Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 309 Shen Tingyu Arrives

The inner pockets of wealthy families are like underwear; they are only allowed to scratch themselves, and no one else would be allowed to put their hands inside.

At most, a wife might scratch a couple of times, but for a burly old man like Huo Minggong to put his calloused old hands inside would naturally be considered taboo.

After Huo Minggong entered the inner storeroom, he never came out. At the same time, the Huo clan members who had led Huo Minggong to build the secret chamber for Cao Kun also disappeared.

Cao Kun originally wanted to invite Yun Ce to test his life-saving weapon, but considering that this thing should not be shown to others easily, he gave up the idea.

Zheng Tianshou's continued absence from Chang'an caused Cao Kun some unease. It wasn't that he couldn't live without Zheng Tianshou, but rather that Zheng Tianshou knew too many of the Cao family's secrets.

He used to respect Zheng Tianshou and call him Uncle all the time because this Uncle was useful. Now that he has become the governor of five states, it is not appropriate to find another Uncle for himself. After all, he even cut off his own father's head in order to avoid being restrained.

After beheading his own father, the pain was only momentary; after the pain subsided, there was endless pleasure.

It's just that I don't like to share my joy with others.

"If Yun Ce had killed his father too, that would have been great," Cao Kun thought to himself inexplicably.

He quickly abandoned the idea, because Yun Ce had no father to kill.

Of all the talented young people in the world, Cao Kun only respected Yun Ce; as for the others, they were nothing but pigs and dogs.

Just as he was considering whether to make a trip to Yujin Pass soon and invite Yun Ce over for a drink, Cao Ling suddenly burst through the door and flew in from the outside.

He fell to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood. Then, he tried to speak to Cao Kun, but a long sword flew in from outside. Just as it was about to pin Cao Ling to the ground, Cao Kun threw out a heavy low table to block it for Cao Ling. The long sword, with no loss of force, cut through the low table and then stuck firmly to the ground close to Cao Ling's head.

A violent fight broke out in the courtyard. Cao Kun glanced through the broken gate at the Cao family guards who were being beaten and sent flying around, then dragged the immobilized Cao Ling to his side.

Then he sat cross-legged on the heavy futon and looked at the gate.

A handsome man carrying two swords walked in from outside, the tips of which were still dripping with blood. After entering, he saw Cao Kun sitting quietly on the futon waiting for him, so he slowed down and said to Cao Kun, "Did you kill Yu Sang?"

Cao Kun looked at the newcomer and asked, "Who are you?"

The handsome man laughed and said, "My name is Shen Tingyu. I've heard that you're good at stuffing Guifang warriors up a cow's rear end, and that you even personally killed my Guifang's ninth priest, Yu Sang?"

Cao Kun glanced back at the two middle-aged martial artists who had just appeared behind him, then turned to Shen Tingyu and said, "There are some twists and turns involved. Brother Shen, would you like to sit down and have a cup of tea while I explain in detail?"

Shen Tingyu smiled and shook his head, saying, "I let a mortal enemy escape just because I said a few extra words. Since then, I have been unwilling to talk to the enemy."

Cao Kun cupped his hands and said, “Brother Shen is indeed a man of great talent. However, I am different from Brother Shen. I always feel that Heaven cherishes life. Even if the enemy must die, I am used to letting the enemy die clearly and understandably. So, Brother Shen, do you have any last words to say now?”

Shen Tingyu glanced at the four more people who appeared from behind, flicked his long sword, and let the blood drip onto the clean floor, blooming into two large, freehand plum blossoms. He laughed and said, "Just these six people? You can call out more people. Today, I will definitely take your head."

Cao Kun sighed and said, "Is the Guifang army about to march south?"

Shen Tingyu crossed his two swords, producing a sharp sound. Before the echo had faded, he laughed and said, "As expected of the commander of the five states, your composure is enough to place you among the heroes of the world."

Cao Kun glanced at the spikes gradually rising from the steps and sighed, "You still talk too much. No wonder your mortal enemy escaped."

Upon hearing Cao Kun's words, Shen Tingyu stopped his attack. He pointed to the six experts beside Cao Kun, then to the iron spikes slowly rising from the steps, and said, "Just them?"

Cao Kun laughed and said, "Your martial arts are too high. Although I have some fearless warriors under my command, they cannot be killed by you in vain. The reason they appeared is to buy more time."

Before he finished speaking, Shen Tingyu, leaving a trail of afterimages, charged at Cao Kun with his sword raised. Suddenly, an iron fence fell from the roof, blocking Shen Tingyu's path. Shen Tingyu slashed with his twin swords, severing two iron pillars as thick as a child's arm before the fence even hit the ground. He paused for a moment, then pounced on Cao Kun again. Another fence fell from the sky, separating the two of them.

This time, the falling fence was thicker and harder than the previous one. Shen Tingyu's twin swords struck the fence, sparks flying everywhere. Even the heaviest blow only penetrated three-tenths of an inch into the iron pillar.

As Cao Kun continued to wave his hand, another fence descended from the sky. Within a short distance of five zhang, Cao Kun had deployed a total of four fences.

By the time Shen Tingyu tried to back away, the gate had already slammed shut. It didn't close slowly; it slammed shut with a loud bang. Just as Shen Tingyu's twin swords were about to strike the gate, Cao Kun, behind the four bars, laughed and said, "Don't bother. It's an iron gate."

Shen Tingyu was very obedient. Instead of fighting the door with his twin swords, he stomped his feet on the ground and suddenly flew up, thrusting his twin swords upwards. He curled up into a ball, as if he wanted to break through the roof and escape.

The twin swords collided with the roof rafters, sparks flew, and Shen Tingyu's back slammed against the roof with a muffled thud. Exhausted, Shen Tingyu had no choice but to fall to the ground.

"The walls are also made of iron."

Cao Kun spoke triumphantly from behind the fence.

Shen Tingyu stopped and looked at Cao Kun, saying, "I now believe that you killed Yu Sang."

With such a distinguished reputation, Cao Kun naturally wouldn't mention that it was Yun Ce's doing. He smiled and said, "I also have a habit of stuffing fierce generals into the backsides of oxen."

As they spoke, the six burly middle-aged men each raised a long spear and lunged at Shen Tingyu like venomous snakes through the four fences.

The six men's positioning was very deliberate. Each thrust of their spears was not intended to kill the enemy, but to force Shen Tingyu to keep moving. No matter how Shen Tingyu dodged, there was always a spear staring at him from where he stopped.

Cao Kun looked at Shen Tingyu, who was constantly jumping around in the cramped space, and said with a smile, "I heard that you are the sixth priest of the Guifang, with an immortal body and the ability to teleport thousands of miles. Now it seems that you are nothing special."

Although Shen Tingyu was somewhat flustered from dodging, he remained calm and even chatted with Cao Kun amidst the continuous thrusts of the spears.

"We found Yu Sang in a big tree by the Qingshui River. At that time, Yu Sang's body had completely melted. If we hadn't found his personal accessories, we wouldn't have been sure that the pile of flesh was him."

Cao Kun: I was so interested in Yu Sang's death that I traveled a great distance to find you.

Upon hearing Shen Tingyu's words, Cao Kun's expression changed drastically, and he immediately ordered his six guards, "Throw the bombs!"

Six smoking iron balls were thrown in, but before they could explode, Shen Tingyu kicked them back one after another. Cao Kun yelled and raised his prayer mat to shield himself. With a few loud bangs, Cao Kun not only failed to kill Shen Tingyu, but was also blown away by the blast wave, crashing hard into the iron wall before falling heavily to the ground.

When he stood up, of the six handpicked spearmen, only two were dead, and the other four were clearly doomed.

Shen Tingyu continued pacing in the cage. Seeing Cao Kun get up, he continued, "Yu Sang is a martial artist, so life and death are not that important. However, what I can't understand is that the six Ghost Fang warriors who found him also died eleven days later, and their deaths were almost the same as Yu Sang's."

Then, the Guifang people who had come into contact with Yu Sang's corpse and the six warriors also gradually fell ill. The priest ordered the dead to be buried deep, but the death did not stop until 176 people had died, at which point the horrific death finally ceased.

Cao Kun, you killed Yu Sang, but you didn't just kill Yu Sang alone. You also killed 176 of my Gui Fang warriors, not to mention the 317 who were sick.

Although they were still alive, their internal organs were bleeding continuously, their hair was falling out rapidly, their bodies were weakening, and their lives were fading away.

The prison was checked; it wasn't poison.

"Cao Kun, tell me, how did you kill Yu Sang? Why did such a brief encounter result in such heavy casualties?"

Cao Kun wiped the soot off his face, pressed a button on the wall, and the tall roof slowly descended. He already regretted it; he should have activated the mechanism the moment he trapped Shen Tingyu and crushed the guy into a meat patty.

I was just laughing at him for talking too much, but I didn't expect that retribution would come on him so soon. Looking at Shen Tingyu's appearance, he doesn't look like he's struggling to survive at all. This guy broke into the General's Mansion today on purpose.

Shen Tingyu paid no attention to the slowly descending roof and continued, "Cao Kun, tell me the reason, and I may spare your life."

Cao Kun shook his head and said, "I'll die even faster if I tell you, but before I die, I'll definitely take you with me."

As he spoke, he reached out and pressed against the wall, which immediately dented. Cao Kun pulled out a dark bomb, ripped off the pull ring, paused for a moment, and then threw it at Shen Tingyu again.

This time, Shen Tingyu was not careless. He flicked his wrist and threw the long sword. Just as the long sword was about to hit the bomb, the bomb exploded. A flash of fire, and even the powerful Shen Tingyu was blown away by the blast wave. Even the roof, which was still slowly descending, was stopped for a moment by the blast wave.

Cao Kun, disregarding whether Shen Tingyu was alive or dead, kept shaking a handle on the wall and shouted hoarsely, "Lord Huoming has misled me! This thing should have been smashed down with a thunderous force!"

(End of this chapter)