Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 228 Perfection Through Refinement
Yun Ce slept soundly that night. He wasn't worried about an enemy attack not only because he had a dog on guard, but also because there were seven other people around him who hadn't slept all night.

As dawn broke, Yun Ce woke up on his own, checked the chain on the chain hammer, checked the bowstring, and even pulled the saber tucked under his ribs.

There's no need to check the chestnut horse; this guy hasn't had a bath in days, and with all the time spent wandering around the coal mining area, it's long since turned from chestnut to black.

Zhao Qi came to Yun Ce's side and said, "The enemy has at least three hundred cavalry."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "You won't blame me for not letting you leave on horseback last night, will you?"

Zhao Qi shook his head and said, "Last night was a moonlit night, and the earth was pitch black. We are not familiar with the roads here, and riding horses at night would be suicidal."

Yun Ce smiled and placed his hands on his shoulders, saying, "You are a very good leader, but not yet. In the future, before doing anything, you must know yourself and your enemy in order to win every battle."

Do not be reckless. Strategically, you must despise the enemy; tactically, you must take them seriously and not give them any opportunity to exploit.

As he spoke, Yun Ce took out a copy of "The Art of War" from his pocket and patted it on Zhao Qi's chest, continuing to laugh: "Study this book thoroughly, develop your own opinions, and for a long time to come, we Han people will be in a war environment, and we will need you to become a very good general."

Zhao Qi, clutching his books, exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Liu, what are you doing?"

Yun Ce laughed and said, "You are not ready for battle yet, so this battle belongs to me alone. I will charge from the front, and you can take the opportunity to leave. Do not return to Tiewei Pass, but go straight back to Luoyang."

"Once you're ready for battle, come find your Brother Liu in the North, and we'll fight side by side again."

"No, Brother Liu, I saw that there are Mad Bull Knights in the enemy's army. If you charge in like this, you'll be asking for death."

"You'll only know if you're courting death after you fight. The Japanese 'Mad Bull Knights' aren't invincible either. Get ready. When I'm entangled with the enemy, that's when you should leave. Remember, there might be enemies on the way back to Tiewei Pass. Go straight back to Luoyang."

He punched Zhao Qi in the chest again and said, "Don't let my sacrifice be meaningless."

After saying that, Yun Ce raised his hand and tapped the little girl's nose, saying, "Go back and get married. Your fiancé is quite good."

He then said to the woman in leather armor, "Protect yourself, and protect them too."

Before anyone could react, Yun Ce jumped onto the dirty chestnut horse. Without being urged, the horse strode briskly towards the Ghost Fang cavalry that had emerged from the darkness.

Zhao Qi was wrong. There were indeed Mad Bull Knights in the Ghost Fang army, but not one, but three. In the morning mist, the Mad Bull's mountain-like body gradually appeared, and each time its heavy hooves stomped on the ground, it made a dull thud.

The riders on the raging bull were as strong as mountains, and their weapons were exceptionally large, long, and heavy.

Behind them, three squads of a hundred men followed closely behind the Mad Bull Knight. Although their advance was not very fast, they were able to exert tremendous pressure on the enemy.

"These are the Japanese soldiers?"

The little girl swallowed hard and asked Zhao Qi in confusion.

Zhao Qi sighed and said, "We were too presumptuous..."

"But, but, Brother Liu..."

As Zhao Qi watched Yun Ce's horse speed increase and charge resolutely towards the enemy formation, tears welled in his eyes, and he choked out the order: "Once Brother Liu breaks into the enemy formation, that will be the time for us to break out to the south."

The chestnut horse moved with the lightness of a falling leaf, the dog's tentacles were already outstretched and waving excitedly, and Yun Ce had already swung his meteor hammer, ready to deliver a fatal blow.

"Oh, those poor fools must have been moved to tears by your actions, right?"

“They are good kids, though a bit reckless. With proper guidance, they will grow into the most steadfast warriors of the Han Dynasty. This is my reward for their courage.”

Yun Ce's meteor hammer slammed heavily onto the head of the mad bull in the middle. With one blow, the bull's horns flew off. The mad bull knight, who was hiding behind the horns, didn't have time to raise his heavy mace before another meteor hammer flew over and hit his left shoulder. The force of this blow was so great that it easily shattered his left shoulder along with his heavy armor.

The dog let out a strange howl inside Yun Ce's head, and four silver tentacles pierced through the wound on the Mad Bull Knight's shoulder.

The mad bull, its head already smashed open and its eyeballs blown out, bellowed and charged at the mad bull on its left. The rider on the mad bull was shocked and tried to avoid the collision, but the mad bull's massive body collided with the charging mad bull. The two giant beasts veered off course and charged into the Japanese wildebeest procession, causing chaos and disarray among the riders and horses.

At this moment, Yun Ce's meteor hammer crashed down on the Mad Bull Knight on the right with the force of a dark cloud. The Mad Bull Knight raised his shield to meet it, but the moment the meteor hammer struck the giant shield, the shield shattered, and the Mad Bull Knight's left arm, which had been holding the shield, went limp and fell to his side. "Awooo—"

Yun Ce's furious roar echoed across the battlefield. Zhao Qi, who was galloping wildly while clutching the saddle, felt a burning sensation in his nostrils, and two streams of blood gushed out, staining his hands holding the reins red. He turned back and roared at the chaotic battlefield, then lashed his whip across the rump of the little girl's warhorse, whose eyes were filled with tears and whose speed had already slowed down.

He cried out in despair, "Let's go! Don't let Brother Liu die in vain!"

The little girl burst into tears, then clung tightly to the galloping warhorse, continuing to race alongside the column.

"Click".

Hearing the sound of the meteor hammer smashing his skull, Yun Ce was extremely satisfied. As long as he didn't encounter Yu Sang or Shen Tingyu who could be resurrected on the battlefield, Yun Ce felt that the battlefield was the most comfortable place he had ever been.

No need to consider anything else, no need to think about anything, just fight with all your might. Pure slaughter, pure savagery, pure release of wildness—this is the place in the world that makes men feel the freest.

The dog's inhalation speed also reached its peak. In just seven or eight breaths, the body of the first Mad Bull Knight killed by Yun Ce deflated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Before the dog could finish sucking, it released the mad bull rider, and his body fell off the mad bull, where he was trampled into a bloody pulp by the chaotic hooves of the horse and the bull.

The chestnut horse was as fast as lightning, weaving back and forth through the army formation. Its meteor hammer was like the scythe of death, and wherever it landed, there would be dead and wounded.

The Mad Bull Knight finally had a chance to go berserk. He pounded his chest twice, spitting out a mouthful of pale red blood mist. His wide armor was immediately filled with muscles, and his arms, now half again as thick as before, wielded a huge spiked club and swept it towards where Yun Ce was.

The chestnut horse was so clever; as soon as it sensed that something was wrong with the ox beside it, it immediately carried Yun Ce away. The wildebeest cavalry that had just filled the space where Yun Ce was were swept away by the sweeping attack in his place.

Yun Ce ducked to avoid the flying Ghost Fang cavalry, his meteor hammer making a sharp turn in mid-air before striking the Mad Bull Knight directly on the back of the head.

The Mad Bull Knight looked imposing, but in reality, it was all due to his intelligence and quick reflexes that he achieved a sudden surge in combat power. Even though he could have easily dodged Yun Ce's meteor hammer by simply lowering his head, he insisted on using his spiked club to smash the flying hammer down.

Under Yun Ce's conscious guidance, the Mad Bull Knight killed even more Ghost Fang cavalry than Yun Ce himself.

Another bull rider finally calmed down the two bulls that were violently colliding with each other. One of them fell to the ground and couldn't get up, while the other bull only calmed down after being trampled by its hooves a dozen times.

"Cavalry, listen to my command and withdraw from the battlefield."

The cavalrymen who were dodging attacks from both the Mad Bull Knights and Yun Ce finally breathed a sigh of relief and spurred their horses away from the chaotic battlefield.

"To be able to kill the Mad Bull Knight Black Mountain in a single encounter, you are no nobody. State your name!"

Yun Ce dodged the spiked club that was thrown at him, and looked at the bearded man standing on the ox's back, saying, "Liu Chang'an, my name is Liu Chang'an, prepare to die!"

The meteor hammer bounced up again, swinging in a wide arc towards the bearded knight with his sword across the bull's back. This guy hadn't gone berserk yet, which was probably the biggest mistake of his life.

The meteor hammer seemed slow, but it vanished halfway through its flight, appearing in the ribs of the mad bull knight in the next instant. The bearded knight quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the meteor hammer, but not the spikes on it. With a tearing sound, the spikes slashed across his back, ripping his armor and leaving two deep, bone-revealing gashes.

Yun Ce laughed heartily, and as the meteor hammer returned to his hand along the trajectory controlled by the chain, he once again swung the meteor hammer that had been ready to be used for a long time.

As for the berserk bull rider behind him, the chestnut horse naturally dodged him with agile movements.

The bearded knight screamed and collapsed onto the back of the mad bull. As another meteor hammer from Yun Ce came crashing down, he barely managed to raise his broadsword to block it in front of his chest.

The hammer struck the blade without any fancy moves, and the violent impact almost sent the bearded mad bull knight flying off the bull's back. Before he could even settle down, he felt as if four fire tongs had been inserted into the wound on his back. The pain made him roar again, and he immediately entered a berserk state.

The dog sucked away with gusto, noticing that after the knight went berserk, its sucking speed more than doubled.

Yun Ce and his chestnut horse circled around the knight who had fallen onto the back of the mad bull, while another mad bull knight was hot on their heels. After chasing him for two laps, this guy could no longer suppress the violent killing intent in his chest, and his spiked club struck the bearded knight on the head, smashing his head off.

The dog reluctantly pulled its tentacles back from the dead man and said to Yun Ce in a bad mood, "We have to take our time and not waste a single bit of these."

(End of this chapter)