Chapter 464: No Why

In war, courage is key.

With the first drum, the spirit is high; with the second, it wanes; with the third, it is exhausted.

When the Japanese pirates rushed onto the cliff, only to see Qi Jiguang, who should have been dead, bringing the Qi Family Army and the Dengzhou Garrison to kill them, they still had the courage to fight.

When the Qi Family Army was piercing and charging everywhere in the battle formation, they at least knew there were reinforcements climbing the cliff, outstanding generals, and Tanaka Shinbei ready to strike at any time, so they could still maintain their fighting spirit.

But when the round moon blade-light, which Tanaka Shinbei had drawn like a miracle, was easily intercepted and his head was smashed through with a single punch—the rout finally began to take shape.

The young Japanese stood in place, watching Li Miao disgustedly scrape the head hanging on his arm and shake off the yellow-white matter stained on his clothes, his mind blank.

It shouldn't be like this, it couldn't be like this.

The Great Shu's military preparations were lax.

The Central Plains *Jianghu* was exhausted.

Thousands of elites gathered by three *Daimyo*, planned for months, had figured out the Dengzhou Garrison thoroughly, and even the Dengzhou Garrison Commander had been bought off. For the sake of insurance, they had even invited villains like Tanaka Shinbei to suppress the formation. They had even figured out the whereabouts and strength of the Heaven-Man experts of the surrounding major sects.

Planning, strength, *Wu Gong*, preparation.

Every single thing was planned for, every single thing should have been foolproof.

But, why?

Why did it become like this?

His vision lost focus, and the sounds around him suddenly pulled away.

He suddenly remembered some things.

Two months ago, he had sent people to wipe out Qi Jiguang's family, trying to lure Qi Jiguang away or use it to mess up his mind; this was originally a casual move.

But this casual move involved many things.

The Huang estate in Fukang County, a 【Sword Saint】 disappeared inexplicably; the Wild Goose Hall, a sect they had finally discovered that might hold the Gu art inheritance, was wiped out inexplicably before he arrived, and even Fujiwara-kun was buried there.

After he confirmed that these things were related to the soldier who escaped from Qi Jiguang's hometown, he sensed something was wrong, so he deliberately transferred more samurai and Tanaka Shinbei from the East, trying to erase the risk completely.

Now that he thought about it, all these things were actually centered on one person—he had always been outside the line of sight, yet he had dominated the occurrence of all this.

Including today.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Jump down! Jump down!"

The sounds suddenly pulled closer and became clear.

The young Japanese's vision refocused.

But he didn't move.

Because everything was already over.

The personal guards guarding him were using their scabbards to push away the Japanese pirates squeezing toward this side, but with little effect.

Several personal guards drew their blades and slaughtered several deserters, trying to stop the rout, but the next moment, a blade stabbed from nowhere entered their bodies.

The Qi Family Army had already killed through the formation horizontally and was turning to rush toward his side. The Dengzhou Garrison soldiers poured in from the gap killed by the Qi Family Army, using shields to squeeze the separated Japanese pirates in the middle, stabbing blades through the gaps in the shields.

More Japanese pirates broke away from the battle line intersecting with the Dengzhou Garrison and turned to flee toward the cliff.

However, as the human tide rolled, it suddenly split from the middle.

In the center of the battlefield, a tall figure was walking toward him slowly, holding Tanaka Shinbei's unrecognizable corpse in his hand.

He was casual in demeanor, his steps lazy.

Yet like a reef, he split the human tide in two.

The young Japanese opened his mouth.

He still wanted to salvage something.

Perhaps ask for peace?

Perhaps use his reputation to stop the momentum of the rout and try to kill his way back?

Or perhaps turn and flee to preserve a trace of life for himself?

His thoughts fluctuated, only to be denied one by one.

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

It was meaningless; not to mention that the military strength of both sides was similar, as long as the man walking toward him was still on the battlefield, his life would always be in his hands, and his side's morale could not be restored.

"You all go."