Chapter 260: Concealing the Wavering (Part )

What does it feel like to control the life and death of others?
Excited? Blood boiling? Or self-intoxication? Perhaps none of these. More likely, I felt a deep sense of sadness at the fragility and cheapness of life.

——At least for Chu Mo, this is how he felt when he pointed the bloody butcher knife in his hand at the young enemy female magic soldier under him.

As the captain of the sixth main force of the Shu Kingdom's central army, Chu Mo is a veteran who has been on the battlefield for five years. For him, killing people is just like three meals a day, and he has long been accustomed to it.

But he is not a bloodthirsty killer. On the contrary, before becoming a soldier in the legion, he was even a teacher in a remote countryside. He was determined to teach and answer questions, and to use his short life to promote culture and spread the vast knowledge left by the predecessors.
But how did it become like this today?
The reason is very simple, because five years ago, Shu Kingdom issued a compulsory conscription order. Except for the capital Jingzhou, all men and women over the age of 16 in other counties must join the legion and serve the country for three years.

No, Chu Mo did not want to criticize too much about this unfair "regional discrimination", but at that time, almost all of Chu Mo's students were indeed forced to join the legion under the coercion of this conscription order!
After arguing with the local governors to no avail, Chu Mo, out of righteous indignation and lofty morals, decided to join the army and followed his students to join the legion. In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.

During these five years, Chu Mo, with his keen insight and outstanding command ability, led his troops to numerous feats on the battlefield. In just five years, he was promoted to the position of centurion, becoming one of the well-known centurions in the central route at the age of 29!
For a soldier, this can be regarded as a model of success and young talent. However -

Chu Mo rarely smiles, or rather, he has never smiled since he joined the legion five years ago.

Although he gained fame and honor, during these five years, which were neither too long nor too short, the students he had determined to protect all became one of the billions of bones buried in this canyon, a total of 53 people. The cruel war took away the lives of his students and also took away his smile.

This is a regret and pain that Chu Mo will never be able to erase in his lifetime.

In this canyon battlefield where soldiers die every second, no one would remember this cold number that could even be removed as a decimal. Only Chu Mo remembered it and engraved it permanently on his sword.
and so.

When Chu Mo stepped on the magic female soldier of Wu State and raised the butcher knife in his hand as if to pierce her face, he hesitated for the first time when he saw the numbers on the handle.

The female enemy soldier under his feet was much younger than he had imagined!
She was about 16 years old, and although her face was stained with a lot of dust from the war, she was still a pretty girl from the general outline. But at this moment, she was very scared, like a panicked elk under the claws of a vicious tiger, she opened her eyes with panic and tears, and looked up at Chu Mo, whose face was covered in blood.

In a trance, the terrified and desperate face of this Wu female soldier overlapped with the appearance of the students of that year. Chu Mo was moved, but also felt a great sadness!

If this girl had not come to the canyon battlefield, and if she had studied hard in her hometown, would she have had a completely different life?
Of course, this hesitation and compassion only lasted for a moment.
"Close your eyes, it will be over soon." Chu Mo said expressionlessly. Then, he cut the throat of the female soldier at his feet with a knife. When the hot blood spurted out, Chu Mo's heart, which had already been broken, was also cut with an indelible scar.

But he still had no expression on his face.

This is a soldier's duty and also the rule of war. You can never refuse to kill. When you have no choice, the best you can do is to free the enemy as quickly as possible and let him suffer less.
"If there is an afterlife, I don't want to be a soldier anymore." Chu Mo muttered like a prayer, retracted his sword, looked back at the battle line behind him that had already entered its final stage, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he turned his head again and looked at the alluring white figure in front of him.

That was the commander-in-chief of their central legion, and also the hero who rose to fame after the last war between Shu and Wei—Luna, the Moonlight Lady.

Thanks to her, their troops were able to wipe out an entire 1,000-man force from the Wu State with minimal casualties.

But Chu Mo always felt that something was wrong with this lady since she left the middle road half a day ago. From the outside, although there was no clue, her eyes, which were usually clear and bright, had actually lost their luster.

Did anything bad happen while she was away?
With this in mind, Chu Mo walked over, bowed respectfully and said, "Lady Luna, are you okay?"

"It's Mr. Chu." Luna turned around, glanced at Chu Mo, and then said in a calm voice: "The enemy's highland tower is ahead, please lead the troops to continue advancing."

It should be said that among the three legions of Shu Kingdom, the hero most loved by the soldiers is the highly prestigious military advisor Zhuge Liang, and the second is the girl in front of them who has just turned 18.

This was not because her prestige could surpass that of the veteran Guan Yu behind the scenes, but because although this girl was a hero, she was extremely gentle by nature, and did not have the arrogant and domineering attitude of other heroes. Moreover, among all the heroes, she was the only one who cared about the soldiers. Whenever there was a shortage of manpower after a war, she would personally bandage the wounds of some soldiers and comfort those who had lost their comrades.
Strong, polite, and approachable, who wouldn't like such a girl?
What moved Chu Mo the most was that, ever since she learned that he was a teacher, this girl who had always respected scholars very much had always condescended to call him Mr. Chu. The mere fact of being able to respect and humble herself to others was something that no hero could do. In fact, no hero would do that.

Therefore, although she has always been marginalized by the top management, Luna actually has countless supporters within the legion, and Chu Mo is one of them.

But today, the girl was indeed a little strange. Although she seemed calm on the outside, Chu Mo felt that she was forcibly concealing her inner turmoil and anxiety.

And according to her usual habits, she would not ask to continue advancing like she is doing now, at least not when her condition is obviously not good.
(End of this chapter)