"Why would you send someone to rescue us?" Li Mu asked directly.
Zhao Feng was calm and composed. He picked up the wine pot and poured a cup of wine for Li Mu and himself.
"The best wine from the Immortals' Liquor House. Won't you two generals have a sip?" Zhao Feng lifted his cup and took a drink.
Seeing Zhao Feng's unhurried demeanor, Li Mu looked somewhat helpless, but he did not refuse. He lifted his cup and took a sip.
This sip indeed made Li Mu's eyes light up.
"This is truly fine wine."
"I have been stationed at the Northern Frontier for years, and I drink strong spirits every Winter Solstice. I have tried all sorts of fine wines in the world, but today's liquor is exceptionally potent," Li Mu said with surprise.
Hearing his general say this, Sima Shang, who had remained still, immediately picked up his cup and took a drink. His eyes also lit up. "Good wine."
Seeing their expressions, Zhao Feng smiled faintly and set down his cup. "Do you know who wanted to kill you?"
"Didn't you already know, General? Why ask again?" Li Mu's eyes were tinged with sorrow.
As a War General whose heart was filled with loyalty, serving Zhao wholeheartedly, only to be targeted for elimination by the King of Zhao, Li Mu naturally felt deeply resentful.
"You both served Zhao with all your hearts, yet you were ultimately harmed by the King of Zhao. This affair must have chilled you to the bone. Moreover, your abilities to lead troops are exceptional, which is why I saved you. I could not bear to see the world lose two such great generals. To be killed by your own sovereign is far too great a pity," Zhao Feng said with a faint smile.
Li Mu immediately grasped the key point and stared at Zhao Feng. "Are you trying to persuade us to serve Qin?"
"Then, General, dispel that notion. Even though you saved us and Zhao has failed us, serving Qin would betray our loyalty and righteousness."
Zhao Feng was not the least bit hurried by this. "Why would you think I am recruiting you for Qin?"
"If not for Qin, don't tell me it's for yourself?" Sima Shang couldn't help but interject.
But when they saw Zhao Feng's knowing smile and silent demeanor, both Li Mu and Sima Shang were shocked.
"What if I said that I do, in fact, wish for you two to serve me? Would you consider it?"
"The world is vast, not limited to the Land of the Divine Continent. It is wide, encompassing more than just the Huaxia people."
"In such a grand world and splendid era, do you not wish to see it with your own eyes?" Zhao Feng said with a gentle smile.
Li Mu looked at Zhao Feng calmly, then his gaze swept over the Yanting stronghold. With a meaningful tone, he said, "Building such a force in secret, cultivating Dead Soldiers... this was certainly not done at the request of the King of Qin."
"Raising Dead Soldiers and cultivating a personal force is a great taboo for a subject of the crown."
"Not only have you done it, but you've done it on such a grand scale."
"If the King of Qin finds out, no matter your potential, he will eliminate you."
"Moreover, I am very curious."
"Right now, your reputation in Qin is at its peak. You are known as the Qin General with the most potential."
"You are already a Main General, and perhaps within a decade, you could become a Shangjiangjun of Qin. Why are you secretly building this force?" Li Mu asked, perplexed.
He really couldn't understand why Zhao Feng would take such a risk to create such a force. After all, Zhao Feng was not a civil servant, but a military official. Furthermore, you are favored by the king and protected by trusted aides. His trusted aides are equivalent to a private army loyal to him, so there was no need to create another.
"As a Senior General, didn't you, General Li, with command over 200,000 Frontier Army soldiers, still end up ambushed?"
"I created this force for one reason: self-preservation. I want to avoid the same fate that befell you two," Zhao Feng said with a faint smile.
Hearing this, Li Mu's eyes widened, but in the end, he was speechless.
Indeed. If Zhao Feng hadn't sent his people to intervene, Li Mu's fate would have been to be left as a corpse in the wilderness, devoured by wild beasts. After all, his death was meant to be kept secret.
"How is the state of Zhao now?" Li Mu asked with concern.
"I left the battlefield to come here. What do you think has happened to Zhao?" Zhao Feng replied, looking at Li Mu calmly.
He must have guessed the outcome the moment he saw me. It's just that he still finds it hard to believe.
"Alas..."
A thousand words and endless sorrow condensed into that single, heavy sigh. Li Mu's face was drained of all spirit.
"The unification of the world is the irresistible trend of the times. Just like the partitioning of Jin by the three families, wasn't that also a grand trend set by them?" Zhao Feng said, picking up his cup and drinking again.
"Yes... an irresistible trend," Li Mu sighed again. "And that trend lies with Qin. Heaven favors Qin, not Zhao. Qin has had wise rulers for generations, but as for our Zhao... alas..."
Generations of wise rulers. Those words placed immense pressure on every other state in Shenzhou.
Which nation in the world could achieve this?
Only Qin!
However, Li Mu was unaware of history. He didn't know that after generations of wise rulers and the final unification, Qin's National Fortune would be completely exhausted, giving rise to Qin Er Shi, Hu Hai. This would make the unified Qin Dynasty the shortest-lived great dynasty in history.
Li Mu picked up his cup for a drink, then looked steadily at Zhao Feng and said, "If we do not serve you, does that mean we cannot leave here alive?"
"General Li is a wise man," Zhao Feng said with a nonchalant smile, the implication perfectly clear. "Everyone under heaven knows that Li Mu is dead."
"Yes, everyone under heaven knows Li Mu is already dead," Li Mu laughed, but then his gaze shifted, locking onto Zhao Feng. "I am very curious."
"Sima Shang and I are merely Martial Artists, not like your Dark Guards who are skilled in stealth and assassination. Our only expertise is leading troops into battle. What use could you possibly have for us?"