Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 248 Can the Shehuo (a type of folk performance) devour each other?
Staying at a hotel and becoming the hotel owner was a first for Yun Ce.

This is mainly thanks to the fact that the original shopkeeper was a conscientious swindler.

When Yun Ce asked to stay at an inn, the innkeeper, who had been so demanding, asked for fifty taels of gold. Normally, any innkeeper who dared to charge such a price would be prepared to be beaten up.

Unexpectedly, Yun Ce's thinking was different from that of ordinary people. He believed that the fifty taels of gold lost here could definitely be recovered from Han Qi, the governor of Taizhou, so he did not care.

Then the innkeeper left with his staff, leaving the inn to him.

Even Yun Ce, after inexplicably acquiring a property, was bewildered for a while before finally smiling and accepting the reality.

After looking around the front and back courtyards, Yun Ce realized that the inn had probably not had any guests for a long time.

He opened the door again and stood outside the inn looking at the surrounding environment. Although this was not the main street of Taizhou City, it was only a hundred meters away from the main street. It was a major street among the auxiliary streets. From here, he could see the tall city wall of the city lord's mansion. Looking to the other side, he was only three hundred meters away from Jia Street, the largest street in Taizhou.

The governor's office is right across from Jia Street. Whether you're here on business or a merchant caravan, this inn is a great choice for you. Why haven't there been any guests here for so long? And why did the innkeeper have to resort to extortion to extort money from him?

Although he still didn't understand the reason, Yun Ce returned to the inn, closed the door, and prepared to get himself some food.

The chestnut horse also curiously explored the inn. After meeting up with Yun Ce in the front yard, the chestnut horse took over the entire front yard on its own. This was mainly because the area was more spacious and had few obstacles, unlike the back yard, which was divided into many small courtyards and was not suitable for its activities.

The inn had fodder readily available, and Yun Ce also cooked a pot of beans for the chestnut horse, which solved the horse's dinner problem.

He cooked a pot of noodles for himself, poured in the previously stir-fried vegetables, and ate it with the broth.

After finishing his meal, Yun Ce took his chestnut horse for a stroll in the front yard for a while, then found a relatively clean room, laid out the bedding he had brought, and went to sleep.

Killing a prefect was not too difficult for Yun Ce. So far, he had already killed two prefects. One of them had blocked the road and asked for his own death on a stormy night, and the other had tried to escape with the Yunzhou folk performance on a rainy night. These two deserved to die. Now, he should also add Han Qi, the prefect of Taizhou.

Yun Ce's determination to kill Han Qi was made long ago, when Han Qi abandoned the northern defense line and set his sights on the west.

This has nothing to do with whether Han Qi is good or bad. Yun Ce only knows that he easily abandoned the northern defense line, which is obviously a case of letting the wolf into the house. Since he has such behavior, he deserves to die.

The moonlight was poor tonight; the crescent moon offered little light to the earth. Only after the crescent moon had completely set did Yun Ce bid farewell to his chestnut horse and quietly leave.

Han Qi, the prefect of Taizhou, lived in the city lord's mansion. Before, he was just the prefect, not the city lord of Taizhou. Later, after he killed the city lord of Taizhou, he moved into the city lord's mansion.

The city lord's mansions in the Han Dynasty all followed the same layout and had similar designs. The left side was usually the academy, the right side was the temple, and the city lord's mansion was in the middle.

Today, the Shehuo performance gave Yun Ce a strong hint: he should go and see the Shehuo Temple in Taizhou.

The Shehuo (a type of folk performance) cannot be moved except on the Spring Festival. It is something that cannot be extinguished by water or smothered by earth. Apart from the Spring Festival, there are only a few Taoist priests guarding the Shehuo in the Shehuo Hall, and no other guards.

After scaling the city wall of the city lord's mansion, Yun Ce glanced at the mansion, which was only lit by candlelight, and then flew towards the Shehuo Hall on the left.

Before even getting close to the Shehuo Hall, Yun Ce felt his wristband start to get hot. Looking down, he saw that Shehuo was trying to break free from the Dragon Ball's restraints and was preparing to jump out.

Yun Ce took out the Shehuo from the Dragon Ball, and the thing landed on Yun Ce's shoulder. It probably knew that Yun Ce was doing something thieving, so it deliberately turned the candle flame into a tiny spark, and the color was very dim.

Landing on the sand in front of the Shehuo Hall, I looked up and saw the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance) burning brightly inside.

Before Yun Ce could make a move, the tiny spark on his shoulder whooshed straight into the blazing fire.

Yun Ce witnessed Taizhou Shehuo react as if it had been bitten by a dog, first dodging around, then becoming enraged, transforming into a bright yellow flame that tightly enveloped Yun Ce's candle flame, making a whooshing sound.

The "whooshing" sound initially only occurred inside the Shehuo Hall, but after a moment, the "whooshing" sound rang out from above the Shehuo Hall. With the help of the scattered spots of light coming from inside the Shehuo Hall, Yun Ce saw a whirlwind appear above the Shehuo Hall.

The whooshing sound startled the Taoist priests in the Shehuo Hall. They rushed over from all directions, but were bewildered by the sudden change in weather. The Shehuo in the hall was raging, a fact that every Taoist priest could clearly sense. Even Yun Ce, who was hiding in a tree, could also perceive the anger of the Taizhou Shehuo.

After the bright yellow flames exploded with a "bang," countless sparks scattered throughout the Shehuo Hall. Yun Ce could see clearly that one spark was devouring other sparks, while the Taizhou Shehuo in the fire pit swayed angrily, unable to leave the fire pit beneath its feet, allowing the little thief to devour all the scattered sparks.

The scattered sparks disappeared one by one, and that tiny spark once again embraced the Taizhou folk performance.

Although Yun Ce couldn't see the sky when he looked up, he could still feel the dark clouds gathering. The trees, which had only been a little chilly before, suddenly felt an overwhelming coldness pressing down from the sky. "Mid-Autumn Snow!"

A Taoist priest reached out and scooped up an unusually large snowflake, then cried out in a trembling voice.

As the words fell, the snow in the sky became more and more abundant and denser. Snowflakes the size of green coins fell continuously from the sky. At first, they drifted horizontally, but soon the snowflakes became heavier and fell vertically from the sky like knives.

The Taoist priests began chanting scriptures around the firework display. The sound of their chanting carried far into the cold night, giving people a strange sense of peace. However, when this feeling fell on Yun Ce, whose six senses were clear, this sense of peace was like a fishing net hanging down from the sky, with the ability to calm all people and things.

The Taizhou folk performance grew larger again, with flames filling the fire pit and towering pillars of fire even reaching the top of the main hall and spreading outwards.

The flames of the Shehuo (a type of folk performance) passed through the bodies of the Taoist priests without any hindrance, like fiery pythons coiling around the pillars before returning to the fire pit.

The Taoist priests' chanting grew louder and more devout, while the firework in the hearth seemed less energetic than before. Yun Ce could see clearly that the half-tail of the fire dragon that had been there was still on the algae, being swallowed by a tiny spark.

Logically speaking, there should be no thunder when it snows. When snowflakes struck the Shehuo Hall along with bolts of lightning, the metal animal heads and iron tiles made a loud noise after being struck by the lightning, and the lightning bolts snaked along the roof ridge.

The weather has become abnormal, which indicates a problem with the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance). First, there was snow in mid-autumn, and then lightning struck the temple; both of these celestial phenomena are considered ominous.

Yun Ce hid in a tree and soon became a snowman. He watched as the temper of the Taizhou Shehuo people grew more and more volatile, but he still didn't see the Taizhou Prefect Han Qi come to inspect the place.

Just as he was losing patience and preparing to visit the city lord's mansion, he felt a warmth on his wristband and saw a tiny spark slowly disappear into it.

At this moment, the weather changed again. A strong wind rose up, carrying the giant snowflakes that had just fallen into the sky, and then angrily threw them down. Taking advantage of the wind, Yun Ce sprang up from the tree, was pushed by the wind, flew over the high wall, and then slid down the city wall, avoiding the soldiers patrolling the city at night, and safely returned to his inn.

"We'll go to the Shehuo performance tomorrow night."

As soon as we got back to the house, Gouzi hurriedly said...

Yun Ce hurriedly closed the door and asked, "Is it devouring?"

The dog said, "I don't know. When it came back, it was like it was fast asleep, it didn't react at all."

"How do you know the Shehuo performance is still going tomorrow night?"

"I could tell from the changes in the shape of the flames."

"Actually, I saw the Shehuo devour the Taizhou Shehuo twice, twice. Doggy, do you think it's possible that it's because our Shehuo is more advanced, and it can devour lower-level Shehuo, just like how the Ancestral Fire has absolute control over other Shehuo?"

After pondering for a long time, Gouzi slowly said, "We need more data to support this claim. Let's see tomorrow night. If it still goes to the Shehuo Hall, then we'll basically know the answer."

Seeing that even the dog couldn't give a definite answer, Yun Ce took off his clothes and went back to bed.

When it got light, I opened the window and saw a vast expanse of white outside. My chestnut horse was playing in the snow in the yard, getting its mouth and face covered in snowflakes.

Yun Ce let it stick its big head through the window and wipe its mouth and face. The sky was still gloomy, and Yun Ce felt that Taizhou Shehuo must be in a very bad mood.

Early in the morning, Yun Ce was busy cooking beans for Zao Hong Ma when he heard someone banging on the door of the inn. Yun Ce frowned, put down his spoon, told Zao Hong Ma to watch the pot of beans, and went to the front yard to open the door.

As soon as the latch was loosened, the two large doors were violently kicked open. The person who kicked the doors saw that it was Yun Ce who opened the doors, paused for a moment, and then reached out and said, "Thirty taels of gold, give it to me."

Yun Ce asked, puzzled, "When have I ever owed you any gold?"

The burly man who had kicked the door aside, and Yun Ce saw a group of soldiers in armor standing outside.

The leading officer glanced at Yun Ce's attire and said in a gentle voice, "On His Majesty's wedding day, merchants of medium to high status in Taizhou will present a gift of thirty taels of gold."

Yun Ce spread his hands and said, "What does His Majesty's marriage have to do with us?"

　No tonight, but I'll try again tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)