Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 28 The Self-Destructive Tendency of the Wise
As the last wild boar fell to the ground, the small beast darted out like lightning. The samurai leader, having run out of bows and arrows, grabbed a bow and arrow from someone else and fired three arrows in quick succession.

The three arrows flew towards the small beast in a triangular formation. The small beast ducked to avoid the arrow aimed at its head, and then twisted its body to dodge the arrow aimed at its waist and back. As for the third arrow, it was powerless to dodge it, and could only increase its forward speed to avoid a vital spot.

It was running a little too slowly, and the arrow hit its tail, severing it by the arrowhead. The little beast let out a miserable cry and climbed up the city wall.

The warrior leader's agility exceeded Yun Ce's expectations. He actually determined the direction the little beast was running away the moment he fired the arrow, turned around and fired another arrow. This time, the arrow hit the little beast's hind leg, and the powerful force penetrated the little beast's hind leg, pinning it firmly to the earthen wall.

The little beast screamed and tried to pull out the arrow with its mouth, but it was too weak and fell limply. The samurai leader pulled it off the wall and put it in a bag.

The wild beasts were all dead, and there were only a few intact guards and crew members left in the caravan. The warrior leader glanced at the horrific battlefield and then stared intently at the people of Hekou Village who had fled far away with fierce eyes.

Yun Ce, who was squatting next to Zhao Jin, nudged Zhao Jin's shoulder with his own and wrote: "Although three sheep carts were burned, a lot of things were left behind, and I think they look like ironware."

Zhao Jin wrote with a gloomy face: "Don't you think the village of Hekou is filled with fragrance these days?"

Yun Ce sniffled and nodded.

"The bodies of those bitten to death by the red beast will turn sweet and emit a fragrance when burned. However, if these bodies are buried in the ground for twenty days, they will rot and the fragrance will turn into a foul stench."

After reading Zhao Jin's words, Yun Ce asked curiously, "Isn't it inevitable that a corpse will rot and stink?"

"Do you know that after those rotting corpses have become smelly, they are dug up, rendered into oil, and made into candles? When lit, they emit a wonderful fragrance that lasts for three days and repels mosquitoes. A single candle made from this oil can sell for ten thousand coins."

Now that the bodies have been burned and the caravan has lost so much money, do you think they'll let us off the hook?

"Use living people or dead people?"

Zhao Jin was already used to Yun Ce's eccentric focus. He sighed and wrote on the wooden tablet: "The blood vessels of the living and the dead are not connected, so the red beasts will not bite them."

"Isn't the government regulating the use of human bodies to make spices?"

Why should the government get involved?

"Human."

"The people in the savage tribe were raised on secret medicines and were waiting to be bitten by the red beasts when they were at their fattest. In the end, their oil was rendered to make candles. The caravans stole those corpses from a savage tribe."

Seeing Zhao Jin's explanation, Yun Ce's gaze towards the warrior leader was no longer cold. He even felt a little guilty. If Zhao Jin had explained earlier that the corpses were goods raised by the savage tribe, he wouldn't have released the wild boars they had caught, nor would he have set fire to their caravan, resulting in only seven or eight of the nearly three hundred caravan members still able to stand.

"Speak clearly next time, don't always leave things unsaid."

After reading Yun Ce's words, Zhao Jin sighed and wrote: "They clearly returned with a full load, so why did they still come to Hekou Village to collect some worthless bark? They just wanted to pin the crime of robbing spices on us, and also make the savages who came chasing after us by the smell of corpses think that we robbed them."

"Is robbing a savage a crime?"

“Robbing a savage is not a crime, but robbing the spice ingredients that a nobleman asked the savage to make is a serious crime.”

Yun Ce looked up again at the warrior leader who was walking over, his gaze returning to its original coldness.

"Next time, you must explain the cause and effect of the matter clearly."

"What do we do now? That guy looks like he's here to kill us."

“He could kill us all by himself, and there are many of us.”

"Back then, Champion Wang killed more than 20,000 people by himself. For a formally appointed official like him, killing a few hundred of our elderly, weak, women and children is nothing."

"Is he a Shangzao Jue?"

"He was wearing a leather hat with a beam."

Yun Ce glanced at the approaching warrior leader again and quickly wrote: "Who is the Champion King? Tell me!"

"Huo Qubing, King Huo!"

Seeing Zhao Jin's writing, Yun Ce's suspicions were finally confirmed. He took out a longbow from E Ji's cloth bag, tied the quiver to his right leg, strung the bow, and stood up to greet the warrior leader who had come from. After taking ten steps forward, he found E Ji standing alone behind him. Of the more than four hundred people in the village, only she had resolutely chosen Yun Ce.

She had never seen Yun Ce shoot an arrow, and she had only seen him fight once, and even then, she hadn't seen it clearly. This time, she was determined to take a good look.

The samurai leader grinned when he saw a boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old walking towards him. The distance wasn't far, and he didn't plan to use his bow and arrow. He intended to stab the little thief who stole his bow and arrow to death with his knife later.

Yun Ce was very good at archery. He used to shoot targets. His greatest hunting achievement was two pheasants and one and a half rabbits. The reason it was only half a rabbit was because he clearly hit the target, but the rabbit ran away and disappeared.

Therefore, he planned to get close and then shoot this man who treated human life like dirt with his bow and arrow.

Although the caravan suffered heavy casualties, the wounded and the few uninjured guards were all busy with their own tasks, not at all surprised that their leader wanted to kill people.

“I’m going to tear you apart. 96%,” said the samurai leader wearing a leather hat.

Yun Ce remained silent. After taking fiftieth steps, he nocked an arrow and drew his bow. He had already stopped walking when the warrior leader's foot touched the ground, and the arrow flew out the instant it landed.

The warrior leader's body also moved slightly at that moment. By the time he regained his balance, the arrow that Yun Ce had shot had already landed in his left hand.

He couldn't bear to lose his arrow, so he held onto it and continued to approach Yun Ce. Yun Ce's second arrow flew out as well, and before the second arrow could hit the enemy, Yun Ce's third arrow followed.

Previously, he had studied the technique of shooting consecutive arrows in the countryside, but due to time constraints, he could only shoot two arrows in a row. For this, he was already one of the best among archery enthusiasts.

The samurai leader held an arrow in his right hand and another in his mouth; his skillful catching of arrows drew cheers from his men.

Seeing the warrior leader strike a majestic pose, Yun Ce slung his bow over his shoulder, approached the imposing warrior leader, removed the arrows from his hands, put them back in the quiver, and then carefully pinched the fletching of the arrow in his mouth. He used a knife to pry open the warrior leader's tightly clenched teeth and retrieved the arrow. However, he did not put this arrow back in the quiver. Instead, he took out a long bamboo tube from the quiver, carefully put the arrow back into the tube, plugged it, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at the samurai leader again, his lips were like half-melted dark chocolate, glistening with a black sheen.

This venom was collected by Yun Ce from a multi-legged venomous snake under a big tree when he first came to this world. Since this venom can corrode a wooden stick, there is no reason why it cannot corrode a person.

Seeing that the head of the unknown Shangzao was starting to smoke along with his fur hat, Yun Ce continued walking towards the caravan, intending to kill the rest of them.

Just then, a shout came from behind, and a large number of people overtook Yun Ce and rushed towards the warriors. Yun Ce could see clearly that Zhao Jin's face was contorted, a knife was in his mouth, and he was running at the front, leaning on a stool with both hands.

They fought fiercely, especially the disabled ones. As soon as they entered the arena, they used their low height to attack the opponent's lower body. Even if a knife landed on their shoulder or back, they would desperately grab the opponent's legs so that their brothers and sisters could kill the guy later.

After Yun Ce comforted E Ji, who was both crying and laughing, the battle on this side had ended. Nineteen people died in Hekou Village: thirteen men and six women.

Zhao Jin had probably been kicked in the mouth, losing two teeth, and slashed in the back, though the wound wasn't deep. Even though he was beaten almost unrecognizable, he still respectfully approached Yun Ce and said, "Captain, what's the next step? Please advise." (96%)

Yun Ce frowned, about to reprimand Zhao Jin, but the intense longing in his eyes almost made him want to cry. So he suppressed his displeasure and wrote on the wooden tablet: "Clean up the battlefield."

Zhao Jin clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, and shouted to the people standing behind him in the village. Everyone quickly dispersed to clean up the mess that the village had been ravaged by wild boars, bears, and warriors.

Eji didn't go. She pretended to follow Yun Ce around, bossing the women around her around like a landlady. But when she looked back at Yun Ce, she immediately became spineless.

The aroma in the village was overwhelming; the corpses that the men had rescued smelled wonderful, but also carried a burnt smell.

Although the value of these items has been greatly diminished, they are still very valuable. When Zhao Jin heard that Yun Ce was going to throw all these corpses outside the village, he felt somewhat reluctant.

"The savages are coming."

Seeing Yun Ce say this, Zhao Jin led his men to get to work.

Yun Ce's method of dealing with the savages was simple: he displayed more than three hundred tattered corpses outside the village for them to see.

Let the savages understand one thing: those who dared to raid their tribe have now been killed by the people of this village. Let them think twice about whether they can afford to mess with the people here.

They also placed their lost, sweet-smelling corpses outside to lessen their anger over the loss of the spice ingredients.

In short, Yun Ce looked down on these savages who used their own people as spices to curry favor with the nobles. In his eyes, these people were not savages, and were even less intelligent than wild boars.

(End of this chapter)