Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 239 They're all schemers

Yun Ce smiled and accompanied Cao Kun, helping him greet the guests. But as they greeted the guests, Yun Ce sensed something was amiss.

Because there were just too many guests.

Among them were many giants over two meters tall. These men walked with the speed of the wind and swung their arms powerfully. Even though they were very careful, they still gave people the feeling of being reckless and unruly.

If these people wore armor, they would look like human tanks.

Yun Ce felt that this was a group of dangerous people, but Cao Kun smiled and not only held their hands and chatted with them, but also had Cao Ling, who was following behind them, lead them one by one to the banquet hall in the back courtyard, which best demonstrated their intimacy.

After another group of burly men of this size were taken away by Cao Ling, Cao Kun said to Yun Ce, "This is the Tiger Legion of the He Tian family."

Yun Ce pointed to his head and said, "Didn't you say..."

Taking advantage of a lull in the customers, Cao Kun sneered, "How many people do you think would drive a nail into their head for a paltry sum of money?"

"Therefore, the Tiger Army of the Hetian family is actually problematic."

Cao Kun continued with a cold laugh: "He Tian has used every means to coerce and entice us. This kind of treacherous and cunning beast is just right for us young tigers to sharpen our teeth."

"I see, these are the people who don't want to join He Tianhu's army, right?"

Cao Kun laughed and said, "If it were Yu'er, what merit would I have to bring these true elite warriors under my command?"

"So, today, the main thing isn't the engagement, but rather recruiting these Tiger Legion soldiers who haven't been driven into their heads yet? He Tian is worried about these people betraying him, so he's driving the nails into their heads. Aren't you worried about that too?"

Cao Kun looked at Yun Ce strangely and said, "Why should I worry? It was He Tian who cruelly trained them, He Tian who tortured them with poison, and He Tian who finally drove nails into their heads."

He Tian knew that doing so would cause a mutiny, which is why he used the secret methods of the Beast Guard to turn them into mindless suicide soldiers. I don't need that. I give them money so they can settle their families. I treat them as human beings, equip them with the best armor and weapons, and give them the best money and food the army can provide.

Most importantly, I won't drive nails into their heads. It's only natural for them to fight for me, so of course I'm not worried about them mutinying.

You know what? This idea of ​​mine actually came from you.

"On me?"

"That's right. People say that Thunder Smoke Beasts are wild and difficult to tame. The people in the Beast Control Bureau have even come up with a method to drive nails into the Thunder Smoke Beasts' brains to ensure their loyalty."

I used to think so too, but then I saw the Thunder Smoke Beast you were riding. It was clearly more majestic and intelligent than ordinary Thunder Smoke Beasts. Not only was it lively, it also had a divine aura.

After asking you, I learned that your Thunder Smoke Beast did not use the secret techniques of the Beast Guardian at all.

It was from that time that I realized that Thunder Smoke Beasts did not necessarily require the Beast Control Secret Technique to guarantee their loyalty.

So I thought of the Tiger Legion under He Tian's command. Their fate was the same as that of the Thunder Smoke Beasts. Since your Thunder Smoke Beasts can be guaranteed to be loyal without the Beast Control Secret Technique, what about those Tiger Legion soldiers who have just been trained and have not yet gone through the final procedures?

As you've seen, that's the result.

Seeing seven or eight more burly men, looking travel-worn, approaching, Cao Kun grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. He stepped forward to greet them, his hands already outstretched, as if eagerly awaiting their arrival.

Yun Ce watched Cao Kun's performance from the side, praising him repeatedly. Some people are born leaders, born masters of manipulating people's hearts. There's really nothing to criticize or be jealous of when such people succeed.

As more burly men entered Cao Kun's city lord's mansion, Cao Kun triumphantly gestured with his fingers to form the number eight.

"Oh, so it's reached 800?"

"Hehehe, He Tian only has three thousand Tiger Warriors."

"congratulations."

"There's nothing to congratulate me on. Wait until I take Lingzhou and hang He Tian and Tan Shou on the flagpole to dry in the wind, then you can congratulate me."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "When I entered the city, I was worried that you would serve me a dish made from Tan Shou's corpse."

Cao Kun then laughed and said, "Brother Yun, don't you think that feasting on the flesh of the feudal lords is the kind of heroic spirit we should have?"

Yun Ce grinned and said, "I don't eat human flesh, and I won't eat it even if you make it into something fancy. Forget it, you do it."

Cao Kun looked at Yun Ce and shook his head, saying, "After all, you left Chang'an at a young age and left the environment you should have lived in. In the wilderness of Chuyun Prefecture, you picked up too many habits that shouldn't belong to our group."

Brother Yun, you need to learn to adapt to things you really dislike, and foods you never eat.

Yun Ce admitted that Cao Kun's words made a lot of sense. If one's character is impure, one's actions cannot be pure either; a person who is impure in both character and actions cannot shoulder great responsibilities. Yun Linchuan had said something similar before, but he meant that one must have faith and be steadfast in one's faith. Once a faith is chosen, one should walk down that path without doubt or retreat. Even if there is no road ahead, one should pave a new one with one's own blood, flesh, and bones.

Only in this way can one live up to the value of their life.

Yun Linchuan's words were a summary and distillation of his long life, and they were very insightful.

Cao Kun's words are still rather scattered, just like what he said last night, "It's not impossible, just bear with it and it will pass," which is very much to Yun Linchuan's liking.

A long procession of carriages drove up from the street. Cao Kun nudged Yun Ce with his shoulder and said, "Go see my Xiao Yu later and praise her a bit. She brought me eight hundred Tiger Warriors."

Yun Ce had killed a lot of people recently, so he was very sensitive to dead people. When the caravan was still 300 meters away from the city lord's mansion gate, he felt very uncomfortable, as if the caravan was lifeless.

Turning to look at Cao Kun, who still looked happy, she nudged him with her shoulder and said, "Something feels off to me."

Cao Kun paused for a moment, then immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"The people in the carriage don't look like living people."

Cao Kun's expression changed drastically, and he quickly said to Cao Ling behind him, "Proceed according to plan."

After seeing Cao Lingchao, Yun Ce made several hand gestures, and soon, a few more people appeared on the walls of the city lord's mansion.

Seeing that Cao Kun was not unprepared, Yun Ce continued to stand smiling beside Cao Kun, waiting to welcome his fiancée.

The man driving the first luxurious carriage was an old man. Cao Kun whispered to Yun Ce, "He is the second steward of the He family. I heard he is a formidable fellow."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "I don't need your help. Have you decided where you want to run off to?"

"Is something really going to happen?"

"Really, I can tell you with certainty now that the first carriage only contained corpses, no living people. The smell of blood was too strong; even a lot of perfume powder couldn't cover it up."

"I need to go see. Can you protect me?"

"They're all dead, and you still want to see them?"

"I just want to confirm whether I've been fooled by that girl He Yu, because that will determine my next step."

Seeing that Cao Kun was already somewhat flustered, he still forced himself to calm down, willing to take risks for the sake of the next step. This made Yun Ce think even more that this guy was a talent.

When the caravan arrived at the city lord's mansion, a group of matchmakers, waving their fans, went to the first carriage to greet Cao Kun's fiancée, He Yu.

The old steward of the He family carried a red wooden tray and walked closely to Cao Kun. He knelt on one knee and raised the tray, saying, "Please, son-in-law, verify the birth chart."

Cao Kun smiled and reached out to take it, but before he could finish, Yun Ce kicked the butler of the He family hard in the head. Cao Kun was startled and quickly withdrew his hand. A gleaming dagger slid past his hand. He was about to continue the attack when Yun Ce's foot came flying at him. The butler had no choice but to drop the wooden tray he was holding and roll away.

"Ah—someone's dead!"

Just then, the matchmaker who had lifted the carriage curtain suddenly let out a high-pitched scream, throwing the once joyous entrance of the city lord's mansion into chaos.

Under the protection of Cao Ling, Cao Kun arrived at the carriage. After lifting the curtain, a look of regret appeared in his eyes. Then, he lowered the curtain and strode towards the city lord's mansion, roaring at Yun Ce, "Brother Yun, help me capture that old thief. I, Cao Kun, will never forget it."

At this point, the situation was quite clear: the wedding party members tore off their outer wedding robes, revealing various armors, and drew weapons from their gift baskets and carriages, rushing towards the Cao family soldiers guarding the city lord's mansion.

Yun Ce never expected that a perfectly good engagement ceremony would turn out like this.

He Yu is dead, and Cao Kun rushed back, which means that the Tiger Warriors who welcomed him in earlier were also problematic. The people at the city lord's mansion are nothing compared to the eight hundred strong men in his own home, who are the real threat.

Cao Kun expressed his gratitude in front of so many people, and Yun Ce felt it would be wrong not to take action. He abandoned his desire to watch the spectacle, formed a claw with one hand, and went straight for the face of the He family steward.

This was an almost insulting way of grappling. The butler of the He family was furious. He held the dagger in his right hand behind his elbow and punched Yun Ce's claws with his left hand.

The fist and claw did not touch. Yun Ce's claw enveloped the steward's fist, and before the steward could dissipate the force, he quickly began to squeeze, crushing the steward's fist with his iron-like claws.

Just as Yun Ce was smilingly pulling the steward closer so that Gouzi could steal the steward's inner energy, this steward, who was strong enough to command a thousand men, unexpectedly turned out to be a ruthless character. He tried to pull back, but found that he couldn't break free from Yun Ce's grasp. So he roared and took the opportunity to swipe back with his right hand, actually severing his own left hand at the wrist.

Yun Ce tossed away his left hand, which had been squeezed raw, and continued to approach, saying, "You owe me a favor, and you can't escape it today."

　and also

　　
　
(End of this chapter)