What a great chapter. A lot of Chinese authors never really set their stories during this very traumatic period in China. This is definitely way more interesting than generic ancient fantasy China basically all stories in this genre are set in. The self-interested betrayal wasn't completely illogical and IMO the character was quite sympathetic.
Also, I like the detail where MC commits suicide with the key he could have used to escape. Under scores how much he choice to die as opposed to giving up his morals.