Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 44 The Real Horse
People's joys and sorrows are not shared.

Early in the morning, Eji made a very good deal: thirty snake meats were exchanged for sixty coins, each worth a thousand. She wanted to sell the beautiful thigh meat, but people thought it was too expensive and didn't buy it.

Ten large bird legs were worth a thousand coins each, and even Yun Ce thought it was too expensive. But E Ji said it wasn't expensive at all. She had seen two bowls of grass rations exchanged for two young women.

“When people are hungry, they’re willing to give any amount of money. The reason they’re not giving it is because they’re not hungry enough.” Eji looked regretfully at the merchants lagging behind, wanting to go back and talk to them again.

“We’ll be arriving in Sheyang City tomorrow, and your business will be over. Aren’t you going to consider that?” Yun Ce was worried that E Ji’s hopes would be dashed and she would cry and make him compensate her for her good business.

Eji took a big bite of the grass and grain cake and said, "The last day was the hardest. The person who sold his two daughters sold them when the fruit of the clothing tree was about to fall and the bark was about to produce grain."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "I've never been hungry. I said those things after I had eaten."

“If we have food, we will stop a hundred miles away from Sheyang City and wait for them. I think they will definitely buy it then.”

Eji's arrangements were excellent, but Yun Ce felt that her plan would not succeed. Pingyuan City had been captured by the rebels, and the neighboring Sheyang City would definitely take action. A few days ago, the people of Sheyang City might not have known what had happened in Pingyuan City, but now they should know.

I've learned some of the laws of the Han Dynasty from Feng An and Liang Kun these past two days. Among them, recovering lost territory is an inescapable responsibility for Sheyang City.

Therefore, it was both inevitable and necessary for Sheyang City to send troops immediately. They should encounter government troops on this ancient road very soon.

Throughout history, apart from the People's Liberation Army, the rest of the armies have been a disaster for the people, a calamity on par with drought, floods, and locust plagues.

Yun Ce was very wary of the direction of Sheyang City. He planned to drive the sheep cart into the wilderness to hide if anything went wrong. After all, his cart had beautiful women, food, and money, making it a prime target for the soldiers to rob.

Eji's business has reopened. This time, the city lord's mansion is the buyer of Eji's grain. In order to ensure that his wife, children and elderly parents could escape from Pingyuan City, Zhang Gongyaliang fought a deadly battle with a pig demon and died in Pingyuan City.

This conclusion was originally given by Feng An, and one of the parties involved, Zhu Jingyun Ce, also agreed with it. However, what came out of Zhang Gongyaliang's family was completely different.

They say that Zhang Gong was attacked by tens of thousands of rebels in Pingyuan. He defended the city, and despite being heavily wounded, he fought relentlessly. However, the rebels outnumbered him, and after the death of Colonel Han Yuan, the city fell to the rebels. Zhang Gong magnanimously retreated to the inner city to continue fighting. The rebels set the city ablaze, and Zhang Gong continued to fight them amidst the flames. Just as he was about to kill the rebel leader, a wild boar demon suddenly appeared, and Zhang Gong fought to the death...

Eji looked at the middle-aged man with suspicion as he solemnly recounted Zhang Gongya's glorious achievements. Seeing that he had taken the food but refused to pay for it, she interrupted him and said, "Pay up, we're leaving."

The middle-aged man glanced coldly at Eji, then noticed Anji, who was keeping her head down, on the sheep cart. He said to Eji, "That's my maid."

Eji said, "I picked it up, so it's mine."

The middle-aged man said with a gloomy face, "Since you are so ungrateful, then try to see how sharp my blade is."

Eji turned to look at Yun Ce and saw that he was staring intently at the middle-aged man. She raised her hand and slapped the man across the face, shouting angrily, "Now I want three times the price."

The middle-aged man was stunned. He had never been hit by a woman in his life, and for a moment he didn't know what to do.

Seeing this, Feng An sighed and looked at the four men behind the middle-aged man, saying to Yun Ce, "Zhang Gong's eldest son, Heng Yu, has abandoned all his female relatives and survived until now. Now he plans to sell them off by force. He doesn't seem like someone who can revive the family business."

Liang Kun also looked at Yun Ce and said, "Brother Liu, the three of us have all received Zhang Gong's favor. Could we leave him a trace of his bloodline?"

Yun Ce looked at the two of them and said, "My recommendation letter was paid for, and yours was obtained in the same way. Since it was bought with money, how can you talk about favors?"
Furthermore, to see one's father die in battle and not rescue him is unfilial; to abandon one's female relatives on the road to escape, leaving them to die tragically in the wilderness, is inhumane; to see the weak and not lend a helping hand is unjust. Such a person should not be allowed to live in this world, lest he bring shame upon humankind.

Before Yun Ce could make a move, E Ji struck first. It was An Ji, who had always been quiet, gentle, and beautiful, who took Yun Ce's crossbow and shot an arrow at Zhang Hengyu, the eldest son of the Zhang family, without thinking.

The arrow was swift and accurate, piercing straight into Zhang Hengyu's chest, the arrowhead protruding through his back. Zhang Hengyu stared in disbelief at the arrow in his chest, and with difficulty pointed at Anji, saying, "You lowly servant!"

When Eji saw that Anji had made a move, she took the crossbow, lay on the ground, used her feet to press the bowstring, and then fired a series of arrows at the three trembling brothers.

Yun Ce frowned as he watched E Ji fire the bow three times and shoot the remaining three silly roe deer. He asked Feng An in bewilderment, "Don't they even know how to run away?"

Feng An looked over and shook his head, saying, "It hasn't eaten for a long time, and it's been carrying heavy loads. It's already extremely weak."

Anji had killed someone and was in a semi-conscious state. If you touched her even slightly, she would let out a shrill scream. Eji had killed three people, and although her expression was not quite right, at least she still knew to plunder the spoils of war.

Yun Ce thought for a moment, then went to Zhang Dalang's side. Seeing that he wasn't quite dead yet, he took out Zhang Gongyaliang's seal from the Dragon Pearl and put it in Zhang Dalang's pocket. Then, he took it out and waved it in front of Zhang Dalang, saying, "I didn't expect the Pingyuan City Lord's seal to be with you." After saying that, he pulled the crossbow bolt out of Zhang Dalang's chest. The blood gushed out for a while and then stopped, flowing slowly. By the time Yun Ce wiped the crossbow bolt clean from his body, the wound caused by the crossbow bolt had stopped bleeding.

Eji reaped a lot more money, which was worth a thousand coins. Although Anji was still terrified, she was already able to help Eji count the money and continue planning her courtyard.

The sheep-drawn cart continued on its way, leaving the corpses behind to the dog-skin-man to manage perfectly, leaving no trace.

Feng An looked at Zhang Gongyaliang's seal, then compared it with the letter of recommendation, and returned the seal to Yun Ce, saying, "Ten thousand coins, give it to Eji to expand her courtyard, it's better than giving it to Zhang Gong for nothing."

Having fully recovered, Liang Kun, unwilling to ride in the same carriage as women and children, said, "The reason why the rebels were able to enter the city so easily is entirely Zhang Yaliang's fault. If he hadn't been greedy and wanted to buy some slaves cheaply to sell, those rebels might not have been able to cross the high city walls and enter. The devastation in Pingyuan City is all Zhang Yaliang's fault."

Just as the three were rambling on about how Zhang Yaliang deserved to die, Yun Ce suddenly stopped, grabbed the reins of the sheep cart, and veered off into the wilderness. Before he could hide the cart properly, a tall warhorse, much larger than Yun Ce had anticipated, came galloping towards them.

“You man, stop hiding, I have something to ask you.”

On horseback sat a burly man, who pointed at Yun Ce not with his finger, but with a very fine-looking lance.

Although the difference between a horse lance and a spear is not significant, the biggest difference lies in the two-foot-long blade. This guy is holding a cavalry lance, which, including the blade, should be about three meters long. Just a casual point from him is enough to send chills down one's spine.

This time, Yun Ce had finally seen a real horse. It was a real horse, and although it was much bigger than Yun Ce had imagined, he still thought it was a horse because it had all the impressions he had of horses, except that it was taller.

"Eji, come out and look at the horses!"

Upon discovering that there was only one armed knight on the ancient road, Yun Ce called out to E Ji to see what a real warhorse was, so that she would never again mistake a bighorn sheep for a horse and call it that.

"Thunder Smoke Beast!"

The one who cried out was Feng An, not Eji, who was known for her loud and boisterous manner.

"What do you mean by Thunder Smoke Beast? This is clearly a horse."

Feng An stared at the Thunder Smoke Beast beneath the burly man, then casually pointed to the bighorn sheep pulling the cart and said, "That's a horse, that's a Thunder Smoke Beast that can travel a thousand miles a day."

"Is it really possible to travel a thousand miles a day?"

“Absolutely, but Thunder Smoke Beasts are expensive. Small places can’t afford to raise them. Even though Zhang Yaliang made so much money, he still can’t afford to buy a Thunder Smoke Beast.”

As the rider on horseback slowly approached, the imposing presence of the giant horse and the burly man gradually eroded Feng An's confidence to speak.

"The person who came should be a wandering knight. These kinds of people are generally reasonable. If we deal with them properly, there shouldn't be any problems."

Liang Kun also emerged from the weeds and stood side by side with Feng An next to Yun Ce, preparing to deal with the impending predicament.

Yun Ce's glasses shone brightly. He didn't look at the knight on horseback; his eyes and mind were now filled with this giant warhorse that was over two and a half meters tall.

Eji peeked out from the weeds, and then four girls carrying little girls also emerged from the weeds. Anji clung tightly to Eji's arm, still trembling, but her eyes were dry.

The giant horse and knight continued to approach. Eji pretended to be nonchalant and whispered to Yun Ce, "If we can't beat him, we'll run away. He won't do anything to us."

Yun Ce pulled his attention away from the swirling vortex of hair on the giant horse, thinking that it resembled Quanmaogua, one of the six steeds of Emperor Taizong of Tang.

The burly man raised his spear again, pointing it at Yun Ce, and said, "Who are you, and why are you appearing in this wilderness?"

The lance was already long, and when the strong man reached out and thrust it, the sharp tip of the lance almost touched Yun Ce's forehead.

Yun Ce raised his hand to stroke the somewhat cold blade of the spear, looked at the burly man and asked, "How much do you want for this horse?"

(End of this chapter)