Chapter 104: So Shehuo Is A Deity
The Sky is Falling.
This is a sentence that ordinary people often say when they encounter an insurmountable difficulty, and it is also a sentence that wealthy people and powerful people often say when they face the crisis of total destruction.
Yun Ce had never heard Yun Linchuan say these three words.
Because he is part of the sky for ordinary people, and that sky itself is created by them.
Therefore, when they hear others say the sky is falling, they usually laugh, and may even become excited. For them, only encountering a disaster of the “Sky is Falling” level is the moment for them to show their skills.
So Yun Ce, who grew up by Yun Linchuan’s side since childhood, also had no particular feeling about these three words “Sky is Falling.”
What can be done if the Sky is Falling?
Bear what can be borne, save what can be saved, Mend the Sky if possible. If you have tried and struggled but still can’t overcome it, then that belongs to the objective law.
Amid Zhang Min’s incessant chatter, Yun Ce finally understood why she said the Sky is Falling.
There are mainly three events.
1 First, once every three hundred years, the Divine Dragon descends upon the Great Han. Previously, the Divine Dragon’s figure always appeared in the sky above Chang’an to receive worship from all the people, but this time it appeared in Chuyun Prefecture.
1 Second, each time the Divine Dragon descends upon the Great Han, it bestows a Dragon Pearl to the Great Han. The Great Han rewards this Dragon Pearl to its most loyal and brave vassal, making the Great Han’s top martial power stronger than that of the Gui Fang people.
1 Third, the Divine Dragon descended in Chuyun Prefecture, the Dragon Pearl disappeared in Chuyun Prefecture, the Great Han Emperor was furious, and in a fit of anger cut off the connection between the Ancestral Fire and the Chuyun Prefecture Shehuo, causing the Shehuo to extinguish, thereby achieving the result of Chuyun Prefecture’s complete demise.
1 Unfortunately, after Chuyun Prefecture’s Shehuo was severed from the Ancestral Fire’s connection, not only did it not extinguish, but it burned even more vigorously. How could the Great Han Emperor, who possesses the Ancestral Fire and claims to be the legitimate ruler of humanity, tolerate this.
1 The first to arrive were the elite Dragon Terrace Guard, soon to arrive will be thirty thousand cavalry from neighboring Cong Prefecture, followed by eight thousand Imperial Forest Army from the Great Han Homeland arriving in Chuyun Prefecture.
1 Chuyun Prefecture is the westernmost protectorate prefecture of the Great Han, connected only to Cong Prefecture and the Great Han, with the other two sides being the Gobi Desert known as the Vast Sea on one side, and west of the densely jungled Tianzhu Mountain on the other.
1 Yun Ce came from west of Tianzhu Mountain. The barbaric state there is really not very suitable for human survival; there are too many poisonous insects and beasts.
1 As for the Gobi Desert, Yun Ce thought there should be a way to survive. There must be oases in the Gobi Desert, and if ignoring the wind and sand and such, that place should be quite suitable for human survival.
1 “Four Albatrosses can’t monitor so many of us, let alone that there are more living people in Yun City, even more living people in the other two hundred cities, and people on the Wasteland. They can’t handle it all.”
1 Hearing Yun Ce speak so naively, Zhang Min couldn’t help but laugh.
2 “You can try to escape right now.”
2 Yun Ce frowned and said, “If it’s just me, no problem.”
2 E Ji interjected from the side, “Then run fast!”
2 Yun Ce shook his head and said, “Not running.”
2 Zhang Min grinned and said, “Didn’t expect you to be such a romantic.”
2 E Ji pulled Yun Ce’s hand and said, “Run if you can, I’ll prepare your luggage right now.”
2 E Ji’s eyes were extremely determined; what she said to Yun Ce was a decision, not a discussion. She really felt that if Yun Ce could escape, it would be a good thing.
2 Zhang Min sniffed and said, “You chose her right.”
2 Yun Ce held E Ji’s hand and said, “No rush. If there’s really no other way, it won’t be too late for me to run then. You all just stay put obediently; one guy told me to listen to fate.”
2 After speaking, Yun Ce prepared to go find Old Cao to properly discuss the matters they would face.
3 For a woman like Zhang Min, who is said to be a spy but is actually a martial artist, her judgment on any matter always has only one starting point: killing.
3 In the eyes of Yun Ce and Old Cao these officials, no matter how serious the matter in Chuyun Prefecture is, it wouldn’t reach the point of killing everyone here.
3 They would likely kill a batch of the disobedient, like Miss Hong and her group, then kill a batch of the disloyal, like the local tyrants from various places, and then eliminate a batch of the highly skilled in martial arts, like Yun Ce. The rest, as long as they pass screening and are confirmed to be Great Han subjects, would probably be relocated internally and kept under watch.
3 This is what Old Cao meant by listening to fate.
3 What delighted Yun Ce most was that the incoming forces were not from a single route, but three routes, with even more to come later.
3 When handling matters, the worst outcome is having orders from a single source. Now, Dragon Terrace Guard, Cong Prefecture army, and Imperial Forest Army are already clear. After the army completes the encirclement, there will inevitably be a large number of patrol inspectors from various places personally conducting inspections.
3 Yun Ce felt there must be loopholes here for them to exploit.
3 After hearing Yun Ce analyze the situation, a glint gradually appeared in Old Cao’s dead-fish eyes.
3 “You mean besides the Dragon Terrace Guard, there are Cong Prefecture army, Imperial Forest Army, and even patrol inspectors from Cong Prefecture and Daizhou Prefecture participating in the identification?”
3 Yun Ce nodded.
4 Old Cao stood up, rubbing his hands and pacing in circles, spiritedly saying to Yun Ce, “The brothers from Cong Prefecture have a lot of dealings with us, especially the patrol inspector brothers; we’ve been helping each other out for years, trading back and forth.”
4 “If thirty thousand from Cong Prefecture army come this time, then Flying Wing Captain Brother Zhang Chengzhu will surely be on the list. Brother Liu, it seems we can escape this calamity this time.”
4 “Wait here, I’ll go discuss with Old Zhao and the others to see if we can expand our connections further. We’ll strike from multiple fronts and drill a hole even through copper walls and iron walls.”
4 Yun Ce looked up at the sky and said, “I can put up five hundred taels of gold here.”
4 Old Cao glanced at Yun Ce and said, “The women should contribute too; the woman by your side is not bad.”
4 Yun Ce shook his head and said, “I’ll put up one thousand taels of gold; you handle the women.”
4 Old Cao pressed Yun Ce’s shoulder and said, “You’re still too young. At a time like this, women are a burden. You shouldn’t even contribute gold if you’re contributing women. Once we reach Chang’an and run out of gold, the women will still run.”
4 “No problem, once we’re out, we have plenty of ways to get gold.”
4 Old Cao laughed and said, “Good. Once I discuss with the brothers and settle on how much each contributes, we’ll see. Great, brother, luckily you brought good news. I thought it was only the Dragon Terrace Guard.”
4 “Is the Dragon Terrace Guard an iron plate?”
5 “That takes time…”
5 Old Cao left in a hurry, appearing entirely spirited.
5 Occasionally an Albatross streaked across the sky, time seemed to stand still. Yun Ce watched the Albatross; he really liked this thing.
5 When alone, he would reach his hand into the Dragon Pearl, where One Bean Starfire was still burning. Doggy’s tentacles kept touching the Starfire; each touch caused it to crash for a long time.
5 “This is the so-called passing of the flame. This fire is actually… how to put it, it’s all data burning. Every moment data burns, and new data comes in. If these data were rendered as images, I think it would be an epic blood-and-tears history of human development.
5 Moreover, these data are disseminated outward in a scattered form. Everyone seems able to receive it, yet cannot perceive it or alter it.”
5 Yun Ce said, “Does Earth have this thing?”
5 Doggy said, “Perhaps yes, perhaps no, perhaps it has become another form of existence.”
5 Yun Ce placed his hand on that One Bean Starfire. The Flame would climb up along his fingers and continue burning in his palm, flickering like a newborn baby.
5 “If you sense something wrong, just run!”
6 E Ji instructed again while eating dinner.
6 These past few days, she refused to sleep with Yun Ce and instead squeezed in with An Ji and the others. Yun Ce knew this was E Ji not wanting to deepen their entanglement. If, at this dangerous time, a child arrived, it wouldn’t be happiness but a catastrophe, a great catastrophe for their family of three.
6 While there were those like Yun Ce listening to fate, there were naturally those thinking of fleeing the danger zone. The Dragon Terrace Guard seemed to like these escapees; whenever they spotted someone fleeing, they would chase, but often they returned while the escapees were never seen again.
6 The survivors in Yun City continued gathering at the Royal Hunting Ground, though there weren’t many left. When Yun Ce saw a woman using a spear as a shoulder pole to carry two skinny children stumbling into the Royal Hunting Ground, the gathered people numbered fewer than five thousand.
6 The Dragon Terrace Guard were actually quite reasonable. To support these people, they caught a large number of Doggy and threw them into the gathering area for people to eat.
6 It was really sarcastic: the Doggy under Yun City had grown tired of eating people, while the people here in the Royal Hunting Ground couldn’t get enough of Doggy meat.
6 Fortunately, the Doggy were fat enough with plenty of oil. Ten people sharing one filled them up.
6 As the Chief Manager of the Royal Hunting Ground, Yun Ce permitted women and children to enter the Hunting Palace, but not the men—one after another, they looked fierce and villainous, not like good people.
6 With Old Pan and the others’ help, Yun Ce quickly managed this camp of five thousand people orderly and even specially registered everyone’s information.
6 Although much of this information was surely fake, Yun Ce didn’t mind, nor did Old Cao and the others. They just made a separate booklet for those who could prove their identity. How to prove identity?
7 By mutual vouching.
7 Being able to initially manage these people under the current situation was something even the Dragon Terrace Guard couldn’t demand more of.
7 Those who could prove their identity were far fewer than those who couldn’t. Some could barely prove it, but unfortunately, neither Yun Ce nor Old Cao was willing to loosen the criteria.
7 Yun Ce’s whole family was naturally among the first batch proven. Old Cao and his group too—everyone was official, with clean backgrounds. Even E Ji, Feng An, and Liang Kun’s upper three generations were good people; everyone was upright citizens.
7 Zhang Min looked at the upright citizens booklet they fabricated, her eyes reddening as she grabbed Yun Ce’s neck and roared, “You’re all good people, so why am I just ‘identity pending’ with a red X after my name?”
