Chapter 87: Face Torn Apart Already
Peng Zeng did not fly fast enough. Yun Ce stepped forward and grabbed his left foot, then swung him up by grabbing his foot. Peng Zeng endured the churning pain from his abdomen like a stormy sea, trying to break free with his right foot, but unexpectedly his right foot was also grabbed. His body fell rapidly. Peng Zeng only had time to stretch out both hands to brace the ground, protecting his internal organs from harm.
His hands did brace the ground, but the huge force did not stop. The fierce force transmitted to his arms the instant his palms hit the ground.
Peng Zeng almost watched with his own eyes as the bones of his forearm pierced through his skin and were exposed in the sunlight. Immediately after, his chest and abdomen hit the ground. The shock passed from his skin to his internal organs, and the pain followed closely. The pain from the previous punch had already disappeared.
Next, because his chest and abdomen hit the ground, his head inevitably contacted the ground. First the nose, then the forehead, followed by the mouth and chin. The contact deepened. The head is the organ farthest from the feet. Being grabbed by the feet and swung to smash into the ground, it received the strongest force.
So, his entire face sank into the hard ground.
Under the gaze of E Ji, Feng An, Liang Kun, An Ji, and others, Yun Ce grabbed Peng Zeng and smashed him left and right on the ground ten times each before stopping.
This time, the ground was full of imprints from Peng Zeng’s face. Except for the first one which was crystal clear, the later ones became increasingly blurry and were smeared with blood.
Yun Ce shook Peng Zeng around randomly, feeling that this time many bones should have been broken, but not knowing if he could recover so quickly again.
Finally, he handed him over to that old woman, instructing her to take good care of him.
After washing his hands, Yun Ce sat back on his exclusive wooden stool and began eating after-meal fruit.
1 Feng An came over, grabbed a handful of thawed purple berries, tossed one into his mouth and said, “We can’t feed someone like this. Should we stop?”
1 Yun Ce smiled and said, “I really want to know why his body recovers so quickly.”
1 Liang Kun shook his head and said, “He probably won’t say. This should be his life-saving secret recipe.”
1 Yun Ce said, “I will learn it slowly. This is a skill worth learning.”
1 Feng An asked curiously, “What if he doesn’t teach?”
1 E Ji rested her elbow on Yun Ce’s shoulder and said, “Then keep beating him until he’s willing to teach.”
1 Life at the foot of Gaoliang Mountain was so calm it was almost without waves. Peng Zeng’s challenge was just a spectacle for everyone to watch.
1 The remaining days were really too boring, so everyone started betting on how long it would take for Peng Zeng, wrapped like a mummy, to wake up.
1 E Ji bet three days, five coins.
1 Feng An bet five days, ten coins.
2 Liang Kun and An Ji thought that waking up within ten days from such heavy injuries would already be a miracle.
2 Yun Ce took everyone’s bets because he said Peng Zeng would wake up tomorrow morning.
2 In the end, Yun Ce lost. Not just him, everyone lost. Three hours after being knocked out by Yun Ce, Peng Zeng opened his eyes. But his eyes had no focus, probably due to severe concussion aftereffects. However, his consciousness was indeed clear.
2 Although he didn’t win any money, Yun Ce felt like he had dug up a treasure.
2 Peng Zeng also felt Yun Ce’s concern because the way he looked at Peng Zeng now was like seeing a peerless beauty.
2 Not knowing if Peng Zeng’s hearing had recovered, Yun Ce whispered in his ear, “Why is your recovery speed so miraculous?”
2 Seeing Peng Zeng not answer, Yun Ce planned to ask again after dark.
2 Before finishing the meal, Yun Ce asked again. Peng Zeng still had no reaction, so Yun Ce went to eat, mainly because Zhang Min had come riding a large bird again today.
2 The previous Zhang Min was very gluttonous. Today’s her eating was very refined. She ate a bowl of rice, a few bites of meat, some vegetables, and half a bowl of soup, then finished the meal.
2 Yun Ce looked at the table in surprise. The food was very delicious, especially the mutton pilaf made by An Ji, which was already at seventy percent of his level.
3 “Chuyun Prefecture is in chaos. Twenty-six cities have declared independence one after another. Villages and strongholds in the wilderness refuse soldiers to enter. Everyone takes pride in killing officials. Nowadays, only here can you still see a bit of the former peaceful appearance.”
3 Yun Ce said, “Isn’t this what you all love to hear and see?”
3 Zhang Min immediately cried injustice, patting her full chest and said, “We are officials. How could we like to see our territory filled with beacon fires everywhere.”
3 Unable to stand this woman’s disgusting performance, Yun Ce continued to ask, “Have you caught the fierce bandit Miss Hong yet?”
3 The pretense on Zhang Min’s face finally dropped. She sighed and said, “Miss Hong is spreading everywhere that the tribute was lost because of the city lords, inspectors, and Tiger Guards. The purpose is to monopolize the tribute and then extort another batch from everyone in Chuyun Prefecture.
3 Do you believe this?”
3 Yun Ce nodded and said, “I believe it.”
3 Seeing Yun Ce did not seem to be joking, Zhang Min said to him, “Do you remember you owe me a favor?”
3 Yun Ce shook his head and said, “I don’t remember.”
3 Zhang Min continued, “I really need your help to catch Miss Hong. She is now the key figure to untie this deadlock. As long as we catch her, everything will have a reasonable explanation.”
4 Yun Ce said, “Zhou Chengming left Chuyun City six days ago, and only then did the robbery of tribute happen. So, this matter has nothing to do with Zhou Chengming, right?”
4 Zhang Min nodded and said, “When the case happened, the Tiger Guards led by Zhou Chengming were already four hundred li away, naturally having nothing to do with them. This is just a rumor spread by Miss Hong to muddy the waters.”
4 Yun Ce secretly calculated in his heart. The Royal Hunting Ground was two hundred li away from the incident site, and he could arrive at Mo Yan Ridge half a day early to rob. The Tiger Guards four hundred li away, after Miss Hong and her group succeeded, could come out to black-eat-black, completely having the time and motive.
4 Moreover, they had Thunder Smoke Beasts that could travel a thousand li a day without tiring. Zhang Min kept saying she wanted his help to catch Miss Hong. Now, the person who probably least wants Miss Hong caught should be her, Zhang Min. Otherwise, the Tiger Guards’ involvement in the robbery could no longer be covered up.
4 “Have you found the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》 you want?”
4 Zhang Min shook her head and said, “No, but it’s ultimately a legend. People who have seen the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》 before have spoken, saying it’s just an exquisitely crafted golden statue, not very useful. They also said that whoever finds the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》, they are willing to exchange it for fifty times the weight in gold.”
4 “Has my Shang Zao document come down?”
4 Zhang Min yawned and said, “Wait until Flower Festival Month. Hopefully there will still be government officials to help you follow up then.”
4 Yun Ce stared into Zhang Min’s eyes and said, “You seem very powerful now, or rather, something happened with someone’s appearance that made you suddenly strong?”
4 Zhang Min smiled and said, “Previously, Panxing Tower was not valued by some wise men, always thinking we were a bunch of insects hiding in the gutters, not fit to be seen. Now, with Chuyun Prefecture in great chaos and changes imminent, some people who can’t see the road ahead are thinking of seeking shelter from Panxing Tower.”
5 “You are really heroes in chaotic times.”
5 “Actually, Panxing Tower is not the one gaining the most. The real big winner is your old friend Miss Hong. Now she has money and people, and will surely achieve great things.”
5 There is not a single truthful word from the ghost woman’s mouth. Yun Ce really wanted to knock out her mouth full of pretty teeth.
5 The news that Zhou Chengming participated in the robbery and ultimately profited has spread. She can’t continue pressuring Miss Hong for the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》. Knowing he is someone who doesn’t get up early without profit, she deliberately told him that the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》 can be exchanged for a lot of gold, thinking to gradually pry him into going to Miss Hong to demand the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》.
5 Yun Ce naturally refused to leave the Royal Hunting Ground. He only wanted to live a peaceful life here for a while, observe the various changes in Chuyun Prefecture, and see how the changes in people’s hearts here differ from those on Earth.
5 This point is very important. As an advance force from Earth, he naturally had to clear a clean beachhead position for Yun Linchuan and the others.
5 One person is naturally not enough. He needs many helpers. He doesn’t even know what reaction Feng An and Liang Kun would have after learning he is an Earthling.
5 So far, the only thing he is sure of is that even if he were a monster, E Ji would follow him. This is also why he spoils E Ji without restraint.
5 Yun Ce knew that a person like him, to the Great Han, was very similar to the Japanese who entered China in advance force form on Earth. He was very worried that his identity would provoke a collective counterattack from the Han people.
5 Huo Qubing was a pure Earthling, and he established the current Great Han. But what was his end? After striving for six hundred years on this planet of the Great Han, he ended up with one man dead and the regime extinguished, sealed in a grave by the Dragon-Breaking Stone. No matter how grand his ambitions, they rotted away along with the corpse’s decay.
6 Undoubtedly, his transformation of this group of Chinese people was a failure.
6 “What are you thinking about, so engrossed.”
6 Yun Ce looked up at Zhang Min and said, “I know Miss Hong well. Their wisdom is not high, their political abilities insufficient, and they couldn’t come up with a scheme like the Tiger Guards robbing the tribute.
6 So, there is only one possibility: the Tiger Guards participated in the robbery of tribute. Only they have the ability to empty five or six hundred horse carriages overnight and leave no trace for others to pursue.
6 Zhang Min, disrupting Chuyun Prefecture is probably also something you have planned for a long time, right?”
6 Seeing Yun Ce staring at her with piercing eyes, Zhang Min felt a slight panic, then spread her hands and said, “The Tiger Guards went to the deadly Iron Enclosure Pass. Once they go, they are doomed never to return. According to past conventions, they already belong to Iron Enclosure Pass jurisdiction and no longer to the Great Han.”
6 Yun Ce nodded and said, “It seems I guessed right. Zhou Chengming acted to gather wealth for you, and then you extensively recruit soldiers and buy horses in the chaotic Chuyun Prefecture.
6 Zhang Min, seriously, what exactly are you trying to do?”
