But they were unarmed, their hands empty. How could they possibly harm officers who had spent more than a decade in military service?
The moment they charged forward, they were cut down by the officers wielding swords and sabers, falling into pools of blood.
Witnessing their tragic state, Liu Donglai lamented, "You are truly foolish. After the city fell, you actually believed you could remain untouched..."
An hour and a half later.
Flames spewed and black smoke billowed towards the heavens. Within Taihai City, it was already a living hell.
After a fierce battle to breach the city, the Han soldiers, their eyes blinded by bloodlust, attacked everyone in sight. They spared not even the old, the weak, the sick, or the women and children, let alone the able-bodied men.
Furthermore, anything of value, such as gold, silver, treasures, jade, agate, grains, or any other useful items, was plundered clean. What could not be taken was eventually reduced to ashes by fire.
Taihai City, having endured this calamity, was utterly transformed into an empty, dead city.
"My lord, there is not a single living soul left in the city. Not even chickens or dogs remain. The treasures, grains, and other spoils plundered by our army are estimated to be worth three million silver pieces."
After a day and night of slaughter, a Han general clad in armor knelt before Han Han, reporting the roughly cataloged items and the situation within the city.
"Mm, immediately tally the spoils and gather the soldiers. We must leave here swiftly," Han Han ordered coldly, glancing at the sky.
They had already wasted too much time plundering Taihai City. Emperor Wei Sixiu of the Wei Empire was no simple man.
With their current strength, engaging in a full-scale battle against a unified empire with a million soldiers on the plains of Jiuzhou would be akin to throwing an egg against a rock, a sure path to self-destruction.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Upon hearing this, the general immediately led a contingent of subordinates and began directing the army to withdraw slowly.
Flames soared into the sky, resembling a twilight glow, staining the entire canopy of Taihai City crimson. Gazing at the near-spectacular red in the distance, the King of Han, who had risen from humble beginnings and grown amidst endless bloodshed, suddenly felt a pang of regret.
For at this moment, he was reminded of a nightmare he could never forget.
However, there was no turning back once the arrow was shot. The tragedy that had already unfolded could never be undone.
...
Three days later, upon learning of the Taihai City massacre, Emperor Wei Sixiu, residing in the capital city of Jing, was enraged. He issued an order for his army to slaughter the Han military, civilians, and merchants across the Jiuzhou continent.
When an emperor rages, a million corpses lie dead.
In just a few short months, the sharp blades of the iron-clad army pointed their way, their killing intent spreading, the twilight stained with blood, the earth soaked red. The Han kings, soldiers, and civilians of the Jiuzhou continent fell in droves.
...
In the same year, King Han, Han Han, unwilling to be outdone, assembled a navy of one hundred thousand men, commanding over a thousand ships, and attacked the coastal cities surrounding the Wei Empire.
Suddenly, both on land and sea, the blood flowed like rivers due to the actions of one emperor and one king.
Wei Sixiu was once again enraged, but for the time being, he had no other recourse against the Han fleet that dominated the seas.
After deliberation with several court ministers, Wei Sixiu made a decisive choice: to implement the "Clear and Purge Source Flow" policy, a national strategy of isolationism that harmed both sides. Neighboring continental nations, under pressure of annihilation, followed suit.
The Han army's invincible navy, reliant on land-based nations for vital supplies such as food, medicine, meat, and arrows, found its days becoming increasingly difficult due to its inability to achieve complete self-sufficiency.
Another ten years passed. The mighty Emperor Wei Sixiu, a ruler of his era, passed away. The second emperor ascended the throne, known as Wei Ershi.
The chapters of history turned anew.
The new emperor was young, and King Han, Han Han, the king of the seas, also saw his body gradually age, no longer possessing the vigor of his prime.
...
In these intervening years, the thousands of islands under Wu Tao's command suffered greatly. Due to the prolonged lack of essential supplies like food, medicine, and meat, the populace lived in misery, unable to afford sustenance, and resentment ran rampant.
Alas, King Han, despite his position, made no significant moves. Consequently, the people's dissatisfaction soared, the political situation became unstable, and his rule was precarious.
The Han Kingdom, a maritime nation, gradually began its decline.
However, Han Han, a master of political maneuvering, possessing a ruthless disposition and deep prestige, managed to maintain control of the faltering situation through iron-fisted tactics. In this year, Han Han was forty-seven years old.
...
The second emperor passed away with the passage of time, and the third emperor took the throne. Another thirty years elapsed.
Having been a dominant force on the seas for decades, a formidable figure who had never encountered an enemy on the ocean, King Han, Han Han, was finally nearing the end of his life.
At seventy-seven years old, lying on his bed, he gazed at the vast starry sky and inwardly reflected on whether his life had been right or wrong.
Perhaps human desire was indeed like a rolling stone on a mountain; once started, it could never stop. And as desire grew, so did one's methods become more base, climbing upwards by any means necessary.
Yet, upon reaching the pinnacle, he found himself perpetually alone, with no one to speak to, and no one dared to speak to him.
The solitary environment sent shivers down his spine, but as a king, how could he confide his weakness to others?
What was the purpose of painstakingly climbing to the apex of power?
In the end, his wife, son, grandson, relatives, and friends were all estranged from him. For what was this solitary and uninteresting life?
Was it truly worth it, just to be known by the four words "solitary and lonely"?
In this vast, magnificent, and extremely cold palace, Han Han took his last difficult breath. His lifelong struggle and ascent had left behind legendary tales for future generations, as well as a tragic narrative.
...
Standing in his original spot, everything around him remained as it was in the past, yet Wu Tao's eyes seemed to have witnessed immeasurable vicissitudes.
"So, all of this was an illusion..."
"A trial, this was a trial! So close, so close to success, just a little more, next time, next time..."
Zhuang Zhou dreaming of butterflies, a dream of three thousand years, seemingly real yet illusory, born of the mind, formless and intangible.
...
The power of dream reincarnation quietly arrived. The next second, he felt darkness envelop his vision, and consciousness slipped away.
As he had predicted, Wu Tao transmigrated again. This time, his fortune was excellent, and he was born into a wealthy family.
In this world, he was named Liu Wenjie.
He lived a very happy life. Not only were his parents alive and well, but he also had many friends. His family was well-off, servants attended him at all times, and he could basically obtain whatever he desired.
When he was ten years old, his parents specifically hired a renowned martial arts master of external training to teach him. Liu Wenjie had a natural talent for martial arts and was also very diligent.
By the time he was twenty, he had quickly established a foothold in the martial arts world of this era. At the age of twenty, with his ordinary fists, he defeated all the young prodigies in the martial world, challenging every so-called young master.
At thirty, Liu Wenjie was already recognized as a grandmaster in the martial world. He founded his own sect, his fame resounding, and his name renowned throughout the land.
At forty, Liu Wenjie successfully defeated the foremost martial artist of his time, claiming the position of number one under heaven.
At fifty, Liu Wenjie reached the realm of Grandmaster.
The pinnacle of strength… invincible under heaven.
This was the first and only principle his master had taught Liu Wenjie.
The reason Liu Wenjie could roam the world and be invincible was solely due to his immense strength and a heart that never admitted defeat.
...
The various martial arts techniques in the martial world each possessed their own exquisite and miraculous aspects. They were ever-changing, numerous in variety, and their divine powers and might were all unique.
There were also many prodigies among the major sects of the martial world, and those with more talent and intelligence than Liu Wenjie were countless.
The reason Liu Wenjie was able to dominate the world and become the universally acknowledged number one martial artist.
It was due to the single sentence his master had taught him at the beginning: "The highest wisdom is like the lowest folly; folly is inferior to wisdom."
As long as one's will was firm, and one practiced punching ten million times daily, how could one not shatter all techniques, reign supreme with a single punch, reach the pinnacle of the world, and be invincible?
Liu Wenjie feared not those flashy, aesthetically pleasing moves. No matter how many techniques, methods, or variations you employed, he would still, with punch after punch, unswervingly destroy and shatter everything that stood before him!
Liu Wenjie's fists were the fists of the foolish old man, simple fists, straightforward fists, and tyrannical, invincible fists.
On Liu Wenjie's one hundred and twentieth birthday, he finally cultivated to the extreme of the Innate realm. With these fists, he shattered the void and stepped into another brand new world.
Passing through a spatial tunnel, Liu Wenjie entered a high-martial world. Here, he finally encountered the legendary top martial artists who could split mountains with a punch and destroy seas with a punch. Here, he finally tasted a hint of anticipation.
However, with his tenacious will and unremitting effort, in less than five hundred years, Liu Wenjie became a renowned expert in this world.
Another hundred years passed, and Liu Wenjie dominated an area, his supremacy unquestioned, becoming a true top martial artist.
...
Many years later, atop "Divine Demon Peak," the continent's tallest mountain, within the Star River Divine Sect, the foremost sect in the world, a brutal trial was underway.
"Zheng Kai, do you have anything to say?"
In the cold and solemn great hall, a divine mirror floated serenely in mid-air, suspended above the center of the hall.
Within the divine mirror, faint divine lights emanated, illuminating someone in front of it.
Kneeling within the great hall, Zheng Kai was disheveled and dejected. His clothes and body bore the marks of various tortures, and fresh blood stained him from head to toe.