Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 198: Summer Insects Can’t Say Ice
The birth of any life is worthy of celebration and praise, just as the sun selflessly shines its light upon this newborn chick.

Nature treats all living things equally, giving them no less hope and no less suffering, except that this bird is different.

From the moment Yun Ce first saw it, he knew it was a big problem.

So when the little dog hopped up to Yun Ce and tried to touch his leg with its head, he kicked it away without hesitation.

Yun Ce's most hated people and animals are nothing more than monsters that put an old soul into a newborn body. Without a doubt, this bird is one of them. Its sinister thoughts and childlike behavior are disgusting to even think about.

The chestnut horse is different. It was originally a fool, and even after being cleansed of its fur and marrow by the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance), it remains a fool. Yun Ce likes this kind of evolution and is very fond of it.

After all, an animal or a person must go through a growth process, a process from immaturity to maturity, in order to be a good evolution that aligns with Yun Ce's philosophy; otherwise, it is demonic.

The fledgling eagle was kicked away by Yun Ce, but it hopped back and clung to him, so Yun Ce kicked it again.

The chestnut horse was able to stand up, but after yesterday's ordeal, its fur was a mess and it still smelled foul. Yun Ce pulled it into shallow water, took out a brush and soap, and planned to give it a good wash.

A skinny chestnut horse stood in the water, soapy foam dripping down its legs. The bird perched beneath the horse's legs, catching the soap bubbles with its wings, its head turning nimbly as it cleaned itself.

Yun Ce used a small hook-shaped brush to carefully clean the chestnut horse's ears. In just one day, the horse's ears were filthy.

Finally, Yun Ce took out an iron file and carefully trimmed the hoof nails of the chestnut horse's four hooves, and then tied its mane into buns. Although the chestnut horse was still very thin, it could already show some of its former glory.

Yun Ce stepped on the fledgling eagle's back, and the creature was immediately forced to lie on the ground and squawk under the weight of Yun Ce, which made the contempt in Yun Ce's eyes even stronger.

When it's with others, it can carry them all over the world, but when it comes to me, it squeals when I step on it. It seems to be just like the Dog Skin King, another useless one.

Shehuo is like a cold and kind young lady. She only cares about doing what she likes to do, and she doesn't care how the bird is raised after she's done it.

The chestnut horse is clearly unrideable now, so if Yun Ce wants to return to Yun Clan Manor, he can only rely on his own two feet.

The Qingshui River was never a benevolent river. It carved its way from the Qingshui Plateau to the plains north of the Great Wall, where its lazy nature suddenly took hold. It no longer forcefully carved through the mountains, preferring to detour around the highlands and lengthen its journey to the East China Sea, rather than showing its violent side.

Therefore, the Qingshui River has countless bends here, accumulating a lot of water. Once the snow and ice upstream melt, or there is heavy rain, the plains north of the Great Wall become a waterlogged area.

The riverbanks are lined with only low saplings or trees with thick trunks but little crown. They grow like this not because they want to, but because the Qingshui River simply doesn't give them a chance to grow taller or bigger. As soon as these trees show even the slightest desire to grow, the Qingshui River floods.

"Caw, croak, croak!" The fledgling bird that was stumbling along beside Yun Ce's legs suddenly cried out fiercely at a thick tree trunk in the distance that had only four or five branches.

The dog then said in Yun Ce's head, "Yu Sang is inside that hollow tree trunk."

As Yun Ce prepared to change course, the dog's tentacles suddenly appeared. At the tip of the tentacles, the firework was emitting a soft glow, which quickly formed a shield that enveloped Yun Ce and the chestnut horse. As for the useless bird, it was not within the firework's range.

This must be the young lady of the Shehuo (a type of folk performance), who doesn't like such disgusting things on her territory and intends to get rid of them.

"Alright, alright." Yun Ce was still unwilling to go, but he was enveloped by the light shield and moved step by step toward the old tree stump.

The hole in the tree stump wasn't deep enough, so Yu Sang's upper body leaned against the hole wall while her legs were spread out outside.

When Yun Ce saw Yu Sang, his skin looked like it was melting, his nose drooped weakly at his mouth, his lips drooped on his chin, his eyelids covered his eyes, and his hands looked like they were wearing an oversized pair of human skin gloves.

Originally, he only had a few gray hairs at his temples, but now only a hundred or so stubbornly grow on his bald head covered with black spots, hanging long down in front of his chest. It must be his last bit of pride.

Yu Sang raised her hand, lifted her drooping eyelids, glanced at Yun Ce, and then touched her lips with her hand, saying, "Did I fall for your trap?"

Yun Ce always held the old man in high esteem, and quickly replied, "No."

Yu Sang then asked, "Do you know why I've become like this?"

Yun Ce continued to shake his head and said, "Senior, a master, a master naturally has a way of dying."

Yu Sang sighed, and then two bloody teeth fell out. He continued without caring about the consequences, "The Gui Fang people will soon leave the barren plateau and return to live on the fertile plains. It was originally a long-awaited good thing, but now it seems that with you scum around, the Gui Fang people will have a lot of trouble after leaving the plateau."

"Yun Ce, I should have killed you the moment I saw you." Yun Ce then sighed and said, "Senior, you shouldn't say any more, or you'll lose all your teeth. Actually, the Guifang people live on the plateau, and the Han people live on the plains. This is already a very good arrangement. Senior, why aren't you satisfied?"

Perhaps feeling that he was doomed, Yu Sang was very eager to talk. Even though Yun Ce was spouting nonsense, he still chimed in, "If we don't go down to the plains, we will perish."

Yun Ce said in surprise, "You have lived on the plateau for thousands of years, you should be used to the climate there by now."

Yu Sang could no longer express her laughter with facial expressions. She squeezed out a string of laughter with difficulty from her throat, and then said to Yun Ce, "The hardships we have experienced, you Han people will also experience, and you will experience none of them less."

Yun Ce looked at the dog with disdain as it extended its tentacles out of the light shield and plunged them into Yu Sang's body. He couldn't understand what could be squeezed out of a person who was already melting from the radiation source.

Yu Sang looked down at the tentacles that the dog had pierced into his body, and said with a hint of regret, "Is this some kind of underhanded tactic you use?"

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "No, it's just checking your body to see if it can save you."

Yu Sang lowered her raised eyelids and chin, and said indistinctly, "Lies are really tempting. You always say that we Gui Fang people are the greatest evil in the world, but actually you are the real evil."

"Ever since you arrived here on dragons from your ancestral land, calamity has befallen this land."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "It was we who brought civilization to you, freeing you from the state of beasts, and letting you know what pain, humiliation, and unforgettable suffering are."

"Hehehe, you're absolutely right. You consider yourselves superior to the Guifang people. But when you encounter another group that considers itself superior to you, and you're being tormented by them, don't complain."

Furthermore, these two tubes of yours are stealing my inner energy! Hahaha, I'd rather die than give them back to you!

Upon hearing Yu Sang's words, Yun Ce immediately dragged his chestnut horse and retreated quickly. Under normal circumstances, a martial arts master who said such a thing would usually self-destruct.

Yu Sang's body did indeed swell slightly, but it quickly deflated and turned into a puddle of mud. Through some broken parts, Yun Ce could see Yu Sang's bones, which were emitting a faint green light. Even in broad daylight, this green light was as beautiful as jade.

The firework landed on the muddy ground and burned fiercely. Gouzi put his exposed tentacles into the tree hole, hoping the firework would neutralize the radiation.

Eliminating radiation is a slow process, so Yun Ce led the chestnut horse to the riverbank. The fledgling eagle also hopped over. Yun Ce said to the dog, "Before I came to the Great Han, I had a conversation with a dragon. At that time, it said that I was a blade of grass and it was a towering tree. The towering tree would not care about the life or death of the blade of grass."

I asked it if there was anything stronger than itself, something that could treat even towering trees like blades of grass and bully them.

I remember it saying at the time—yes.

Now, I've heard this topic again from Yu Sang, and from his words I've learned that the Gui Fang people are not without crisis as we imagined. They have to come down from the Qingshui Plateau. What do you think that means?

Or is there another powerful adversary lurking behind them, threatening their very existence?

The dog said leisurely, "Human words are trustworthy, but they are also the least trustworthy. If there is no real information to support them, you can just treat them all as nonsense."

One conclusion you can draw from history is that the demise of an era, a people, or even a civilization takes a considerable amount of time. While this timeframe is short for a planet, it can be a very long period of time for a person.

"You mean, live in the present moment?"

"If you don't live in the present, when will you live? In the past or in the future? Whether it's what Ao Bing said or what Yu Sang said, you can comfort yourself with a quote from Confucius."

"What?"

“Respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance.”

"That means living in the moment."

"That's right. Your lifespan is only a hundred years. You're powerful now, maybe you'll live for several hundred years, but so what? Compared to something eternal, you're just a mayfly, born in the morning and dying at night. Even if you live for several hundred years, you're at most an existence that 'cannot be discussed with ice in summer.'"

　Chapter One Presented

　　
　
(End of this chapter)