Retreat and the Dream of Becoming a Great General King

Terrence Valen of Lyndaria promised his soldiers that, if they won, they could return home—using this to stir up his commanders’ fighting spirit. But Eastlyn’s Adrian Dongling and Southlyn’s Prince Damien used similar tactics.

Compared to Terrence, Adrian and Damien were more practical. Their promise was that victory would bring promotions and titles, and at the very least, no shortage of gold and silver.

With two favored princes making such promises, no soldier doubted their word. Both sides’ morale soared, and in a clash like this, sheer numbers would overwhelm the few.

In the first battle, Lyndaria suffered a crushing defeat. Adrian and Damien pressed their attack, while Terrence’s troops, desperate, refused to retreat.

After two days of fighting, over two hundred thousand died—one hundred fifty thousand of them Prince Terrence Valen’s Lyndarian soldiers.

Recalling these two days of battle, Prince Terrence Valen’s whole body radiated defeat.

“General Warren Bailey, what do we do now?” With the situation desperate, Prince Terrence Valen had to make a decision.

“Your Highness, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood. As long as you live, there is hope to rise again. General Warren Bailey swears to follow you to the death.” General Warren Bailey knelt at Prince Terrence Valen’s feet, silently pleading.

Should they fight to the death, or retreat and plan for another day?

Prince Terrence Valen stared blankly ahead, silent.

Time slipped by. Without Prince Terrence Valen’s orders, General Warren Bailey remained kneeling, unmoving.

Finally, Prince Terrence Valen spoke: “General Warren Bailey, have Jia Wei lead fifty thousand men to attack Eastlyn’s lines at midnight. Zhao Mei takes one hundred thousand to strike Southlyn’s front.”

Terrence assigned tasks to his other generals, but left out his confidant Warren. This made his intentions clear.

General Warren Bailey accepted the order and left.

At midnight, Dorian Owen (Doudou) woke up. Still weak, but able to walk. At the same moment, Terrence’s two generals launched their attacks.

Eastlyn and Southlyn were prepared. They counterattacked immediately, using siege engines against Prince Terrence Valen’s Lyndarian troops. The battle raged until dawn; his men suffered heavy casualties. When the survivors regrouped, they realized—

“Where is His Highness?”

“His Highness is missing.”

“This is bad—something’s happened to His Highness!”

Without Prince Terrence Valen in command, Lyndaria’s troops instantly fell into chaos, frantically searching for their prince’s whereabouts.

Someone blurted out, “I saw His Highness and General Warren running toward the forest.” The searchers suddenly stopped.

“Nonsense! His Highness would never abandon us.”

“Impossible. His Highness wouldn’t leave us behind.”

At first, no one dared believe it—or perhaps they just couldn’t accept being abandoned. Faces flushed, necks bulging, they shouted in protest.

Only when the searchers found tracks did everyone fall into despair.

“His Highness abandoned us.”

“Ha! His Highness ran off alone and left us here to die.”

“He’s gone—what’s the point of fighting? Surrender, just surrender.”

“What kind of prince is that? He’s just a ruined crown prince. From now on, don’t call him ‘His Highness.’ We bled for him, and he ditched us. I curse him to die badly.”

“No! I’d rather die than surrender.”

“If we surrender, maybe we’ll live. My son is waiting for me at home.”

“I’m my parents’ only child—I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!”

...

Morale shattered, the army’s will collapsed. Lyndaria’s soldiers lost all desire to fight—grown men who’d battled for years now wept like children, faces buried in their hands.

Who knows, if Terrence saw this scene, would he regret his decision…

But Terrence would never see it. He and General Warren took four close retainers and slipped into the Miasma Forest overnight. In their haste and the darkness, they took a wrong turn.

In the Miasma Forest, a wrong turn isn’t easily fixed. As Doudou described, it’s pitch-dark and dangerous—everywhere looks the same, and you can’t tell east from west.

Of course, Doudou is hopeless with directions and exaggerates a bit. Ninth Royal Uncle knows this place well and would never stumble into danger.

General Warren knows the forest too, and can avoid most dangers. But finding their old campsite will still take effort.

Once Doudou was fully awake, Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena Feng continued deeper in. Doudou complained they were abusing a patient, but obediently followed—especially after nearly being ambushed by a swarm of caterpillars that night.

In the Miasma Forest, there were only a few spots where people could camp, and even fewer that could hold three hundred thousand troops. Ninth Royal Uncle checked each one, and soon they found the area where Terrence’s army had stayed.

“This is the place.” Seeing the traces on the ground, Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena Feng needed no further confirmation.

The three picked a hidden but nearby spot to wait, letting Doudou rest and recover.

Life in the Miasma Forest was dull. At first, Doudou could endure it, but after three days, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Whad’s goin’ on? So many days gone by and still no one’s here—are they never coming?” Doudou’s face was bruised, two teeth knocked out, so his words came out muffled and slurred.

“Soon. Terrence has held out this long—it’s already impressive.” Serena Feng knew Terrence’s nature, but trusted Ninth Royal Uncle’s judgment even more.

Ninth Royal Uncle said Terrence would be forced to retreat, so he would.

“Fibe days now.” Doudou drooped like a big dog.

“No rush. He’ll be here soon.” Ninth Royal Uncle gazed ahead, expression unreadable.

Terrence was too self-preserving to die easily. Lasting this long just proved Ninth Royal Uncle had underestimated him.

Ninth Royal Uncle was so confident because he had trusted agents in both Eastlyn and Southlyn’s armies, and their ranks weren’t low.

Adrian Dongling’s favored deputy was one of his men, and he’d planted people in Southlyn’s forces years ago. Forcing Terrence back into the Miasma Forest was easy.

It was as if fate favored Ninth Royal Uncle. No sooner had he spoken than there was movement ahead. Though it was too far to see clearly, soon the three spotted several figures approaching the camp.

“Well, I’ll be—he really showed up.” Doudou’s eyes went wide, his look toward Ninth Royal Uncle growing more admiring. Before the figures got close, Doudou struggled to speak clearly, flattering: “Ninth Royal Uncle, can you tell me how long I’ll live, how many wives I’ll marry, and if I’ll ever be a Great General King?”

“You want to be a Great General King?” Ninth Royal Uncle wasn’t fazed by the earlier questions, but this last one surprised him.

A killer wanting to be a Great General King—especially one who didn’t even know what it meant. Truly…

Doudou nodded desperately, eyes full of hope, wishing for Ninth Royal Uncle to say yes.

Ninth Royal Uncle’s word was like iron—if he said it, it must be true!