Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 50 Fierce Fighting
"You scoundrel, come out and face your death!"

The sound was like thunder, and all the slaves covered their ears, even the Thunder Smoke Beast beside them stomped back.

A pig's head suddenly emerged from the darkness and appeared in front of Peng Zeng. A beautiful fist grew larger and larger before finally landing on Peng Zeng's face.

With a "crack," Peng Zeng's burly body flew backward, knocking over five or six slaves who were watching the commotion, before landing on the ground unconscious.

Yun Ce didn't care about Peng Zeng, who was sent flying backward. He wiped the sweat from his palms and carefully touched the chestnut horse.

This time, the chestnut horse did not commit suicide, nor did it look at the unconscious Peng Zeng for long. When Yun Ce touched it, it brought its long face close, appearing extremely docile.

After confirming that the horse would not commit suicide, Yun Ce retrieved a two-pound gold ingot from the unconscious Peng Zeng's arms. When he had knocked the guy away, he had intended to deliver a punch to his chest, but when his fist touched his chest, he suddenly realized something was wrong and withdrew his fist. He hadn't expected it to be a long, thin gold ingot.

Yun Ce put away the gold ingot and went to the chestnut horse again, stretching out his arm to touch its cheek. The chestnut horse lowered its head and affectionately rubbed its long face against Yun Ce's face.

Domesticated horses are generally docile, and Yun Ce still can't understand how Peng Zeng's horse could be so fierce.

He carefully mounted the horse, gave the reins a gentle shake, and the chestnut horse obediently followed his guidance into the darkness.

Yun Ce left, but Peng Zeng was left behind.

The slaves initially watched from a distance, but when they noticed that Peng Zeng was not moving, they moved closer. When they got closer, they found that Peng Zeng was still not moving, so some of them started throwing clods of dirt at him. When they saw that Peng Zeng was still not moving, they swarmed forward and surrounded him.

After the crowd dispersed, Peng Zeng was stripped naked and lay curled up on the ground, only his slightly rising and falling chest indicating that he was still alive.

The slaves who had benefited had vanished without a trace. Just then, a dark figure crawled out of the roadside weeds. He slowly moved to Peng Zeng's side, tore off his dirty, tattered clothes, pressed his cold body tightly against Peng Zeng's back, hugged his chest with both hands, and let out a heartfelt sigh—"Ah, so warm..."

Horse hooves clattering...

On the deserted horse trail at night, a chestnut horse was galloping wildly, its long mane flying and its tail standing straight back. Yun Ce, riding on the chestnut horse, could clearly feel the rhythm of its muscles. The wind whistled past his ears, and the trees on both sides of the road rushed past.

Based on experience, Yun Ce believed that at this time, the chestnut horse's speed had exceeded 100 kilometers per hour. Horses on Earth cannot run that fast; the highest speed is 80 or 90 kilometers per hour, and they can only maintain that speed for a few seconds at most.

Now, he is riding a chestnut horse and has been running at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour for half an hour, and the chestnut horse still shows no signs of exhaustion and is still galloping hard.

It wasn't that Yun Ce insisted on making it run so fast, but rather that the chestnut horse seemed to want to run fast on its own. As Yun Ce galloped faster, the chestnut horse seemed even more excited.

The saying goes, "Many fine horses are humiliated in the hands of slaves." Yun Ce thought this statement was very true.

The chestnut horse ran countless laps on the city's horse trails until it finally stopped when it passed a winery that was still open for business.

Yun Ce looked up at the wine shop sign, then at the torch stuck in the stone pillar by the door, chuckled, and patted the sweaty head of the chestnut horse. He hadn't expected this guy to be a drinker.

However, horses have a poor ability to metabolize alcohol, so Yun Ce did not intend to give it any.

A lightly salted solution is more suitable for it.

So Yun Ce asked for some chilled rice wine for himself and some warm, lightly salted water for the dog to replenish the electrolytes it had just lost.

In the eyes of the shopkeepers in Sheyang City, the Thunder Smoke Beast was indeed more noble than a human, at least more noble than Yun Ce, who was dressed in clothes made of tree bark.

Therefore, the chilled rice wine was placed in an exquisite wooden container and served to the Thunder Smoke Beast, while the warm, lightly salted water was placed in a large, rough porcelain bowl and served to Yun Ce.

Thunder Smoke Beast snorted and began to enjoy the rice wine. Yun Ce glanced at the boss, then at the noble chestnut horse, and realized that he really needed to replenish his electrolytes, so he picked up the lightly salted water and drank it.

Late at night, the chestnut horse drank heartily, and Yun Ce drank lightly salted water with some ease. When the blood moon hung high in the sky, draping the earth in a pale red cloak, Yun Ce stood up, pulled the lance from the chestnut horse's saddle, brandished it a couple of times in the moonlight, and said to the chestnut horse, "Let's go get a pair of wicked feet!"

Perhaps sensing the murderous aura emanating from Yun Ce, the chestnut horse neighed and came to Yun Ce's side. With a little effort, he leaped onto the horse's back, flicked the reins, and the chestnut horse galloped down the horse trail.

As Yun Ce's figure disappeared, Hong Guniang and Pei Chuan walked out of the wine shop together. Pei Chuan laughed and said, "He didn't even notice that there were no patrolling soldiers today."

Hong Guniang said, "He doesn't care."

"Does he think he's some kind of King Huo? If we hadn't led the soldiers away, he would have been captured by now." Red Girl laughed loudly, "He just doesn't care!"

Pei Chuan added, "I didn't see him at the inn."

Hong Guniang said, "That's why I said he doesn't care!"

Pei Chuan pondered for a moment and said, "If we don't act now, it will be too late. Our men can't keep this up for long."

Red Girl glanced at the dense crowd on the other side of the woods and laughed, "Then let's start!"

Pei Chuan grinned, raised his hand and smashed a pottery jar on the wine shop, the pungent liquid inside spraying onto the roof. He then kicked the torch stuck in the doorway, and flames immediately ignited.

Yun Ce rode his horse swiftly like the wind, and in a short while, the Yu Gong Mansion was already in sight. Although it was late at night, the Yu Gong Mansion was bustling with activity, with countless servants carrying all sorts of boxes and baskets onto the sheep cart.

The chestnut horse trampled violently through the crowd. Yun Ce clung tightly to its back, and like an arrow, it pierced through the open gate. Amid the terrified screams of the servants, the heavy hooves shattered the decorative bricks inside the gate, and the massive horse crashed through the intricately carved windows. The venomous dragon-like lance pierced through the warrior who held his broadsword high. The warhorse moved forward, and the lance continued to thrust. Yun Ce released his grip, leaped over the warrior's burly body, grabbed the lance shaft from behind, and forcefully pulled the lance from the warrior's body.

Without any special skills, the blood-stained lance swept across, the immense force striking the weapons of the intercepting samurai. The clanging of metal against metal rang out continuously. The sharp edge of the lance severed the samurai's sword, and at the same time, severed their bodies as well.

The horse's hooves pounded on the flower-lined path, scattering countless fallen petals. Just as it was about to charge into the main hall, Yun Ce turned his horse around and charged towards the warriors in the left passageway. With his lance pointed forward, the lance pierced through the warriors' bodies without resistance, much like a second and a third. The chestnut horse surged forward with all its might, and Yun Ce's lance had already impaled six men, who were pushed forward by the chestnut horse until they burst out of the passageway, their blood staining the ground red.

"Who are you?"

Yun Ce had just emerged from the passageway and dropped the warrior impaled on his spear when he heard someone roaring at him from the opposite side.

In an instant, he threw his lance towards the source of the sound, leaping forward with it. The lance covered a distance of twenty meters and struck the speaker. Yun Ce arrived just in time, grabbed the tail of the lance, and with a strong shake, threw the person impaled on it away.

At the same time, arrows rained down on him, causing Yun Ce to feel a burning pain all over his body, as if he had been stung by bees.

After a volley of arrows, Yun Ce moved his hand away from his eyes, shook his clothes which were covered in arrows, and the arrows fell to the ground.

"The pig demon that destroyed Pingyuan City?"

A familiar voice came from the pavilion. Yun Ce looked up and saw that the pavilion was full of archers, and the person standing in the middle was the same clerk Peng Jing he had seen before.

At the same time, heavy, orderly footsteps echoed from the other side of the passageway. Not only that, but armored soldiers wielding throwing spears appeared on the walls.

"You can't escape, so surrender immediately."

Yun Ce felt that the Yu family mansion was likely a big trap, a trap that was probably meant to deal with Hong Guniang and her group of rebels, but now he had stumbled upon it.

"Where is Lord Yu?" Yun Ce asked, looking up.

"Do you have a grudge against me?" A clear and pleasant voice came from the left. Yun Ce turned his head and saw a palanquin behind the layers of armored soldiers. Sitting cross-legged on the palanquin was a middle-aged man dressed in a soft blue robe.

Yun Ce, sporting a pig-like face, said, "This afternoon, a little girl died. I think it was your fault, so I came to find you."

Lord Yu frowned slightly and said, "I don't know."

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "You don't need to know, it's enough that I know."

Lord Yu chuckled and said, "That's too unreasonable."

Having said that, he was carried backward slowly, gently waving something that looked like a banana leaf fan. As he retreated, Yun Ce didn't stop either. He quickly curled up his body, kicked his legs hard, and crashed into the load-bearing pillar at the bottom of the pavilion like a cannonball.

With a loud crash, the wooden pillars placed on the stone base were knocked off by Yun Ce. Yun Ce did not stop, and continued to ram the pillars despite the rain of arrows. The crashing sounds were deafening. In an instant, all six pillars supporting the pavilion were bent and twisted by Yun Ce. The wooden pavilion suddenly lurched forward and was already halfway toppled. The bricks and tiles on the roof of the pavilion fell down, hitting the archers and causing them to scatter.

"Ah—" Yun Ce's eyes were bloodshot. With a burst of strength, he lifted the heavy stone seat, twisted his body and hips, and threw the stone seat toward the only remaining beam in the northwest corner.

(End of this chapter)