Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 58 Bear Always Likes to Be a Thief
The chestnut horse ran extremely fast.

It is enormous, possessing not only the speed of a horse but also the agility of an antelope. Its massive hooves can even split in two when it falls rapidly... Yun Ce is certain that a horse is not an even-toed ungulate; its hooves should be a single, solid mass.

However, Yun Ce still stubbornly believed that the chestnut horse was a horse. Heaven knows what kind of predicament its poor ancestors encountered during the long process of evolution, which caused their hoof to turn into two halves.

The sound of crossbow bolts piercing the air rang out again. Yun Ce waved his hand to try to deflect the bolt, but perhaps he hadn't timed it well, and the bolt still hit him squarely in the back.

Once is one thing, twice is another, but when the crossbow bolt hit almost the same spot for the third time, Yun Ce was furious. He spun his meteor hammer with all his might and smashed it at the big bird. This time, he didn't grab the other hammer head, but threw the entire meteor hammer out while spinning it.

"Caw!" The large bird shrieked and flapped its wings rapidly, its body jerking upwards to avoid the lightning-fast meteor hammer. However, its two claws remained within the range of the meteor hammer. The chains, blocked by its feet, began to spin violently until they firmly bound its two claws together. Finally, the two meteor hammers rang out with a crisp sound and then became intertwined.

With a 'quack', the giant bird's feet were entangled. In a panic, its massive body suddenly tilted, flipping the smug Zhang Min off its back.

As Yun Ce watched Zhang Min grab the reins and being carried away by the large bird like a kite, he urged the chestnut horse to chase after the swaying bird.

At this point, Yun Ce was no longer very interested in capturing Zhang Min. Compared to this femme fatale, he wanted the large bird that could carry people in flight. With this bird, Yun Ce felt that his investigation into the Han society would be completed much sooner.

Watching the giant bird wobbling and flying ahead, Eji cheered with joy. At that moment, she shared the same thought as Yun Ce: to catch the giant bird and fly all over the world together.

Zhang Min's hat was blown off by the strong wind, and her long hair was blown wildly by the fierce wind, so much so that it got tangled in the belly band of the giant bird, and she couldn't get up or down for a while.

Yun Ce kept shooting arrows, but the arrows couldn't penetrate Zhang Min's body. Seeing this, Yun Ce was surprised for a moment, and then continued to shoot at Zhang Min's head, hands and feet.

"Ah—" Zhang Min screamed as an arrow pierced her left leg, and another arrow shot toward her right leg.

Zhang Min was furious. She never expected that she, who had just been in the upper hand, would fall to this state. The soft sword wrapped around her left wrist sprang out like a snake, taut in the fierce wind, and instantly cut off the hair wrapped around her bellyband. With a burst of strength in her right hand, she leaped up and landed on the back of the swaying bird, turning back to look angrily at Yun Ce.

The large bird, which was being ridden, quickly regained its balance and was no longer panicked. After circling in the air, it charged at Yun Ce, who was riding a horse at full speed, once again. This time, Yun Ce saw clearly that Zhang Min was once again cocking her crossbow by kicking it into the air, not even caring that her underpants were exposed.

This time, she was aiming for horses.

Yun Ce pulled a spear from the Dragon Ball, gripped it in his hand, and prepared to strike. This time, he didn't aim at Zhang Min, but instead wanted to use the spear to pierce the giant bird's belly.

The crossbow bolt whistled as it flew toward the chestnut horse's head, but Yun Ce didn't throw his spear at the last moment; instead, he deflected the bolt.

Zhang Min would rather the big bird die than Yun Ce would do the same. He urged the chestnut horse to disappear into the woods.

The giant bird broke free from the meteor hammer's restraints and circled angrily above the forest. Yun Ce, along with E Ji and the chestnut horse, hid behind a towering tree, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Yun Ce pushed aside the large head of the chestnut horse and said to E Ji, "It will be fine when it gets dark."

Eji whispered, "The pursuers will come."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "It's alright, this forest is very big, she won't be able to find us."

Before he could finish speaking, a giant bear fell from a tree, crashing down on the chestnut horse with its rear end facing down like Mount Tai. The chestnut horse quickly dodged, and the giant bear's heavy body slammed onto the hard, dry ground with a thud. Before it could get up, Yun Ce's spear pierced through the giant bear's open mouth and emerged from its brain.

"How could there be a giant bear here?" Yun Ce kicked the giant bear, which was not quite dead yet, and looked around warily.

Ever since learning that the pigs and bears in this world are organized animals, Yun Ce has become several levels more wary of them.

When the chestnut horse saw the giant bear, it cried out and ran away, shaking off Yun Ce and E Ji. For some reason, this dead horse was fundamentally different from the one Peng Zeng rode. That horse would rather die than submit to its master, but this horse was always the first to run away when danger came. Moreover, even its neighing sounded like that of a shameless scoundrel.

Killing one giant bear is a matter of a moment, and killing two giant bears doesn't take much time either. The problem is that after Yun Ce killed the third giant bear, it was as if he had disturbed a bear den, and giant bears from all directions came smelling the scent.

Annoyed, Yun Ce had no choice but to hop and leap like a monkey across the dense forest.

"Ow—"

A long, drawn-out bear roar came from the depths of the forest. Yun Ce could actually hear a warning and anger in this roar that was only known to humans.

The sound was very loud, extremely loud. Yun Ce figured the bear must be enormous too. Unsure of the situation, he had no choice but to continue his escape, using tree trunks as stepping stones. Only after escaping the bear's den did he quickly climb a large tree to assess the situation.

"Bear, who gave you permission to leave Tianzhu Mountain?"

Zhang Min rode the giant bird, circling among the treetops; the wind whipped by its wings rustled the leaves. "Awooo—"

"King Huo gave you a way out back then, and you dare to disobey him? Are you trying to wipe out your entire Bear Clan?"

Listening to Zhang Min and Xiong howling, Yun Ce noticed that his wristband was extremely agitated. This time, he saw clearly that it wasn't the dog moving, but the Dragon Ball.

Seeing that the Dragon Ball was about to transform from a wristband into a single ball, Yun Ce quickly asked the dog, "What's wrong?"

"Dragon Ball says it's hungry."

"Doesn't it not eat anything?"

"It wants to eat that bear."

"It finally has an appetite?"

"I don't know, but it's in a hurry."

Yun Ce raised his hand to comfort Long Zhu and said softly, "Take your time, there's no rush. I'll find a chance to roast that bear for you and eat it."

Dragon Ball sensed Yun Ce's good intentions and quietly lay on his wrist, continuing to serve as a wristband.

Yun Ce got up, jumped onto another big tree, and, guided by the dog, slowly approached the bear.

The tree was lush with leaves, and Yun Ce moved very quietly. He and E Ji even breathed very softly. In this tranquil environment, Yun Ce keenly heard a heavy panting sound. He parted the branches and looked down, and saw a wild boar, which was even larger than an African elephant, sneaking around under the tree.

Despite its massive size, it moved silently through the dense forest. If the howling bear just now was the Bear King, then this one below must undoubtedly be the Pig King, Zhu Nu.

"Want to eat this pig?"

Yun Ce hoped to contact Long Zhu, but Long Zhu remained silent. Gouzi said, "It only wants to eat bears."

"Why? Both the bear and the boar are kings of beasts."

"Maybe Dragon Ball just wants something from that bear."

"Dragon Spirit?"

"should be."

Yun Ce followed the pig slowly into the depths of the forest.

High in the sky, Zhang Min continued to circle the large bird, occasionally questioning the bear about why it had left Tianzhu Mountain. Each time, the bear responded with a howl.

Anyone who sees a bear would feel an urge to worship it, mainly because this bear is so big. The pig king is even bigger than an African elephant. At least this wouldn't impact Yun Ce's worldview. However, a bear that stands seven or eight meters tall is enough to make Yun Ce think of it as a being like King Kong.

The bear was extremely agitated at this moment, and Zhang Min's constant talking while riding a bird in the air made it even more agitated. So, it uprooted a tree and threw it at the bird flying in the sky.

The large bird nimbly dodged the tree, and then Zhang Min's cold voice came from mid-air: "Bear, it's been forty-seven days, and you've grown quite a bit taller. It seems you've taken the Dragon Spirit, haven't you?"

The bear grew even more agitated. Standing on a giant tree, it leaped up and stretched out its arms to grab the large bird in the air. The bird spun around and dodged again. The bear landed with a jolt, causing the ground to tremble violently. As soon as it stood up, it pressed its thick back against a large tree and squeezed it hard. Seeing that the tree creak and slowly tilt, Yun Ce moved to another tree to hide under.

Zhang Min was setting off fireworks on the bird's back. To be precise, she was releasing a signal flare. After being thrown high into the air, it exploded, revealing a black, six-petaled flower shape that was extremely conspicuous in broad daylight. It seemed she was gathering people.

The giant bear looked even more agitated. With a roar, it charged eastward, knocking down and breaking countless trees along the way, carving a path through the dense forest.

Not only that, but dozens of bears followed behind it, two of which were quite special, having human bodies and bear heads.

Zhu Nu followed behind, unhurried and seemingly quite calculating. Yun Ce naturally followed Zhu Nu, also unhurried. In the distance, out of Yun Ce's sight, another horse followed at a similarly unhurried pace, but it appeared more wary than any of the wild beasts or people.

The large bird seemed invincible in the air. With a cry, the carrion birds circling high in the sky all fled.

(End of this chapter)