Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 282 Clean from the Start
Having a wise and powerful elder in the family isn't necessarily a good thing.

They often use the excuse of "it's for your own good" to avoid explaining their many strange and incomprehensible behaviors.

Liu Changsheng was such a person.

Even though Eji used the most malicious guesses in the hope of forcing Liu Changsheng to tell her some things they should know, he still ignored her.

After Liu Changsheng left, Eji ended her performance, holding her son and staring at the black-feathered eagle with a menacing gaze.

The black-feathered eagle had a very keen sense of smell. It was originally perched on the wall, drying its newly grown feathers, but after being spotted by Eji, it obediently jumped down from the wall and squatted down beside Eji with its head drooping.

Zhang Min came out of the house and tied a sturdy metal pipe around the neck of the black eagle.

Eji said to the black-feathered eagle, "Stop pretending. I know you've become a spirit and should be able to understand me. Now, go find your husband and give him this tube."

The black eagle cawed, and having already jumped onto the wall, it turned around and saw that Eji's eyes were unfriendly, so it immediately jumped down and squatted down in front of Eji again.

Eji took out a bulging purse from her bosom, tied it to the eagle's neck, and then waved her hand to signal that it could go.

The black-feathered eagle immediately leaped onto the high wall, then flapped its wings and took off. After flying halfway up the mountain, it circled around Chang'an City twice before flying away in the northeast direction.

Only when the eagles were no longer visible in the sky did Eji lower her head and say to Zhang Min, "After the palace banquet, we will return to the Yun family manor. Although the Changsha Prince's Mansion is very nice, it is not a place for us to stay for long."

Zhang Min said, "Liang Kun has been at Lantian Manor for four days and has already purchased 1,600 cartloads of supplies. Once the goods are shipped, he will sell Lantian Manor and come to Chang'an to join us."

It will probably take another five days. We're holding a palace banquet, and we can't do without him."

Eji said, "We have already finished what our husband asked us to do. Let's go back soon. It's not good to have no one in the house."

As for the palace banquet, it's just a matter of a bowl of noodles; it won't take much time. Tell Liang Kun that he should return to Xiangcheng with the caravan and doesn't need to come to Chang'an to meet us.”

"Wu Tong's messenger bird has arrived, saying it has something to tell you tonight."

Eji laughed and said, "It's not convenient for a woman like me to talk to a man like him, especially at night."

Zhang Min looked at Eji, who never took women's etiquette seriously, with a puzzled expression, and said softly, "Wu Tong should be considered our friend."

"Judging from the old man's behavior, Wu Tong doesn't seem to be that close to us. The world is in chaos now, and people's hearts are full of holes. It's best to have less contact with him."

Zhang Min hesitated for a moment and then said, "If it's inconvenient for you, I'll go see him."

Eji sighed and said, "In the end, you still can't let go of the feelings you had for each other. Then go see him. But think carefully about what the old man said to me before he left today. I feel like he was implying something."

Zhang Min focused her attention and said, "Go ahead."

Eji tightened her grip on the cloud-shaped spear in her arms and whispered, "The vastness of the heavens lies in their depth, the breadth of the earth lies in its boundlessness, and the heroism of man lies in the still flow of the deep abyss."

The old man clearly had something to say, but he wouldn't say it directly; he insisted we guess. I can't figure it out right now, so you should think about it too.

Zhang Min nodded and said, "I've remembered it. But why don't you tell your husband these words in the letter?"

Eji sighed and said, "This news is what my husband often calls harmful news. It must be Liu Changsheng's way of disturbing my husband's peace of mind. I will tell my husband about it when we get back."

Zhang Min whispered, "Why would my husband reveal our family's unique martial arts techniques to others?"

Eji smiled and said, "Perhaps, my husband wants to give the various lords of the Han Dynasty an opportunity to sit down and discuss things."

Zhang Min frowned and asked, "Is that really true?"

Eji smiled and said, "That's exactly right."

Chang'an is only 2,400 li away from Liangcheng. The black-haired eagle set off from Chang'an in the early morning and arrived in Liangcheng by noon. Without even taking a detour, it plunged into the forest where Yun Ce was staying.

It didn't land on the ground, but instead landed on the back of a chestnut horse that was drinking water. Its pair of steel-hook-like claws gripped the chestnut horse's back, which helped it regain its balance.

Yun Ce, who was standing in the stream teaching the Tiger Warriors how to bathe, raised a bucket and poured a full bucket of icy river water over his head. The river water flowed down his strong body like a waterfall. Soon after, more Tiger Warriors poured the river water over their heads as well, and everyone felt great.

As Yun Ce wiped the water droplets off his body with a cloth, he went to the chestnut horse, took the ugly and bulging pouch off the black eagle's neck, opened it, and couldn't help but laugh.

Inside were letters in Eji's usual accounting style, detailing everything that had happened since she left the Yun Clan Manor until yesterday, including a drawing of the six topless priestesses with two flowers pasted on their chests. Eji couldn't draw, so it was impossible to tell whether the priestesses were beautiful or ugly from her drawing; however, just looking at the exaggerated breasts and indescribably large buttocks in Eji's drawing was enough to prove that they were indeed beautiful.

Sometimes, couples say some very vulgar things to each other, and they also discuss some unspeakable issues. This is a sign of intimacy in their relationship. Eji likes to talk about these things with Yunce.

After reading the letter from Eji, Yun Ce put it back into the ugly purse, placed the dragon ball inside, and then opened the metal tube that the eagle had delivered.

The metal tube contained many letters, some from Zhang Min, some from Lei Ming and others, each recounting their gains and losses in Chang'an from their own perspective.

After reading these letters, Yun Ce was able to roughly simulate the scenes. Once he connected these scenes, E Ji and the others' trip to Chang'an was clearly imprinted in Yun Ce's mind.

Yun Ce raised his hand and patted the black-feathered eagle's talons. The eagle released its grip, lost its balance, and plunged headfirst into the water.

Yun Ce ruffled the chestnut horse's ruffled mane and said to it, "Don't be afraid, it's just a useless eagle."

The chestnut horse didn't seem to understand Yun Ce's words. Instead, it went into the water and let the eagle grab its mane to rescue it. Once ashore, it touched heads with the eagle, seemingly communicating with it.

The Tiger Legion soldiers, who had just finished showering, were practicing dressing under Gouzi's command. Although they weren't dressed very well, at least their buttocks weren't exposed.

The rest is about developing deeper muscle memory. I believe it won't be long before they learn to take a bath, get dressed, put on armor, and perform a series of complex movements.

Unbeknownst to them, Yun Ce had stayed in the forest outside Liang City for sixteen days. Just yesterday, the last albatross circling in the sky finally disappeared.

If, in the next two days, there are no more albatrosses or other large birds in the sky, Yun Ce plans to lead his Tiger Warriors away from Liangcheng and return home, keeping to their hideouts by day and their troops by night.

These people will be stationed at Yun Family Manor, becoming the Yun family's most loyal guards.

During these sixteen days, Gouzi smelted some gold and created a glittering golden whistle. This whistle could only emit twelve kinds of high-frequency sound waves, which basically covered all aspects of controlling the Tiger Legion. Although it was not as easy for Gouzi to command as he could, it was very suitable for Eji's simple mind.

"The Tiger Legion is currently short of officers."

After listening to Gouzi's suggestion, Yun Ce thought for a while and said, "You mean to capture some hundred-man generals and thousand-man generals and turn them into the Tiger Legion?"

Dog said, "Don't discuss human nature with me. I'm just giving the best advice: if there are ten centurions in the Tiger Legion, the overall combat strength of this army can be increased by ten percent."

If there were one hundred generals of a hundred men and ten generals of a thousand men, the strength of this army would increase tenfold.

If you're willing to transform yourself into that state, your combat power will increase more than twentyfold.

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I don't intend to have such a walking corpse army for long. On the contrary, I don't plan to use them in one place. Instead, I plan to disperse them into various small units to carry out some military tasks that require certain death. Hmm, I plan to do that when Lei Ming and the others come back."

After calculating for a while, Gouzi said, "Doing so will severely weaken the Tiger Legion's combat effectiveness."

Yun Ce shook his head again and said, "Unless you have a way to summon a group of undead soldiers for me, this Tiger Legion will be the last Tiger Legion in the world."

The dog said, "Okay, you decide."

Over the next three days, large numbers of carrion birds reappeared in the gray sky above Liangcheng. Their numbers increased until they returned to the scale when Yun Ce first arrived in Liangcheng.

Upon seeing the carrion birds return, Yun Ce was certain that the giant albatrosses had indeed left.

On the night of the full moon, Yun Ce prepared to set off. He rode a chestnut horse with an eagle perched on its rump. Countless Tiger Warriors formed a long procession behind him, with Gouzi bringing up the rear. Under the full moon's glow, the group silently left the forest where they had been hiding for more than half a month.

The chestnut horse walked very fast, and the Tiger Legion moved very quickly. Their actions seemed to be extremely close to human instinct, unlike before when they were somewhat clumsy.

Yun Ce remained silent, and no one else in the army spoke either, which made Yun Ce feel as if he had become a renowned corpse driver from his ancestral homeland.

The plan was to travel 150 li (approximately 75 kilometers) every night. Black Eagle had spent the past few days scouting out the campsites for each night. However, various problems arose during the actual execution of the plan.

The biggest problem is that you always run into certain kinds of people.

This is not a big problem for the military. In order to ensure the secrecy of military operations, many armies adopt the strategy of leaving no trace of life in their path.

Yun Ce did not. From the very beginning, he had no intention of letting his army be tainted by innocent souls.

(End of this chapter)