Chapter 161: Eight Hundred Fine Men?
“Boom!”
A loud noise suddenly came from outside the dilapidated tent.
Qin Shu glanced at the people sitting quietly in the tent and said softly, “We’ve met by chance…”
Before he could finish speaking, the round-faced woman said, “No one is forcing him. I just want to see if there are any hot-blooded young men left in the Great Han.
Clearly, this is not one of them.”
The young man with the pig-waist face said, “After three years of sitting idly at Iron Enclosure Pass, the garrison inside distrusts us, and the Gui Fang people outside slaughter us. I’m starting to doubt the meaning of our being here.”
A young man with messy hair said, “Protecting the safety of Iron Enclosure Pass is none of anyone else’s business. This is the life we chose ourselves. I only care about the safety of Iron Enclosure Pass.
After these years of arduous battles, how many brothers and kin have fallen on this wasteland? I don’t seek to die in bed, only to die on the battlefield.”
As Qin Shu stood up, about to dismiss everyone, he heard the commotion outside the tent suddenly turn into a roar of people.
The round-faced woman said, “I’ll go see.”
Just as she stood up to leave, a huge horse’s head poked in from outside the tent. Everyone was greatly startled. They saw that this horse’s head was covered in blood, making its spirited, large eyes appear extremely ferocious. What was most shocking was that the horse’s mouth was actually carrying a bloody human head.
The Red Date Horse shook its head, tossing the human head to Qin Shu, and then continued to stretch its neck, bringing its bloody mouth to Qin Shu’s wine bowl. With two slurps, it drained all the wine from the bowl.
“A Gui Fang person’s head!”
The round-faced woman exclaimed. Everyone quickly looked at the human head in Qin Shu’s hand. Just one glance at the greenish complexion of the dead person’s face was enough for them to confirm that it was the head of a Gui Fang person.
Qin Shu’s astonished expression quickly turned to ecstasy. He raised the head high and shouted to everyone, “The appetizer has arrived.”
Before his voice fell, Yun Ce’s lazy voice was heard from outside the tent.
“So many good friends have come. How can one appetizer entertain guests? I have nine more grand meals here. I believe everyone will have a full meal today.”
As his voice faded, someone respectfully lifted the tent flap, and Yun Ce, covered in blood, strode in from outside. He was adorned with human heads all over his body. With every step he took, a bloody footprint was left on the ground.
He laughed heartily, removed the human heads from his body one by one, placed them beside the wine and meat, and without regard for anyone, walked to his seat. He raised his wine bowl, drained it in one gulp, and roared with laughter at Qin Shu, “The wine is still warm! Come, refill it!”
The round-faced woman knelt beside Yun Ce, respectfully poured him a full bowl of wine, then prostrated herself on the ground, holding the wine bowl above her head with both hands, and said respectfully, “Please, General, drink this cup.”
Yun Ce smiled, took the wine bowl, looked around, and then laughed heartily, “Returned from killing the enemy moments ago, a beauty offers warm wine. The enemy’s heads are still bloody, I drink with you all.”
Seeing Yun Ce compose a poem and invite them to drink, Qin Shu felt a surge of hot blood. He raised his wine bowl and roared, “The General returns from killing the enemy with warm wine. Let us celebrate the General.”
The young man with the pig-waist face, swept up in the moment, shouted and flipped over Qin Shu’s dilapidated tent. He didn’t care about the dust falling into the wine as he raised his wine bowl and shouted, “Come on, everyone, come and see a true hero.”
The tent had been flipped over. Yun Ce looked up and saw that outside the tent, there was already a sea of people.
After drinking, Qin Shu said to Yun Ce, “It’s a shame there’s so little wine.”
Hearing Qin Shu say this, Yun Ce habitually grabbed the Red Date Horse’s ear, intending to shout to trade it for wine. Upon seeing the Red Date Horse’s plaintive eyes, he immediately said to Qin Shu, “I’ve also captured ten horses. Quickly, go trade them for wine.”
The young man with messy hair advised, “Don’t be so wasteful.”
Yun Ce slammed another bowl of wine into his mouth and laughed heartily, “We can catch more tomorrow. Quickly, go trade for wine.”
The young man with messy hair also laughed heartily, “Tomorrow we’ll kill the devils. Zuo Chong will follow by your side.”
Yun Ce slapped him on the shoulder and laughed heartily, “Good man! Tomorrow, you and I will fight side by side, and kill the enemy together.”
The round-faced woman also drank her wine dry. Her dark complexion, weathered by years of wind and snow, turned slightly purple. She also pounded her chest and said, “He Qingfang requests to fight.”
Yun Ce laughed heartily, “Good. You stand guard for me and watch me kill the enemy.”
“He Qingfang is a warrior, not the beauty you speak of, General.”
Yun Ce lifted He Qingfang’s chin and smiled, “Enduring the wind and snow, enduring the frost, with blades pointed at the enemy, how can you not be a beauty?”
He Qingfang covered her face and retreated, drawing laughter from everyone.
Qin Shu cupped his hands to Yun Ce and said, “General, when you go into battle tomorrow, have you received permission from Iron Enclosure Pass?”
Yun Ce glanced at the tall and imposing Iron Enclosure Pass behind him and shook his head, “I want to kill the enemy, what does it have to do with anyone else?”
Qin Shu said, “What about the army’s provisions and supplies, General, don’t you care about them?”
Yun Ce said in surprise, “Tomorrow, only the three of us will fight. Why do we need any blasted provisions or supplies? Even if we don’t have them, we can just snatch them from the devils.”
Qin Shu took a deep breath, “It’s not just the three of you, General. Qin Shu is also willing to go out and kill the enemy. Which of the people present doesn’t want to go into battle and kill the enemy?
It’s been three years. All we think about is killing the enemy. Since the General wants to kill the enemy, how can you leave us behind?”
With more people, naturally, provisions and military supplies had to be considered. Yun Ce frowned, about to refuse everyone, when he saw Cao Kun, surrounded by his household retainers, carrying a lot of wine. He saw Yun Ce and fanned his small fan, then covered his mouth and nose with the fan, saying, “No provisions. No military supplies, you should have come to me.”
Yun Ce looked at Cao Kun and said, “When did you develop the habit of fanning yourself?”
Cao Kun continued to shield his mouth and nose tightly with the fan, “Ever since I stuffed the Ghost Cow Cavalry up the cows’ rear ends, I’ve had this problem. Nowadays, the smell of cow dung always lingers in my nostrils.”
After finishing speaking with Yun Ce, Cao Kun glanced at Qin Shu, “How much military supplies do you want, and how much provisions do you want?”
Qin Shu clenched his fist and said, “Military supplies for eight hundred men, and provisions for eight hundred men for a month.”
Cao Kun fanned his small fan again and said to Yun Ce, “Look at your adjutant, he really comes from a humble background. Killing devils is such an important matter, yet he’s so stingy when asking for military supplies and provisions.
Oh, I need supplies for eight hundred men and provisions for eight hundred men for a month. Hahahaha, who are you looking down on?”
Saying this, Cao Kun, with a bad attitude, approached Qin Shu, whose face had turned red. He tapped Qin Shu’s shoulder with his small fan and said, “Listen carefully, this young master will give you eight hundred Great Horned Horses, four hundred sets of armor, twenty thousand arrows, three hundred Horse Spears, three hundred Ten-Refined Sabers, one hundred thousand catties of grain for fodder, fifty side-box carriages, and a cart full of tools for repairing armor and weapons. Beauties… oh, no beauties.
Someone will bring you the items later. I don’t care how much you eat, how much you use, or how much you embezzle. I only want the devils’ heads. I’ve given you fifty carts. When you return, you’d better fill the empty carts with devils’ heads, otherwise, you’ll have to vomit out whatever you’ve eaten.”
Qin Shu’s face turned even redder, as if it could bleed. He said with difficulty, “Everyone around me are good men…”
“Stop talking about good men, damn it. I’ve killed over a hundred guys who called themselves good men. They call themselves good men, but on the battlefield, they wet their pants.
If he weren’t Han, I’d stuff him into a cow’s rear end and parade him!”
Qin Shu couldn’t withstand the superiority that Cao Kun exuded from his very bones, the kind that only super nobles possessed. He wished he could punch Cao Kun in the nose. Thinking that this disgusting fellow would provide him with abundant materials and provisions, he had to suppress his anger and cup his hands to Yun Ce, saying, “Please instruct me, General.”
Yun Ce chuckled, “Why refuse free things from the rich? He only wants some devils’ heads anyway.”
“Don’t be angry. He’s just a prodigal son from a noble family. However, this guy is different. When the time comes and he provides enough, you can speak well of him. When his family allows him to go to the battlefield, mentor him. His martial arts are very good, and he’s excellent at throwing devils into cows’ rear ends.”
Hearing Yun Ce say this, Qin Shu’s red face slowly returned to its normal color. Seeing Cao Kun wave at him, he followed a Cao Clan warrior to receive the supplies.
As soon as Cao Kun saw the devils’ heads laid out on the ground, he became excited. He shouted and ordered his attendants to take the heads away, planning to find some cows and test how long it would take for the heads, stuffed into cow rear ends, to shed their flesh and become bones.
When only the two of them were left in the open space where the tent had been, Cao Kun triumphantly whispered in Yun Ce’s ear, “What do you think? Am I clever? I casually got you an army of eight hundred men.”
“I finally understand why your treacherous and sinister old butler dotes on you. Damn it, you’re a dog-skin, and the most insidious kind of dog-skin.
Tell me, how much are you going to deduct from the provisions I’ll sell you next year?”
Cao Kun smiled, “You can owe it for now.”
Yun Ce shook his head, “I can owe debts to others, but not to you. I’m afraid you’ll want me to repay it in a different way later, and then I’ll suffer a huge loss. Let’s be clear first, I’m not into men.”
Cao Kun said angrily, “I’m not into men either. Who wants you to repay debt with your body?”
Yun Ce continued to stubbornly shake his head, “No, no, no. One thing at a time. I’m very worried about what I’ll do if you don’t even allow me to repay with my body in the future.”
“I’m not that wicked.”
Yun Ce showed a strange smile and looked at Cao Kun, “I’ve never heard of anyone who could clearly repay a debt to a noble family.”
Cao Kun gritted his teeth, “Then consider it owed to me.”
Yun Ce placed his hands on Cao Kun’s shoulders and smiled, “It would have been better if you had said so earlier. Wait a moment, I’ll write you an IOU.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Don’t be angry, I’m fair and don’t trust any noble.”
Qin Shu truly was, as Cao Kun had said, a very excellent adjutant. While Yun Ce and Cao Kun were talking, eight hundred fierce warriors were already standing on a flat ground.
The wind blew beneath their crotches, carrying a pungent, foul odor, the result of their not bathing for years. Yet, it was this pungent odor that made Yun Ce clearly feel that these were eight hundred true Great Han men.
For a thought, a single sentence, a heroic legend, they had traveled thousands of miles to this desolate land, ready to give their lives for their beloved country and people, without hesitation.
