Chapter 258: The Boy With The Red Triangle Scarf
When the sky collapses, the earth will surely sink; when the world breaks down, rites and music will surely cease to exist. When chaotic times arrive, it will be a time of revelry for evil people, and it will surely be the grave of the good.
Above, these are the famous sayings of Luoyang’s great scholar Ou Jinshu.
Yun Ce was still rushing home across the wasteland, and this famous saying of Ou Jinshu had already spread throughout the Great Han.
If Yun Ce knew this sentence, he would definitely agree very much, because on the three-thousand-li road back home, he did not meet a single good person, and even the Dog Bear Spirit wanted to eat his flesh.
Until the Red Date Horse brought him to the Yun Clan Plain, he looked up at the sky. The red sun hung high, the wind was clear and the air was bright. Even though it was already deep winter, the severe cold did not seem to have begun to rage. The wind blew, causing the wild grass to bow its head, and there was still a trace of warmth remaining.
On the Yun Clan Plain, personally named by Yun Ce, Yun Ce smelled the scent of war. Likewise, the Red Date Horse sensed it before him, and without urging, it galloped towards the source of the bloody smell.
The fierce beast tethered by the iron chain was dead, its body riddled with arrows, its massive head smashed beyond recognition by heavy weapons. Its two most famous tusks had been removed, leaving only two bloody holes.
Yun Ce’s heart rose to his throat. Fierce beasts were not creatures that ordinary people could defeat. Even if they were bound by iron chains and had lost most of their mobility, with just their sharp claws and steel teeth, even a Hundred-man General might not be able to kill them easily.
With just a glance, Yun Ce concluded that the weapon used to kill the fierce beast was likely a heavy hammer, and the person’s martial power likely surpassed that of an ordinary hundred-man general.
The Red Date Horse sensed Yun Ce’s anxious mood and galloped at full speed.
When they were still twenty li away from the Yun Clan Villa, Yun Ce slowed his horse’s speed because, from here all the way to the Yun Clan Villa at the end of the earth, the roads were lined with wooden poles, and each pole had a person impaled on it.
Although Yun Ce could not recognize all of the more than sixty thousand people in the Yun Clan Villa, judging from the clothing of these punished individuals, they were not people from the villa.
The sharpened wooden club was inserted from the valley path, and it has not yet come out of the mouth, indicating that these people have not been tortured for more than half a day.
Yun Ce looked up and saw that on both sides of the road, two people were impaled facing each other every five steps. This practice was quite clever; the condemned could not see their own miserable state but could see their partners suffering the same fate across the road. In this way, the pain of their companion’s suffering was inflicted upon them again, causing them to endure double the torment.
The closer they got to the manor, the more lifelike the people impaled on the wooden clubs became. Within two *li* of the manor, those on the flagpoles could still let out waves of screams.
Yun Ce arrived at the manor entrance and found that the abatis defensive fortifications had already been set up.
The Yun Clan’s general, Chu, was already waiting at the entrance, attending to Yun Ce as he dismounted.
Yun Ce said, “Are there enemies coming?”
Chu bowed and said, “They have already fled.”
Yun Ce looked at Chu unexpectedly and said, “They’ve already run away?”
Chu hurriedly said, “Madam’s eagle discovered the enemy raid in advance, and ordered Jingkou Pass Commander Qin Shu to repel the enemy.”
“Aren’t Madam and the others at Jin Suo Pass?”
“The eagle has flown to Jin Suo Pass to inform the wife.”
“Eagles can talk?”
“I don’t know, my lady didn’t say. Currently, my lady is still at Jin Suo Pass, and the second lady is at the manor.”
Yun Ce knew he couldn’t get a clear answer. Chu was an idiot, the kind of person who only moved when pushed. Expecting him to explain things clearly was like asking for directions from a blind man.
Yun Ce entered the manor. Originally, the atmosphere in the manor was so tense it could have ignited. When the people saw their manor lord appear, the men holding weapons relaxed their grip and put down their weapons. The women hiding in the houses also came out one after another and saluted Yun Ce.
“Do what needs to be done.”
Yun Ce gave a casual command and entered the manor.
Arriving at the hall, she saw Zhang Min, clad in armor and looking strange, saying to Qin Shu, “The enemy has been defeated once, but they are not crippled and will surely attack again.”
I suggest that since they have retreated to the river network area, we should utilize the canals within the river network area to divide their forces and destroy them one by one with bombs.”
Qin Shu shook his head and said, “That’s not right. The first time, we used cavalry to raid them, catching them off guard and burning their provisions.
Since this is the case, I believe we should continue to exploit the cavalry’s familiarity with the terrain and let them die in the river network area. It is now deep winter, and Madam can request the Shehuo to bring the next blizzard and freeze them to death in the river network.”
He Qingfang said, “Unwise, unwise. The five hundred cavalry cannot leave Jingkou Pass for too long. We must swiftly defeat this group of enemies, first ensuring the mountain villa is safe and Jingkou Pass is safe. After the General returns, then we can deal with these people.”
Zhang Min was about to continue speaking when she saw Yun Ce walk in from outside. She immediately said joyfully, “Husband.”
Yun Ce sized up the pregnant woman wearing armor, and frowned, “Take off your armor, aren’t you afraid of pressing on the child.”
Zhang Min clasped Yun Ce’s arm and said, “A group of bandits, very much like an army, have arrived. They started by demanding a thousand carts of provisions from the manor. We refused, so they later reduced their demand to five hundred carts.”
We still disagreed, so they said that three hundred carts would suffice. Seeing the enemy so weak, Qin Shu led his cavalry in a raid against them. Those men were no match for the cavalry and fled in disarray.
Qin Shu felt that these people were luring the cavalrymen away, so that they could raid the manor. Thus, he let them leave and only captured some prisoners.
“No bombs were used?” Yun Ce looked at Qin Shu.
Qin Shu stepped forward and saluted, saying, “Reporting to you, General, the bombs are our army’s proprietary skill. Mere bandits are not enough to make us deploy the bombs.”
Yun Ce looked at He Qingfang and asked, “Have we figured out who the enemy is?”
He Qingfang said, “The former Great Wall Guard Army, unwilling to pledge allegiance to a new master, voluntarily took to raiding north of the Great Wall for a living. This time, for some unknown reason, they’ve set their sights on us. This subordinate believes there must be a mastermind behind this.”
Yun Ce sat in the main seat, took a sip of the tea Zhang Min handed him, and said to Qin Shu: “Go back to Jingkou Pass, I am enough here.”
Qin Shu sighed and said, “General, the Yun Clan Villa is afraid it cannot wait for those children to grow up. We need to complete army expansion as soon as possible. With only five hundred cavalrymen, it is not enough to protect Xiangcheng, Jingkou Pass, Jin Suo Pass, and the villa.”
Yun Ce shook his head and said, “Our army should either not be established at all, or once established, it should be extraordinary. To be honest, as it is now, an army composed of ordinary people will only become a burden, not a strength.
In Tai Prefecture, Hai Prefecture, and Eastern Province, the backbone of the armies in these three prefectures was all buried in Chang’an by their respective Inspectors. Even though they later desperately expanded their armies and strengthened their equipment, such an army had no power to resist after encountering the Cao Clan’s private soldiers. When I returned from Hai Prefecture, the body of the Hai Prefecture Inspector was still hanging from the flagpole.
Qin Shu saw Yun Ce veto his suggestion and continued to advise, “General, we need manpower.”
Yun Ce said, “Don’t we already have thirty-six men?”
Qin Shu looked at Yun Ce and said, “Too little.”
Yun Ce smiled and said, “It’s not a small amount. Let’s not talk about this anymore. You should return to Jingkou Pass as soon as possible, lest you fall for their trick of luring the tiger away from its mountain.”
Qin Shu saw that Yun Ce was not listening to his advice, so he sighed and bowed, then left.
When only he and Zhang Min were left in the room, Zhang Min hesitated and said in a low voice, “Qin Shu’s words can be considered shrewd counsel for the nation. Husband, you should not have treated him so poorly.”
Yun Ce shook his head and said, “To be honest, I don’t even want their five hundred cavalrymen.”
“What if bandits attack again when my husband is not here next time?”
Yun Ce said, “Don’t we still have bombs?”
Zhang Min said, “Bombs can be used freely? Besides, with just the people at our manor, even if we had bombs, we probably couldn’t defeat those bandits.”
Yun Ce sighed and said, “Possessing such a killing weapon and still being unable to protect yourself, being robbed and enslaved is what you deserve. Alright. Gather those thirty-six children, and they will accompany me on the campaign tomorrow.”
Zhang Min said in surprise, “They are still young.”
Yun Ce coldly said, “They are all warriors who have undergone Qi Induction, so they can use bombs.”
“Tomorrow, I will accompany my husband on the expedition.”
Yun Ce placed his hand on Zhang Min’s bulging belly and said, “No need, you can just wait for news at home.”
Zhang Min sighed and went out to prepare a meal for Yun Ce.
When Yun Ce donned his armor and emerged from the manor at dawn, thirty-six youths, also clad in small-scale armor, were already waiting at the entrance with their Great Horned Horses.
Zhang Min held a stack of red silk cloth and waited to the side.
“Lei Ming, step forward.”
With Yun Ce’s roar, a strong youth of thirteen or fourteen stepped forward. Yun Ce took a red triangle scarf from Zhang Min, tied it around Lei Ming’s neck, and then said in a low voice, “Invincible Under Heaven begins today.”
Lei Ming looked at Yun Ce with a scorching gaze and said, “General, have we formed our army today?”
Yun Ce smiled and said, “Yes.”
Before Lei Ming could ask again, Yun Ce looked at the next youth and said, “Zhang Jiu, step forward!”
Another red triangle scarf was tied around Zhang Jiu’s neck. The twelve-year-old youth, breathing out white mist excitedly, looked at Yun Ce and said, “General, can we kill the enemy now?”
Yun Ce smiled and replied, “From today onwards.”
Zhang Jiu hesitated for a moment and said, “General, I wish to stay in the military from now on.”
Yun Ce nodded and said, “You may.”
“Wang Shuang, step forward!”
“Sun Zhe, step forward!”
“Lin Yue, step forward!”
Thirty-six voices stepped forward, thirty-six voices answered, thirty-six red triangle scarves…
Watching Yun Ce, who also had a red triangle scarf tied around his neck, lead thirty-six young men and women away from the manor and gallop towards the river network area.
Zhang Min knelt on the ground, hands pressed to her forehead, and slowly bowed to the earth.
Although she did not know what those red triangle scarves represented, she knew very clearly that her husband was finally anxious. He seemed unwilling to wait any longer, nor was he willing to give these children more time to develop.
Now, they want to use the most direct and brutal method to help these children mature as quickly as possible.
