Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 103 The sky has fallen, which is an adjective.
"Wow—"

A bird's cry that resounded through the sky exploded above Chuyun City. Dog Skin, who had been running wildly with Yun Ce, suddenly collapsed to the ground, obediently exposing its belly and lying on its back with its four paws in the air.

"Lie down," the dog barked anxiously.

As soon as Yun Ce lay down, a strong gust of wind descended from above. Yun Ce pulled over two dog skins lying on their backs and covered himself with them, hoping that this crude camouflage could fool the big bird above.

The bird's wings stirred up huge waves, and raindrops pounded into the ground like bullets, causing the stray dogs that were accidentally hit to scream in pain.

Once the wind pressure subsided, Yun Ce cautiously peeked out from behind the neck of a dog-skinned creature. Although the sky was still pitch black, he still wanted to take a peek.

"gone."

The dog said those two words very calmly, but Yun Ce still inexplicably detected a hint of fear in his voice.

Yun Ce discarded the dog skin corpse that had been pierced by raindrops and stood in the pouring rain to wash his body. But at that moment, he saw a white light suddenly appear in Chuyun City. Then the white light turned into a net of fire and was swept down from the sky by the rain.

"Could this be a white phosphorus bomb? It can't be a white phosphorus bomb, can it?"

Yun Ce asked the dog incoherently.

"Don't ask, just run. I have a feeling this place isn't safe. If we wait until this cloud moves away, it won't be easy for you to escape."

Yun Ce readily accepted the advice and ran wildly in the direction the dog pointed.

He discovered for the first time that he could run as fast as a horse.

Izumo Castle was engulfed in flames once again in the rain, a fire that burned wildly in the night sky, undeterred by the downpour.

The chestnut horse caught up from behind. It was actually very curious. Yun Ce could have ridden it, but he insisted on running on his own.

After running more than a hundred miles in one go, Yun Ce dared to ride his chestnut horse over a high slope, where he could clearly see the city of Chuyun, which had been burned by flames.

"Four albatrosses just appeared in the sky above Izumo City." Dog's voice still carried a hint of emotion. This guy was becoming more and more human-like, and this emotion felt somewhat familiar.

"Isn't it said that this thing is extremely precious, and that it never touches the ground after it is born? It's only been a few days, and I've already seen five Xintianyou, not to mention being chased by one of them."

The dog said with some envy, "That ball of fire you got might be something special."

"How to say?"

"It burned off two of my tentacles."

"Your tentacles are fragile; it's no big deal if they burn out."

"You know shit."

"I really didn't know you could fart. I'm not going to talk nonsense with you anymore. I need to go back and take a shower. How did that river, which used to be so clean, become so smelly?"

Gouzi said, "If I were you, I would pack my things and keep running after I got back. Based on what Lao Pan and the others said, as well as what Governor Han De said, I did some calculations and found that the Royal Hunting Ground is too close to Chuyun City. If that fire is really as magical as they say, those people who came on the Xintianyou have the right to draw circles on the map and create no-man's land."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I can't run away. If I do, even the dog poop will be blamed on me. Besides, they have those big birds. Where can I run to?"

It's best to fish in troubled waters.

"To entrust your life to the mercy of others, I must say, you are a fool. Let me tell you, there is a 30% chance that the Royal Hunting Grounds will be silenced."

Yun Ce rode his chestnut horse down the hill. He had just obtained a ball of fire, the purpose of which he did not know, but it was very precious, which made him very happy.

He didn't want to argue with the dog anymore. Being a perpetual fugitive in the Great Han was meaningless to him. He needed to get to know the Great Han himself, not just the people here, but all the secrets of this land.

Back at the hunting palace, Eji noticed a scent on Yun Ce's body and immediately prepared hot water and soap. She even added some of her own precious perfume to the bathwater and rolled up her sleeves to give Yun Ce a thorough bath.

"Izumo Castle is finished. There's no way anyone could have survived in that castle."

Eji listened to Yun Ce's remark but showed no reaction on her face, focusing only on washing his hair.

"I've discovered that the Han people's temperament is actually quite strange. They seem to only know how to move forward and never understand the profound meaning of retreating."

When I entered Izumo City, my heart sank. You know, when we lived in the city, there were hundreds of thousands of people. But I hardly saw anyone there.

Guess where all those people went?

Eji was annoyed by the hair-dressing process. She was a clean and tidy person. When she went out, her hair was clean and fresh, but when she came back, all sorts of rotten bones, bits of meat, grass roots, and leaves had gotten into her hair. She had to pick them out bit by bit to wash them out.

"Of course they ran away. Don't treat others like fools. People know to run home when it rains. With a big battle about to break out, why don't they know to hide?"
If everyone were as foolish as you say, the entire race would have been wiped out long ago.

After Eji finished criticizing Yun Ce, she felt that it would be too slow for her to do his hair by herself, so she called in Anji and the others, giving each of them a section of hair to finish quickly.

When facing Eji naked, Yun Ce didn't care. However, when An Ji and the other three came in, he buried his body in the water and covered his private parts with a bath towel.

Yun Ce knew that E Ji wanted to erase all traces of his departure as quickly as possible. Although E Ji seemed to know nothing, as a native of the wasteland, her sense of danger was no less than Yun Ce's. After Yun Ce finished washing himself and slept for a while, dawn broke. The heavy rain of the previous night had completely erased any traces Yun Ce had left on the wasteland.

Therefore, after Yun Ce got up in the morning, he became a simple and honest grassroots official in Chuyun Prefecture.

Xintianyou can only be found in two places: Chang'an and Luoyang.

Therefore, the four albatrosses flying in the sky could only have come from these two places.

Moreover, Yun Ce was certain that the Han court knew the great secret that the Shehuo (a type of folk performance) in Chuyun Prefecture had not been extinguished.

Yun Ce never expected to see Lao Pan again. Although his heart was filled with turmoil, the surprise and longing on his face moved even someone as cunning as Lao Pan.

"Finally, I can return your wife and children to you intact."

Old Pan didn't seem to care much about his wife and children. He chatted with Yun Ce for a while, then quickly went into the hunting palace with a few old friends and closed the gate behind him.

Yun Ce looked at the closed door and asked Gouzi.

"Tell me, how did they escape from that fire?"

"Is it possible that the fire was similar in nature to the one that burned you, and that the person set it for identification purposes rather than to kill you?"

"Okay, that's quite possible."

In the afternoon, Yun Ce finally met Lao Pan again. This time, he protected Lao Pan's wife and children. Yun Ce then asked him directly if there was any way to enter the Han Dynasty's mainland, or even go to Chang'an.

Old Pan ate the dishes that Eji had prepared in large quantities before putting down his chopsticks and saying to Yun Ce, "Now, you have no choice but to go to Chang'an."

Yun Ce was overjoyed and grabbed Lao Pan's hand, saying, "Brother, you didn't know you had such extraordinary abilities?"

Although Yun Ce was trying his best to flatter him, Lao Pan said to Yun Ce with tears in his eyes, "It's all my fault. We should have come back with you when you returned to the Royal Hunting Grounds. If we had made careful arrangements, we might have already set foot on the Han mainland by now."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "It doesn't matter if it's a little later."

With tears in his eyes, Old Pan said, "Back then, when we went to the Han Dynasty, although we couldn't become rich and powerful, at least we would have no worries about food and clothing. But now, we will all be going to Chang'an as criminals to be judged."

Yun Ce asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by 'prisoner'?"

Old Pan shook his head violently and said, "It's better not to know, it's better not to know. The more you know, the faster you'll probably die."

Yun Ce frowned and said, "Isn't there some twist or turn in this?"

Old Pan shook his head and said, "With the arrival of the Longtai Guard, the whole matter is without any twists and turns."

"Longtai Guard?"

"The Emperor's personal guard."

"Izumo Prefecture is nothing but a derelict prefecture. What merit do they possess to command the Emperor's personal army...? There are no outsiders here, so we should..."

Old Pan said calmly, "Let fate decide. Considering how you took care of my family, I'll give you a piece of advice—let fate decide."

Yun Ce is someone who listens to advice, while Lao Pan, a seasoned veteran, has chosen to resign himself to fate, which is probably the best solution to the current predicament.

Sure enough, on the third day, Yun Ce saw Zhang Min bound like a dumpling and thrown off the giant bird's back. He knew then that the incident of the Chuyun Prefecture's Shehuo (a type of folk performance) not being extinguished had occurred. Zhang Min, as a secret agent of the Panxing Tower in Chuyun Prefecture, was completely unaware of this matter and must have committed a heinous crime.

Yun Ce quickly looked around and, apart from a large bird, saw no one watching them. He then walked over to Zhang Min, untied the rope, and noticed that her wrists were bleeding from being rubbed raw by the rope. He then casually used a handkerchief to bandage them.

Zhang Min's face was terribly pale. Seeing that Yun Ce remained silent, she couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you curious about why I've ended up in such a state?"

Yun Ce shook his head, wanting to help Zhang Min up, but she refused, preferring to sit on the dirt rather than get up.

Zhang Min, exasperated with Chao Yunce, said angrily, "Do you know we're all going to die?"

Yun Ce asked, puzzled, "What does this have to do with me?"

Zhang Min said through tears, "Do you really think that just because something is unrelated to you, it really is unrelated to you?"

Yun Ce sneered, "So what? Then let's go all out."

Hearing Yun Ce say this, Zhang Min suddenly quieted down, stood up from the ground, and took E Ji's hands, saying, "When it's time to truly live life, then truly live life for once, and don't leave yourself with too many regrets."

Eji asked anxiously, "What exactly happened?"

A strange smile appeared on Zhang Min's face as she pointed to the sky and said, "The sky has collapsed."

(End of this chapter)