Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 96 Dragons, without reproductive barriers
"So, the Guifang people today are also descendants of the Yellow Emperor?"

Zhang Min sighed and said, "They are looking more and more like us. In the past, some of the Guifang people had four arms, and some had four legs."

Unless you are the strongest warrior, an extra limb does not provide more combat power for an ordinary person.

Since we borrowed sperm from the descendants of the Xuanyuan clan, their offspring have been just like us, with two legs and two arms. Even if some are unsuccessful, they will at most grow three arms or three legs. If one of the arms or legs is a weak limb, it can be cut off.

Two thousand years ago, these green-skinned, multi-armed, multi-legged creatures were merely slaves of the Han people, helping them build the Great Wall, construct walls, and open roads. It is said that beneath every inch of the Han roads lies the blood of the Guifang people.

Fifteen hundred years ago, there were very few people with multiple hands and feet among the Guifang people. Apart from having slightly green skin, they were not much different from us.

By the time King Huo launched his northern expedition, a thousand years had passed. The Gui Fang people had already produced handsome men and beautiful women who could make the Han people drool. Most importantly, they were already able to intermarry with the Han people and have children, no longer requiring the Xuanyuan clan to do it themselves.

At that time, countless thatched huts were built on the wilderness of the Guifang people. Each hut was inhabited by a beautiful Guifang woman. Any strong Han man could enter and enjoy the gentleness of the beauty, not to mention the abundance of delicious food.

King Huo led an army of three million to conquer the Gui Fang for forty years. Although he killed nearly ten million Gui Fang people, he also left behind nearly ten million newborns for the Gui Fang.

A thousand years ago, everyone thought that King Huo's protracted campaign was a victory. After all, he had driven the Gui Fang people ten thousand miles north, and the Gui Fang people no longer coveted the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Six hundred years ago, the historian Shangguan Jie offered a new interpretation of the matter. He believed that King Huo's northern expedition was actually a war that would be more harmful than beneficial, because it was that war that caused the Guifang people to completely change their race.

Those Guifang people killed by King Huo were either incompletely evolved or had failed to evolve. Those Guifang people who evolved like us continued to multiply in the distant north, and their descendants were stronger and more intelligent than their predecessors.

Yun Ce listened intently to Zhang Min recount those distant stories, but there was one thing he couldn't understand at all: the Guifang people originally had reproductive isolation from other Han people, so why didn't they have it from the descendants of the Xuanyuan clan?
Zhang Min took a sip of water to moisten her throat, and seeing that Yun Ce was still deep in thought, she smiled and said, "Are you trying to ask why members of the Xuanyuan clan can have healthy children with the Guifang people?"

Yun Ce nodded repeatedly and even kindly refilled Zhang Min's empty cup with water.

Zhang Min gave a wry smile and said, "A problem that people two thousand years ago couldn't figure out even after a thousand years of thinking about it was later solved by a casual remark from King Huo."

The saying goes: "The dragon has nine sons, each different from the last." It can have all sorts of children with female dragons, wolves, big birds, toads, lions, turtles, tigers, and fish.

The Xuanyuan clan always claimed to be sons and grandsons of dragons, therefore, they must possess dragon blood, and naturally, they could father new children with the four-legged beings of the Guifang.

After listening to Zhang Min's explanation, Yun Ce couldn't help but glance at the chestnut horse that had wandered into the yard. If the horse was female, Yun Ce couldn't help but wonder if he would give birth to a dragon horse or something else if he were with the chestnut horse.
The moment the thought crossed Yun Ce's mind, his hair stood on end, and he violently shook his head to shake off this impure and strange idea.

The descendants of Xuanyuan were able to create a new and powerful race with the Guifang people. They had eaten dragon eggshells, taken Ao Bing's dragon seed, and later stole another dragon seed. Their strongest martial skill was that their arms could transform into dragon claws. Based on this, we can arrive at a clear answer.

Wouldn't the concentration of dragons in one's own body be higher than that of the descendants of the Xuanyuan clan?

This leads to the further inference that the concentration of dragon energy within one's body is almost comparable to that of a dragon itself. Since dragons and toads can produce offspring, then one's own...

Thinking of this, Yun Ce still focused his gaze on E Ji. He could accept having a child with E Ji, but he would rather forget about having a child with a chestnut horse or something like that.

Zhang Min gave Yun Ce a very important biology lesson today, so Yun Ce rewarded her with the braised pork he had specially made this morning.

While Mei Mei was enjoying her braised pork, Zhang Min continued her relentless attempts to sow discord between him and E Ji.

"Playing drums in the wilderness to attract a lover is a custom that came from the Guifang people."

Eji fed a piece of braised pork to the dog and asked Yun Ce, puzzled.

What are the Guifang people?

Zhang Min said with a smile, "A bunch of ugly bastards."

Yun Ce glared at Zhang Min and said, "Are the native Lingguo people of Chuyun Prefecture also of the Guifang race?"

Zhang Min shook his head and said, "She's a variant of the Han people. Don't worry, your wife's origins are clear; she's of Han descent. I was just teasing her."

Although Eji was illiterate, she was very clever. She had already realized that Zhang Min was framing her, but she didn't understand what she was being framed for. When Yun Ce asked her, she immediately understood. She pointed the dog's mouth at Zhang Min and then twisted the dog's tail with all her might.

Just as Zhang Min was still confused, Yun Ce yanked her off the stool. Before Zhang Min's anger could even rise, the puppy's mouth suddenly turned into a huge black hole, and two rows of sharp, knife-like teeth snapped shut like a guillotine, biting the wooden post she had just been sitting on in two. Zhang Min, regaining her senses, was furious. Her soft sword, nimble as a snake, darted out of her sleeve, aiming straight for E Ji's throat. E Ji twisted the puppy's tail again, and the black hole reappeared, now large and round, blocking her soft sword.

Zhang Min was very experienced in dealing with monsters. She jumped aside, used her soft sword to throw the food into the dog's mouth, and in an instant, the tables, chairs and benches that Lao Chou and the others had worked so hard to make, as well as the delicious food on the table, were all bitten to pieces by the dog's mouth.

Yun Ce didn't step in to mediate. At this point, no matter who he pulled back, the other would take the opportunity to kill him. It was better to let them fight rationally for a while and let their tempers subside before trying to persuade them to stop.

Zhang Min's judgment was correct. The puppy was indeed unable to activate its giant mouth function for long. After Eji twisted the puppy's tail no matter how much, the puppy could only whimper in pain and its mouth could no longer grow bigger. Eji then said to Zhang Min, "I'll let you off this time. If there's a next time, I'll make sure the dog skin bites you in two."

"Hey, without this dead dog, can you withstand one of my moves?"

"The dog skin was caught by my husband for me to use for self-defense. If the dog skin is no good, my husband is still here. Can you beat my husband?"

"If you weren't such a hopeless woman, I would have had my husband smash you into mincemeat and feed you to the dogs long ago."

Zhang Min was speechless, then glared at Yun Ce and said, "You'll help her beat me up?"

Yun Ce could only shrug, indicating that he was not in a position to speak.

As expected of a secret agent, Zhang Min quickly snapped out of her argument and pointed at the dog skin, saying, "This is Dog King Naosheng. How did you capture it alive? When it comes to the monsters of Chuyun Prefecture, Dog King Naosheng's reputation is even greater than that of Pig King and Bear King. You are more powerful than Zhou Chengming and Wu Tong combined."

Yun Ce quickly shook his head and said, "Zhou Chengming beat me so badly that I was scared out of my wits by myself."

Zhang Min said, "The two of them can kill the Pig King and the Bear King, but they don't have the ability to capture the Dog King Naosheng alive, let alone turn the dignified Dog King into a puppy to be played with by women and children."

Yun Ce, don't be careless. Monsters are wild and untamed. Even if they appear docile, it's only a temporary state of dormancy. Once they have a chance to escape, they will definitely fight back.

I hate your wife, but I can't bear to see her get eaten by that dog, Naosheng. Since I'm kindly reminding you, tell me, how did you catch Naosheng?

Seeing that her most powerful weapon could only whine now, and that her husband didn't seem to support her killing Zhang Min, Eji angrily slapped Dog King Naosheng's buttocks while cursing and swearing as she went back to her room.

The tables, chairs, and benches in the yard were all destroyed, and the delicious food on the table was gone. The two could only stand and talk.

Yun Ce recounted his journey to Chuyun City to exchange goods, his bringing back the families of mid-level officials from Chuyun City, and how he was ambushed by a huge group of dog skins on the way. With no other option, he had to fight the dog king one-on-one.

After listening, Zhang Min glanced worriedly towards Eji's bedroom, then looked up at Yun Ce and said, "So, it seems that Dogskin King Naosheng has undergone some new changes?"

Yun Ce nodded and said, "If Dog King Naosheng hadn't had the Giant Mouth ultimate move before, it should have been as you guessed."

Zhang Min sighed and said, "The Guifang people are changing, the spirits in the wild are changing, but we Han people have made some progress over the past thousands of years, and that is only a little progress."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "Yes, you just haven't noticed it yet."

Zhang Min said seriously, "Are you talking about yourself?"

Yun Ce shook his head and said, "You underestimate the heroes of the world. Come with me."

Zhang Min followed Yun Ce to the house where Peng Zeng lived, and pointed to Peng Zeng, who was wrapped in cloth like a rice dumpling, and said, "That's him."

Zhang Min poked Peng Zeng, who looked terrified, with her finger and said, "I don't see anything different about him than ordinary people."

Yun Ce laughed and said, "This man was stabbed seventeen or eighteen times this morning, with seven or eight of the stabs piercing major blood vessels. Logically speaking, someone like him should have frozen to death in the heavy snow last night. But this man, despite being so badly injured, managed to crawl for more than ten miles through the snow to come to my door."

Now, as you can see, he's alive again.

This resurrection was the least remarkable of all his countless resurrections.

Hearing Yun Ce's flattery, the fear in Peng Zeng's eyes almost solidified. He wanted to object, but when he turned and saw Zhang Min's eyes shining with admiration, he gave up and stopped struggling.

(End of this chapter)