8 Victory or Defeat?

Chu Wu, upon seeing Jun Wu Xiao intending to flee, immediately shouted:

"Archers, hold your fire. All cavalry, switch to bows and arrows and quickly pursue. The enemy intends to escape."

Chu Wu also promptly mounted his horse to follow the cavalry to take command.

At this moment, Jun Wu Xiao was fleeing with all his might, he believed that only by escaping into the forest could he possibly elude his pursuers.

"That damned general. Why are you chasing me so persistently? Damn it, if I recover, the first person I'll strike is you." Jun Wu Xiao screamed.

It wasn't that he didn't want to immediately capture Chu Wu, it was that he couldn't. The distance between Chu Wu and him was too great, and his injuries significantly reduced his speed. If he had attempted to capture Chu Wu at the start of the battle, he likely would have succeeded.

After a while, Jun Wu Xiao entered the forest, where the terrain was more rugged, slowing down the cavalry.

But when Jun Wu Xiao runs, he will definitely leave traces. It wasn't that he was unaware of this, he simply didn't have time to erase the traces, so the cavalry could rely on those traces to hunt him down.

After a long run deep into the forest, Jun Wu Xiao felt extremely unlucky, facing a waterfall about a hundred and fifty meters high. Just as he was considering finding another way around, he realized the cavalry had encircled him.

"That damned general, why do you enjoy surrounding me so much?" Jun Wu Xiao inwardly screamed.

Even though he was the one who initiated the conflict, it was the enemy who had entered the town first, so it was difficult to say who was responsible for the chaotic mess.

But Jun Wu Xiao noticed the cavalry kept a considerable distance from him. After pondering for a moment and seeing the cavalry switch to bows and arrows, he finally understood.

"Damn it, great. You've switched to using bows and arrows because you can't beat me in close combat." Jun Wu Xiao thought.

Would he surrender? The answer was no. Though he was reluctant, he decided to jump down the waterfall to escape.

At this moment, Chu Wu had reached the front of the cavalry. Seeing Jun Wu Xiao jump down the waterfall, he shouted:

"Quick, shoot arrows down below the waterfall."

All the cavalry, upon hearing this, drew their bows and shot arrows towards the base of the waterfall. Jun Wu Xiao, in free fall and distracted by the noise of the water, was unaware of this.

Suddenly, his instincts warned him of impending danger. Turning around, he discovered an arrow about to pierce his chest. Quickly, he shielded his chest with his arm, and the arrow embedded itself there instead.

He didn't use his stick to block because he didn't have time. The arrow was too close.

"Damn you all, even after I've jumped, you still won't let me go." Jun Wu Xiao gritted his teeth.

Then, he swung his stick repeatedly to deflect the incoming arrows. After a few seconds, he finally fell into the water.

Chu Wu above did not rest. He commanded:

"Prepare the ropes, we're descending."

Immediately, dozens of sturdy ropes were prepared, and dozens of people, including Chu Wu, began to descend the waterfall.

Jun Wu Xiao, holding his breath underwater, had discarded his wooden stick, he wanted to make those above think he had drowned.

However, he miscalculated, his actions merely bought time for Chu Wu to catch up.

Later, he surfaced to breathe and swam towards a rock niche inside the waterfall. But as he arrived, he saw dozens of people waiting for him.

Seeing him about to reach the shore, Chu Wu smiled and said:

"Surrender. You've lost."

Jun Wu Xiao could comfortably communicate with the enemy from another country because, although the two countries were not the same, they shared linguistic and cultural roots.

Shocked but only for a moment, Jun Wu Xiao quickly shifted to a smile. Using his remaining strength, he swiftly approached Chu Wu and then grabbed him by the neck.

"Hah, say that again. Who's the one who should surrender?" Jun Wu Xiao smirked.

The other soldiers didn't dare to act rashly, as Jun Wu Xiao was holding their general.

Jun Wu Xiao then relaxed his grip and grabbed Chu Wu by the collar, saying:

"Well? Are you not willing to admit defeat even now?"

Like Jun Wu Xiao, Chu Wu was not ready to easily admit defeat. He retorted:

"Hmph, look around you."

At that moment, more soldiers arrived outside the waterfall. Seeing this, Jun Wu Xiao's expression darkened. In such a situation, he couldn't do anything to Chu Wu, nor could Chu Wu do anything to him.

It wasn't that he couldn't fight off so many people, but he was injured, and with more people continuing to descend, he had no way out.

"If you're capable, then kill me. Let's see how long you can survive after that." Chu Wu said with a smug smile.

Jun Wu Xiao tapped on his head and replied:

"Humph, consider it a draw. I'm tired. I don't want to fight anymore."

Indeed, Jun Wu Xiao was not satisfied. With his abilities, if he had started by capturing Chu Wu from the beginning, victory would have been his. But he didn't, and overestimating himself after knocking out thousands in a single day led to his failure.

Chu Wu, holding his head, noted that Jun Wu Xiao's hit was not light. Yet, he found the draw acceptable and nodded:

"Fine, it's a draw."

Though he agreed, Chu Wu was not content. He had never been defeated in his life, but today he was bested by a novice who didn't know anything about the battlefield.

"But why did your foolish self attack us? I saw you didn't kill anyone, just knocked them out." Chu Wu continued.

He couldn't understand why this fool had knocked out his soldiers. If they were enemies, Jun Wu Xiao should have killed them.

Jun Wu Xiao had no reason to hide and answered:

"Because you provoked me first."

Chu Wu was stunned. Internally, he screamed:

"My ancestors, I don't even know who you are. How could I have provoked you?"

Still, he tried to remain calm and responded:

"Could you clarify? I don't remember ever meeting you."

"Of course, we've never met. If we had, I would have sought you out for a fight already. I was cultivating and ran out of rice, so I went to the market to buy some. Thanks to your army, the people fled, leaving me to eat random herbs for days." Jun Wu Xiao explained, clearly annoyed.

Chu Wu was taken aback, as were the soldiers, showing similar expressions. After a moment, Chu Wu said:

"So the issue is just that you couldn't buy rice?"

"Exactly." Jun Wu Xiao confirmed with a nod.

"So, if I give you rice, the problem will be solved, right?" Chu Wu added.

That seemed reasonable to Jun Wu Xiao so he nodded:

"Yes."

Chu Wu, seeing this as an easy fix, said:

"Fine. Take our food supplies. But don't take everything, or my troops will starve."

Jun Wu Xiao agreed:

"Of course, I don't eat more than ordinary people. In fact, I eat less, so don't worry about your troops starving."

Chu Wu felt more at ease, he was afraid just now that the monster in front of him had as fierce an appetite and rapacity as his fighting skills. If that were the case, then it would be impossible to avoid a death battle.