The penetrating wound on his shoulder was still aching slightly. He covered his shoulder with his hands and stared at the people in the tent with a pale face. For some reason, he felt his eyes go dark. Finally, he could not hold on any longer. His eyes rolled back and he fainted. He fell on the bed and lost consciousness.
When he woke up again, it was already late. There were only a few dim lights in the tent. Mu Tong felt groggy. He didn't know why, but at this moment, all his strength seemed to be used up. He couldn't muster any energy and couldn't even support himself to sit up.
His mouth was very dry, so he pulled the bell beside him with all his strength. After a while, his personal soldiers ran in. Seeing that he woke up, they shouted "toast" and hurriedly poured him some water.
Mu Tong's lips were already dry and peeling. He rubbed his temples, reached out to take the water and drank it all. Then he asked dissatisfiedly: "Where are all of you? Why is there no one guarding here?!"
He would never leave someone beside him when he slept, and everyone around him knew his temper. Now that no one was with him, he was very angry.
The guards hesitated.
Mu Tong was already feeling dizzy, and seeing him like this made him even angrier. He raised his voice and asked, "What's going on?"
The guards hesitated, but Mu Tong had great prestige. Seeing how angry he was, the guards dared not hide the truth any longer, and said hesitantly, "Chief, the eldest and third sons... were both killed in the battle."
When the casualties were counted before, it was only a rough count. Mu Tong's two sons were leading the vanguard troops and were rushing in the front. They had not returned at that time, but no bodies were seen, so no one thought of going somewhere else. Who knew that not long after Mu Tong fainted, their guards escaped back and said that the eldest son and the third son had been killed in the battle, and their bodies could not be retrieved.
The eldest son Mu Le and the third son Mu An were both Mu Tong's legitimate sons, and also Mu Tong's two favorite sons. The reason for bringing them to this war was to accumulate some prestige and merit for them so that they could be more independent in the future. They never dreamed that their lives would be lost before they could get any merit.
Mu Tong couldn't believe it. He had high hopes for his two sons and although he was cruel, he had no temper with his children. What happened to his two children was undoubtedly a bigger blow to him than losing a battle. He sat there in a daze for a long time and suddenly felt a pain in his heart. Then he bent over and spat out a mouthful of blood.
The guards were terrified and hurried out to call for a doctor.
The officials from the Mu Mansion who came with the war also came. When they saw Mu Tong like this, they all came forward to comfort him.
But what's the use of this
It was Mu Tong himself who lost his son. The heartache he felt was incomprehensible to anyone. Mu Tong was so angry that he drove everyone out. With bloodshot eyes, he slowly called out Xiao Heng's name, his tone gritting his teeth, as if he wished he could chew Xiao Heng's flesh into pieces and swallow it.
Then he said in a deep voice: "Gather the troops. I don't believe that they can hold out for long without food and grass, even if they are not poisoned! I must make them pay with blood!"
In fact, let alone Mu Tong, even the subordinates were unwilling to give up. It had come to this point and they had put in so much effort, how could they just give up
Forty thousand of them died!
Therefore, after hearing Mu Tong's instructions, the people below had no objections. They agreed to what Mu Tong said and comforted Mu Tong to have a good rest first.
Mu Tong was seriously injured and his emotions were fluctuating drastically. He had been forcing himself to hold on for so long that he could no longer hold on. When the order was given, he leaned back on the pillow, gasping for breath. He felt that the air he exhaled was hot and he felt very dizzy.
He was running out of energy and had a tantrum, so he soon felt sleepy and fell asleep without realizing it.
He didn't know how long it had been, but he suddenly heard a huge earth-shaking noise. Even he felt the shaking while lying on the bed. He opened his eyes in surprise.
But because of his serious injuries, he was still running a fever and his mind was in a fuzzy state. For a moment, he couldn't tell whether the shaking was his imagination or reality. He could not help but stare at the door of the tent in a daze, unable to react for a long time.
Fortunately, he didn't stay in a daze for too long, and his personal soldiers and confidants all arrived.
They didn't bother to salute or explain, they dressed Mu Tong in a hurry and carried him away, while they explained to him in a panic: "The imperial army is chasing us, they have a large amount of gunpowder and siege artillery carts, those cannons smashed into our military camp, causing heavy casualties. Tusi, we can't care about so much now."
Mu Tong's head was burning with fever and he almost choked when he heard these words. He felt cold all over and his head tilted, and he soon lost consciousness.
The personal guards escorted Mu Tong while fighting and retreating. By the time they retreated to Dali Prefecture, only 30,000 to 40,000 remnants were left of the 100,000-strong army. They escorted Mu Tong back to Dali Prefecture in a desperate situation, and only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.
Mu Tong was furious. His wounds had repeatedly become festered and inflamed from hiding from the pursuers and had never fully healed. When he finally returned to Dali, as soon as he had a chance to catch his breath, he sent people to ask the chieftains of Xundian Prefecture and Anhua Prefecture what was going on and why they failed to stop Xiao Heng.
Logically speaking, with so many people attacking Kunming, Xiao Heng should be in a difficult situation.
The news was quickly sent back - Xundian Prefecture and Anhua Prefecture were now in critical condition. All their elite troops were killed in Kunming. Now they were just a piece of fat meat, just waiting for Tang Yuan to take a bite.
Mu Tong couldn't believe it, and his hand holding the reply letter was still shaking slightly.
He couldn't figure out why things had come to this.
They had clearly calculated everything very well, so why did it end up with such a result
Mu Tong soon lost the energy to think about it - his wound worsened again. He had been having a high fever for more than ten days. Even the most famous doctor in Dali Prefecture was helpless against his injury. Finally, under his coercion, the doctor tremblingly said a solution - he said that he had to cut off the festering area, that is, he had to cut off one of his arms, so that he could survive. Otherwise, even if Hua Tuo was reborn, there would be no way to save him.
Mu Tong overturned his table again, but this time he did not kill the doctor.