Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 312 Conflicts of interest are the worst kind of interpersonal relationship

The moment Cao Kun saw Yun Ce, a strange sense of grievance rose in his heart.

Fortunately, after serving as the head of the family for several months, his heart had hardened like iron. After giving Yun Ce a tight hug, he couldn't wait to say, "Give me a bowl of oil-splashed noodles, with lots of garlic and chili."

Yun Ce released Cao Kun's shoulder and said, "Were you frightened by Shen Tingyu?"

Cao Kun walked inside side by side with Yun Ce, and whispered, "I don't believe you're not afraid?"

Yun Ce sighed and said, "I was only able to escape from him by sheer luck."

Cao Kun said, "I have thousands of troops, but no peerless masters. I always feel that it is inconvenient and restrictive to do things."

"Your Cao family has a thousand-year-old tradition, yet you haven't produced a single grandmaster?"

Cao Kun looked up at the sky and sighed, "Grandmaster level experts are so rare. Out of 500 million Gui Fang people, there are only twelve. Moreover, Grandmaster level experts are already mortals. You should understand this from He Tian's fate. The blessings of Grandmaster level experts will not be passed on to their descendants."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "You can't say that. I killed Yu Zhu, and Yu Sang came to seek revenge. Besides, my high priest performed a blessing ritual for my son."

Judging from these two points, even a master of the Grandmaster realm has intentions.

Yun Ce didn't say anything to Cao Kun about recruiting Grandmasters.

Grandmasters are usually leaders or reclusive hermits who refuse to serve as subordinates. If they have one in their family, they will treat them well; if not, there's really nothing they can do.

"The Han Dynasty has five hundred military prefectures, and you say the Guifang people only have twelve? No, now they only have eleven Grandmasters. Instead of using them sparingly, why are you causing trouble for us?"

"It might be related to the First Priest's injuries from the avalanche. I ambushed him with a radioactive source at the Dragon God Temple."

"You ambushed the avalanche, shouldn't they be looking for you? Why are they coming to me?"

"You killed Yu Sang."

Upon hearing Yun Ce's words, Cao Kun sighed and said, "Back then, I was too young and reckless. I thought that by saying I had killed a grandmaster like Yu Sang, I could become famous throughout the world. In the end, the Han people didn't believe me, but the Gui Fang people did. I didn't gain any benefits, but I did bring a whole bunch of disasters."

"Since I shielded you from disaster, I'll allow myself to stay here for ten days."

Yun Ce frowned and asked, "Shen Tingyu didn't leave?"

Cao Kun said, "Shen Tingyu is missing. The Mountain Moving Sect didn't leave. Someone saw him near Qiuhe City."

Upon hearing Cao Kun's words, Yun Ce turned to look at the black-feathered eagle perched on the wall. The black-feathered eagle was indeed very clever; it flapped its wings twice on the wall and then flew into the sky.

"Is this the same eagle that Yu Sang brought? I remember the one Yu Sang brought was bigger."

Yun Ce pulled Cao Kun into the hall and said, "So, it's not Yu Sang's eagle, it's my family's eagle."

In the hall, Feng An and Liang Kun were both present. Upon seeing the two, Cao Kun said to Yun Ce, "I have caught a cold on the way here. I would like to borrow a quiet room in your house to recuperate for a couple of days."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "You cut off the Xiangcheng trade route and levied such high taxes on my Yun family. You should give an explanation. Otherwise, if the two of them levy high taxes on the grain and fodder you bought from Xiangcheng, you won't feel good either. Let's talk."

Cao Kun raised his hand and said, "Make things clear. I'm not just imposing high taxes on your Yun family; I'm doing the same for everyone. My main principle here is fairness."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "The Cao family's territory is vast. What you gather in the wild is enough to feed your army. Please, let your people have a few good meals too. Don't you even look at how much the price of grain has risen in the cities under your jurisdiction?"

Cao Kun looked at Yun Ce with suspicion and said, "If I don't turn the common people into slaves, how can I quickly accumulate my wealth? Without enough wealth, do you think those soldiers will still listen to me? Without wealth, how can I deal with the Gui Fang people who are about to march south?"

Your Yun family now only has slaves under your command. Do you know how envious I am of you? As long as the slaves don't starve, all the remaining proceeds from the estates will be yours.

I assumed you understood this principle.

Cao Kun usually spoke the truth when he spoke to Yun Ce, so this truth caught Yun Ce off guard. He had always thought that feudal society was generally superior to slave society, and that no one would reverse history. He never expected that Cao Kun had no feelings for slave society or feudal society at all.

As long as the benefits are sufficient, one can enslave or establish feudalism at will; everything else is the historian's business and has nothing to do with him.

Yun Ce certainly wouldn't tell Cao Kun that the Yun Family Manor was already in a collective farm state at this time, not a slave society. However, Cao Kun wouldn't believe it. People like him only believe what they want to believe.

The Yun family had retainers, and Cao Kun's family had even more. After two handsome retainers from the Cao family dealt with Feng An and Liang Kun, Cao Kun continued to chat with Yun Ce.

After passing by Yun Ce's window three times, Cao Kun had a basic understanding of Huo Wudi's adorable little girl image. "Is she being raised from a young age, kept for future use?"

Cao Kun's choice of words was extremely offensive, and coupled with his lewd smile, Yun Ce felt like punching him in the face.

“He is a servant boy who serves my wife.”

"Hey, she's hiding behind the guards."

“Yeah, even your fierce-looking guards look more like good people than you do.”

The food for Yun Ce and Cao Kun was brought in by the young girl Huo Wudi with great effort. Cao Kun probably really liked this girl. His nasty remark was just an attempt to find out her status in the Yun family, and he had no ill intentions.

After pinching Huo Wudi's little face, he laughed and tossed her a bead. Huo Wudi didn't catch the bead, dropped the wooden plate, and hid behind the guards again.

Yun Ce stirred the noodles, signaling Cao Kun to eat quickly and not to bother the girl. Cao Kun was having a great time doing this. Every time Huo Wudi brought out a side dish or condiment, he would scare her, causing Huo Wudi to hide behind the guards every time.

Yun Ce took a closer look and saw eight imposing guards standing under the corridor. Huo Wudi had managed to treat them all equally, without taking advantage of any of them.

After we finish eating, we'll have to clear away the tableware. That should be enough for Huo Wudi to absorb several decades' worth of internal energy.

The meal mainly consisted of Yun Ce talking, while Cao Kun bothered Huo Wudi. It lasted a full half hour. If Yun Ce hadn't noticed that the eight guards were gradually getting tired, the meal might have continued for a while longer.

Cao Kun brought sixty centurions and six thousand-man generals with him. In addition, Cao Kun's personal bodyguards included a thousand-man general and sixteen centurions. Huo Wudi dared not touch the thousand-man generals, and there were a total of seventy-six centurions, which would keep Huo Wudi busy for a while.

It is estimated that after Cao Kun leaves with his men, the Yun clan should be able to gain another master general with a thousand men.

I thought the black-haired eagle would be the first to find the Mountain-Moving Priest, but to my surprise, it was the chestnut horse that found the Mountain-Moving Priest first. When it came to Chaoyun Ce, it was in a sorry state, covered in mud, and the mud also gave off a strong stench.

After some guessing and deduction, Yun Ce finally understood that the Mountain Moving Priest was hunting for food in the wild, but unexpectedly, he had eaten several of the chestnut horse's loyal subordinates.

Upon receiving a plea for help from his subordinates, the chestnut horse led a large herd of wild beasts to seek revenge on the Mountain Moving Sect. Naturally, the outcome was not good; the Mountain Moving Sect slaughtered them. It's estimated that the Mountain Moving Sect won't need to hunt for three to five years, as they will have enough food to eat.

Moving Mountain kills wild beasts as easily as chopping melons and vegetables. This terrified the chestnut horse. After witnessing Moving Mountain's ghostly speed, before his underlings were all killed, the chestnut horse jumped into a mud pit and pretended to be dead.

Perhaps that mud pit was just too smelly, even the Mountain Moving Climber wouldn't go near it, which allowed the chestnut horse to escape death.

Having suffered a great loss and a great humiliation, the chestnut horse decided to take revenge and immediately thought of Yun Ce.

The location of the mountain-moving operation is already very close to the Yun Clan Manor. At the speed of the mountain-moving operation, he will be able to accurately locate the Yun Clan Manor within two days by searching the route Cao Kun took.

Yun Ce decided to personally meet with the Mountain Moving Sect.

They also took the opportunity to search for Shen Tingyu's whereabouts.

To outmaneuver a master like the Mountain Moving Master, relying on numbers is ineffective. The ambush on the Great Avalanche was successful mainly because the High Priest used fire chains to restrict the master's ghostly movements.

At the same time, Yun Ce also wanted to accumulate some experience in fighting against masters at the Grandmaster level.

The reason he became so arrogant was that even the dog went.

With the dog's help, Yun Ce was confident enough to escape from the Mountain Moving Clan.

The scene of Cao Kun sending Yun Ce away from Yun Clan Manor was quite tragic. Although he didn't understand why Yun Ce would go to his death knowing he was no match for them, Cao Kun, who had originally intended to bring the Mountain Moving Team to Yun Clan Manor, still gave Yun Ce enough face. After assuring Yun Ce that the Yun Clan's caravan could henceforth roam freely across Cao Clan territory and do business without taxes, he did so.

Yun Ce drank a cup of wine offered by Cao Kun, then rode away swiftly on his chestnut horse.

Cao Kun felt somewhat guilty for not sending troops and guards to accompany Yun Ce. At the same time, he also realized that his cowardly behavior was greatly affecting morale. At least, his hundred-man generals seemed somewhat listless.

After the black-haired eagle had located the Mountain-Moving Army high in the sky, Yun Ce did not go directly from Yun Clan Manor to find him. Instead, he crossed the Clear Water River and went to find him along the way the Mountain-Moving Army had come from.

When dealing with a master, you can never be too careful.

In fact, Yun Ce did this not to move the mountain, but to find Shen Tingyu. This was the worst possible outcome. Shen Tingyu did not leave, but continued to hunt down Cao Kun with the mountain.

Astride a chestnut horse, with a lance in his hand, this was how Yun Ce looked when he first met Shen Tingyu. Yun Ce refused to believe that Shen Tingyu could resist jumping out when he saw him dressed like this.

(End of this chapter)