Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 46 The Great Han, Still the Same Great Han, Nothing Has Changed
Seeing the Thunder Smoke Beast being led away by Yun Ce, Peng Zeng flew into a rage. His anger made him forget that he hadn't killed Yun Ce with three punches. Under the influence of his subconscious, he drew the long sword hanging at his waist and slashed at Yun Ce with lightning speed.

Yun Ce leaped onto the Thunder Smoke Beast. This horse seemed unaccustomed to being ridden by outsiders. It reared up with a neigh, its two large front hooves kicking forward, faintly emitting thunderous sounds. As soon as its front hooves landed, its hind legs lifted into the air again, using the weight of its plump rump to make its heavy body spin.

Peng Zeng's longsword missed its mark, and just as he was about to advance, the Thunder Smoke Beast's hind legs kicked out from mid-air, forcing Peng Zeng to retreat repeatedly. Yun Ce was also not safe at this moment. His only connection with the Thunder Smoke Beast was his left hand, which was tightly gripping the saddle. As for his body, it was spinning in the air just like the Thunder Smoke Beast.

After finally managing to land, Yun Ce found himself riding on the Thunder Smoke Beast's rear end. Before he could adjust his position, the beast's front hooves suddenly gave way and he knelt down. Yun Ce, who had just settled on the beast's rear end, was then flung onto its neck.

Yun Ce rode backwards on the neck of the Thunder Smoke Beast, only to be thrown onto its rump by the beast as it stood up. Enraged, Yun Ce clenched his right hand, his fingers like steel, and plunged them into the Thunder Smoke Beast's hind legs. He also released his grip on the saddle with his left hand, similarly inserting it into the back of the beast's front legs. His ten hook-like fingers clung firmly to the beast's body, and no matter how much it jumped, Yun Ce was like a maggot clinging to its bones, impossible to shake off.

As the Thunder Smoke Beast gradually calmed down amidst its excruciating pain, and a smile appeared on Yun Ce's face, Peng Zeng, who had been circling around the Thunder Smoke Beast, intending to take the opportunity to kill Yun Ce, suddenly let out a scream.

"Do not--"

Just as Yun Ce, whose head was spinning from being tossed around by the Thunder Smoke Beast, was about to let go of its hands and accept the beast's submission, the Thunder Smoke Beast suddenly leaped forward. Then, Yun Ce heard a long 'creak' sound, and his body swayed to the side of the Thunder Smoke Beast before stopping.

As soon as he pulled his ten fingers out of the Thunder Smoke Beast's body and landed, he saw Peng Zeng, who had gone mad. He dodged the long sword that was slashing at him and then kicked the hapless Peng Zeng away. Only then did Yun Ce have time to turn around and look at the motionless Thunder Smoke Beast.

As soon as Yun Ce turned his head, he felt a pang of heartache. The horse had actually committed suicide, by striking the half-tree trunk that Peng Zeng had just broken with his fist. The trunk, nearly a foot in diameter, was deeply embedded in the Thunder Smoke Beast's chest. Judging from the blood gushing from its nostrils, the beast was beyond saving.

"Beast——"

Peng Zeng, tears streaming down his face and his eyes bloodshot, spread his arms wide and claws, fiercely lunging at Yun Ce.

Yun Ce's legs were longer than Peng Zeng's arms, so he kicked Peng Zeng in the chest sooner, sending him flying again.

Peng Zeng fell to the ground, then rolled over and continued to pounce on Yun Ce, only to be kicked away once more.

Later, Peng Zeng's obsession with attacking Yun Ce became so strong that Yun Ce had no choice but to kick Peng Zeng in the temple, knocking the crazed man unconscious.

Looking down at the unconscious Peng Zeng, and then at the Thunder Smoke Beast stuck in the tree trunk, Yun Ce said to Feng An and Liang Kun, who had gathered around, "What should we do?"

Feng Anxin stroked the Thunder Smoke Beast, whose head was drooping, and sighed, "The 'Classic of Beasts' records that the Thunder Smoke Beast is fierce and only recognizes one master in its lifetime. Now it seems that it was indeed true."

Yun Ce frowned and said, "A wild beast is just a wild beast. This 'Classic of Beasts' is an exaggeration."

Liang Kun pointed to the dead Thunder Smoke Beast and said, "This is an example."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "This incident happened suddenly. If I had more time, I might have been able to tame this horse."

“This is a Thunder Smoke Beast, how can you insult it by calling it a beast?”

"I'm telling you, this is a horse, and the one pulling the cart is called a bighorn sheep!"

"Nonsense..."

Perhaps feeling guilty, the three of them talked as they moved away from the scene of the incident.

Eji and her group got off the sheep cart and circled the corpse of the Thunder Smoke Beast. They found that the horse was extremely luxuriously decorated with gold and silver. Anji judged that the jewels inlaid on the saddle alone could be sold for 100,000 coins.

Eji picked up the lance that had fallen from the horse from the dust, swung it with difficulty, and thought it would be perfect for her man to play with.

The four girls exchanged glances and, finding that everything Peng Zeng had brought was of good quality, they tacitly began to plunder it.

When Eji drove the sheep cart back to the main road, not far away in the wasteland, a burly man wearing only his underwear was fast asleep. Beside him was a naked, unadorned Thunder Smoke Beast that had committed suicide.

"Since ancient times, government officials have disliked people like knights-errant."

Because they always like to use their own judgment as the standard to judge everything in the world, just like the fatal judgment that Peng Zeng just gave me.

"A knight-errant is someone who can combine the roles of constable, judge, and executioner into one. The greater their power, the greater the harm they can cause." "Brother Liu, you are mistaken. Knights-errant help the needy and fight for justice. When the law cannot protect the people, the existence of knights-errant becomes the last resort for the people to pursue justice."

In this vast world, injustices are as numerous as hairs on a cow; it is precisely the time when chivalrous heroes must draw their swords in anger.

Feng An shook his head, disagreeing with Liang Kun's view. He also felt that Liu Chang'an's view of condemning chivalrous people outright was wrong. However, when asked to come up with a good insight, he felt that no matter what he said, it was not sufficient.

In front, three young people strolled along, discussing current affairs as they went, while a sheep-drawn cart followed closely behind.

The little girl on the sheep cart was adorable and the young woman was beautiful, but the clinking sound of counting money ruined this beautiful scene.

“We now have 376,458 coins, Anji. Is that enough to buy a 100-acre courtyard in Izumo Prefecture?”

Anji shook her head and said, "It's not enough. I heard that the city lord's mansion in Izumo Prefecture has less than ten acres of land, and it cost a full million coins to buy it."

"Eji, think about it. Now that we've bought the courtyard, won't we also need to build pavilions and towers, and decorate them with all sorts of furniture, paintings, and porcelain? I've heard that the governor of Chuyun Prefecture has a tower entirely built of red jade. Whenever the blood moon shines, that tower glows red, like a torch in the night."

Upon hearing this, Eji scratched her chin impatiently, looked up at Yun Ce not far away, and said angrily, "He's always so careless. If he cared a little, we would have saved enough money to build the courtyard long ago."

Angie bit her finger and said, "How about we build a smaller courtyard?"

Eji immediately widened her eyes and said, "I plan to have ten sons in the future. How can the small courtyard be enough for them?"

Anji took Eji's hand, rolled up her sleeve, pressed her fair arm for a while, and then chuckled, "You've never been a woman, how could you possibly have a son?"

Eji picked up a chubby little girl and kissed her hard on the face, saying, "There aren't any now, but there will be many later."

The wind and numerous mosquitoes on the wasteland finally awakened Peng Zeng, who had been sleeping for a long time. When he opened his eyes, he saw the dead Thunder Smoke Beast.

The once sharp and fierce eyes are now covered with a layer of sand, and several huge flies are laying eggs there.

Peng Zeng slowly got up, staggered and pounced on the corpse of the Thunder Smoke Beast, howling at the wasteland with heart-wrenching screams—you beast!

With Sheyang City right in front of them, neither Yun Ce, Feng An, nor Liang Kun showed any joy. This was simply because Pingyuan City had been defeated by incompetent and mediocre people, and now, before even entering Sheyang City, the three of them were seeing the same lax state of Pingyuan City again.

“Since the fall of the Ling Kingdom, this place has been peaceful for too long, to the point that people have forgotten what it means to be prepared for danger in times of peace.” Feng An looked at the moat, which had turned into a small ditch, and sighed heavily.

Seeing that Yun Ce remained unmoved, Liang Kun explained, "It was here that General Liu Xiang shot and killed the Sun King of Ling Kingdom, hence the name of this place."

Yun Ce led the sheep-drawn cart forward slowly, and after listening to Liang Kun's words, he asked, "Where are the former subjects and people of Ling Kingdom now? They couldn't have all been killed, could they?"

Feng An sneered and said, "Back then, when General Liu Xiang destroyed the Ling Kingdom, it took a long time and a lot of the imperial treasury was spent. In order to make up for the empty treasury, Chang'an issued a 'Prohibition of Barbarians' order, which forbade the former Ling Kingdom members from being incorporated into the Han Dynasty, and forbade the former Ling Kingdom members from building cities or fortresses in the wilderness. They were not even allowed to possess wooden fortresses, and the former Ling Kingdom members were not allowed to possess ironware. Anyone who disobeyed the order would be executed."

Yun Ce took the handful of green coins handed to him by E Ji and casually tossed them into the basket in front of the city gate official. After thinking for a moment, he said, "In that case, the people of Ling Kingdom, who have no strong fortifications to protect them and no weapons to resist, will surely suffer a terrible fate."

Liang Kun took the reins of the sheep-drawn cart and led it through the city gate. He said in the deep gate opening, "The reason why Ling Kingdom is called Ling Kingdom is because the women in their country are beautiful with blue eyes, and the men are rugged and strong with faces as if carved by a knife and axe. They are deeply loved by the noble families and powerful clans of Chang'an and Luoyang. At the height of Ling Kingdom's popularity, a top-grade Ling Kingdom maid was almost worth the same as gold."

Back then, when General Liu Xiang returned to the capital, he abducted 100,000 men and women from the Ling Kingdom. This single plunder not only made up for the court's deficit but also provided enough money to build the "Climbing Star Tower" in Chang'an.

Amidst this massive surge, the number of people plundering Ling Kingdom maids and slaves from the wasteland was as numerous as carp crossing a river. Within five years, not a single Ling Kingdom citizen could be found in the former territory.

Feng An gritted his teeth in exasperation and said, "Originally, the Ling people on the wasteland could have been a permanent source of wealth for our Han Dynasty. But those short-sighted people have squandered it so recklessly, and the wasteland has truly become a wasteland. The people of the wasteland are now impoverished, and Liu Xiang bears the primary responsibility for this."

After listening to the two men's complaints, Yun Ce immediately realized that his own death of a Thunder Smoke Beast was nothing compared to what these Han Chinese had done.

(End of this chapter)