Chapter 192: Peace-time Dogs And Chaotic Times People
The seeds have already taken root and sprouted. This is a process of sowing hope and hope sprouting.
Perhaps the farming gene deep in their bones has been thoroughly activated. Everyone in the Yun Clan Villa cherishes the seedlings in the fields very much.
Some people obsessed with this path even spend the entire day in the fields. For this, they are willing to skip a meal without hesitation.
Watching the seeds they sowed grow healthily and sprout, the farmers feel like they are the gods of the seedlings, gods who can control the life and death of the seedlings.
In fact, Yun Ce once told them that they are not only the gods of seedlings and other crops, but also their own gods.
Gods master everything, including life and death. Now, humans master the life and death of crops, and through the quality of crop growth, they in turn master their own life and death.
This is the process by which slaves, convicted prisoners, and refugees transform through agricultural planting into masters of their own destiny—a group of people who have never controlled their own destiny suddenly discovering they are beginning to do so. This change is no less than being reborn.
Yun Ce has never said he would give the slaves freedom, nor has he ever said he would give the convicted prisoners freedom, nor has he told the refugees that they no longer bear guilt.
He merely through various actions tells these people that in the Yun Clan Villa, there are no slaves, no convicted prisoners, and no refugees.
Labor is the iron gate that tests everyone’s identity.
1 Some slaves are very good at farming; they become the head of the farmers.
1 There is a prostitute who is very good at weaving; she becomes the head of the weavers.
1 There is also a young man whose experiences were so tragic and fate so cruel. In desperation, he mastered the skill of serving people comfortably, so he became the head of the hot spring village. No one discusses his incomplete body anymore, nor does anyone talk about his past as a sex slave.
1 The convicted prisoners from Chang’an City can read and write; they naturally became the teachers of this place. This is not because their origins helped them, but because their knowledge helped them.
1 The duty of the common people is to strive for survival between heaven and earth. As long as they live one day, they strive for survival that day. Yun Ce returned their destiny to them, and they master their own destiny very well.
1 So-called destiny boils down to the ability to control one’s own life. With strong ability combined with a stable environment, everyone’s destiny won’t be that bad.
1 The Yun Clan Villa is such a stable and harmonious place. Though still very poor, amid the generally harsh living conditions north of the Great Wall, it temporarily counts as a blessed land.
1 This is a kind of peace that Yun Ce is currently striving to maintain.
1 The longer the peace lasts, the more favorable it is for the development of the Yun Clan Villa. This is a very simple truth, yet few people can achieve it.
1 The Han Empire is in chaos, with many prefectures seeing the banners atop their city walls change many times in a short period. Some prefectures have even banded together to make demands of Chang’an—demands that no subordinate would make of a superior.
2 Luoyang is also unstable. The great intellectuals and scholars residing there have actually proposed a theory: that Chang’an has declined, and the Han Empire can only reunify the world’s three hundred military prefectures and two hundred protectorate prefectures under the Han banner by relocating the capital to Luoyang.
2 The world is in turmoil, yet Chang’an City is extremely quiet. Whether the Emperor or the Grand Marshal, both are coldly observing the current chaos.
2 The world’s three hundred military prefectures and two hundred protectorate prefectures are all tense, waiting for Chang’an to unleash thunderous wrath.
2 This is a very strange situation. With Chang’an’s thunderous wrath not descending, everyone can only wait. Once it does descend, many military prefectures will likely harbor ill intentions.
2 The greatest threat is a drawn bow that does not release. Once the arrow is shot, the outcome is set.
2 Miss Hong also sent a letter to Yun Ce from the distant Chuyun Prefecture, saying her people have endured the harsh winter. Now, they are striving for survival on the Chuyun Prefecture Wasteland. Though life is not as prosperous as under the protection of the Chuyun Prefecture Shehuo, because most wealthy families have died off, ordinary people’s lives have actually become better.
2 The big problem is the beasts and poisonous insects. Fortunately, the gunpowder Yun Ce sent them, though lacking in power, helps greatly in driving away wild beasts and poisonous insects due to its loud noise, bright flames, and thick smoke.
2 What makes Miss Hong happiest is that for so long, no government officials have come to trouble them. However, Pei Chuan is acting very strangely. Recently, he led people to kill many shady figures, and he himself was seriously injured. Fortunately, with the Peng Zeng Brand Rapid Growth Liquid gifted by Yun Ce, he survived in the end.
2 Pei Chuan told her that from now on, Chuyun Prefecture belongs to Chuyun Prefecture and has nothing to do with outsiders.
2 This should be Pei Chuan’s gift to his child, prepared after learning that Miss Hong is pregnant again.
3 Ever since Ghost King Mountain collapsed, a large lake has appeared there. The general of Iron Enclosure Pass named that large lake Ghost King Lake.
3 Possibly because the collapse of Ghost King Mountain opened up underground water veins, after the underground water filled the collapsed pit, it surprisingly overflowed from the low areas of Ghost King Lake, forming a river. This river flows toward Iron Enclosure Pass, which took the opportunity to refill the long-dried moat around the pass.
3 This time, the soldiers of Iron Enclosure Pass allowed the wandering warriors outside the city to settle inside the Iron Enclosure Pass moat, which also counts as releasing some goodwill toward these people.
3 The Gui Fang people have been very quiet lately. They even abandoned some fortresses they had occupied for many years, withdrawing most of their people back to the Qinghe Plateau. Even so, the cautious garrison commander of Iron Enclosure Pass still chooses to respond carefully without expanding the defensive perimeter further.
3 Everyone knows that this contraction by the Gui Fang people is likely preparation for a more powerful strike. After all, only by pulling back the arm can one deliver a more forceful punch.
3 The contention for the Great Wall passes has entered a white-hot phase. Even with the Cao Clan’s formidable strength, they only control Yujin Pass and Tiger Head Pass. Moreover, in the struggle for Yujin Pass, the Cao Clan and Lang Clan have completely torn faces, mainly because the Cao Clan’s old butler unleashed divine might at Yujin Pass, beheading two of the Lang Clan’s major generals in one go on the battlefield. Not only did they seize Yujin Pass, but they also directly threatened another pass under Lang Clan control—Qingshan Pass.
3 The Jingkou Pass guarded by the Yun Clan has naturally become a hot commodity too. However, they always thought that a small family like the Yun Clan could be pressured or tempted. As a result, Yun Ce neither yields to soft nor hard tactics, and even stationed the family’s only five hundred cavalrymen at Jingkou Pass to await the arrival of strong enemies.
3 Qin Shu and He Qingfang are now both at Jingkou Pass. According to them, the Yun Clan’s five hundred cavalrymen must kill and establish prestige at Jingkou Pass to dispel the ill intentions of those coveting Jingkou Pass.
3 “That child named Lei Ming has cultivated internal breath, and moreover, his internal breath is very similar in nature to mine. I think I can be his teacher.”
3 During breakfast, Zhang Min suddenly said to Yun Ce.
4 Yun Ce nodded in agreement, and Zhang Min picked up her rice bowl again and said, “Four other children also seem to have developed a bit of internal breath, though it’s not very stable yet and needs further observation.”
4 E Ji said, “Can you take on so many disciples?”
4 Zhang Min shook her head and said, “One Lei Ming is enough. I need to save the rest of my time for my child.”
4 “You already have a child in your stomach?”
4 E Ji was very surprised. She knew the fish bladder was just something to deceive herself with; it wasn’t reliable at all, especially for Zhang Min. Once she started, it was like risking her life for that activity. Forget the fish bladder—even if made of silk, it couldn’t withstand her intensity.
4 Zhang Min stroked her abdomen and said to E Ji, “It will happen.”
4 E Ji, not to be outdone, said, “I will have one too.”
4 After saying that, both looked at Yun Ce in unison.
4 Matters between men and women are innate and cannot be controlled later in life. For this matter that breaks his moral bottom line, Yun Ce no longer engages in futile resistance.
4 Even immortals cannot escape such matters between men and women, let alone a mortal like him.
5 The internal breath in Lei Ming’s body was drawn out bit by bit by Doggy using a portion of internal breath Zhang Min extracted from herself, so naturally, his internal breath is very similar to Zhang Min’s.
5 Zhang Min does not know this, and Yun Ce has no intention of telling her.
5 The internal breath Doggy stole from Zhang Min was only enough for five children. Lei Ming has the best aptitude and succeeded first.
5 Warriors without internal breath can only rely on their own physical strength in combat, which in the Han Empire’s warrior system counts as cannon fodder roles.
5 Only by producing internal breath can they have the strength to don heavy armor, wield heavy armor-piercing weapons, and carve out a charging path for the army.
5 Among the Yun Clan’s five hundred cavalrymen, only around one hundred twenty have produced internal breath.
5 Doggy collected quite a bit of internal breath from the Gui Fang thousand-man general Yu Zhu. However, even now, Doggy hasn’t fully figured out Yu Zhu’s internal breath. Compared to Zhang Min’s pure internal breath, Doggy found that Yu Zhu’s internal breath seems to carry some corrosiveness. That’s right—this stuff slowly corrodes the warrior’s body, and the final outcome is still uncertain.
5 Judging from Yu Zhu’s changes, his body is still in the early stage of corrosion.
5 The environment around Yun Ce is becoming increasingly complex.
5 Meanwhile, Yun Ce’s reverence for Shehuo has gradually risen to another level. The more he interacts with this world, the more he realizes that only Shehuo is truly good—it only gives without expecting returns, a true spirit of kindness.
6 When Doggy once again summoned Shehuo in the secret chamber, the candle flame has now become a cluster of flames. Though not large, it is vibrant with life.
6 Yun Ce gritted his teeth and once again transformed his arm into dragon form, placing it over the flames to roast.
6 A faint dragon roar echoed from the secret chamber. E Ji carefully glanced back at the tightly shut secret chamber gate, hugging her chest and praying for her husband.
6 Chapter One, with two more chapters to go. We agreed on three chapters, so there must be three.
