Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 301 I came to Chang'an alone.

Few people would think that their persistence is wrong, especially someone as determined and intelligent as Wu Tong.

They were already very confident, and with the sunk costs accumulated over time, even if their initial persistence turned into stubbornness, they wouldn't notice the change. Even if they hit a wall, they would never regret it.

Yun Ce has seen many such people. Sometimes it's due to unfavorable circumstances, sometimes it's because the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, sometimes it's because they've chosen the wrong side, and sometimes it's because they've launched a desperate charge in the opposite direction of the times, leaving a trail of dust and smoke.

These people all met with bad ends, some even suffering tragic fates.

Yun Ce didn't want Wu Tong to end up like that, because this man was very much like Xun Yu from the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and also like that other person...

Wu Tong's problem is that he always loyal to the wrong person.

Therefore, when walking through Zhou Situ's secret passage, we can use the fate of this family to set an example for Wu Tong and see if he can reflect on his past and re-examine it.

Anyone who has ever worked knows that if you feel uncomfortable the first time you enter a workplace, then there's no doubt that this place isn't for you, and you should leave.

Anyone who thinks they can gradually adapt is essentially cutting off their own foot to fit the shoe; the pain will only be borne by themselves.

The Nanshan Waterfall, which had been a cascading ribbon, had somehow transformed into a tattered piece of cloth, through which the city of Chang'an lay at its feet.

At this time, Chang'an was filled with infantrymen in black armor. They were everywhere, like ants, moving in and out of the houses in Chang'an. They were far away and could not hear the screams in the city. They could only see the dilapidated houses in the city constantly burning, and thick smoke shrouded the entire city.

Thick smoke billowed from the Imperial Palace Mountain, and the fire Wu Tong had set was still burning. However, dark clouds were drifting in from other places, enveloping the Imperial Palace Mountain in a black belt.

The Dragon God Temple was unaffected; the ant-like black army remained at the foot of the mountain, and occasionally a low horn sound could be heard reaching the southern mountain.

"It's like the end of the world."

Upon hearing Yun Ce's words, Wu Tong gritted her teeth and said, "You're just going to say something like that and that's it?"

Yun Ce laughed and said, "Considering that everything here was caused by the people of this city themselves, I feel that I have no need to be sad or angry."

Unbeknownst to her, tears streamed down her face, and she choked out, "Your heart is so hard."

Yun Ce waved his sleeve and said, "To me, this is just a page in the history book. It's hard to empathize with it. If I were in the ancestral land right now, if my eyes could see what is happening in Chang'an, this scene would be history to me. After all, by the time this event reaches my mind through my eyes, countless years have probably passed."

Therefore, Wu Tong, once you interpret an event from a historical perspective, you'll realize that the calamity unfolding in Chang'an is merely a ripple in the long river of history.

Wu Tong said, "I understand what you mean, but that would be too heartless. I can't turn a blind eye, nor can I treat the common people as straw dogs."

Yun Ce felt that this kind of person was very suitable to be a subordinate.

The Nanshan Waterfall has shrunk, which is largely due to the amount of rain falling on Nanshan every day. Nowadays, fires are raging everywhere in Chang'an City, and the spiritual Chang'an Shehuo (a type of folk performance) has to make the limited amount of rain fall on Chang'an City as accurately as possible.

Yun Ce and Wu Tong stayed behind the Nanshan Waterfall for five days. During these five days, their external injuries were completely healed thanks to the Pengzeng brand rapid growth solution, but their internal injuries had not improved much.

Unfortunately, the foundation of their martial arts lies in their internal energy, which originates from their internal organs. If their internal organs are unhealthy, it will greatly affect the circulation of their internal energy.

Besides practicing their skills, Huo Wudi and Lei Ming have been fooling around with the chestnut horse these past few days. They are also very curious as to why the chestnut horse has become so intelligent.

Unfortunately, no matter how they tried to coax it, they couldn't wake the chestnut horse from its current dazed state. Huo Wudi even took a sharp thorn and poked it into the chestnut horse's eyes. The chestnut horse immediately lay down and cried out loudly, its voice extremely pitiful. As a result, Huo Wudi received a severe beating from Yun Ce.

While fighting, Yun Ce warned Huo Wudi that little girls should be kind by nature and should not resort to any means to achieve their goals.

On the fifth day, the black-haired eagle that Yun Ce had been waiting for arrived, bringing with it a letter from E Ji. Having run out of books, they prepared to take the Xintianyou (a type of ancient Chinese boat) back to Yun Clan Manor.

The Xintianyou was borrowed by Eji from Cao Kun. Liu Changsheng also asked the Grand Marshal to guarantee that the Xintianyou could land and take off safely, and the departure date was set for tomorrow morning.

The next morning, Yun Ce stood at the mouth of the Nanshan Waterfall, where the waterfall was no longer visible, looking at the Dragon God Temple in the distance. At the moment the sun rose, three albatrosses appeared from the eastern sky, circled three times over Chang'an City, and finally landed at the Dragon God Temple.

Half an hour later, the three Xintianyou birds took off with difficulty from the Dragon God Palace and slowly flew eastward, accompanied by a small black dot.

"Xintianyou is overloaded and may not be able to fly to Yun Family Manor in one go. Your wife has acquired so much gold, which is very dangerous."

Yun Ce felt that Wu Tong did not understand E Ji.

"Based on my understanding of my wife, she will only take my two sons on an eagle ride, while my other wife will take people on a 'Xintianyou' ride. The gold is on the backs of the other two 'Xintianyou'."

Hearing Yun Ce's explanation, Wu Tong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank goodness, your wife still understands the importance of putting people first." Yun Ce said, "This has always been our family's stance."

In her letter, Eji also told Yun Ce that Cao Kun hoped Yun Ce could search for Zheng Tianshou's whereabouts. Although Yun Ce estimated that Zheng Tianshou, as the envoy of the feudal lords who was the Grand Marshal's main target, was probably already dead, Cao Kun confidently assured him that Zheng Tianshou was still alive.

After reading the letter, Yun Ce sent the black-haired eagle back with it. As for returning to Chang'an to find Zheng Tianshou, Yun Ce thought it was not feasible.

After all, he's only a man with the strength of a thousand generals at most. Going to Chang'an would be suicide.

He planned to return to Yun Family Manor to have Gouzi help him recover, and also to take care of Wu Tong's battered body. Only when both of them were in peak condition could they stand up to the injured He Junnian.

Otherwise, once He Junnian finds out that Yun Ce is Liu Chang'an, who assassinated him at the Dragon God Palace, the Yun Clan Manor will be reduced to ashes in an instant.

However, this secret probably won't be kept for long. The fact that Yun Ce is Liu Chang'an's secret is known to quite a few people on the Great Wall defense line.

After descending Nanshan Mountain, the four men and one horse headed east.

Yun Ce even bought a carriage and had a chestnut horse pull it, so that they could travel home day and night along the main road.

Even if they worked day and night, they wouldn't travel very far in a day and a night. It wasn't that the chestnut-horse-drawn carriage was too slow, but rather that there were simply too many people heading east.

In reality, Chang'an City only has a small population. Even if everyone died, there would only be a maximum of 70,000 to 80,000 people. The so-called "Chang'an people" actually refer to a region radiating outwards from Chang'an City for a radius of 100 miles.

When Huo Qubing built Chang'an, in addition to settling civil and military officials, the imperial palace, and sacrificial halls in the city, he also forcibly relocated 30,000 of the wealthiest households in the country to Chang'an.

This led to the abnormal prosperity of Chang'an. Now, Chang'an has been destroyed by war, and the two million people who depended on Chang'an for their livelihood have lost their backbone.

Without the robust consumption of the wealthy, the livelihoods of two million people around Chang'an were left uncertain. The population had gathered with the construction of Chang'an, but now it has scattered with the decline of Chang'an.

If more than two million people were to scatter in the four directions, it wouldn't be a big problem; such chaos would soon cease as people migrated to different places.

The Grand Marshal forbids it!
That's not accurate. It's driven by a strong sense of purpose. People with money can go in any direction, while those without money can only head east.

The emotions of the wealthy change with the shifting interests of the government. When they find that their wealth still holds sway, they become extremely tolerant of the regime.

Ordinary people were an exception. The most severely affected by the destruction of Chang'an were the ordinary people who depended on Chang'an for their livelihood. Without their means of survival, they wished they could eat the flesh of the Grand Marshal and drink his blood.

After forbidding these people, who already hated him to the core, from entering the several prefectures near Chang'an and blocking the roads in the west, south, and north, the people had no choice but to go east.

“We can try to guide the people here to Yun Family Manor.”

After traveling with the long convoy for two days, Wu Tong made a suggestion to Yun Ce.

After hearing this advice, Yun Ce realized that Wu Tong was still somewhat naive in his thinking.

Why do you think these people can only go east?

Wu Tong said, "To guard the border."

Yun Ce glanced at Wu Tong in surprise and asked, "You know?"

Wu Tong said, "Do you think I shouldn't know?"

"I thought you would say that this is a brilliant plan by the Grand Marshal to deal with the eastern lords."

Wu Tong shook his head and said, "Everyone knows that the Guifang people are coming. Driving these useless Chang'an people to the Great Wall defense line can greatly increase the strength of the Great Wall defense."

"Do you think it's feasible?"

Wu Tong gritted his teeth and said, "Of course it's not feasible. Both the Han army and the Guifang army are currently undergoing elite reorganization. The two sides have been fighting for thousands of years and they both know that an army composed of ordinary people is already vulnerable."

The view that only an army with a large number of warriors has real fighting power has become a consensus between the Han Dynasty and the Gui Fang.

"Yun Ce, do you have a sufficiently elite army at your disposal?"

Yun Ce laughed and said, "I have obtained three thousand Tiger Warriors."

(End of this chapter)