Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 104 It turns out that Shehuo is a deity

The sky is falling.

This is a phrase that ordinary people often say when they encounter insurmountable obstacles, and it is also a phrase that wealthy and powerful people often say when facing a crisis of destruction.

Yun Ce had never heard Yun Linchuan utter those three words.

Because he is part of the heaven, the heaven of ordinary people is created by them.

Therefore, when they hear others say that the sky has fallen, they usually laugh, and may even become excited. For them, only when they encounter a disaster of this magnitude is it their time to show their skills.

Therefore, Yun Ce, who grew up with Yun Linchuan, didn't really feel anything about the phrase "the sky has fallen".

What if the sky falls?

If you can endure it, endure it; if you can save it, save it; if you can mend the sky, mend the sky. If you've tried your best and fought against it, but in the end you still can't overcome it, then it's just an objective law.

Amid Zhang Min's incessant chatter, Yun Ce finally understood why Zhang Min had said the sky had fallen.

There are three main events.

Firstly, every three hundred years, a divine dragon descends upon the Han Dynasty. In the past, the dragon's figure would always appear in the sky above Chang'an, receiving the worship of all people. This time, however, it appeared in Chuyun Prefecture.

Secondly, each time the divine dragon descends upon the Han Dynasty, it bestows upon the Han Dynasty a dragon pearl. The Han Dynasty will then reward its most loyal and valiant ministers with this dragon pearl, making the Han Dynasty's top-tier military force stronger than that of the Guifang people.

Thirdly, a divine dragon descended upon Izumo Province, and the dragon pearl disappeared there. The Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty was furious and, in a fit of anger, severed the connection between the ancestral fire and the Izumo Province folk fire, extinguishing the folk fire and ultimately leading to the complete demise of Izumo Province.

Unfortunately, after the Shehuo (a type of folk performance) of Izumo Prefecture was separated from the ancestral fire, it not only did not go out, but burned even more vigorously. How could the Han emperor, who possessed the ancestral fire and claimed to be the legitimate successor of mankind, tolerate this?

The first to arrive were the elite Longtai Guards, followed by 30,000 cavalry from the neighboring state, and then 8,000 Imperial Guards from the Han mainland arriving in Chuyun State.

Chuyun Prefecture was the westernmost border of the Han Dynasty, a tributary prefecture. It was only connected to Cong Prefecture and the Han Dynasty. On the other two sides, one was the Gobi Desert, also known as the Vast Sea, and the other was the dense forest west of Tianzhu Mountain.

Yun Ce came from the west of Tianzhu Mountain. To be honest, the wild state there is not very suitable for human survival, as there are too many poisonous insects and ferocious beasts.

As for the Gobi Desert, Yun Ce felt there must be a way out. There must be oases in the Gobi Desert, and if you ignore the sandstorms and such, that place should be quite suitable for human habitation.

"Four albatrosses can't monitor so many of us, not to mention there are many more living people in Chuyun City, and even more living people in the other two hundred cities, not to mention the people in the wasteland. They can't keep up with all the work."

Hearing Yun Ce's naive words, Zhang Min couldn't help but laugh.

"You can try to escape now."

Yun Ce frowned and said, "I'm fine on my own."

Eji chimed in from the side, "Then run!"

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I won't run."

Zhang Min grinned and said, "I didn't realize you were such a romantic."

Eji took Yun Ce's hand and said, "Run if you can. I'll pack your bags right away."

Eji's eyes were extremely resolute. She was making a decision with Yun Ce, not discussing it. She genuinely felt that it was a good thing that Yun Ce could escape.

Zhang Min sniffled and said, "You made the right choice by selecting her."

Yun Ce grabbed E Ji's hand and said, "Don't rush. If there's really no other way, I can run away then. You guys just stay put and let one of you tell me to leave it to fate."

After Yun Ce finished speaking, he prepared to go find Lao Cao to have a proper discussion about the matters he was about to face.

Zhang Min, a woman who is said to be a spy but is actually a warrior, always judges things from only one perspective: killing.

In the eyes of Yun Ce and Lao Cao, even if the situation in Yunzhou was serious, it didn't warrant killing everyone there.

They will likely kill a group of disobedient people, such as Hong Guniang and her group, then kill a group of people with ulterior motives, such as various powerful figures, and then eliminate a group of people with high martial arts skills, such as Yun Ce. The remaining people, after being screened and confirmed to be citizens of the Han Dynasty, will most likely be relocated inland and placed under surveillance.

This is what Lao Cao meant by "leaving it to fate."

What pleased Yun Ce the most was that the troops that came were not just one force, but three, and there might even be more later on.

When doing things, the worst outcome is that orders are issued from the same source. Now, the Longtai Guard, the Congzhou Army, and the Yulin Army are clearly defined. After the army completes the encirclement, there will inevitably be a large number of people from various patrol offices personally going down to inspect people.

Yun Ce felt there must be a loophole they could exploit.

After listening to Yun Ce's analysis of the situation, Lao Cao's dead fish eyes gradually regained their luster.

"You mean that in addition to the Longtai Guard, the Congzhou Army, the Yulin Army, and even the various patrol inspectors from Congzhou and Daizhou will also participate in the identification?" Yun Ce nodded.

Old Cao stood up, rubbing his hands together and pacing around, looking very energetic as he said to Yun Ce, "We have a lot of dealings with the brothers from Congzhou, especially the brothers from the Patrol and Inspection Division. We often exchange information and help each other out, and we've been doing this for many years."

If 30,000 troops from the state army come this time, then Brother Zhang Chengzhu, the Flying Wing Captain, will surely be on the list. Brother Liu, it seems that we can escape this calamity this time.

"You wait here, I'll go talk to Old Zhao and the others to see if we can expand our network further. We'll attack from multiple directions, and we'll break through their impenetrable defenses."

Yun Ce looked up at the sky and then said, "I can offer five hundred taels of gold."

Old Cao looked at Yun Ce and said, "Women should contribute too. The women around you are quite nice."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I'll contribute a thousand taels of gold, and you can contribute the women."

Old Cao pressed down on Yun Ce's shoulder and said, "You're still too young. At this time, women are just a burden. We shouldn't be giving away gold, not women. Once we get to Chang'an and run out of gold, the women will have to run away."

"It's alright, once we get out of here, we'll find plenty of ways to get gold."

Old Cao laughed and said, "Alright, let me discuss it with the brothers and then we'll see how much each person will share. Good, brother, it's good that you brought good news. I thought it was only Longtai Guard."

"Is Longtaiwei a monolithic entity?"

"That will take time..."

Old Cao left in a hurry, looking quite energetic.

Occasionally, a white albatross would streak across the sky, and time seemed to stand still. Yun Ce gazed at the albatross; he really loved this creature.

When he's alone, he'll put his hand into the Dragon Ball, where a tiny spark is still burning. The dog's whiskers keep touching the spark, and each time it touches it, it crashes for a long time.

"This is what is called passing the torch from generation to generation. This flame is actually... how should I put it? It's all burning data. Every moment, data is burning, and new data is coming in. If these data were used to create images, I think it would be an epic of human development, filled with blood and tears."

Moreover, this data is disseminated outwards in a spillover manner; everyone seems to receive it, yet no one can perceive it or change it.

Yun Ce asked, "Does this thing exist on Earth?"

The dog said, "Maybe it exists, maybe it doesn't, maybe it has become another kind of existence."

Yun Ce placed his hand on that tiny spark, and the flame climbed up his fingers, finally continuing to burn in Yun Ce's palm, swaying like a newborn.

"If you sense anything is wrong, run!"

Eji gave the instructions again while eating dinner.

These past few days, she has refused to sleep with Yun Ce, instead moving in to squeeze in with An Ji and the others. Yun Ce knows that this is because E Ji doesn't want to further entangle the two of them. If a child were to be born at this dangerous time, it would not be happiness, but a disaster, a great disaster for their family of three.

While some, like Yun Ce, resigned themselves to fate, others were thinking of escaping the danger zone. The Longtai Guards seemed to enjoy these escapees; whenever they discovered someone running away, they would chase after them. However, they would often return, but the escapees would never be seen again.

The survivors in Chuyun City continued to gather at the Royal Hunting Grounds, but there weren't many people left. By the time Yun Ce saw a woman carrying two thin children on a spear as a shoulder pole, stumbling and falling as she arrived at the Royal Hunting Grounds, there were fewer than five thousand people gathered there.

The people of Longtaiwei are actually quite reasonable. In order to feed these people, they captured a lot of dog skins and threw them in the settlement area for people to eat.

It's really ironic, the dogs outside Izumo Castle are tired of eating people, but the people in the Royal Hunting Grounds never get tired of eating dog skin meat.

Fortunately, the dog skin was fat enough and oily; ten people could share one and be full.

As the Grand Steward of the Royal Hunting Grounds, Yun Ce allowed women and children to enter the hunting palace, but the men were different; they all looked menacing and shifty-eyed, not like good people.

With the help of Lao Pan and the others, Yun Ce quickly managed the camp of 5,000 people in an orderly manner and even registered everyone's information.

Although much of this information is definitely false, Yun Ce doesn't care, and neither do Lao Cao and the others. They just create a separate list for those who can prove their identity. But how do they prove their identity?

It means to testify against each other.

Given the current situation, being able to manage these people to a basic level means that even the people of Longtaiwei can't make any more demands.

The number of people who can prove their identity is far fewer than those who cannot. In fact, some can barely prove their identity, but unfortunately, neither Yun Ce nor Lao Cao is willing to loosen the restrictions.

Yun Ce's family was naturally among the first to have their identities verified, as were Lao Cao and his family. They were all officials, so their backgrounds were naturally clean. Even E Ji, Feng An, and Liang Kun's ancestors for three generations were good people; they were all law-abiding citizens.

Zhang Min's eyes turned red when she saw the list of good citizens compiled by Yun Ce and his team. She grabbed Yun Ce by the neck and roared, "You are all good people, so why am I listed as someone whose identity is pending, and why is there a red X next to my name?"

(End of this chapter)