"What? Weren't the Qin troops the ones who broke out yesterday?"
"That's right! Many of our soldiers died at their hands yesterday. How could they be the King's royal carriage? How could the King's royal carriage attack us?"
"I don't believe it either. How could that be the King's royal carriage? Why would the King's men kill us? Why would the King's men leave the city?"
These soldiers couldn't understand at first why the King of Chu's men were attacking them.
They understood even less why the King of Chu had left the city.
However, there were not a few smart people among the soldiers.
Especially since many officers and soldiers in the army did not know this news. Therefore, when this news spread, they immediately understood why they had encountered the army yesterday.
"The King, the King, they wouldn't abandon us and flee, would they?"
"It shouldn't be, it shouldn't be. This is the capital of Chu. Everything the King has is here. How could the King abandon everything here?"
"General, you're lying to us, aren't you? You're joking with us, aren't you? All of this is fake, isn't it?"
These soldiers were more willing to believe that what they heard was false news.
But their general's expression told them that this was not false news, and that it was all true.
Their King had truly abandoned them to save himself.
For these soldiers, this was an absolutely despairing piece of news.
They wished their general would tell them that it was all fake.
However, their general was even more desperate than they were.
If they hadn't adjusted themselves throughout the night, they might not have been able to say such things in front of these soldiers.
Seeing those who still wanted to verify the news, the generals spoke frankly:
"Go back, all of you go back! Take your families and flee for your lives!"
After that, he left without paying attention to anyone else's reaction.
Others might not want to flee, but he had to.
He was a general of Chu, and also a noble of Chu. Given the Qin's killing style, even if they could survive, they would lose everything.
Under such circumstances, he naturally had to prepare for his own retreat.
And as these generals left, the entire Chu capital descended into chaos.
"It's over, it's over, the King has fled, and our Chu is gone!"
"What's the point of defending the city? What's the meaning of defending the city? The King is gone, who are we going to defend the city for?"
"Let's flee, everyone flee, our Chu is gone, everyone flee for their lives!"
If the King of Chu were still here, there would surely be those in Chu who were loyal, and they would surely be willing to fight to the death for the King of Chu.
They had always held a firm faith in their hearts for the King of Chu.
They believed that as long as the King of Chu was still there, their Chu would still be there.
But now, the situation was different. The King of Chu was no longer here, and no matter how firm their faith was, they had no object of faith.
When they learned that the King of Chu had fled, it was as if their faith had collapsed, and no one was willing to defend the city anymore.
The entire capital of Chu was in complete chaos.
At first, only the military district was in chaos, then the officials of Chu, and then the common people of Chu.
The King of Chu's secret departure was a considerable blow to the entire Chu.
Especially for the officials of Chu, it was completely caught off guard.
Then, they ran faster than anyone else.
"No, we can't stay here any longer. If we stay here, Lin Tian's army will definitely not let us go. They will definitely kill us!"
"Flee, we must flee this place, staying here is waiting for death!"
"Let's go by water, we'll go by water too, we'll go by water to escape from here!"
Everyone had a general idea of the King of Chu's escape route.
Especially when it came from the army that the King of Chu had left by boat, it made everyone even more aware of which route he had taken.
Knowing this, many officials in Chu followed suit.
Many of them decided to leave the capital of Chu by water and flee to other places, preparing to continue their comfortable lives.
The generals in the army did the same.
Only the common people in the city behaved differently.
They remained in the city and did not flee.
This was not because they were not afraid, but because they had no money and no means to escape.
Coupled with the fact that Lin Tian had been very good to the common people before, they felt that staying in the city might not be a bad thing.
With this idea in mind, the common people in the city lived as if nothing had happened.
Of course, they also had a glimmer of hope in their hearts.
They hoped for Lin Tian's army to arrive soon and end their anxious lives.
A day later, as they expected, Lin Tian's army finally appeared.
However, Lin Tian, who appeared, was also a little confused.
He found that the capital of Chu had directly opened its city gates, and there were no soldiers at all.
There were even fewer soldiers on the roads.
Seeing such a scene, Lin Tian's first reaction was that there was an ambush here.
"What are they doing? Are they playing the Empty Fort Strategy?"
"But even if he was playing the Empty Fort Strategy, he couldn't have scared my army away, could he?"
"Something must have happened in this Chu city!!"
Lin Tian felt that something was different about Chu.
But he didn't know what had happened.
So, he could only ask Wang Wu to go and check.
"Wang Wu!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"Lead ten thousand troops into the city to take a look!"
"Yes!"
Hearing Lin Tian's command, Wang Wu led ten thousand troops into the city without hesitation.
After the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, he came out with a small group of people.
"Reporting to the Great General, the King of Chu has fled, the nobles of Chu have also fled, and the soldiers of Chu have also fled. This is an empty city!"
"Fled? The King of Chu fled so quickly?"
Lin Tian was not unfamiliar with kings who wanted to flee. The King of Yan before had also wanted to flee.
But he was not as quick to flee as the King of Chu.
Not only did he flee himself, but the nobles in the city also fled, and even the soldiers fled.
It could be imagined how early they had fled.
"Did you find out where they fled to?"
"According to the news we gathered, they fled by water. Not only the King of Chu, but also the nobles of Chu, they all went by water!"
"Went by water? Since they went by water, let's wait here for a while!"
If they had gone to other places, Lin Tian might not have been able to find the King of Chu's trace for a while. But going by water was different.
Several days ago, Lin Tian had already set up defenses on the waterways, blocking the water areas.
...