Chapter 155: Warmth’s Example
Cao Kun’s teeth were very white, and his smile was brilliant. The essence of a young man lay in a pair of eyes like spring water, which contained all beauty and hope.
Yun Ce caught the Gale Beast. He was envious. Yun Ce boiled the Gale Beast with Baby Beans, which tasted good, and he liked it. Yun Ce gave him the heads of enemies taken from the battlefield, and he liked it. Finally, Yun Ce beat him with a crude Meteor Hammer until he was bruised all over. Although he felt heartache, he was ultimately impressed.
Therefore, Cao Kun was a Scion of a noble family with excellent family education and a kind heart.
The night was cold and boring. Yun Ce took out a delicate small stove, placed a Pottery Jar on it, and put in a lot of Preserved Vegetables, dried tofu, dried meat, and Beans.
Cao Kun’s nonsense poured out like a broken dam, and Yun Ce occasionally responded with a sentence or two, punctuated by the bubbling sound of the mixed grain porridge.
“So, Brother Yun plans to build a great city in this Wasteland in the future?”
“Yes, I’ve already named it Yun City.”
“I remember you just said the population of this city should exceed one million?”
“This is just the requirement for the ten-year plan. I also have a fifteen-year plan and a twenty-year plan, with a plan every five years, and I will definitely proceed step by step.”
“Oh, I really look forward to seeing this magnificent city.”
“You will. I’ve just reclaimed 300,000 mu of land and plan to use Slash-and-burn Agriculture for 200,000 mu and intensive cultivation for 100,000 mu. By next He Month, I’ll get the first harvest.”
“At that time, I will sell the Grain grown here to Iron Enclosure Pass and use the Money obtained to recruit more people and reclaim more land…”
“Is the Process of building a magnificent city that simple?”
“That’s right. Doing things is just that simple. What did you think was so complicated?”
“No, the old man often tells me that when doing something, one must plan carefully before acting, and not just start doing things on impulse like you.”
“That’s because they are too old. When people get old, their courage dwindles. Think about it, what’s the worst that can happen if I fail?”
“Yes, acting rashly will surely lead to failure.”
“If I fail, I fail. I’m still young and can afford to fail. At worst, I can start all over again.”
“Huh, what you said seems to make a lot of sense. We’re young and can afford to fail. At worst, we can just start all over again. Why didn’t I think of this before? I was just thinking about how to get things done in one go.”
Yun Ce scooped a bowl of mixed grain porridge with a Wooden scoop and handed it to Cao Kun, then took a bowl for himself and ate slowly. In the cold weather, a mouthful of hot mixed grain porridge was extremely precious, even if the taste wasn’t great, just because it was hot.
Cao Kun took a sip of porridge, then stopped his Wooden scoop and looked up at Yun Ce, as if he had something difficult to say.
Yun Ce found another Wooden bowl from his Saddlebag and handed it to Cao Kun.
The beaming Cao Kun immediately scooped a full bowl of porridge from the Pottery Jar, shielded it with his sleeve, and ran towards the Tent where the Old Butler was.
A moment later, Cao Kun returned, quickly finished the porridge, and dejectedly said to Yun Ce, “The old man scolded me.”
Yun Ce chuckled, “You’re still running around while camping. According to military regulations, you should be beheaded, not just scolded.
It seems the Old Butler has entrusted you to me. Now, hurry up and put on your armor. I estimate the Gui Fang people will attack the camp soon.”
Cao Kun was overjoyed and jumped up, “I can kill the enemy?”
Yun Ce frowned, “Do you still want to kill Ten-Man Generals and Hundred-man Generals?”
Cao Kun shook his head repeatedly, “I’ll kill the grunts.”
“What if their Ten-Man Generals and Hundred-man Generals pretend to be grunts?”
“Would they be that shameless?”
“Yes.”
“Then can you pick a real grunt for me to kill?”
“Get lost—”
“Alright, I know it’s not a good idea. Let me tell you, the Old Butler replaced all the Grain on the outermost carriages with sand. If the outer Convoy is captured by the Gui Fang people, don’t risk your life to retake it.”
After watching Cao Kun leave, Yun Ce sighed, then put on his Helmet, buckled on his anti-stab Gloves, slung his Bow and Arrow over his back, and left the Tent with his Horse Spear, standing in the position most likely to be attacked.
Yun Ce understood that the Old Butler was using him as an example for Cao Kun. Whether he fought bravely and died without retreat, or fled in the face of the enemy and was cowardly, he could provide Cao Kun with enough life experiment knowledge.
This would be very useful for Cao Kun’s future life, as it was a test of life and death, and the answers obtained were not only realistic but also had sufficient educational value.
The Old Butler had predicted that the Gui Fang people would come tonight, and he seemed to have made all preparations. However, when the Blood Moon rose, the Old Butler was still greatly surprised. He suddenly realized that mist had risen on the Plateau. The mist floated very high, obscuring the Blood Moon, making the Ground very dim and prone to double images.
“Light the fires!”
With the Old Butler’s order, a hundred or so round Lantern Balls were thrown out by the Warriors from the carriage formation. The Lantern Balls stopped about a hundred steps away. Some of the Lantern Balls suddenly ignited, and flames shot up more than two zhang high, illuminating the surroundings as white ground with bright Fire Pillars.
Sure enough, not far from the Fire Pillars, a large, dark mass of Gui Fang people stood silently. If not for the illumination from the Lantern Balls, these dark Gui Fang people would not have been discovered.
“The Scouts are done for.” This was the first thought that came to Yun Ce’s mind.
Immediately, he heard the Warrior Leader shout, “Crossbow bolts, flat trajectory, three-stage volley.”
The order did not mention fixed military units, which meant it applied to everyone. Thus, Yun Ce took down his Bow and Arrow and, as required by the Warrior Leader, completed a triple shot in an instant.
With the help of the still-burning Fire Pillars, Yun Ce clearly saw that the flat trajectory, three-stage volley was not effective. Those dark enemies actually had equally dark shields. The Crossbow Bolts hit the shields, creating countless sparks in the dark night, ultimately to no avail.
However, it couldn’t be said to be entirely ineffective. At least, three Arrows Yun Ce shot killed three sturdy individuals who looked like vanguards, because Yun Ce’s arrows, propelled by a strong bow, could pierce shields.
“Crossbow bolts, three-stage volley, flat trajectory,” the Warrior Leader’s calm voice, devoid of any tonal variation, sounded again.
Why do this when it’s useless? As soon as this thought arose, Yun Ce suppressed it and nocked three Arrows, firing them in an instant.
For a time, the Battlefield was filled with arrows like flying locusts, and the “whoosh” sound of arrows breaking through the air was everywhere.
Three Arrows pierced the throats of three vanguards again, but the dense “whoosh” sound was too intense. Yun Ce raised his head in surprise and saw a rain of arrows falling from above the heads of the Gui Fang people.
Seeing the arrow rain, Yun Ce felt he had learned something. The strategy was to use the scattered soldiers’ Arrows for a flat trajectory to lure the enemy to raise their Giant Shields in front of them, and then quietly order the archers to lob fire, so that the arrow rain would inflict greater casualties on the enemy.
As expected, the Warrior Leader’s Stratagem was very successful. When the arrow rain hit the ground, a large number of Gui Fang people were hit, and their originally somewhat intact Charge formation was immediately disrupted.
The first wave of arrow rain had caused great chaos among the Gui Fang people. The second wave of arrow rain soon followed, this time focusing on inflicting casualties.
Just as Yun Ce expected a great harvest from this wave of arrow rain, he heard continuous shouts from the Gui Fang people’s military formation.
“Aow ha, aow ha, aow ha…”
A hundred or so gleaming Flying Wheels, designed to break formations, were thrown high into the air from the military formation. After these rapidly rotating Flying Wheels collided with the arrow rain in mid-air, they pushed the Arrows in all directions, and even more Arrows were shattered by the Flying Wheels.
Yun Ce glanced at the Gui Fang people who had already rushed to the carriage formation and shouted, “Form up, thrust!”
After shouting, he was the first to thrust his Horse Spear fiercely through a specially reserved gap. The feeling was very subtle; the spearhead seemed to pierce through a piece of clothing, or perhaps a water bag, with almost no resistance. When he pulled back his Horse Spear, he found that the spearhead was stained red with blood.
Highly advanced Martial Arts were not very useful at this time. At best, the speed of the thrust was faster than others, and each thrust could kill an enemy.
The carriage formation was very familiar to the Great Han side. The enemy’s thick carriage compartments were erected high, serving as obstacles. Their own carriage compartments were laid down, making it easy to ascend and descend, giving the guarding troops a significant high-ground advantage.
Yun Ce vaguely remembered that this type of carriage formation combat should have appeared in an era long after the Han Dynasty, not during the Great Han. In later eras, this thing had a specific name called Side-box carriage.
Although it was remarkable to think clearly amidst Warfare, Yun Ce still jumped onto a Side-box carriage at the first opportunity, because those fast-moving Gui Fang people had already used shields and their bodies to form bridges on the other side of the Side-box carriage, and some brave Gui Fang people were shouting as they charged fiercely towards the Side-box carriage along this bridge.
It was very troublesome. Just as Yun Ce stood on the Side-box carriage and picked up a stout Gui Fang person to throw him onto the human bridge, a Gui Fang person from below attacked him with a Spear.
Therefore, Yun Ce had to divide his attention into two parts. One part managed his right hand with the Horse Spear to chop and kill enemies, while the other part managed his left hand with the Saber, killing every enemy who tried to ambush him.
Yun Ce’s Martial Arts were far superior to those of other guards. Not only did he have to defend his own area, but he also often had to cover the defensive areas of his surrounding partners. For a time, wherever Yun Ce went, Gui Fang people bled like rivers, and their heads rolled.
After killing for half an hour continuously, Yun Ce not only didn’t feel tired but, for some reason, felt somewhat exhilarated.
“Doggy, am I sick? Why do I get more excited the more I kill?”
“Hehehe, I knew you were bloodthirsty. Your whole family should be bloodthirsty. Others would feel uncomfortable in a sea of corpses and blood, but you feel exhilarated. You’re a complete Pervert.
But it’s good. In this World, without being a Pervert or obsessed, one cannot achieve great things.”
Perverted psychology cannot be written, so it has to be changed into this warm version for everyone.
