Huo Qixiao wanted to push himself up, but after a few movements, he found his body too heavy. He reached out to fumble with the heavy armor and then tossed it aside.
With several dozen pounds of armor off his body, Huo Qixiao felt that even his breathing had become much smoother. He crawled up slowly, using his hands and feet, his figure swaying unsteadily, but he stubbornly refused to fall.
His once clear and handsome face, his arms and legs, and everywhere not protected by armor, were all scratched and covered in wounds.
Swaying, a wicked arc curved up on his lips. At this point, there was no need for pleasantries or reminiscing.
With an almost obsessive gaze, he stared at Huo Qiyuan, who was also covered in blood. After only a few years apart, he never expected his cousin to have become so much more powerful than before.
"You clearly had many chances to kill me just now. Why, why did you hold back with every move..." Huo Qixiao was too exhausted to even lift his sword, but he still stubbornly refused to fall. It was as if only by standing and speaking to Huo Qiyuan could he prove he hadn't completely lost.
Huo Qiyuan's eyes were full of coldness, and his tone of voice was terrifyingly chilling. "The Huo family's ancestral teachings, the first rule is not to harm fellow family members, let alone on the battlefield... Someone like you might forget, but I won't!"
"Not to harm fellow family members? Huo family ancestral teachings? Hahahaha... a joke... it's a huge joke!" Huo Qixiao acted as if he had heard something amusing, stretching his neck out to laugh heartily.
He had killed his adoptive mother, poisoned his grandmother who had doted on him, and framed his uncle's family who had placed great hope in him, leading to the near annihilation of their entire household, leaving only Huo Qiyuan as the sole survivor.
Finally, he had even caused the death of Huo Siming's youngest son, who always followed him around, his younger cousin Huo Qixun, who was very dependent on him. This was merely because the younger cousin had inadvertently said he missed Brother Qiyuan a little.
To this day, in Huo Qixiao's eyes and heart, where was the memory of the Huo family's ancestral teachings? There was none! Everyone who had wronged him deserved to die!
What a ridiculous ancestral teaching! He had exhausted all his schemes to clear out the Huo family, leaving only those who obeyed his every command, so that he could become the true master of the Huo family, so that those people would submit to him and fear him!
Huo Qiyuan ignored his frantic expression and raised his arm, beckoning to his men.
"Shu~ Bong~"
Signal flares exploded in the sky. Assault teams, who had been lurking in various parts of the Chehe City city walls, descended like heavenly beings! They landed amidst the already dispirited soldiers.
"By order of the Regent of Huaxia, Da Yu soldiers who surrender will not be killed, demoted, or exiled. All who resist will be put to the sword without mercy!"
Almost the same words, at almost the same time, resounded throughout the entire defense deployment area within Chehe City. The soldiers who had still wanted to struggle tightly gripped their spears, their eyes filled with struggle and hesitation.
Fighting with all their might might offer a sliver of hope, but if they surrendered their weapons now, and if the Huaxia Regent broke his word, they would be like fish on a cutting board, with only the possibility of death.
There was a period of stalemate, and the soldiers remained huddled together, staring defensively at Huaxia's vanguard. Leng Qi frowned, his patience wearing thin. He pulled out his pistol and fired at a rock not far away.
The sudden gunshot terrified the soldiers who had just witnessed the gruesome sight of their deputy generals being shot in the head. With enemies possessing such hidden weapons that could take a head from a thousand miles away, how could their meager lives possibly contend?
Some timid individuals, as if holding a hot potato, threw down their spears. Just like the sobbing sounds before, one person dropped their weapon, and many followed suit.
In a short while, news of surrender came from various deployment areas. The first layer of Da Yu Dynasty's defense forces was thus disintegrated by Huo Qiyuan without a single soldier being lost.
The deputy generals, looking disheveled, hid on the city walls. Now they had no men, and their divine fire cannons were almost defunct. They wondered if Huaxia also offered no killing, no demotion, no exile to actively surrendering generals...
A few of them exchanged gloomy glances and finally, as if resigned, took off their helmets, which symbolized their status. They then unceremoniously threw them on the ground, as a display of their determination to surrender to the people of Chehe City.
Leng Si put away his gun and blew a whistle. Huaxia's men quickly stepped forward. They flew directly to the city walls using their qinggong, carrying the surrendering generals down and dumping them on the open ground.
Huo Qixiao could hear the commotion behind him, and he heard it very clearly. However, he paid no attention. The anger that had filled his heart and the urge to destroy the world had already been extinguished when Wang Bingchang died...
In fact, how could he not know he would lose? As soon as he knew Huo Qiyuan was still alive, his heart had churned like a stormy sea. And just now, he and Wang Bingchang had taken turns fighting Huo Qiyuan, resulting in one dead and one injured, while Huo Qiyuan appeared to have not changed much.
A "war" that was long foreseen to be lost, it was just that he had never imagined that when the day truly arrived, he would lose so miserably!
His soldiers, his power, and that person... all gone!
Knowing that Huo Qiyuan would not kill him, at least not on the battlefield, Huo Qixiao held his sword and turned to walk to Wang Bingchang's side.
The sun was shining brightly in the sky, so bright that it made people unable to open their eyes, yet the person in his arms grew colder and colder, and he could barely feel his warmth. Huo Qixiao hugged Wang Bingchang tightly, pressing him against his chest, trying to warm him with his own body heat.
Huo Qiyuan listened to his subordinate's work report and stopped staring at the two embracing figures. Now that the outer city walls of Chehe City had all been taken, and their commander Huo Qixiao, along with the deputy generals, were all under his control, there was essentially no need to worry about the inner forces.
Huo Qixiao, as if no one else was around, held Wang Bingchang's corpse, not looking up at anyone who approached. Huo Qiyuan ordered them to separate the two and detain Huo Qixiao alone.
However, Huo Qixiao used all his strength to tightly grip Wang Bingchang's arm, and the others were unable to pull him away for a moment. Moreover, he held a long sword in his hand, constantly brandishing it at anyone who dared to approach them.