Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 146 The Yellow River in front, the Great Wall behind

Yun Ce's mind was filled with thoughts of ripples, and when E Ji crawled into bed, he felt like he was about to explode.

His trembling hand had barely touched Eji's already somewhat voluptuous chest when he heard Gouzi's voice in his mind, urging him to calm down.

"I can't take it anymore."

You must endure it.

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a wave of sleepiness wash over him. Although he didn't want to sleep at all, his eyelids drooped involuntarily, and he fell asleep in a moment.

When Yun Ce woke up in the morning, his whole body ached. He was sure that he hadn't done anything except sleep the night before, but it was hard to understand why his body felt like it had been trampled by a herd of horses.

After asking for a while, the dog finally said slowly, "You were so cold and heartless yesterday, do you think that's normal?"

Yun Ce reflected on what he had done yesterday and sighed, "If we want our business to be passed down for generations, we must strive for excellence from the very beginning."

Gouzi continued, "You're right, but you weren't such a cold-hearted person before. When you did things, you were used to measuring them by reason, emotion, and law."

Last night, I did a big data analysis, using time as the axis and listing everything you've done on a timeline. The results weren't good. You're losing yourself, and many of your judgments are based on instinct, on animalistic instincts.

It is irrational, it is not self-centered.

"So, you stopped my impulse last night, so why is my body in so much pain?"

"The high-speed train slammed on the brakes, and it's already the best outcome that it didn't overturn."

"Do I have to continue living this agonizing life?"

"Before you learn how to control your animalistic instincts, that is, your dragon instincts, you really need to be patient and be a pure human being. It is very important for you."

"Could you tell me which sources you cited in this passage?"

"David Hume's *A Treatise of Human Nature*, Friedrich Nietzsche's *Beyond Good and Evil*, Confucius's *The Analects*, Mencius's *Mencius*, Xunzi's *Xunzi*, Dale Carnegie's *How to Win Friends and Influence People*, Alfred Adler's *Inferiority and Superiority*, Philip Zimbardo's *The Lucifer Effect*, Daniel Carmaney's *Thinking, Fast and Slow*..."

Yun Ce remained stunned for a long time before finally saying, "You are truly learned—"

The dog chuckled and said, "See, if you follow my lead, you'll one day achieve our original goal."

Yun Ce felt that Gouzi's words should not be listened to at certain times. In academic research, one person's opinion is called a work, but the combination of opinions from many schools of thought is called—bullshit.

A great battle took place yesterday, in which 133 slaves died. Yun Ce allowed their families to choose the spoils of war first, including wildebeest, armor, and weapons. Thus, for the first time, a private army appeared in Yun Ce's slave ranks.

After a great battle, people need to rest for a day or two, using abundance and happiness to help them forget the 133 people who just died in the battle.

Because many wildebeest were killed in the explosion, the slaves naturally got to eat mutton soup personally supervised by Yun Ce today. This soup was clear and slightly yellowish, which was determined by the fat in it.

Yun Ce gave each person a bowl of mutton soup filled with plenty of mutton, and also gave each person four grass cakes, hoping that after eating the delicious food, they could cheer up as soon as possible, since there were still two thousand miles to go.

The convoy embarked on the 'ghostly path' again amidst a newly begun autumn rain. The rain was light, but a thick, pale blue fog rose ahead. Once people stepped into the fog, they became ghostly figures. If it weren't for the occasional bursts of laughter, it would truly seem like a procession of a hundred ghosts.

The road became increasingly deserted. After traveling for two days, Yun Ce had not encountered a single person, let alone any caravans.

Since there was no one around, Yun Ce did not have the caravan stop to camp. He simply stopped for a short while, had people go to both sides of the road to solve the water and fire problems, and changed the horses pulling the carriages. After everyone was on their own carriages, the caravan continued to speed along the official road like a long dragon.

Yun Ce thought the thick fog was a good thing, as it blocked the view of many people with ill intentions and left a lot of danger and trouble behind.

When the thick fog is blown away by the wind, you can occasionally see the towering green mountains. Although the green mountains here are not as majestic as those in Chuyun Prefecture, nor as gentle as those in Chang'an, each peak is sharp as a knife, which is a unique feature of the North.

The children couldn't sit still in the carriage and often slipped off to run alongside it. If they met a friend they knew, they would even climb onto the carriage and play around for a while.

Yun Ce pulled his hand out of E Ji's arms, but E Ji grabbed it and pressed it back in, then took a small yellow fruit from the fruit plate and stuffed it into his mouth.

The small fruit was crisp, sweet, and juicy, without a core. Yun Ce thought it was a type of pear and wanted to continue tasting it, so he asked E Ji to feed him another one.

Zhang Min was curled up opposite Yun Ce. Sometimes Yun Ce's foot could easily touch her buttocks. Every time, E Ji would move Yun Ce's foot back or kick Zhang Min's buttocks outward before touching her.

Zhang Min put down the book in her hand. This was one of the many books that Feng An and Liang Kun had copied in Chang'an, and judging from the title, it seemed to be a travelogue. Yun Ce had read this travelogue, and it made him feel heartbroken. There was nothing he could do about it. Before Yun Ce invented paper, everyone wrote their words on bamboo slips or wooden tablets. Some connoisseurs even carved their words on bamboo slips or wooden tablets, thinking that this would ensure their works would be passed down through generations.

However, these people were also lazy, or rather, very poor. In order to save bamboo slips and wooden tablets and to convey more content with the fewest words, it became a trend.

A concise four-word review is the last thing you should write in a travelogue.

This unscrupulous travel writer wrote a travelogue about the area north of the Great Wall and south of the Iron Enclosure Pass. His travelogue recorded his resentment at the time and his frustration at being ostracized and having to find solace in nature. As for the mountains and rivers that Yun Ce most wanted to know, he simplified it as much as possible, and in the end, he simply didn't mention them at all. He only described in great detail his encounter with the wild beast "Qi" in the wild and how he returned unharmed.

Zhang Min seemingly unintentionally shifted her buttocks, and as a result, one of Yun Ce's feet disappeared. E Ji was focused on feeding Yun Ce fruit and didn't notice.

"Tell me, where do you plan to locate Cloud City?"

"At the foot of the mountain, on the sunny side of the river."

"What?"

"Mountains can provide shelter, and rivers can not only bring water but also carry away pollution."

"Are you going to build city walls?"

"We don't want city walls."

"What if the enemy attacks? How would you defend yourself?"

"If we cannot defeat the enemy before they reach Cloud City, then Cloud City deserves to be occupied by the enemy, and it is their reward."

“I hope to participate in the construction of your first army.” To emphasize her words, Zhang Min deliberately twisted her body.

"Yes, you can participate, but as a soldier, not as a leader or officer. You should understand that I will not be ambiguous about this matter, and as it stands, you are qualified as a soldier."

Eji finally discovered that Yun Ce was missing a foot. After struggling to pull Yun Ce's foot out from under Zhang Min's buttocks, she fanned it and sniffed it, angrily accusing Yun Ce that Zhang Min had made his foot stink.

As the autumn rain continued to fall, Yun Ce led his men at breakneck speed along the official road. With sufficient supplies, he traveled almost without sleep.

On the third day, the autumn rain finally stopped, and the sun once again dominated the sky. When Yun Ce stretched under the sun, he suddenly noticed that on the cliff to the left of the road, a green dragon was winding and rushing along the ridge.

"This is the Great Wall."

The Great Wall under the sunlight is truly breathtaking. Whether it is the Great Wall on Earth or the Great Wall here, it gave Yun Ce a great shock.

Yun Ce did not have a worship of giant objects, but seeing the Great Wall with his own eyes, he still couldn't help but shed tears.

It was a strange feeling. My heart was at peace, but the tears just kept flowing down my face, completely out of my control.

The Great Wall of the Han Dynasty starts from Dangyang Pass in front of us and stretches all the way to Donghai Pass on the coast of the East China Sea. It is a total length of 4,100 li. It is this Great Wall that keeps the Guifang people, who live by gathering, at bay in the north.

Compared to the Great Wall, the Iron Enclosure Pass was like a nail that the Han Dynasty had embedded in the Guifang Plateau. With this nail, the Guifang people dared not easily cross the Great Wall and invade the interior.

The two complemented and supported each other. Now that the Great Wall, a huge fulcrum, is gone, it is uncertain whether the Iron Enclosure Pass can still be defended.

Many people believe that Tiewei Pass is an impregnable fortress. Not only Zhang Min thinks so, but even Wu Tong, who is far away in Chang'an, thinks so.

Right there at Dangyang Pass, Yun Ce once again received a military order from the Grand Marshal's residence in Chang'an, ordering him to continue advancing 1,400 li along the official road, cross the Great Wall at Jingkou Pass, and officially enter the vast territory north of the Great Wall.

If you look at the map after reading Wu Tong's order, you'll find that there is a vast plain north of Jingkou Pass. There are six rivers on this plain, the largest of which is a large, turbulent river that connects to the vast East China Sea.

The river is called 'Qinghe'.

The name Qinghe is an image; this river is not only unclear, but its turbid waves have been ravaging this land for many years.

The reason there are six rivers on this plain is that these six rivers were once its source. Every time it floods, it changes its course, leaving a new river for the plain.

Looking at the winding Great Wall on the map, and then at the 'Qinghe River,' Yun Ce felt that renaming the river the Yellow River might be more appropriate.

(End of this chapter)