Zhang Xun allowed his body to stumble and collide in the turbulent water, the breath in his chest was exhausted, and his consciousness gradually became blurred.

Almost dying, it seemed that something hit Zhang Xun's chest, he subconsciously grabbed it, and found that it was actually a fish. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration occurred in Zhang Xun's mind, and the structure of the entire underground palace was clearly presented in his mind.

Lake? Lake!

Zhang Xun recalled that when he searched for King Chen on the ground before, he had clearly observed the layout of the entire palace. Behind that high platform, just due north, is a lake! And he entered the underground palace from the Jingmen, from the Taiji direction, the Jingmen is located in the south, then this underground palace must be located in the north of the high platform, which means that the entire underground palace is very likely to be directly below the lake, and this pouring water should be the lake above!

It must be the lake! Otherwise, how could there be fish?

If the dungeon is located below the lake, you can swim to the lake by passing through the gap at the top of the dungeon!

Thinking of this, Zhang Xun's desire to survive was burning again. He kicked on the ground and slammed upward, but fortunately there was still a gap between the water and the palace roof, Zhang Xun desperately craned his neck, and breathed the only remaining air.

As the water level gets higher and higher, the speed of the whirlpool also decreases, and the water in the dungeon tends to stabilize. And when the stagnant water completely fills the underground palace, it is Zhang Xun's chance to escape.

The time is almost up, and the lake is about to connect with the entire underground palace. Zhang Xun finally took a deep breath and held his breath and plunged into the water. Although there was no light, he could feel the direction of the undercurrent, Zhang Xun went upstream, and finally groped for the edge of the gap in the top of the palace, he jumped hard, desperate to swim upstream.

The breath was about to run out, and the sound of the fluttering heartbeat shook the eardrums, and at this moment, the eyes that had been accustomed to the darkness actually caught a glimmer of light, which was the light of hope! The light is getting more and more dazzling, and the hope is getting bigger.

Finally, Zhang Xun surfaced! He gasped for the air he had not seen for a long time, and looked around, the high platforms and houses were reflected in the lake, and sure enough, this was the lake!

After a short rest, Zhang Xun swam to the shore and lay limp on the soil. A gust of cold wind blew, Zhang Xun, who was drenched, couldn't help but shiver, looking at the sun that had risen high, Zhang Xun felt a lot of emotion in his heart, he pulled a piece of clothing from a dead Wu soldier and wrapped it around himself. The cold wind blew, mixed with the smell of blood on his clothes, which made Zhang Xun feel even more piercing cold, this feeling was like the touch of death, leaving deep scratches on the skin, soaking the cold of death into the bone marrow, as if instantly freezing the soul of a person with frost.

After the underwater struggle, Zhang Xun seems to have become particularly afraid of death, and he doubts that he will be like today in the future, desperate for victory and desperate.

At this time, the noisy crying pulled him out of his frightened thoughts, Zhang Xun looked around, only to see the palace maid crying loudly and the eunuch fleeing in all directions, the panicked Wu soldiers smashed everywhere, desperately searching for the whereabouts of King Chen. However, only Zhang Xun knew that such efforts were useless, and King Chen was definitely not in Wanqiu City.

There are more and more chasing soldiers outside the city, Zhang Xun knows that he and his brothers have no way to survive, but he has just escaped death, how can he give up easily, even if there is only a 1 in 10,000 chance, he must fight to the death.

A centurion saw the wet Zhang Xun and hurriedly ran over and asked, "General!" Why are you here?! Why are you soaking wet?! ”

Zhang Xun's breath was not calm, and he said with a shudder: "Let the brothers gather at the gate of the palace, and we will prepare to break through." ”

"Not looking for King Chen?" The centurion was puzzled.

"Don't look for it, King Chen has already run away.

"Ran away? Impossible! We surrounded the whole palace, how could he run away?! ”

Zhang Xun waved his hand and said weakly: "I found a secret passage and met King Chen there, but unfortunately I couldn't catch him." Go, gather the brethren. ”

"So, then are we still guarding the palace?"

"If you don't defend it, you will also mobilize the brothers at the north gate and prepare to break through."

"General! Outside the palace is full of Chen Guoren, if you go out, you will be sent to death! ”

"To go out is to die, to stay here and wait for death, if we go all out to break through, maybe there is still a chance of life. Go, gather the brethren, and we're going to fight to the death!" ”

"Whoa!"

Soon, several centurions gathered their troops in front of the high platform and reported to Zhang Xun: "General! The brethren were all gathered together, and there were less than three hundred of them. ”

"Good! Get out of the way of the palace gates, brethren! Prepare to rush out with me! ”

As a result, Wu Bing, who was originally guarding the palace gate, retreated a few steps, only to see that the palace gate was hit again and again, and the dust and sawdust shook off, which made people tremble. Finally, a muffled sound came, and the entire palace gate collapsed, and the soldiers of Chen Guo stepped through the palace gate and swarmed in like a tide.

"Brethren! Come on! ”

Zhang Xun picked up a short sword from the ground and rushed up first, followed by the Wu soldiers, and the soldiers on both sides fought in a scuffle.

In the chaos, Zhang Xun slashed and killed countless people, but every time he killed someone, more Chen people poured into the palace, seeing that there were more and more Chen people, and the only remaining Wu soldiers died one after another.

One centurion shouted: "General! We can't rush out! What to do!? ”

Zhang Xun was so anxious that in the face of the endless Chen Bing, he had no choice but to shout: "Withdraw!" Retreat to the high platform! Fast! ”

The Wu soldiers fought and retreated, and finally retreated to the high platform, and when the gate was locked, there were less than 100 of the original 400-odd people left.

The attack of the Chen Guoren stopped, they surrounded the high platform heavily, and shouted inside: "Listen to the people of Wu, you have been surrounded, surrender quickly, there is still a way to survive if you surrender, and there is only a dead way to resist!" ”

Zhang Xun did not respond, he ordered people to guard the gate of the high platform and prepare for the last resistance. All the Wu soldiers were waiting for the battle, everyone was staring at the gate, and the spirit was highly tense, so the stalemate lasted for a while, but the Chen Guoren did not attack for a long time, and it seems that the Chen Guoren did not want to suffer more losses.

At this time, there was another noisy noise outside, and the Wu soldiers thought that Chen Guoren was going to attack and moved forward, but it didn't take long for the noisy sound to disappear and the air became extraordinarily quiet. The crowd didn't know why, and they didn't know what to do, and a centurion stepped forward and asked, "General, what should we do?" ”

Zhang Xun pointed to the throne above the steps and said to everyone: "Guard the gate first, maybe we still have the last chance of life, there is a secret passage behind the throne." ”

The soldiers hurried to the throne, and sure enough, they found a secret door behind them, and everyone was pleasantly surprised, as if they had seen hope again.

"That's where I found King Chen, but it's a pity that he ran away, and this secret passage can lead to the lake behind, to the dormitory, and even to escape from the city."

The centurion asked, "Could it be that when I saw the general just now, the general was soaking wet because he had just swam out of that lake?" ”

Zhang Xun nodded.

"General! Let's get inside. ”

"Yes! Let's get out of here! ”

The soldiers' faces were full of excitement, and they kept talking.

"Hold the gate first, and then I'll go down and see how it goes." Zhang Xun took off his coat and jumped into the secret passage again, only to hear the sound of treading water below. However, in the blink of an eye, Zhang Xun climbed up again, shaking his head helplessly, "No, the secret passage is completely flooded, and there is already a dead end below." ”

The centurion hurriedly said: "General! I used to be a fisherman, and I have good water nature, so let me try it! If you find the way, you can take everyone out! ”

"This secret passage is long and cramped, connected to an underground palace, the underground palace has eight gates, and you must pass through the life gate to escape from Wanqiu City. There's no light down there, and even if I've been there once, it's hard to find the exit again, and you don't know what's going on down there. ”

"General! Staying here is a dead end! Just let me try it! The centurion pleaded.

"That's good. Go ahead, there are dozens of steps in the dark passage below, and there is a door at the end, after passing through the gate, you can find an open gate in the front right, which is the birth gate. But remember, don't force yourself, and if you really can't find your way, come back. ”

"Whoa!" The centurion said, took off his clothes and jumped into the secret passage.

Everyone waited anxiously, hoping for hope.

After a while, the centurion crawled out from behind the throne, and he gasped and shook his head and said to the soldiers: "No, I tried, but I couldn't swim to the end in one breath, and I couldn't see anything, and I almost drowned in it." ”

When the soldiers heard this, they were all despondent, and their last hope was dashed.

"General! What are we going to do? ”

Everyone looked at Zhang Xun with desperate faces, waiting for him to make his final choice.

Zhang Xun slowly stood up and stared intently at the gate of the high platform. There is no way back behind him, but there are countless butcher knives outside the door, how to choose? Like a moth to a fire, draw out the sword for the last struggle; is still stealing life, exchanging dignity and loyalty for a glimmer of survival. This choice is too difficult, but he has to make a choice and has to give a final answer, because it is his responsibility.

At this time, the centurion shouted: "General! We fight! Even if you die, you have to pull Chen Guoren's back! ”

"That's right! Fight! Fight with them! ”

"Lao Tzu has already killed three! It's been a long time coming! ”

"Fight! Brethren! Let's fight! ”

The crowd was filled with righteous indignation and was ready to die generously.

Zhang Huanhuan looked at everyone, looking at those resolute eyes, he knew that these soldiers had long put life and death aside, but what was the point of dying like this? Could it be that Chen Guoren and Wu Guoren really have such a great hatred? If it weren't for the invasion of the State of Wu, how could so many innocent people have died?

Zhang Xun knew that behind the resolute gaze of these brothers, there was actually hidden fear, even if he was not afraid of death, how could he not worry about his family behind him? Maybe there are still children at home waiting to be fed, or maybe there are still old women crying and missing on the couch.

What a beautiful thing it is to be alive.

Suddenly, there was a crisp bang in the empty palace, and the short sword in Zhang Xun's hand fell to the ground, and the trembling sword body was emitting a slight buzz.

Zhang Xun slowly walked down the steps and said with relief: "Surrender, we have done our best, don't die anymore." ”

When Zhang Xun finished saying this, the soldiers' hands that were originally clenching their swords relaxed. At this moment, they are no longer warriors fighting on the battlefield, nor are they chess pieces being played with the royal power, let alone the number of casualties in the battle report, but an individual, a father, a husband, and a son.

No one spoke, there was no sound in the huge palace, and everyone just looked at Zhang Xun silently.

He walked towards the gate step by step, and everyone followed, some were expressionless, some were in tears, some gritted their teeth and resentful, some were smiling, and all these joys, sorrows and sorrows were on Zhang Xun's body.

He's struggling.

Finally, Zhang Xun came to the gate, removed the latch, and pushed the door forward with force.

A ray of light shone on Zhang Xun's face through the gap, which was particularly bright.