Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 293 He Junnian Arrives

Huo Wudi felt a little wronged because she had deliberately saved that big bone for last, and now it had been taken away by a dirty old man with his bare hands.

So she looked up at Yun Ce. She thought Yun Ce probably didn't like dirty ghosts and might beat up the old dirty ghost.

Yun Ce scooped a large leafy wild vegetable from the pot and placed it on Zheng Tianshou's bones. The old man didn't bother to say anything and ate the vegetable and meat together.

Huo Wudi and Yun Ce were already full. Since the old man had dirtied the soup pot, they stopped eating. One was busy scooping out vegetables for the old man, while the other was busy figuring out what made the old man so special that Yun Ce was scooping out vegetables for him.

Zheng Tianshou had been starving for two days. He didn't get to eat a single thing at the palace banquet hosted by the Crown Prince's wife of the Prince of Changsha before he was chased and killed. He had to run for two days.

For two days, he did nothing but fight people. Now, seeing Yun Ce in Chang'an, he finally felt like he was about to starve to death.

Although Zheng Tianshou was old, he was still a super martial artist with a big appetite. In no time, he finished off the remaining half pot of food in the hot pot that Yun Ce and Huo Wudi had left. He even poured the remaining broth over the cooled rice and ate another half pot.

The people chasing him had already arrived, but out of respect for Yun Ce, they allowed Zheng Tianshou to eat his last meal before his execution.

The chestnut horse peeked its head up from the stairwell, glanced at the horse, and then quietly withdrew. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, it stood quietly in a corner that was not easy to notice, pretending to be an ordinary thunder beast.

This trick works very well. It has been tested several times. Whenever it pretends to be an ordinary Thunder Smoke Beast, even if people are fighting to the death, they are still very concerned about its safety. Even if they unleash a powerful attack, they will deliberately avoid it.

After finishing his meal, Zheng Tianshou reached out to Yun Ce and asked, "Is there any wine?"

Yun Ce handed him a gourd of wine, and Zheng Tianshou gulped down several mouthfuls before hiding behind Yun Ce and saying, "Now it's your turn."

Yun Ce glanced at Wu Tong, who had been silent since she came in, and said, "I remember you used to be quite principled."

Wu Tong said, "When it comes to great things, one should not be bothered by trifles."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "Great things are the accumulation of small things. If you don't care about the details, the big things will be crooked from the root. Let's go. I'm waiting for your master, He Junnian."

Wu Tong scoffed and said, "If he comes, you'll die."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "Even if you die, haven't you fought? In this world, you can't really say who lives and who dies unless you experience it for yourself."

Wu Tong looked at Yun Ce for a moment and said, "In that case, I'll call him over for you."

Yun Ce looked around and saw that Wu Tong only had twelve people with him. He shook his head and said, "We don't have enough people."

Wu Tong said, "If I don't call him now, I won't have the courage to face him again in the future."

Yun Ce frowned and asked, "Isn't the Grand Marshal going to participate in the battle?"

Wu Tong came up to Yun Ce and said, "I thought he would, but judging from the current situation, killing He Junnian is not the Grand Marshal's top priority."

Ultimately, I have to handle this myself.

Yun Ce smacked his lips and said, "Look, the High Priest doesn't want to face He Junnian, and neither does the Grand Marshal. Now, you're planning to team up with me to face He Junnian?"

Wu Tong laughed and said, "You just said you were waiting for He Junnian, and that you were going to kill him."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "I was just saying, don't take it too seriously."

“I’m not being serious, I just intend to do it this way. Besides, you burned down Panxing Tower and destroyed half a year’s worth of hard work by He Junnian. He will definitely come looking for you, or rather, he’s already on his way to find you.”

Yun Ce took a deep breath and said, "Actually, I just want you to find a powerful ally to deal with He Junnian. That powerful ally is not me, do you understand?"

Wu Tong tilted his head back and chuckled dryly, saying, "Ha, you are the strongest helper I can find right now."

Yun Ce lowered his head and said to Huo Wudi, "You should run."

Huo Wudi was an exceptionally intelligent child. Upon hearing Yun Ce's words, she didn't hesitate for a moment before turning around and running away. Before leaving, she didn't forget to take Yun Ce's blanket.

Zheng Tianshou also wanted to run, but before he could even lift his foot, he heard Yun Ce say in a sinister tone, "You might as well not run."

Zheng Tianshou stopped and turned to Yun Ce, saying, "This meal was..."

When Huo Wudi arrived in the courtyard, he wanted to take the chestnut horse with him, but the horse refused. An unridden Thunder Smoke Beast meant it had no owner, making it not only worth a fortune but also likely to be protected. A ridden Thunder Smoke Beast, on the other hand, meant it had an owner, making it worthless and likely to be killed.

The chestnut horse understood this principle perfectly well. No matter how Huo Wudi tried to coax it, it did not leave that corner that others did not pay much attention to.

Left with no other option, Huo Wudi ran away on her own.

The two-story building fell silent once more. Yun Ce waited quietly, Zheng Tianshou looked utterly defeated, while Wu Tong seemed to have come to terms with it and was even slightly excited.

After waiting for half an hour, He Junnian still hadn't arrived. Just as Yun Ce was about to speak up and mock Wu Tong for not even having the ability to summon He Junnian, it was clear that he had no use to He Junnian whatsoever.

Just then, a crimson pillar of fire suddenly shot into the sky from the direction of the Divine Dragon Palace, and at that moment, even the mournful rain in Chang'an stopped.

The pillar of fire seemed to have turned the dark clouds red, and the dark clouds that shrouded Chang'an instantly transformed into fiery clouds, eerily enveloping the city.

The moment he saw the pillar of fire, Yun Ce squeezed through the hole in the top of the two-story building and ran madly toward the direction of the Imperial Palace Mountain without stopping.

He ran incredibly fast, like a bolt of lightning. One moment he was on the second floor of a small building, and the next he was on another house.

Wu Tong and the others weren't as foolish as Yun Ce. As soon as they reached the roof, two large birds landed, and the thirteen of them climbed onto the birds without hesitation. By the time the birds flapped their wings to take off, Yun Ce had already disappeared.

Zheng Tianshou didn't move. After Yun Ce and Wu Tong had run away, he found a clean spot, pulled a blanket out of the tent, and wrapped himself up in an inconspicuous place. He planned to rest well and then find an opportunity to leave Chang'an.

The pillar of fire piercing through the dark clouds was undoubtedly the Ancestral Fire, and only the Ancestral Fire had this ability. Apart from He Junnian, there could be no one else who could make the Ancestral Fire feel threatened.

Yun Ce knew he couldn't beat He Junnian. Even though he was pretending to wait for He Junnian to appear, he had already thought of an escape route and prepared several escape methods that he thought were feasible.

Now it's different. He Junnian went to the Divine Dragon Palace, where his wife and son are. Even if he were facing the King of Hell, Yun Ce would not back down in the slightest.

When Yun Ce sprinted at full speed, he ran faster than the chestnut horse. It was only a matter of moments before he arrived at the Han Imperial Palace. As he climbed the steps from the palace gate, he left only a fleeting afterimage for those who were interested.

After the pillar of fire formed by the ancestral fire flew in the sky for a long enough time, it turned straight down and crashed rapidly to the ground. The entire Imperial Palace Mountain trembled violently, and the bright red flames burst open after touching the ground, with a stream of fire filling the entire Dragon God Temple.

A gray-white figure flew out from the stream of fire, laughing loudly, and landed on the dragon head outside the Dragon God Temple. Without any apparent effort, the iron-hard dragon head exploded. Yun Ce, who had just arrived, didn't say a word. He threw the meteor hammer that was already wrapped around his arm with all his might, and slammed it straight at the gray-white figure.

"court death!"

A clear, cold voice pierced Yun Ce's brain from mid-air. The meteor hammer that had just flown to the chest of the gray-white figure was gently pressed down by the person's hand, and a clear handprint appeared on the meteor hammer. The meteor hammer flew back almost without any delay.

Yun Ce had already loosened the chain on the meteor hammer. He simply dodged to the side, and the returning meteor hammer, along with the chain and another meteor hammer, flew into the dark sky behind him.

Suddenly, a heavy shield appeared in Yun Ce's left hand. He hid his body behind the shield and charged towards the gray-white figure that had just landed.

A pale hand suddenly appeared from the darkness, pressing down on the giant shield once more. The shield emitted a dull thud, but instead of shattering as He Junnian had imagined, it rippled and then flew backward.

Yun Ce lay prone on the ground as the giant shield flew overhead. His lance, like a venomous snake, hurtled towards He Junnian's chest. The hand that seemed capable of tearing apart everything in the world reappeared, actually gripping the lance blade. With a slight twist of his wrist, the lance shaft in Yun Ce's hand seemed to be heated red-hot, instantly prying open his hand. At the moment when his tiger's mouth was about to be torn apart, Yun Ce chose to give up.

The relentless attacks finally made He Junnian stop. Standing on the steps, he looked down at Yun Ce, who was empty-handed, and said, "Among young martial artists, you should be number one."

Yun Ce clasped his hands in a salute and said, "Liu Chang'an, the heir of the Prince of Changsha, greets Your Excellency Da Xue Beng."

He Junnian shook his gray-white robe sleeves and said, "Liu Changsheng can rest in peace with such an outstanding junior as you."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "Your Excellency Da Xue Beng came all the way to my Great Han Dynasty just to praise this young master?"

He Junnian ran his hand through his gray hair and looked at Yun Ce, saying, "Young man, the Guifang and the Han are of the same race and origin. For many years, I have persuaded the Guifang to lead their people to surrender. Why do you harbor such deep hostility towards me?"

Yun Ce slowly pulled on a thread, retrieved the flying giant shield, and held it in his hand again, saying, "I am proud of my Han bloodline and do not want to be associated with bastards."

He Junnian looked at the handprint, which was an inch deep, on Yun Ce's giant shield, and slowly walked down from the height. He said to Yun Ce, "The bloodline theory is absurd. The Han Dynasty has made no progress for thousands of years, while the Guifang people have forged themselves into beings even stronger than the Han people in the bitter cold land."

In the past, the Guifang were ignorant and naturally had to learn from the Han Dynasty. Now that the Han Dynasty is inferior to the Guifang, why can't it learn from the Guifang?
Integrating the strengths of various schools of thought is the only way to ensure the enduring vitality of the Han Dynasty.

This is the way of things in this world: the strong survive, the weak perish. If the Han Dynasty does not renew itself, its demise is ultimately inevitable.

(End of this chapter)