Chapter 211: Boulder In The Rapids
When Cao Kun rode the Thunder Smoke Beast and appeared on the hillside, he didn’t need to look up to see the neat military formation at the foot of the hillside.
He thought this was Yan Fei’s way of giving him a show of strength. Although displeased, considering Yan Fei’s importance to the Great Wall borderlands, he forced some smile onto his face in advance.
The smile wasn’t too pronounced, indicating some displeasure with Yan Fei’s arrangements, yet carrying a smile showed that Yan Fei’s current behavior was still within his tolerance. A single smile conveyed plenty of information for Yan Fei to read, and Cao Kun felt this was very reasonable.
He’d heard that Yun Ce was still besieging Xiangcheng with his remaining sixty-odd wounded soldiers. Cao Kun looked around but didn’t see Yun Ce, so he figured Yun Ce must have been driven off by Yan Fei.
Actually, that was pretty good. Yun Ce had tied Yan Fei down in Xiangcheng for a full eight days with just five hundred soldiers, giving him enough time to take the five cities near the Great Wall in Pingzhou, not to mention completely cutting off Tan Shou’s reinforcements. He’d already accomplished the task very well.
As for Yun Ce’s reward, Cao Kun had already decided: no territory or cities for Yun Ce, since it wouldn’t be of much use to him anyway. He only had five hundred cavalrymen; even if given them, he couldn’t hold or defend them.
Since he liked supporting women and children, why not give him more women and children? After all, in this Northern Territory great battle, two cities had been taken by force, with heavy casualties among the men inside. After capturing the cities, to reward the attacking officers and soldiers, he’d issued an order to massacre the city, so there were hardly any men left.
The beautiful and attractive women had already been rewarded to the officers and soldiers, while the young, good-looking boys and girls were given to the garrison commanders at the various Great Wall passes who participated in this battle.
The remaining unattractive ones who could only do some work—all the women and children—were entirely granted to Yun Ce. He should be very satisfied, since the number of women and children rewarded to him was the largest.
This arrangement was perfect. The Cao Clan had gained six border cities, including two empty cities to resettle the population migrated from Qiu He Prefecture, and these two cities would become the core cities for the Cao Clan’s control of the borderlands.
1 Everything looked great. With the overall situation settled, all Yan Fei wanted was this Xiangcheng. This city could be given to him; that wasn’t the main issue. After Tan Shou was completely destroyed, they could slowly use the overall situation to crush and strangle Yan Fei’s living space in the Northern Territory.
1 Following his uncle Zheng Tianshou, Cao Kun had cultivated great patience. He knew that many things in the world couldn’t be achieved overnight. Moving too fast would obscure the situation and leave hidden dangers for the future. Better to plot slowly.
1 Subduing Yan Fei was Cao Kun’s final major move in this Northern Territory campaign. Zheng Tianshou had come along too. No matter what, Yan Fei bore the title of Northern Territory wise general, and Zheng Tianshou didn’t want any accidents in the closing stage that might affect the eldest son’s reputation for wisdom and capability.
1 Zheng Tianshou glanced at the circular military formation below the hillside, and his brows immediately furrowed, because he discovered that this military formation was still in operation. The ring formed by the entire formation was slowly rotating, continuously squeezing inward.
1 What did this mean? It meant the military formation was engaged in combat, with the combat target in the ring-shaped cavity of the formation. From the size changes on the formation’s periphery, it was clear that this nearly five-thousand-man formation couldn’t instantly crush the cavity inside.
1 Zheng Tianshou immediately stopped Cao Kun from going down the hillside.
1 “They are in combat, and the combat target is unknown.”
1 Hearing his uncle’s words, Cao Kun carefully looked at the military formation at the foot of the slope and vaguely saw people continuously flying up from the cavity inside. Puzzled, he asked Zheng Tianshou, “Uncle, who is Yan Fei’s enemy?”
1 “┗|｀O′|┛Awoo~~”
1 A furious roar came from the formation’s cavity. After hearing it, Cao Kun immediately said to Zheng Tianshou, “Uncle, it’s Yun Ce. He’s still fighting.”
2 Zheng Tianshou focused his internal breath on his eyes and looked toward the formation. He saw the battle ongoing in the cavity—not only the battle, but also that the fighter was Yun Ce, who was wielding a pair of meteor hammers, slaughtering wildly in the formation without falling behind despite the numerical disadvantage.
2 He even vaguely relied on his own power to drag the five-thousand-man formation into a slow lateral movement. Looking in the direction of Yun Ce’s movement, Zheng Tianshou saw Yan Fei’s military flag.
2 “Dismount, adjust armor and weapons. One incense stick later, the whole army attacks!”
2 Hearing Zheng Tianshou issue the military order, Cao Kun couldn’t help but say, “Uncle, when we came, to avoid making Yan Fei wary, we only brought three thousand cavalrymen.
2 Also, we’re not here this time to…”
2 Zheng Tianshou looked into Cao Kun’s eyes and said coldly, “What are we here to do?”
2 Cao Kun shivered under Zheng Tianshou’s icy gaze, his brain racing, then hurriedly said, “We’re here to take Xiangcheng.”
2 Zheng Tianshou’s gaze gradually warmed. He said to Cao Kun, “Mountains have no constant form, waters have no constant shape. The way of adaptation lies in the change of momentum. Different mountain shapes lead to different water forms, yet mountains always exist, waters always flow—both unstoppable. Take the middle path to channel the water flow: the mountain remains a mountain, the water remains water, profiting from both is the greatest profit for the controller.
2 And you are the controller.”
2 Cao Kun listened intently to his uncle’s words, then immediately jumped down from the Thunder Smoke Beast’s back. Like the other cavalrymen, he began checking the saddle, girth, bridle, ensuring his weapon was handy, quiver in place. Some experienced cavalrymen even drank a little water in a strange way—gargling and spitting it out.
3 One incense stick’s time was neither long nor short—perfect for the Cao Clan Cavalryman’s attack. Neither Zheng Tianshou nor Cao Kun mentioned Yun Ce, who was fiercely battling in the heavy encirclement.
3 There was nothing to say about it. Without a powerful family to rely on, Yun Ce could only stake his life for a chance at family revival. Win, and prosperity was imminent; lose, and so be it—fair game, no one to blame.
3 Yun Ce kept closing in on Yan Fei. The two spinning meteor hammers were like giant lawnmowers, stirring up massive waves in the formation. Infused with internal breath, the hammerheads were nearly invincible—any soldier in their rotation path was no match, flung away like grass or bisected by the iron chains.
3 Anyone or any horse in Yun Ce’s path was utterly shattered!
3 The terror in Yan Fei’s eyes had turned to dread. Watching Yun Ce grind forward like a millstone amid limbs and torsos, he couldn’t fathom why he’d dared single him out after this man slaughtered two thousand of his soldiers.
3 He desperately wanted to tell Yun Ce there was no need for such a deathmatch—they were on the same side now, and this carnage was pointless self-consumption.
3 But seeing Yun Ce’s bloodshot eyes and inhuman snarls, Yan Fei endured his wounds, hoping his subordinates would exhaust Yun Ce before they were all spent.
3 Yun Ce’s internal breath was endless. Before it depleted, Doggy replenished it—with Hundred-man Generals’, Thousand-man Generals’, and Yu Sang’s reserves—making his internal breath vary endlessly: crude bursts for raw killing power, quickly spent; then precise control, wasting none, every bit yielding ample profit.
3 Watching the hammerhead smash a soldier’s head, Yun Ce suddenly recalled a Great Han legend: Huo Qubing killing twenty thousand alone.
3 He’d once dismissed it as myth, but now, slaying amid the chaos, he thought with sufficient conditions, it wasn’t impossible—that guy Huo Qubing was the one who “removed the fur” from enemies—Huo Qubing.
4 The brutal scene finally slowed Yan Fei’s formation’s rotation. No one wanted to move into Yun Ce’s path anymore—everyone knew it was a death sentence.
4 Seeing the formation congest, Yan Fei frantically waved flags and beat drums, urging his soldiers to be braver…
4 Zheng Tianshou saw the situation clearly and gave a look to Cao Kun, now masked. Cao Kun raised his horse spear, flanked by two Thousand-man Generals’ guards, and charged first from the hillside toward Yan Fei’s formation below.
4 Yan Fei, immersed in battling Yun Ce, suddenly heard his Deputy General’s report. Shocked, he turned to the hillside and saw waves of cavalry surging from behind it, charging down with murderous intent—not like negotiators.
4 In rage and grief, Yan Fei wanted to rally his men against this treacherous Cao Kun. But glancing back at Yun Ce advancing over limbs and torsos…
4 He couldn’t help roaring, “Beast!”
4 Then, mounting a horned horse, he swiftly withdrew from the formation. Victory was impossible now; as General, he needed to return to Xiangcheng to regroup.
4 The army, fixated on the General’s flag, suddenly saw it retreating rapidly. First to follow were soldiers about to wheel into Yun Ce’s path, then outer guards facing the Cao Clan Cavalry, deeming it their duty to protect the General, also fled.
4 The unattended Red Date Horse silently appeared beside Yun Ce. The black Thunder Smoke Beast it’d torn a huge chunk from was dead.
4 Yun Ce and his horse stood in the formation like a boulder in a river, countless men streaming past, none daring to strike the now-still Yun Ce.
5 Chapter 1, to be continued.
