Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 147 Save the child
Large rivers usually originate in plateaus or high mountains, and the Qinghe River is no exception.

Her starting point was on the Qinghe Plateau.

The Qinghe Plateau was also the last gathering place of the Guifang people.

The Iron Enclosure Pass is located at the foot of the Qinghe Plateau, and it is also the deepest point in the northern plateau that Han people could reach.

It was also the end point of Huo Qubing's northern expedition against the Guifang people.

It is said that when King Huo first launched his northern expedition, his goal was to completely wipe out the last gathering place of the Guifang people, and he planned to announce to heaven and earth at Jinxue Mountain, the highest point of the Qinghe Plateau, to complete his goal of sealing the wolf's lair once again.

The attempt failed. The vanguard troops went up the plateau twice, but were defeated by the Oni Fang forces both times. The fierce King Huo, after personally climbing the Qinghe Plateau and defeating the Oni Fang forces again at a place called Liaowangchuan, did not choose to continue the attack. Instead, after killing two Oni Fang leaders, he hurriedly led his troops down the Qinghe Plateau.

Historical records state that the Qinghe Plateau is the ancestral home of the Guifang people, where their ancestors provide protection. Non-Guifang people who ascend the plateau will experience chest tightness and shortness of breath, and their combat strength will be less than half that of those below the plateau.

After seeing this history, Yun Ce knew that this must have been an altitude sickness.

However, Huo Qubing didn't know what altitude sickness was, so he could only guess based on the existing conditions. Since his own family had such magical things as ancestral fire and folk fire, it was normal for the Guifang people to have something similar.

What humans cannot do must be because the gods are preventing it.

Therefore, in the sixty-fourth year of Emperor Yuanzheng of Han, Huo Qubing built the Iron Enclosure Pass at Pingshuiyuan below the Qinghe Plateau to block the Guifang people from moving south.

The name Tiewei Pass is derived from the myths and legends of the ancestral land. In the myths of the ancestral land, Tiewei Mountain is the barrier between the underworld and the human world. King Huo hoped that this pass would lock the Guifang people firmly in this dark land of Qinghe Plateau, so that they would never be able to leave.

The Qinghe Plateau is surrounded by high mountains. If the Guifang people want to come down from the plateau, they must go through the Pingshui Plain, because only the Pingshui Plain, which is formed by the Qinghe River breaking through the mountains, is the best route for the Guifang people to enter the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Although there are occasional small paths in other places that are passable, they are not suitable for large-scale military operations. Even if a small number of Guifang people come out from there, the impact on the Han Dynasty is negligible.

A Han Dynasty poet once wrote: "Iron walls restrict north and south, making travel difficult and confusing."

In Huo Qubing's vision, Tiewei Pass was a formidable obstacle. No matter how many Guifang people came, they would eventually be cut into pieces by this formidable obstacle. After the main force of Guifang people was reduced to pieces, the Great Wall garrison behind Tiewei Pass would, like a fishing net, wipe out the remaining Guifang people.

Huo Qubing's idea was excellent and was implemented by later generations for over six hundred years. However, this year, Zhao Shu, the Grand Commander of the Great Wall, was no longer willing to be a useless fishing net.

North of the Great Wall, the area covered by the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance) is no longer within its reach, nor can it be covered. If the Shehuo were to cover the vast 800-mile gap between the Iron Enclosure Pass and the Great Wall defense line, this area would become a fertile land where food is readily available. The Guifang people on the Qinghe Plateau, who dare to fight wild beasts for a bite to eat, would surely charge down without hesitation.

Once they receive enough supplies in the vast 800-mile isolation zone, the starving Guifang people might even dare to march straight towards the Han homeland.

Therefore, grain cannot grow freely in the area north of the Great Wall defense line. However, it can be grown in a place far away from the Guifang people under the control of the Han people. In this way, the grain and various supplies produced can be supplied to Tiewei Pass nearby without worrying about them being stolen by the Guifang people as military rations.

When Yun Ce's convoy passed through Jingkou Pass, it left behind a considerable amount of food and supplies for the soldiers still guarding the pass.

This wasn't Yun Ce being mischievous; these soldiers were truly suffering. They lacked food and clothing, and Yun Ce even saw lice crawling all over the neck of the guard at Jingkou Pass.

I've truly witnessed what it means for 'armor to breed lice'.

After Yun Ce left Jingkou Pass for three miles, he regretted giving the garrison so much food and supplies. Not only were there hot springs everywhere, but even though it was already the Frosty Moon, the area was still lush with vegetation due to the geothermal heat.

While Eji, Zhang Min, and Anji were bathing and playing, she also brought Yun Ce several large baskets full of fresh wild vegetables and beans.

Yun Ce's gaze fell on the Great Wall, and he shook his head. He couldn't understand why the people of Jingkou Pass didn't know to come and collect such a good place with so much grain. They would rather let themselves be covered in lice than take a bath in this hot spring with its suitable temperature.

Yun Ce remained silent, which made Zhang Min, who always boasted about how loyal and brave the soldiers of the Northern Border were, blush with embarrassment.

However, she soon stopped feeling ashamed.

The main problem was that the chestnut horse got into a fight with wild animals.

In the frosty season, the chestnut horse suddenly discovered a lush green treasure and was filled with the desire to claim it. Just as it was marking its territory by urinating everywhere, two ferocious beasts attacked it.

This was something the proud chestnut horse could not tolerate. It bit and kicked with its hooves the size of copper hammers, and even let out several wet farts, but in the end, it still couldn't win.

So he went to Yun Ce for help.

When the chestnut horse carried Yun Ce to the two beasts, the two creatures had already devoured three cleaned slaves. If the chestnut horse hadn't arrived quickly, they would have already set their sights on another pot of freshly cleaned human cubs. The chestnut horse, upon arrival, bellowed and pounced on one of the slightly smaller beasts, leaving the significantly larger one to Yun Ce without hesitation.

Beasts that have eaten humans should not be allowed to live, because humans are clearly already on their menu. This simple truth applies to all of Earth, and Yun Ce believes it should apply here as well.

To the children's horror, Yun Ce was bitten by the ferocious beast Qi, which had long teeth and a big mouth. Then, the children saw their little master not only break off two of Qi's long teeth, but also grab Qi's chin and swing it around, slamming it to the ground.

"Dogs, inflict the most unbearable pain on them, and let their agonizing howls spread fear throughout the wasteland."

“┗|｀O′|┛Ouch~~”

As eight silver threads slid into the beast's mouth, the ferocious creature, larger than an ox, suddenly let out a miserable roar.

The sound was so loud and pitiful that it froze the other horse, which was fighting fiercely with the chestnut horse. After being hit by two fierce kicks from the chestnut horse, which were as hard as copper hammers, it tried to run away but found that it could not move. It seemed that something had entered its stomach through its mouth.

"Woo——"

“┗|｀O′|┛Ouch~~”

Soon, the pitiful cries of two ferocious beasts echoed across the wasteland, their voices truly resounding throughout the land.

The women, who had originally abandoned their children and fled, remembered that their children were still taking a bath and hurriedly ran back when they saw that their master had caught the two man-eating beasts.

Yun Ce had no interest in even glancing at these women who habitually abandoned their children. Instead, he led the group of naked boys and girls to tease the two ferocious beasts.

A little boy cautiously poked Qi with his finger, and Qi felt as if his heart had been pricked by a red-hot needle, and couldn't help but cry out loudly.

A very brave four or five-year-old girl also stuck out her finger and poked the beast Qi lying on the ground. As a result, Qi felt as if a red-hot iron rod had been inserted into its anus.

“┗|｀O′|┛Ouch~~”

A loud howl echoed across the wasteland, clearly audible even to the guards at Jingkou Pass, three miles away. They knew perfectly well that the two ferocious beasts that had blocked their way at the pass had been unleashed.

The area within a ten-mile radius north of Jingkou Pass is the territory abandoned by those two cunning beasts. Since they occupied the hot springs, the people of Jingkou Pass have not been able to bathe in the hot springs for more than three years.

Humans don't perceive the screams of the abandoned beast deeply, and may even think it's the beast roaring in anger to drive away intruders. But to the other wild beasts in the wilderness, it's a different story.

From the roars of the two ferocious beasts, they heard pleas, pain, submission, and a fate worse than death...

Seeing that the two children who were poking the beasts hadn't been eaten by the wild animals and had even made them make a very pleasant noise, the children surrounded the two beasts and started poking them with their fingers like raindrops.

The two beasts eventually died from exhaustion.

In front of the children, Yun Ce bled, skinned, and pulled out the tendons of the two ferocious beasts that had just died. These beasts, which had made the army at Jingkou Pass afraid to leave the pass easily, were quickly turned into two piles of minced meat, and even piled on their own skin.

Some shameless women were still taking baths and fiddling with the flesh that had grown since they came to the Yun clan. Yun Ce didn't even bother to look at them. He just lit a fire on the wasteland and roasted wild beast meat for the children.

Seeing the sizzling, oily roasted meat, the women and men dared not approach. However, seeing that the children seemed to be receiving preferential treatment, they all pushed their children forward to get meat for them.

As a result, Yun Ce chased them far away. He only gave the meat he grilled to the children, and his smiles and gentleness were only for the children in front of him.

The children of slaves are still slaves, the property of their masters, and have little to do with their parents. Therefore, it is difficult for the children of slaves to receive much love from their mothers.

In the lowest levels of slavery, the most prevalent practice was to exploit the cuteness of newborn infants for personal gain.

Yun Ce felt that the connection between these people, who had been slaves for so long and had little positive emotional connection with their children, should be severed.

They were beyond saving. Even if they could be saved, the resources and effort required would be too great, so Yun Ce was no longer willing to save them. They had become accustomed to their status as slaves, and working themselves to death was a way of giving themselves an explanation for their lives.

So, please save the children.

(End of this chapter)