Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 258 The Boy Wearing a Red Triangular Scarf

When the sky collapses, the earth will surely sink; when the world falls apart, propriety and music will surely perish; when chaos arrives, it is a time of revelry for the wicked and a graveyard for the virtuous.

The above are famous quotes from Ou Jinshu, a great Confucian scholar from Luoyang.

Yun Ce was still rushing home across the wasteland when Ou Jinshu's famous saying had already spread throughout the entire Han Dynasty.

If Yun Ce knew this, he would definitely agree, because on his three thousand miles home, he didn't meet a single good person, and even a bear spirit wanted to eat his flesh.

It wasn't until the chestnut horse brought him onto the Yun Clan Plain that he looked up at the sky. The red sun hung high in the sky, the wind was clear and the air was fresh. Even though it was already deep winter, the cold did not seem to have begun to rage. The wind blew the wild grass down, and there was still a bit of warmth left.

Upon entering the Yun Clan Plain, which Yun Ce himself named, Yun Ce immediately sensed the atmosphere of war. Similarly, the chestnut horse sensed it even earlier than him, and without being urged, it galloped wildly toward the source of the bloody scent.

The ferocious beast chained to the iron chain was dead. Not only was its body riddled with arrows, but its enormous head had also been smashed beyond recognition by heavy weapons. The beast's two most famous fangs had also been pulled out, leaving only two bloody holes.

Yun Ce's heart leaped into his throat. The ferocious beast was not a beast that ordinary people could defeat. Even if it was chained up and lost most of its mobility, with only its sharp claws and a mouthful of steel teeth, even if a hundred men came, they might not be able to kill it easily.

With just a glance, Yun Ce had already determined that the weapon used to kill the ferocious beast must have been a heavy hammer, and the person's martial prowess must have surpassed that of an ordinary centurion.

Sensing Yun Ce's anxious mood, the chestnut horse galloped at full speed.

When they were still twenty miles from Yun Clan Manor, Yun Ce slowed down his horse. From there, all the way to Yun Clan Manor at the end of the land, the road was lined with wooden poles, each with a person stuck in it.

Although Yun Ce couldn't recognize all 60,000-plus people in the Yun Clan Manor, judging from the clothing of these prisoners, they were not from the manor.

A sharpened wooden stick was inserted into the anus, and it hasn't come out of the mouth yet, indicating that these people have been tortured for no more than half a day.

Yun Ce looked up and saw two people standing face to face every five steps on both sides of the road. This was actually a clever move. The person being tortured could not see his own miserable state, but he could see his companion being tortured on the other side of the road. In this way, the pain of his companion being tortured was inflicted on him, causing him to suffer double the torment.

The closer you get to the village, the more lifelike the people stuck in the wooden sticks become. When you're less than two miles from the village, those people stuck in the sticks can still let out screams.

When Yun Ce arrived at the entrance of the village, he found that the barricades and fortifications had already been erected.

Chu, the head of the Yun family's guards, was already waiting at the door to help Yun Ce dismount.

Then Yun Ce said, "The enemy is coming?"

Chu bowed and said, "They've already been driven away."

Yun Ce looked at Chu Yi and asked, "They've already been driven away?"

Chu hurriedly replied, "The lady's eagle spotted the enemy attack in advance and ordered Qin Shu, the garrison commander of Jingkou Pass, to drive the enemy away."

"Aren't the ladies at Jin Suo Guan?"

"The eagle flew to Jin Suo Guan to tell the lady."

"Can eagles talk?"

"I don't know, Madam didn't say. Right now, Madam is still at Jin Suo Guan, and the Second Madam is at the estate."

Yun Ce knew he couldn't get anywhere by asking Chu. Chu was an idiot, the kind of person who only moved when prodded. Expecting him to explain things clearly was like asking a blind man for directions.

When Yun Ce entered the manor, the atmosphere there was so tense it was almost on fire. But when people saw the manor lord appear, the men who were holding weapons put them down, and the women who were hiding in the houses came out and bowed to Yun Ce.

"Just do what you're supposed to do."

Yun Ce gave a casual instruction and then entered the manor.

Upon entering the hall, Qin Shu saw Zhang Min, dressed in armor and looking rather strange, saying to him, "The enemy suffered a defeat once, but without any serious injury. They will surely come to invade again."

I suggested that since they had retreated to the river network area, we should use the ditches there to divide their forces and then eliminate them one by one with bombs.

Qin Shu shook his head and said, "That's not appropriate. The first time we used cavalry to launch a surprise attack, we caught them off guard and burned their supplies."

In that case, I believe we should continue to utilize the cavalry's familiarity with the terrain to wear them down in the river network. Now that it's the dead of winter, Madam can request another blizzard from the local community to freeze them to death in the river network.”

He Qingfang said, "No, no, the five hundred cavalry cannot leave Jingkou Pass for too long. We must defeat this enemy force as soon as possible to ensure the safety of the manor and Jingkou Pass. It will not be too late to kill these people after the general returns."

Zhang Min was about to continue speaking when she saw Yun Ce walk in from outside. She immediately said happily, "Husband."

Yun Ce sized up the pregnant woman in armor and frowned, saying, "Take off your armor, aren't you afraid of crushing the baby?"

Zhang Min hugged Yun Ce's arm and said, "A group of bandits who looked like an army came. They initially asked the manor for a thousand carts of grain, but we disagreed. So they reduced the amount of grain they asked for to five hundred carts."

We still disagreed, but they said they only needed three hundred carts. Seeing how weak the enemy was, Qin Shu led his cavalry in a surprise attack. Those men were no match for the cavalry and fled in disarray.

Qin Shu suspected these men were trying to lure the cavalry away so he could launch a surprise attack on the village, so he let them leave, only capturing some prisoners.

"No bombs were used?" Yun Ce looked at Qin Shu.

Qin Shu stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Reporting to the general, bombs are our army's specialty. Mere bandits are not enough to warrant our use of bombs."

Yun Ce looked at He Qingfang and asked, "Have you figured out who the enemy is?" He Qingfang replied, "The former Great Wall Guards, unwilling to submit to the new master, voluntarily made a living by plundering north of the Great Wall. This time, for some reason, they have set their sights on us. I believe there must be a mastermind behind this."

Yun Ce sat in the main seat, took a sip of the tea Zhang Min handed him, and said to Qin Shu, "Go back to Jingkou Pass. I'm enough for you here."

Qin Shu sighed and said, "General, the Yun family manor may not be able to wait for those children to grow up. We need to complete the expansion of our army as soon as possible. Five hundred cavalrymen alone are not enough to protect Xiangcheng, Jingkou Pass, Jinshuo Pass, and the manor."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "Our army should either not be established at all, or once it is established, it should be different from others. To be honest, as things stand now, an army composed of ordinary people will only be a burden, not a strength."

The core military leaders of Taizhou, Haizhou, and Dongzhou were all wiped out in Chang'an by their respective governors. Despite their subsequent desperate efforts to expand their armies and improve their equipment, such an army was utterly powerless against Cao Cao's private troops. When I returned from Haizhou, the governor's body was still hanging on the flagpole.

Seeing that Yun Ce had rejected his suggestion, Qin Shu continued, "General, we need manpower."

Yun Ce said, "Don't we already have thirty-six people?"

Qin Shu looked at Yun Ce and said, "Too little."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "That's enough. Let's not talk about this anymore. You should go back to Jingkou Pass as soon as possible, lest you fall for their trick of luring you away from the mountain."

Seeing that Yun Ce wouldn't listen to his advice, Qin Shu sighed, bowed, and left.

When only he and Zhang Min were left in the room, Zhang Min hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Qin Shu's words are quite mature and strategic for governing the country. My husband shouldn't treat him so poorly."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "To be honest, I don't even want those five hundred cavalrymen."

"What if my husband is not here next time, and bandits attack again?"

Yun Ce said, "Aren't there still bombs?"

Zhang Min said, "Bombs can be used at will? Besides, even if we had bombs, we probably couldn't beat those bandits with the people in our village."

Yun Ce sighed and said, "Having such a deadly weapon, yet unable to protect oneself, being robbed and enslaved, serves them right. Alright. Gather those thirty-six children; they will accompany me on the expedition tomorrow."

Zhang Min said in surprise, "They are still young."

Yun Ce coldly said, "They're all martial artists who have mastered Qi cultivation; all they need to do is throw bombs."

"Tomorrow I will accompany my husband on his expedition."

Yun Ce placed his hand on Zhang Min's swollen belly and said, "No need, just wait for news at home."

Zhang Min sighed and went out to prepare food for Yun Ce.

At dawn, when Yun Ce emerged from the manor, fully armored, thirty-six young men, also dressed in smaller armor, were already standing at the gate, leading large horned horses and waiting for him to appear.

Zhang Min waited to the side, holding a stack of red silk cloth.

"Thunder, step forward."

With a shout from Yun Ce, a strong boy of thirteen or fourteen years old stepped forward. Yun Ce took a red triangular scarf from Zhang Min, tied it around Lei Ming's neck, and then whispered, "Becoming invincible begins today."

Lei Ming looked at Yun Ce with burning eyes and asked, "General, have we formed an army today?"

Yun Ce smiled and said, "Yes."

Before Lei Ming could ask any more questions, Yun Ce looked at the next boy and said, "Zhang Jiu, step forward!"

Another red triangular scarf was tied around Zhang Jiu's neck. The twelve-year-old boy looked at Yun Ce excitedly, puffing out white breath, and asked, "General, can we fight the enemy now?"

Yun Ce replied with a smile, "Starting from today."

Zhang Jiu hesitated for a moment and said, "General, I want to stay in the army from now on."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "Okay."

"Wang Shuang, step forward!"

"Sun Zhe, step forward!"

"Lin Yue, step forward!"

Thirty-six calls to step forward, thirty-six calls to respond, thirty-six red triangular scarves...

As Yun Ce, who also wore a red triangular scarf around his neck, led thirty-six young men and women away from the manor and galloped toward the river network area, they watched as he left the manor.

Zhang Min knelt down, placed her hands on her forehead, and slowly kowtowed.

Although she didn't know what those red triangular scarves represented, she knew very well that her husband was finally getting anxious. He seemed unwilling to wait any longer or give these children more time to develop.

Now, we want to use the most direct and cruel method to make these children mature as quickly as possible.

(End of this chapter)