Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 151 A Great Sucker Arrives
In the beginning, wild beasts from the wilderness came looking for Yun Ce. They thought that as long as they killed Yun Ce, the watchdog, there would be more than 10,000 delicious animals to eat behind the watchdog.

Later, he discovered he couldn't defeat Yun Ce and was even captured and chained up. Every day, he was whipped with a steel whip until his bones broke and his tendons snapped. Once he was no longer able to resist, Yun Ce would release him.

Every wild beast that was released, after being freed from its shackles, did the first thing it did: flee from where Yun Ce was, without daring to look back.

After repelling the first wave of beasts, Yun Ce used the dog's abilities to follow the fleeing beasts, find their dens, and then take out the other beasts in their families that Yun Ce hadn't beaten before and beat them again with a steel whip. He didn't even spare the beasts that were still immature.

They searched for them in groups, and beat them up in groups. They killed and ate any that had tender meat, and skinned any with soft fur. By the time the winter months arrived, there were no wild beasts to be seen near the reclamation farm, and even the dog skins stayed far away.

Upon entering the area north of the Great Wall, Yun Ce felt as if he had completely entered that primordial era where "heaven and earth are ruthless and treat all things as straw dogs."

Legend has it that the ancient kings would drive away the ferocious beasts that threatened the people, and capture the poisonous insects one by one, skin them to make drums, and then beat these drums to prevent the ferocious beasts and poisonous insects from harming the people in the settlement.

When Yun Ce first read this history, he thought it was just a version of events. It wasn't until he was establishing his own territory in the wilderness that he realized he was doing what the ancient kings had done.

Just like the cycle of history, there is a very clear path, and you can only follow this path.

The first snow of the winter month fell, sealing off the entire world. Eji watched as Yun Ce rode his chestnut horse into view through the swirling snow.

She called out loudly, laughing, threw off her troublesome cloak, plunged into the wind and snow, roughly pressed down the stubborn head of the chestnut horse, then stepped on its head and neck, and finally threw herself into Yun Ce's arms.

"Is there a gift?" After giving Yun Ce a big kiss on the head, E Ji immediately started asking for a gift. After all, they hadn't been together for fifteen days, and she really wanted to know if Yun Ce had missed her.

“Yes!” Yun Ce said, pulling out a huge, flawless white hide from the saddlebag on his back and placing it in E Ji’s arms. He casually blew on it, and a small swirl appeared on the hide, a sign of top-quality hides.

"It will be even better after tanning, so you can wrap me up from head to toe, cough cough..." Eji hugged the leather that had only been scraped clean of grease, and without caring about the stench, she sniffed it affectionately, only to be choked by the pungent smell.

Yun Ce didn't know what kind of hide it was. He only knew that when he was whipping a stray head with a steel whip, this guy was standing not far away, looking very unfriendly.

Yun Ce tried to catch it, but the creature ran incredibly fast. If the chestnut horse hadn't suddenly appeared from the side and crashed into it, it might have escaped.

With such a furry creature, Yun Ce naturally couldn't bear to whip it with a steel whip. Instead, he spared its life after skinning it, since it was still alive after being skinned.

In the world of wild beasts, there is no mercy. At least, Yun Ce believed that if he fell into this guy's hands, it would savor every piece of his flesh and would never do something as absurd as letting him live.

In the desolate wilderness during the dead of winter, most people hibernate, except for gathering firewood on sunny days.

Slaves used to hibernate, and back then, hibernation was real hibernation. Because they didn't work and food rations were very low, they could only rely on consuming their meager fat reserves to get through the cold winter months.

Although food rations in Yun Ce's camp have also been reduced, they have been reduced from three meals to two. Not only are the slaves' food rations decreasing, but Yun Ce's food rations are also decreasing.

With relatively abundant food, and little entertainment besides sleeping, a large number of women in the settlements quickly became pregnant.

When Yun Ce returned and heard the news, he instructed E Ji to change the pregnant woman's two meals to three meals.

“If we do this, more women will get pregnant.” Eji had a lot of complaints about those pregnant women who never seemed to have enough to eat.

Yun Ce took a sip of soy milk, put down the bowl, and said softly, "It's alright. We have enough food. Recently, a caravan from Jingkou Pass has also been transporting a lot of grass and beans to exchange for the hides of wild beasts. The wild beasts that Zhang Min and I hunted are enough to keep us going."

Eji stretched her neck and looked out the window, saying, "The children living here, even the youngest ones, no longer cry for their mothers."

Yun Ce said, "It's not that we want to sever the connection between mother and child, but that we want to sever ignorance and all the evil habits that are prevalent in this world."

"Prepare plenty of food for the younger children, find teachers for the older children, and teach them to be clean, to go to bed early and get up early. My lord, can this really produce a group of outstanding talents?"
Furthermore, Feng An said that he had never heard of much of the content in the books you gave him, let alone understood it. How can he teach these children?

Yun Ce comfortably placed his feet on E Ji's plump thighs and let out a long breath, saying, "Feng An and Liang Kun will naturally learn first. Once they've learned enough, they can teach the other children. Don't worry, it's just some simple arithmetic, physics, and geometry. They both call themselves geniuses, so they'll naturally master it from the basics to the advanced levels."

"Leave everything to time. In time, the road will naturally open up." The two were chatting in the warm house when Zhang Min came in from outside, covered in snow. Seeing Yun Ce and E Ji's intimate scene, she immediately flew into a rage. She threw off her heavy cloak and kicked off her boots, strode onto the bed, straddled E Ji without saying a word, and stuffed her icy hands into E Ji's arms to warm them.

Without the help of a young puppy and with Zhang Min using some force, Eji had no power to resist and could only helplessly be bullied by Zhang Min.

Seeing Zhang Min's prolonged silence, Yun Ce couldn't help but ask, "What happened at Jingkou Pass?"

Zhang Min pinched Eji's chest hard, then turned to Yun Ce and said, "Wu Tong has managed to gather a large amount of grain amidst his busy schedule. I hope you can escort this grain through Tiewei Pass."

Yun Ce pulled E Ji out from under Zhang Min and shook his head, saying, "The only two people we can rely on here are you and me. Why would he choose me instead of having you lead the team?"

Zhang Min leaned against Yun Ce's chest, somewhat dejected, and said, "There are always Ghost Fang cavalrymen near Tiewei Pass. I probably can't beat them."

"Who used to deliver the grain and fodder to Tiewei Pass?"

"The troops from the interior were sent to the Great Wall garrison, and then the Great Wall garrison dispatched a large force to Tiewei Pass."

"Although Zhao Shu, the Grand Commander of the Great Wall, has fled, there are still many loyal troops on the Great Wall. Why not let them escort him?"

Zhang Min tilted her head back and greedily sucked on Yun Ce's neck. After a long while, she mumbled, "They often lose supplies. It's already quite rare for them to deliver them safely twice out of ten times."

Many times, we couldn't figure out whether the Great Wall defenders actually kept the supplies or whether the Guifang people really looted them.

"So, Wu Tong would rather believe an outsider like me than the Great Wall garrison?"

Zhang Min looked down at her chest, which had been torn open by Eji, completely unconcerned about the exposed breasts to Yun Ce. She turned to the side and hugged Yun Ce's waist, saying, "My lord, why don't you go and see Tiewei Pass? If Tiewei Pass weren't truly short of food, he wouldn't have done this."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "We can't go. If we go this time, the transportation between Jingkou Pass and Tiewei Pass will permanently fall on our shoulders."

I don't believe Wu Tong has no talented subordinates. The reason he brought this up must be because he has many hidden experts in the team. His purpose is to let us take over the future grain transportation task. It is very likely that in the near future, once we have grown enough grain, they will not have to pay any price and will let us directly transport the grain produced to Tiewei Pass.

"Our relationship with Tiewei Pass can only involve trade; we can't give it away for free."

Zhang Min stood up in surprise, straightened her clothes, and looked at Yun Ce, saying, "Young Master, are you saying that this is another test by Wu Tong?"

Yun Ce laughed and said, "Let's see if I've managed to win over the Iron Enclosure Pass garrison through the supply of provisions."

Zhang Min shook his head and said, "The garrison of Tiewei Pass is ambitious. The reason they are here is for the honor of their families and their personal glory. They are not like the garrison of the Great Wall, who will switch sides because of a little favor."

So, my lord, you're not going this time?

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I must go once, let me see the virtuous and ambitious people you mentioned, and let me see if Tiewei Pass is really that indestructible."

Zhang Min leaned back into Yun Ce's arms and said, "My lord will not be disappointed."

Yun Ce nudged Zhang Min, who was almost asleep, with his shoulder and asked, "When are we leaving?"

"The provisions were escorted by the Imperial Guards, and the leader was a captain who was said to be the eldest son of the Cao family in Qiuhe Prefecture. This batch of provisions was also prepared by the Cao family in Qiuhe Prefecture."

Yun Ce frowned and said, "So, I'm this Young Master Cao's bodyguard?"

Zhang Min smiled and said, "Wu Tong's orders made it very clear that everything is done with you as the priority."

Yun Ce chuckled silently, tapped Zhang Min's nose, and said, "The provisions belong to them, the soldiers belong to them. If I go to the camp alone, who do you think will listen to me?"

(End of this chapter)