As he was about to respond to Guo Huaili, a figure suddenly darted out from the side and knelt before Li Chunhou, kowtowing like a pounding pestle. "General Li, spare my life! General Li, spare my life! I wasn't disobeying your orders back then. I ran into an ambush on my way to meet you. We fought valiantly and struggled to break through the encirclement with our troops."
Li Chunhou's face immediately turned ashen, and he cursed, "Wang Yankui, I know you ran into an ambush. Do you think I don't know? Those ambushing enemy forces were merely a show of force. You didn't even make deep contact with them. You retreated immediately upon encountering them. Did you truly give your all? Can you even imagine the crisis we faced? Did running into an ambush become your excuse for dereliction of duty and disobedience?"
Wang Yankui tried to argue further, "We did indeed encounter a very powerful ambush at the time..."
Li Chunhou roared, "Let's discuss this inside the tent. Whether you live or die, I will judge fairly." He then surveyed the surroundings. "All of you, come in with me. I will handle the rewards and punishments together."
With a flick of his sleeve, he turned and entered the tent in anger.
Guo Huaili, seeing the momentum and the oppressive aura that erupted, was secretly alarmed. In just one year, Li Chunhou's cultivation had advanced further, seemingly reaching the mid-stage of True Immortal cultivation.
The other soldiers acknowledged and followed Li Chunhou into the tent. Wang Yankui crawled into the tent on his belly.
Guo Huaili was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Couldn't the matter of rewards and punishments be discussed later? Lives were at stake for him!
However, he only opened his mouth and dared not speak. Looking up, he saw Li Chunhou and the others had already gone in.
He couldn't help but slap himself. Lives were at stake, why was he still hesitating?
He followed, preparing to rush in and explain everything to Li Chunhou immediately.
However, he was stopped at the entrance of the tent.
The two soldiers guarding the gate said with cold expressions, "If you have something to say, wait until the General comes out. Trespassing into the General's tent is a capital offense."
Guo Huaili was truly frightened, not by the fear of being sentenced to death, but by the fear of offending Li Chunhou. If Li Chunhou refused to help, all his efforts would be in vain.
Guo Huaili had no choice but to retreat. He thought that the matter of rewards and punishments was just a temporary issue, so waiting a little longer wouldn't hurt. He then paced back and forth outside.
Initially, it was quiet inside, as if everything was going smoothly. Later, sounds of argument emerged from within, and once the arguments started, they seemed endless, continuing without pause.
Time slipped away unnoticed. Guo Huaili didn't know how many times he had walked around outside. He always thought that Li Chunhou would come out after one more round, but each time he was disappointed. In his anxiety, he could only continue pacing.
Although he couldn't clearly hear what they were arguing about, each voice felt like a heavy hammer striking his heart. He felt that their voices were not tearing apart the people inside, but his own heart outside, leaving it bloody and fragmented.
He was filled with regret. He shouldn't have placed his hopes on Li Chunhou in the first place. If he had gone to General Zheng from the beginning, perhaps the army would have already advanced.
At this moment, he felt a sense of despair. His intuition told him that everything seemed to be over!
He went to the entrance of the main camp to check the sundial, and his heart was struck again: four hours had already passed!
He almost fainted!
Unless Commander Gu did not want to investigate further, if he intended to get to the bottom of it, the matter would have been settled.
But with his petty and vindictive nature, how could he possibly let it go?
He must have led a thousand troops to flatten the artifact refining chamber!
If he went back now, he wouldn't even see the corpses of those people, only ruins.
Alas, it was all his fault for their demise!
Guo Huaili couldn't help but shed tears of old age.
In a moment, anger surged in his heart, and malice arose from his courage.
Li Chunhou, if you won't help, fine, but you also wasted my precious time, leading to the deaths of so many innocent lives because of you. If I hadn't explained the whole matter clearly to you, it would be one thing, but I explained it perfectly clearly, and you remained indifferent. That's your cold-bloodedness, treating human lives as worthless!
Since my brothers are all dead, I don't want to live either!
If I can't shake you, I'll at least disgust you.
Guo Huaili suddenly charged towards the tent entrance, his movements as swift as lightning. From a distance, his hands shot out like electricity, unleashing two beams of light that struck the heads of the two soldiers.
The two soldiers, caught off guard, grunted and fainted.
Guo Huaili flashed into the tent. Before he could even steady himself, he began to curse, "Li Chunhou, you heartless, ungrateful wretch! Have your wings grown strong? We used to have a life-or-death friendship. When you needed me, did I ever refuse you? Now that your official position is getting higher and higher, you look down on people and keep them at arm's length? If it weren't for a matter of life and death, I wouldn't have come to find you. Do you think I covet your petty position, or that I truly want to climb up to you? I never expected that as your official position grew, you would become colder-blooded. Besides caring about your own position, do you care about anyone else's life and death?"
At this moment, all eyes turned towards him, filled with anger, surprise, and bewilderment.
Guo Huaili then had the chance to look at the scene inside the tent. To his astonishment, he saw Wang Yankui lying on the ground, his head severed from his body, blood gushing out like a fountain.
Recalling the previous argument, he surmised that Wang Yankui had initially tried to plead for mercy, then attempted to argue when his pleas were unsuccessful, and finally tried to resist, resulting in his execution on the spot.
I don't care about your troubles. Nothing matters now anyway.
"If you want to kill me, hurry up. I don't want to live either," Guo Huaili said, looking at Li Chunhou seated at the head of the table.
To his surprise, Li Chunhou merely stared at him with a complex expression, making no further moves or words.
"I don't have time to waste with you," Guo Huaili said, then turned and walked out.
Once outside the tent, he unleashed his speed and dashed towards the direction of the artifact refining chamber.
Since he hadn't killed him, he might as well keep this life and go back to see. Perhaps he could still find one or two corpses.
With this thought, he couldn't help but quicken his pace.
The artifact refining chamber was some distance from Li Chunhou's military camp, but if flying, it would only take the time to brew a cup of tea to reach it.
While in the air, still some distance away, he craned his neck, gazing into the distance, trying to see the scene at the artifact refining chamber.
He saw flashes of light and colorful radiance soaring into the sky, accompanied by continuous rumbling sounds.
Guo Huaili's insides churned, and his eyes welled up with tears!
He was unable to rescue them, and now his only hope was that they could save themselves.
However, if they tried to save themselves, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, leading to their utter destruction.
And it was impossible for the two sides to fight each other to a standstill.
The dazzling, colorful spectacle must have been a hallucination he conjured!
It must be a delusion born from his deep unwillingness to accept reality!
What strength did they possess to contend with Commander Gu's army?
He rubbed his tear-filled eyes, but the illusion remained!
Or perhaps, it was other battles?
But that direction was clearly the direction of the artifact refining chamber.
For some reason, his heart was filled with anticipation, his heartstrings taut, his heart almost leaping out of his chest.
He knew all hope was in vain, yet he couldn't help but cling to it!
Although he didn't believe his brothers were still alive, he still hoped their resilient lives were enduring the storms.
In short, he wished for a miracle to happen to them.
Just then, a loud voice came from behind him, "Brother Guo, why are you leaving in such a hurry? Why not wait for your brother?"
Before Guo Huaili could turn around, he recognized the voice as Li Chunhou's.
His mind raced. Why had he followed him? Was he here to arrest him and question him?
But his tone didn't seem like it.
So, was he here to help?
What was the use of him coming now?
However, he still slowed down slightly, and Li Chunhou easily caught up, walking alongside him.
Guo Huaili was surprised to find that Li Chunhou was alone.
He said somewhat irritably, "What's the use of you coming alone?"
Li Chunhou smiled faintly, "When it comes to our own people, do you expect me to bring an army?"
Guo Huaili paused, then shrugged it off. The situation was already dire, and it seemed like one person was no different from an army.
Li Chunhou continued to smile, "With my high position, wherever I go, they will show respect, won't they?"
Guo Huaili caught the subtle jab and smiled faintly, "I'm afraid even the highest official would be useless now. I wasted several hours with you. If Commander Gu wanted to kill them, they wouldn't even have dregs left."
In the blink of an eye, the two arrived above the artifact refining chamber. Li Chunhou glanced down and smiled, "I see there are still some dregs left, and quite a lot of them."
Looking out, Guo Huaili was stunned.
The entire artifact refining chamber was enveloped in a colorful light and energy. From the roof and the doorways, countless shining magical treasures were constantly spewing out clumps of dark matter. These objects shot out like arrows, landing far, far away in an instant.
Upon landing, these objects exploded violently, affecting an area of several miles. Flying sand and rocks, dust and smoke billowed up, and a mushroom cloud rose, lingering for a long time.
Fortunately, these soldiers were not ordinary people; they were all cultivators at the Human Immortal level. Otherwise, anyone within that range would have been instantly blown to pieces.
Even so, many who were slow to escape were severely injured, their flesh and blood mangled, leaving them on the verge of death.
Commander Gu's entire force had been forced back several miles!
They had initially attempted to capture the artifact refining chamber, launching various magical treasures and divine abilities at it, which were also dazzling and incredibly destructive.
However, a light barrier suddenly rose outside the artifact refining chamber. When those divine abilities and spells hit it, they were like mud cows entering the sea, seemingly dissolved by the light barrier and disappearing.
But the destructive power of the exploding artifacts flying out from the artifact refining chamber was something they could hardly withstand, forcing their troops to retreat repeatedly, falling back several miles.