Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 88 Star Map? Star Path!
"Join us, and we'll tell you." Zhang Min's tone turned cold and stern, her words carrying a hint of murderous intent.

Yun Ce lowered his head and said helplessly, "I don't want to leave the Royal Hunting Grounds, nor do I want to join any side. I just want to get the title of Shangzao so I can go to Chang'an to see it. My name is Liu Chang'an. If I die without ever seeing Chang'an, I will be really unwilling."

Zhang Min hesitated for a moment, then said to Yun Ce, "Liu Chang'an, this time I'm the one who's trying to persuade you, but next time it might not be me. I admit I'm a little soft-hearted with you, but I might not be with others."

Seeing Zhang Min about to leave, Yun Ce quickly said, "You won't even give me the dream of a peaceful life?"

Zhang Min's voice drifted from afar: "Wherever you go, chaos ensues. Hekou Village, Pingyuan, Sheyang, and now Chuyun all prove your status as a jinx. How can we let such a useful person go?"

Watching Zhang Min ride away on her large bird, Yun Ce felt a little worried. It was the dead of winter, and he wouldn't be able to obtain the title of Shangzao until the Flower Festival. There was still the Twilight Year and the Spring Festival in between. Now, Zhang Min was becoming increasingly impatient with him, and it probably wouldn't be so easy for him to deal with her casually anymore.

Just as Yun Ce was wandering around the hunting palace alone, trying to think of a solution, he heard Gouzi's weak voice in his mind.

"I am back."

"Huh? After swallowing that bead, shouldn't you have become stronger? Why are you so weak, like you're about to die?"

"Who told you that bead was a great tonic? Damn it, it's a star chart. I've been trying to figure it out these past few days, calculating it to the point of near collapse, and I've only managed to calculate a tiny bit. In the end, the amount of data in this star chart is too large, and I need time to extract it bit by bit."

Hearing what Gouzi said, Yun Ce's heart trembled violently. After calming down for a while, he said to Gouzi, "You mean if we understand the star map, we can go back?"

"Impossible. Based on my calculations, even running at the third cosmic velocity continuously, it would take 1,500 years. Yun Ce, if you can't overcome this time barrier, you might as well give up on the idea of ​​going back."

Yun Ce found a doorway to sit on, his mind bubbling as if it were on fire, muttering to himself, "Even I can't run sixteen or seventeen kilometers per second."

The dog threw a tattered cell phone out of the Dragon Ball. Yun Ce picked it up and tried to break it, only to find that the inside of the phone had been burned to a crisp.

With a flick of the finger, the phone, touted as the epitome of global technology, was reduced to a pile of junk.

"Take your time next time, don't rush. If you burn it down too, I won't even have a place to tell the truth."

"Aren't you going to ask me how the person whom this Han Chinese group calls the one closest to the Divine Dragon obtained this star map?"

"He's closest to the dragon? Huo Qubing and I should be the closest to the dragon, after all, we both lived in the dragon's claws for a period of time."

Moreover, I even ate the dragon eggshell, receiving the same treatment as the dragon cubs.

"That's right, you were captured by the dragon, but others were personally brought here by the dragon. You know how big the difference is."

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Who told you he was dead?

"Zhang Min."

"She knows nothing. I even doubt that Huo Qubing is dead."

What makes you doubt me?

"A person who can live for six hundred years has already broken through the limitations of genes. If such a person can live for six hundred years, there is no reason why he cannot live for another six hundred years."

The worst thing about you humans is that you suppress your thinking by the consciousness of rules. People used to say that human vitality is in a state of decline. Do you understand what vitality is?
You've already transcended Earth, yet you still use Earth-based thinking to understand the Han Dynasty. Earth's physical laws apply to Earth, and the Han Dynasty's physical laws apply to the Han Dynasty. You can't always look for similarities between you; you should look for differences.

Yun Ce chuckled and said, "It's good that you're back. Perfect timing. I just discovered that there's someone next to me who doesn't conform to Earth's common sense."

"Who?"

“Peng Zeng, I’ve discovered that as long as this guy is left with a breath, he can recover quickly. Oh, to expand on what you’re saying, I even suspect that if you cut off his head, he could still come back to life.”

Come on, I'll show you around.

Yun Ce hurriedly arrived at Peng Zeng's room. The old woman was feeding Peng Zeng some soup through a hole that Yun Ce had specially made. Judging from the swallowing movements in the guy's throat, his internal injuries were almost healed.

When the old woman saw Yun Ce enter, her hand trembled, spilling a lot of soup. She still mustered her courage and said, "Master Steward, could you please not hit him? He's so pitiful."

Yun Ce waved her out with a cold face, and the old woman started rambling on and on, saying that people are born to suffer, and that the suffering is endless.

Yun Ce found a piece of cloth and covered Peng Zeng's terrified eyes with it. The dog immediately extended two silver threads and inserted them into Peng Zeng's body. It was clear that the silver threads were rapidly exploring Peng Zeng's subcutaneous tissue.

Peng Zeng, whose eyes were covered by a handkerchief, seemed to be in great pain. He opened his mouth, which had few teeth, and cried out, but his voice was surprisingly weak.

"Beast——"

Yun Ce didn't really understand Peng Zeng. When they first met in the wilderness, Peng Zeng's behavior was very much in line with his identity as a chivalrous hero. If he hadn't stubbornly taken Yun Ce's casual question seriously and had instead turned around and left, Yun Ce would have greatly admired this chivalrous hero who was willing to travel thousands of miles alone to rescue the people.

The second time they met, Yun Ce was merely following him, and he was discovered. Once he returned to the Yu family mansion, Yun Ce would have no way to deal with him.

On their third meeting, this guy had already won. Instead of saying a few nice words and humiliating Bu Renjia, he made an insolent challenge to Zhou Chengming. Yun Ce believed that this guy could easily defeat a Shangzao Jue.

As for this injury, he had already won Eji's favor. As long as he was well, as Eji's most favored minister, as long as Yun Ce did well, Peng Zeng would definitely have a bright future.

Unfortunately, despite having a mouth, he always seems to have the ability to mess things up at crucial moments.

Now, lying in bed being explored like a corpse by my dog, I deserve it.

It seemed as if many tiny snakes and insects were crawling inside Peng Zeng's body. Indeed, Gouzi inserted more than a dozen silver threads into Peng Zeng's body.

The pain was so intense that it made Yun Ce's hair stand on end, while Peng Zeng still had the strength to keep cursing Yun Ce as a beast.

By the time Gouzi had pulled the silver threads out of Peng Zeng's body one by one, his sweat had soaked through the thick layer of his clothes, and the sweat was flowing out from under the sheets, eventually wetting the ground.

Yun Ce lifted the cloth covering Peng Zeng's face. Peng Zeng's eyes, which had been somewhat bright just moments before, became dull again, and he stopped cursing him as a beast.

"It's very interesting. When his body suffers severe damage, his mind can temporarily withdraw from his body, allowing the body to return to an infant state and regain the ability to restructure the body in the most primal way. Honestly, that's an amazing ability."

Yun Ce quickly replied, "I want to learn."

"I don't know yet whether this is his innate talent or something he developed through training. If it's innate talent, then there's nothing we can do. If it's something he developed through training, then it's very valuable."

Yun Ce wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth with the cloth in his hand, digested what Gouzi had said, and looked at Peng Zeng again, he really admired him.

I just don't understand why he always messes things up at crucial moments. Is it possible that his skills can only be improved by constantly getting beaten up?

That's quite possible, after all, many martial arts novels are written like that.

With the dog back, Yun Ce no longer took the crisis brought by Zhang Min seriously. After relaxing his nerves which had been tense for two days, he wanted to eat something good to replenish his energy.

The next day, when a group of menacing state soldiers arrived at the Royal Hunting Grounds, Yun Ce noticed that these men were all covered in blood, and some even had bloodstains all over their faces, indicating that they had killed quite a few people.

The centurion, upon seeing Yun Ce, didn't waste any words. He opened a scroll, glanced at Yun Ce, and said, "The Royal Hunting Grounds are offering tribute of fifty taels of gold."

Seeing the murderous centurion, Yun Ce obediently took fifty taels of gold from E Ji and handed it over. After weighing the gold, the centurion spoke with a hint of weariness.

"If you have gold, pay it. This stuff can buy your life. If we don't pay the full tribute and anger the court, they might send a large army over, and none of us will survive."

As he spoke, the centurion gave Yun Ce a plaque made of green coins, saying, "This is from a family that has been the most successful in collecting tribute. This is your tax payment certificate. With this plaque, you can freely enter and leave Yun City with your men."

"Since you live by hunting and gathering, and caravans haven't dared to enter the city lately, if you could transport your game and grains to the city, you'd definitely make a fortune."

Yun Ce handed the centurion a cup of water and said, "Take a rest and have some water. We are a tributary state of the Han Dynasty. Our tribute was stolen by bandits. It's not like we refused to pay. Why did it attract the imperial army?"

The centurion, perhaps fearing that Yun Ce had poisoned the water, did not take it. Instead, he raised his own water bag, took a sip, and said to Yun Ce, "You are still young. If the Han Dynasty demands tribute, we must give it. If we don't, the Han army will come down and demand it themselves. Over the years, I have never heard of anyone being an exception."

After seeing off the army that came to collect tribute, Yun Ce was in an unusually good mood. E Ji asked in confusion, "That's our family's money."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "That's the money of the Han Dynasty."

Feng An said worriedly, "It has come to the point where we need to send in the army to collect the tribute. The main place for paying the tribute is Izumo City. Heaven knows what a terrible situation it is."

(End of this chapter)