Jing did not unite back then, and she is uneasy about it.
“Okay,” he promised. “From now on, I will try my best to live every day.”
He choked up for a moment, hating his own selfishness. "I'm sorry, I dragged you into my life, but all I could promise was that you would try to live. I'm sorry." His voice was soft, yet it weighed heavily on Zhao Shu's heart, making it hard for her to breathe.
After a long while, she nodded, tears glistening in her eyes. The man before her was destined to be unparalleled in swordsmanship and dominate the world; that was his fate, and Zhao Shu did not blame him.
Bloodstained battlefields, piles of white bones, and smoke signals rising everywhere—it was a tragic scene. She used to like this kind of tragic grandeur. Perhaps deep down, she was a warlike person who loved the thunderous war drums and fluttering banners.
They don't care much about other people's lives or deaths; they're heartless and cold-blooded.
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