Chapter 209: Chapter 11: The Human Heart Is The Dirtiest Thing Of All
The loot on the battlefield was plentiful, especially the nearly two thousand Great Horned Horses, which was a valuable wealth. Yun Ce somewhat looked down on the armor on the dead bodies, but selling it for money was not bad either.
Under the pressure of the Red Date Horse, the sixty-seven wounded soldiers who luckily survived had no choice but to help the Red Date Horse remove armor from the dead bodies and also collect the weapons they had discarded.
When the Red Date Horse saw that there was still armor on corpses on the ground that had not been stripped, it angrily snorted roughly. The Cao Clan Centurion pleaded, “These are our own people.”
The Red Date Horse did not have many of its own people in its eyes; these dead Cao Clan Cavalrymen absolutely did not count as its own people.
Under the threat of the Red Date Horse’s hammer-like hooves, the group of Cao Clan wounded soldiers still obediently cleaned all the corpses, and finally carried the armor and weapons on the backs of the Great Horned Horses, watching as the Red Date Horse escorted a large number of horned horses away from Xiangcheng and returned to Jingkou Pass.
They also wanted to go back, but unfortunately, Yun Ce did not allow it; they still had to continue attacking Xiangcheng.
When Zhou Cheng returned to Xiangcheng, he was not dead yet, but there was no difference from being dead. Doggy’s control over the human body had already become extremely subtle.
Zhou Cheng clearly had no vitality left, but his heart was still beating, just extremely slowly. By the time the Thunder Smoke Beast carried him to the gate of Yan Fei’s City Lord’s Mansion, Zhou Cheng’s heartbeat finally stopped. The moment his corpse fell from the Thunder Smoke Beast, the Thunder Smoke Beast went berserk and ultimately crashed headfirst into the wall, breaking its neck and dying.
Yan Fei’s hand brushed over Zhou Cheng’s pale face tinged with green. The death of his good brother made his heart ache endlessly.
A long time ago, when he was still a small child, Zhou Cheng was his partner. When the children played war games, Zhou Cheng was the horse under him, carrying him to fight against opponents. At the most intense moments of the fight, Zhou Cheng could even rear up like a horse, using his own chest to block the stick stabbed by the opponent…
1 Now, this brother who could die for him at any time had fallen in battle on the battlefield, and he had also taken two thousand well-trained cavalrymen down with him.
1 Yan Fei examined Zhou Cheng’s corpse. He could not understand the cause of this guy’s death. Apart from some small bumps like mosquito bites, there were almost no scars on his entire body. Looking at Zhou Cheng’s face that looked like he had overindulged in lust, Yan Fei said to Chief Clerk Tan Boming sent by Tan Shou, “I sent him out to fight, but he went out to act recklessly, treating the clash of two armies as child’s play, leading to a total defeat of the army. The mistake is mine.”
1 Tan Boming sighed and said, “Two thousand elite soldiers against five hundred fierce troops of the Cao Clan—the General originally left sufficient leeway. Moreover, before General Zhou left the city, the General had already planned properly. As long as General Zhou acted according to the General’s plan, even if not victorious, how could it lead to such a great defeat?”
1 This is not the General’s fault. It is Zhou Cheng being stubborn and self-willed, not listening to the General’s words. After leaving the city, he acted recklessly and was ultimately taken advantage of by the enemy. It has nothing to do with the General. This official will surely report it clearly to the Inspector.
1 In front of a group of generals, Yan Fei demanded a lavish burial for Zhou Cheng. The officers and soldiers followed Yan Fei’s instructions and used a fine coffin for Zhou Cheng, burying him thickly on a sunny slope.
1 The war was not over yet, and the final review result of Zhou Cheng’s battle would not come out so quickly. Chief Clerk Tan Boming said that the Inspector would not mistreat generals who fell in battle, regardless of victory or defeat.
1 Yun Ce continued to challenge outside the city, but Yan Fei felt there was no need to pay attention.
1 The next day, Yun Ce came to challenge again, but Yan Fei still felt there was no need to pay attention.
1 On the third day, before challenging, Yun Ce wanted to set up camp in front of the City Gate, but was forced away by Yan Fei using crossbows and catapults.
1 On the fifth day, Yun Ce no longer challenged. Instead, like those Cao Clan wounded soldiers, he lay on the slope basking in the sun, indifferent to the affairs of Xiangcheng.
2 Yun Ce felt that Tan Shou was done for.
2 Yan Fei, as the great general transferred by Tan Shou from the front lines of the battlefield to guard the rear, was now blocked from leaving the city by him with just over sixty wounded soldiers, and had no spare strength to save other cities in peril.
2 Doggy guessed that Yan Fei had been bought off by Cao Kun’s family, but was still hesitant. Now he was just watching the tigers fight from a mountaintop. As long as the Cao Clan occupied the six cities in the Northern Territory, Yan Fei would surely defect to the Cao Clan.
2 Yun Ce also felt there must be something fishy about this matter. With Zheng Tianshou’s personality as that old guy, he would not let Cao Kun, the most perfect Lord in his mind, take action unless there was a ninety percent chance of success.
2 This was also one of the reasons why Yun Ce agreed to follow Cao Kun on the expedition. No matter what, following Cao Kun on the expedition would surely result in victory, and he himself would certainly be on the victorious side.
2 Now was the time for Cao Kun to accumulate prestige. Following him would yield some acceptable return, but he must withdraw quickly at the right time, or else he would become a sacrifice for Cao Kun to clean house.
2 Yun Ce’s magnificent achievement of annihilating Zhou Cheng’s two thousand cavalry in one battle began to spread in the Northern Territory. He also received a reward document from Cao Kun, but the soldiers he needed had no further movement.
2 Although the Cao Clan Centurion was surnamed Qian, he was a real broke ass. At first, following Yun Ce, he was very worried about being killed by him. Later, on the battlefield, Yun Ce saved him no less than six times, so he was no longer so afraid of Yun Ce killing him. If Yun Ce wanted to kill him, there was no need to bother saving him six times, right?
2 Later on, Qian Tong realized that every time Yun Ce saved him, the situation he faced next time became even worse. The first time, he could still persevere for half an hour; later, the time he could persevere became shorter and shorter. The last time, if Yun Ce had not pushed away Zhou Cheng’s meteor hammer, he would have been smashed into meat pie long ago.
2 Now, although he had survived after a hundred battles, the sixty-seven of them had to face a fortified city, several thousand well-trained cavalrymen, and countless defending soldiers.
3 In despair, he no longer cared about being afraid or not of Yun Ce.
3 “General, when will our reinforcements arrive?”
3 Yun Ce handed the document from Cao Kun to Qian Tong to read. After Qian Tong finished reading, he sighed, returned the document to Yun Ce, turned to him and said, “Actually, I was previously a guard for Second Son Cao Zhen. The Eldest Son thought I was a usable talent and promoted me to a Hundred-man General.”
3 “Now, General understands why someone like me was sent by the Eldest Son to follow the General, right?”
3 Yun Ce laughed, “I know. I also know that the other Hundred-man Generals are not the Eldest Son’s people, but hands of the other young masters of the Cao Clan. Am I right?”
3 “So, is the General going to follow the Eldest Son’s wishes and let all of us die on the battlefield?”
3 Yun Ce nodded and said, “Cao Kun actually did nothing wrong. For a family in the process of growth, the most troublesome thing is that many people die during the growth process, and the early casualties are all useful talents.”
3 At this time, deciding which people need to sacrifice and which people to keep is a big dilemma for the steward of a family.
3 Cao Kun chooses to use his own people protectively and consume the potential enemies’ people expendably. This approach is correct and a choice that a great family must have.
3 From the moment you defected to the Second Son, in the Cao Clan, you have been deemed a consumable talent by the Eldest Son. This is your fate; you must accept it.”
4 Qian Tong nodded, “The General speaks reason. My identity cannot be changed. My mother was a maid brought into the Cao Clan by the Second Son’s mother; such a stance cannot be changed.”
4 “Mm, yes, that’s right. Accept your fate. Cao Kun is not the kind of person who casually sacrifices his own manpower. In this guy’s eyes, even the shit in the latrine is his asset. Facing assets that can bring wealth and power, Cao Kun is still very rational.”
4 “General, please have mercy on us and let us survive somehow, okay? Your martial power is outstanding; you don’t need us at all and can single-handedly deal with Yan Fei of Xiangcheng…”
4 Yun Ce looked at Qian Tong in surprise, “Don’t get me in trouble. If I appear too godlike and too powerful, your Eldest Son’s next target will become me.”
4 “When your Eldest Son arrives, my last soldier dying in battle will be the most delightful sight for him. At that time, I will share some of my merit with you, so it will seem like I’m not that formidable. The reason I can pin down Yan Fei in Xiangcheng is inseparable from your desperate fighting.”
4 Qian Tong looked sadly at the white sun in the sky and said, “Does that mean we are destined to be pawns that others can manipulate?”
4 Yun Ce laughed, “Don’t be sad. Actually, over ninety-nine percent of people in this world are pawns in others’ hands. For you to have this cognition already makes you stronger than many. Besides, you don’t dare to run anyway. It’s all in vain.”
4 “General sees through it so clearly, why are you still willing to be driven by my family’s Eldest Son?”
4 This time, Yun Ce did not answer, but cast his gaze behind Qian Tong.
4 A cold gleam flew over close to the ground from afar. Under the sunlight, the shiny arrowhead gleamed brilliantly. Yun Ce originally wanted to knock away this arrow and save this Hundred-man General from the god of death for the seventh time, but seeing his angry eyes, he gave up the plan.
5 There were many people like him trapped between life and death; he could not save them all. Besides, even in rage just now, this guy still referred to Cao Kun as ‘my family’s Eldest Son.’ Since he said it that way, it meant this person did not need saving. Even if saved, he would still be sent to die by Cao Kun next time.
5 By the time Yun Ce finished thinking, the arrow flying close to the ground had long pierced through Qian Tong’s occiput, with the arrowhead protruding from his wide-open mouth, looking even more angry.
5 A black Thunder Smoke Beast appeared on the horizon. Because it was against the light, Yun Ce could not see clearly who the comer was, and could only judge from the bow and arrow in his hand that this person should be Yan Fei, known as the wise general.
