Chapter 453: He seemed to have collapsed

Chen Wuji's raising of the stakes successfully stirred up a disturbance in the enemy army.

It's a pity we couldn't see exactly how chaotic it had become; we only heard Gu Wenjie shouting there, constantly raising the stakes, and calling on the personal guards to eliminate the traitors.

It must be that someone was tempted, wanting to chop off Gu Wenjie's head and bring it to Chen Wuji to claim the reward.

"Commandant, switch with us, switch with us!"

The shouts of the personal guards behind him interrupted Chen Wuji's spellcasting.

He rubbed his sore arm from all the killing, and honestly moved to the rear.

If he didn't switch, he'd soon be unable to swing; any delay in his movements would be the enemy's opportunity.

Chen Wuji wasn't cowardly, but he cherished his own life and didn't want to waste it needlessly.

After moving to the rear, he again raised his voice to pressure Gu Wenjie: "You're all fine young men; the defeat is clear—why cling on? Even if you all died, would the Gu family remember your sacrifice and effort? Would they look after your wives, children, and elders?"

"Don't you yourselves know deep down it's not worth it? Don't waste your lives on such scum—it's not worth it!"

"Now put down your weapons; I bear no grudge for the past, and from now on we're still brothers-in-arms!"

The personal guards fought fiercely, and Chen Wuji shouted with mighty vigor.

Anyway, he was idle, so he attacked their morale and disrupted their spirit.

Actually…

Gu Wenjie's troops now hardly had any spirit left.

The people up front weren't unwilling to run; they simply couldn't escape, so they stubbornly held their ground.

Finally, it seems Chen Wuji's sincerity finally moved them.

The enemy's frontmost group suddenly threw down their weapons and knelt in layers.

On the winding, lengthy cliffside ancient road, surrender was also a difficult matter.

Fortunately, the people behind in the enemy army were also perceptive.

They didn't know what had happened up front, but seeing those ahead lay down their weapons and kneel, they hesitated repeatedly before slowly kneeling as well.

Gu Wenjie saw this and flew into a rage: "Cut down this bunch of traitors! Chen Wuji that bastard kills prisoners and builds skull mounds—are you really going to surrender to him?"

"Surrendering to him would be worse than surrendering to a dog—you lot are idiots, you've all been deceived!"

Chen Wuji looked over the cliff edge, saw the enemy rear troops' heads surging, changed direction, and roared: "Gu Wenjie, you dog, are you trying to run? You spineless whore, you don't even dare to face me? Trash!"

"Commandant, what should we do now?" Chen Li asked in a low voice.

The enemy's vanguard surrendered and gave up resistance, while the rear fled; no one knew what was happening in the middle.

But the problem now is that the enemy's surrendered vanguard also blocked their route, preventing them from pursuing.

"Everyone, get up! You took the bounty and ran! The vanguard has become the rear—chase after them!" Chen Wuji shouted loudly.

The enemy troops who had just surrendered, after hesitating repeatedly, picked up their weapons again; the former vanguard, now the rear, timidly pursued Gu Wenjie, who was still their commander moments ago, each of them seeming to waver, causing the whole column to hesitate.

If Chen Wuji added a bit more bounty right now, their enthusiasm might return.

But Chen Wuji was unwilling to do that.

Since he raised his troops, he had never done such a thing.

If we give bonus to the surrendered troops, should we also add for his own men who fought desperately?

Should we add even more?!

"Press forward!" Chen Wuji ordered Chen Li in a deep voice.

His personal guards pressed forward here; he didn't believe these surrendered troops could still run fast!

"Here!"

Chen Li received the command, raised his arms and shouted, "Press forward!"

The great army swiftly advanced forward, its mighty spirit surging again.

Those surrendered troops instantly felt the pressure; the rear urgently urged the front, like falling dominoes passing the push one by one, and the whole marching column's speed instantly increased.

Just then, Gu Wenjie, who had already run some distance away, and his rear troops suddenly erupted in a violent disturbance.

Chen Li looked ahead, delighted, and said: "Commandant, it's our archers."

"They finally managed to get a sip of hot soup; I thought this lot had gotten lost in the mountains." Chen Wuji muttered, then raised his arms and shouted, "Brothers, our reinforcements have arrived—cut their mothers!"

"Cut their mothers!"

The soldiers copied Chen Wuji's greeting, swung open their strides, and rushed forward.

The surrendered troops running at the very front were swept up by this momentum, not even knowing what they were doing, and hastily quickened their pace.

Just run.

As surrendered troops, their hearts were in turmoil right now.

But the weapons in their hands still struck those former comrades-in-arms.

What's more remarkable is that this wasn't far at all—just about half an hour.

The slaughter resumed.

This time it turned into a complete one-sided massacre by Chen Wuji.

Gu Wenjie's remaining forces had completely lost their will to fight.

What's strange is that the surrendered troops, who had just been helplessly cut down by Chen Wuji's Personal Guard Battalion and forced to surrender, now suddenly burst forth with tremendous fighting strength, as if each had become a different person.

One person changing isn't strange, but when hundreds or even thousands become like that, perhaps there's some explanation.

"Little whore, surrender—you have nowhere left to go!"

Chen Wuji gulped down some water, moistened his dry throat, and again raised his voice to give Gu Wenjie psychological counseling.

"Let me tell you plainly: my archers are above you, and ambush troops lie ahead—where do you think you can go?" Chen Wuji shouted loudly, "Surrender, and I'll spare your life; if you're stubborn, I guarantee I can chop you up today and feed you to the mountain's wolves, tigers, and leopards."

"You son of a bitch, shut up!" Gu Wenjie's angry, hoarse voice came from ahead.

Chen Wuji laughed, "Don't think I don't know—you've been acting mysterious, deliberately delaying your troops by a day, as if I didn't notice? I even know when you take a shit; with just this little trick of yours, you still want to fool me? Your old man's been waiting for you in the mountains long ago!"

I've been feeding mosquitoes for days; if I don't prepare a big meal for you, wouldn't all that feeding these past few days have been for nothing?

You can't escape today with wings; I ask you, will you surrender or not?

Gu Wenjie hoarsely shouted: "Damn your mother, you bastard, don't even think of fooling me!"

It sounds like he's about to break down.

"Fool? You stupid monkey, ignorant little whore, you have no eyesight at all." Chen Wuji shouted regretfully.

Suit yourself; if you won't surrender, then let's keep fighting. I have thousands of Bīngmǎ behind me, not a single blade drawn—do you think I'd be afraid of you? Kill them!

Kill!!!

The troops were very cooperative, instantly shouting in unison a deafening battle cry.

The killing shouts reverberated, echoing through the whole valley, startling the birds and beasts in the mountains so they couldn't stay still, fluttering away in panic.