Chapter 253: Is It Really That Hard To Be Human?
Upon arriving at the City Lord’s Mansion gate, the Red Date Horse was led away to the stable, and Yun Ce was welcomed into the City Lord’s Mansion by a middle-aged man in a brocade robe.
Because his eldest son had died not long ago, the City Lord’s Mansion was draped in white mourning.
The gazes of those people wearing hemp mourning clothes were not very friendly toward Yun Ce, but regarding this, Yun Ce did not find fault with their etiquette, after all, their funeral was caused by him.
He was directly brought to the mourning hall, then Yun Ce saw Tai Prefecture Inspector Han Qi.
Han Qi looked like an ordinary civil official, with a three-strand beard, a slightly large nose, and a bit of a stomach; he was probably not yet forty years old, sitting there with both hands naturally cradling his stomach. No matter how one looked, he did not seem like a great villain.
However, his eldest son Han Tong, who was planted in the ground by him, was said to be twenty-six years old, meaning this guy had the ability to get a woman pregnant at thirteen or fourteen. Even if nothing else was lacking, the name lecher fit him perfectly.
The dead take precedence.
Therefore, Yun Ce did not speak to Han Qi; he first took three incense sticks to pay respects to Han Tong. Since the man was dead, it was time to observe etiquette; he did not want Han Qi to think he was not like a scion of a noble family.
“Beast—” A woman crying as if about to faint lunged at Yun Ce with flailing arms and legs, but he easily dodged her, lit the three incense sticks, and before more women and children could pounce over, inserted them into the incense burner.
“Stand down!”
1 Han Qi, sitting in front of the memorial tablet, let out an angry shout, and the vast mourning hall immediately fell silent, leaving only the low sobs of a few women.
1 “Even if the King of Changsha or the High Priest holds great power and authority, the Heir Apparent cannot act so recklessly in my Tai Prefecture, can he?”
1 Yun Ce found a stool to sit down on and looked at Han Qi here: “I hear you’ve gotten mixed up with the Gui Fang people?”
1 Han Qi said expressionlessly: “Why do you say that, Heir Apparent?”
1 Yun Ce irritably waved his hand: “No need to pretend; if you have, you have, if not, you don’t. There’s no room for reconciliation between you and me. If you’re colluding with the Gui Fang people, killing your son was not wrong, and I still want to kill you. If not, your son is dead, so be it; don’t make a fuss about it.”
1 Han Qi was stunned by Yun Ce’s words. He had thought of countless things Yun Ce might say upon arrival, but the sentence he had just heard had nothing to do with any of the responses he had imagined.
1 Yun Ce did not want his answer either. After his gaze swept around the mourning hall, it finally landed on a middle-aged man; this guy was almost the burliest person in the entire mourning hall, and Yun Ce could hardly fail to notice him.
1 So, Yun Ce walked over, looked up at this strong man over two meters twenty tall, and said: “Gui Fang Mad Bull Knight?”
1 The strong man snorted through his nostrils and did not respond.
1 Yun Ce’s hand patted the strong man’s arm and said: “Looks like one of the elite among the Gui Fang Mad Bull Knights.”
2 After speaking, he turned to look at Han Qi: “No wonder your military is full of wastes; turns out you’re planning to bolster your army with Gui Fang Hundred-man Generals and Thousand-man Generals.”
2 Han Qi stood up, looked at Yun Ce, and said: “Does the Heir Apparent have the ability to fight a hundred men?”
2 Yun Ce nodded: “Yes.”
2 Han Qi waved his hand, and a large group of warriors appeared at the mourning hall entrance. Yun Ce looked closely and saw they were all Gui Fang people, while the people in the mourning hall retreated like a tide.
2 Han Qi smiled: “I mean, does the Heir Apparent have the ability to fight a hundred Hundred-man Generals?”
2 Yun Ce thought carefully and said: “That would need to be tested; I have no such experience.”
2 Han Qi retreated a few steps, away from Yun Ce, and said to that strong man: “General Qingyun, you can kill him now.”
2 Yun Ce smiled at this strong man called Qingyun: “The only thing enviable about the Gui Fang people is their good names.”
2 With that, he extended one finger and tapped the chest of this strong man called Qingyun; his massive body then fell straight backward stiffly. After hitting the ground, there was no reaction, just his mouth gaping wide open.
2 The sound of the strong man Qingyun falling was loud, startling the group of Gui Fang people who surged in, but after only a moment’s hesitation, they swarmed over Yun Ce like a tide.
3 Actually, only seven or eight truly landed on Yun Ce, and these seven or eight people plus Yun Ce had already formed a mound of human flesh on the ground.
3 Yun Ce forcefully pushed away the people pressing on him, stood atop the pile of bodies, did not even glance at Han Qi, and spread his arms to pounce toward the other Gui Fang Hundred-man Generals.
3 Thus, he was once again buried under a group of people…
3 When four piles of human flesh appeared in the mourning hall, even the dullest person would realize something was wrong by now, because not only was Yun Ce unscathed, he also looked utterly satisfied. As for just how satisfied, Han Qi could not judge for the moment; he only felt that he seemed to really enjoy being crushed by those Gui Fang people.
3 Han Qi had originally run out of the mourning hall but returned for some reason. Looking at the piles of human flesh on the ground, he deliberately kicked a few of those Gui Fang fierce generals whose faces looked lifelike but lacked any vitality.
3 Discovering they were all dead, the remaining ones were oppressed by Yun Ce’s terrifying methods into cowering in the corners.
3 He then returned to the stool he had been sitting on earlier and continued watching the battle.
3 Although Yun Ce found it a bit strange to see that Han Qi had no intention of running and was leisurely sipping tea from a tea cup, he decided to first satisfy Doggy’s wishes before anything else.
3 In that great battle between Shehuo and the Dragon Spirit, the one who benefited the most was actually Doggy.
3 Shehuo wanted to annihilate the Dragon Spirit, but the Dragon Spirit was a stream of energy; energy can only be transformed from one form to another and cannot be killed.
4 Originally, Yun Ce thought it normal for the Dragon Spirit to return to the Dragon Pearl, but he had not expected that thing not to fuse with the Dragon Pearl; instead, it merged with Doggy.
4 Thinking about it later, he felt the Dragon Spirit’s choice was right. The Dragon Pearl was just a storage pouch; what sentience does a storage pouch need? Doggy was just a string of code, but at least it seemed quite clever, and there were no other options around… Plus, Doggy often talked with Yun Ce when no one was around, making the Dragon Spirit think it was a life.
4 The Dragon Spirit that could make Yun Ce’s arm indestructible could naturally make Doggy’s tentacles indestructible too. As for whether the Dragon Spirit could ultimately seize control of Doggy’s code and become dominant, Yun Ce did not care much. At least, Doggy’s tentacles were now truly very useful, becoming invincible, especially for absorbing others’ internal breath.
4 Han Qi set down the tea cup, looked at Yun Ce who appeared five or six years younger, and said in shock: “You’re a demon?”
4 Yun Ce shook his head: “No, just have some tricks. Han Qi, to this day I still can’t figure it out; you clearly know you’re different from the Gui Fang people, so why throw in your lot with them?
4 To be honest, the Gui Fang people’s goal is to kill all Han People and monopolize this land. Whether you surrender or not, the Gui Fang people will eventually eliminate you.”
4 Han Qi smiled: “The Heir Apparent jests. This old man ruined his health in his youth and has no chance of living past sixty. Even if I surrender, the Gui Fang people can hardly conquer the entire Great Han in twenty years. Before the Great Han is defeated, this old man won’t die.
4 If luck is good, the Great Han can hold out for a century, and my sons can also die of old age.”
4 Yun Ce smiled: “What about your grandsons?”
4 Han Qi smiled: “My son married a Gui Fang woman, so the grandsons are naturally Gui Fang people. And the current Gui Fang people are just descendants of Han People and Gui Fang, all one family.”
5 Yun Ce sighed: “The Emperor thinks the same way, right?”
5 Han Qi said: “Before King Huo, the Great Han Emperor was just a distant relative of the Liu Shi imperial family, without power or influence. During King Huo’s rule, the Emperor was a puppet; King Huo could kill at will, and berating him was commonplace.
5 After King Huo entered King Huo’s Tomb, the Emperor thought he could rule, but then the Three Dukes seized control of the court. Think about it: he is the Emperor, yet you don’t give him power—who wouldn’t he hate but the Great Han?
5 In this fight between the Emperor and the Grand Marshal, the Emperor lost and is now confined in the Imperial Palace like mud. Aside from marrying Gui Fang women to continue rotting the imperial family, making the people despise the imperial family to please the Grand Marshal, he can do nothing else.
5 Even the Emperor is done for; where is there a way out for us, his diehard loyalists? If we don’t find a path now, once the Grand Marshal recovers, dying without a burial place will be the least of our worries.
5 Liu Chang’an, why is someone like your grandfather Liu Changsheng from the imperial family not the Emperor? Why let a fool like Liu Mu be Emperor?
5 Leaving us supporters of the imperial family with no way to live?
5 Weren’t you just asking why there are no fierce generals in my army? I’ll tell you now: it’s because the fierce generals under my command all perished in Chang’an.
5 Are you satisfied with this answer?”
5 Yun Ce sighed: “Damn, staying alive is really hard.”
6 Han Qi smiled along: “Yeah, damn hard.”
6 Yun Ce did not chat further with this unlucky bastard, afraid that talking too much would make him lose hope for future life.
6 He no longer looked at that unlucky bastard Han Qi and pounced toward those Gui Fang Hundred-man Generals who dared not run nor advance. This time, Doggy’s eight tentacles glowing red were fully exposed to Han Qi, like a great net enveloping those dodging Gui Fang Hundred-man Generals.
6 A Thousand-man General leading a hundred Hundred-man Generals, preparing to take over Han Qi’s troops—naturally, Han Qi was unwilling in his heart. Even if throwing in with the Gui Fang people, he wanted to be a real traitor with power.
6 He absolutely did not want to be a puppet.
6 Yun Ce helped him kill all the Gui Fang people coming to take over his army.
6 Now, even the Gui Fang people would not want him anymore.
6 So, Tai Prefecture Inspector Han Qi really had it hard.
6 When Yun Ce left the City Lord’s Mansion with the Red Date Horse, he heard Han Qi shouting hoarsely in the mourning hall: “Where are the people? Where did everyone die to?”
6 No one answered him; he just shouted and raved in the mourning hall, even dragging his son’s corpse out of the coffin and loudly questioning why he did not respond.
7 “This guy definitely hasn’t gone mad; this is all for show. These officials have long forged themselves into heartless people. Do you think losing one son and being pursued and killed by many would make him go mad?
7 Let me tell you, it’s not that easy.”
7 Seeing Yun Ce somewhat emotional, the satisfied Doggy immediately spoke up to advise.
7 And
