Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 14: The Winner Takes All, Survival of the Fittest?

The wild boars leading the way were all large and powerful. You could tell just by looking at their nearly half-foot-long tusks sticking out from the corners of their mouths that they were the vanguard, responsible for clearing obstacles in their path.

Although the wild boars on the left and right sides were not as imposing as the vanguard in front, with their long tusks, bristling backs, and mud or some kind of sticky armor, they were still sturdy creatures and should be the left and right wings of this wild boar army.

Looking back, there was no rear guard, nor any so-called central army. Only a large group of sows with round bellies grunted and squealed as they passed by the herd of piglets. One sow, whose belly was so big it almost dragged on the ground, deliberately glanced at Yun Ce a couple more times.

It wasn't unusual for Yun Ce to mingle with the wild boars. Among the other wild boar herds, there were also some animals that were clearly not wild boars, including a kind of upright dog-headed man who looked similar to Yun Ce.

Upon seeing the upright kobold, Yun Ce did not show much surprise; this was the result of a long period of mental preparation.

Unlike wild boars, the face of the upright dog-headed man is almost entirely dominated by its nose. Even the mouth, a vital organ for survival, has to give way to that enormous nose. The eyes are located on either side of the huge nose, and compared to the enormous nostrils, the two eyes are almost negligible.

Its mouth wasn't very intimidating either, mainly because it was located on its chin and didn't have interlocking canines, only shovel-shaped incisors. Yun Ce thought this dog-headed man was probably a vegetarian.

Besides the kobolds, there are many other animals in the wild boar herd that are clearly not like wild boars but more like large rodents, such as badgers. The kobolds are only noticeable because of their height.

All the pigs were heading towards that tall and strange mountain, strictly adhering to their respective right-of-way as they went.

Yun Ce witnessed a group of large wild boars covered in thick mud, spewing out thick fog in the still chilly morning air, advancing like tanks through the path cleared by smaller wild boars.

Seeing this scene, Yun Ce inexplicably thought of war.

Just as he was looking at the huge herd of pigs that had gathered together and considering what to do next, he smelled a strong stench. He turned his head and saw a kobold sniffing at him intensely.

Yun Ce took a step outward, and the kobold followed suit, its large nostrils almost touching Yun Ce's body.

Yun Ce took another step out, and the kobold followed closely. When Yun Ce hid behind a big tree, the kobold followed him... When Yun Ce came out from behind the tree, the kobold was gone.

The little black pig with white hair that first encountered Yun Ce stopped and waited for him. When Yun Ce emerged from behind the big tree, it resumed its steps. It had the right to stop and go as it pleased.

When the carrion birds that Yun Ce had seen before appeared in the sky, Yun Ce felt that this place was more like a battlefield. After all, not only did carrion birds appear, but even those dog-headed people with very developed noses started to "caw caw".

After the dog-headed man shouted, the pig herd became noticeably disorganized, with some piglets stopping and anxiously sniffing around.

With a loud bang, Yun Ce saw a kobold, howling loudly, being sent flying through the air by a giant boar. Before the kobold could land, the giant boar was already at the spot where it was about to hit the ground. As soon as the kobold landed, it took flight again, plunging its tusks into the kobold's body. With a shake of its head in mid-air, the kobold's corpse split open. Pale yellow blood splattered everywhere.

Long before the wild boar, which was clearly the leader, started to deal with the squealing kobolds, Yun Ce squatted down, picked up the rare white-haired black boar, and slowly crawled into the bushes.

As it turns out, Yun Ce's actions were absolutely necessary; it wasn't just one or two kobolds who suffered, but all of them.

As Yun Ce watched as the kobolds within his field of vision were slaughtered by a group of wild boars, he felt more and more that the boar herd was now more like an army.

A wild boar with protruding tusks passed by the small herd of wild boars led by Yun Ce. Its long nose twitched incessantly, as if it were searching for something. Without hesitation, Yun Ce pulled a dog-headed corpse out of the Dragon Ball and threw it out.

The wild boar leaped into the air, opened its mouth and bit the kobold. After landing and shaking it a few times, it tore the kobold in two, then grunted contentedly and left.

The Chinese people's sensitivity to war is unparalleled by any other race.

There are intelligent people among other races or countries, but, as far as the general public is concerned, ordinary Chinese people are much more sensitive to war.

If war is directly related to their own lives, then scorched earth, stockpiling food, and building military fortifications are instinctive actions for them.

If the war has little to do with them, they will resolutely extricate themselves from the shadow of war.

Therefore, participating in war at this time is not suitable for Yun Ce. He doesn't want to participate in either a war between humans or a war between pigs.

He'd be better off hiding in the shade studying the little black pig with white hair than participating in war.

The white-haired black pig knew that Yun Ce was secretly roasting the piglet. The way she acted at the time puzzled Yun Ce. How to put it? She didn't show any fear of seeing her kind being roasted, only endless curiosity.

As a native of Northwest China, Yun Ce has a deep understanding of barbecue and other similar food preparation. Whether it's roasted lamb, chicken, pork, or other barbecue dishes, none of them are too difficult for him.

The pigs outside the bushes rumbled along, while Yun Ce and the little black pig squatted quietly on a patch of dry ground inside the bushes. The little black pig kept nudging Yun Ce's smooth skin with its snout, while Yun Ce carefully studied the little black pig's almost transparent fur.

The little black pig's fur isn't actually white; it changes color depending on the light. For example, when it hides in the shade and doesn't see the sun, the little black pig's originally snow-white fur in the sunlight naturally turns into a dark blue. If the sunlight is even dimmer, its fur turns black, like a chameleon but not quite.

The pitiful squeals of pigs came from the foot of the mountain. It wasn't just the squeals of one or two pigs before they died, but the squeals of many pigs before they died, which is why they could be heard by Yun Ce.

When the earth began to tremble, the pigs' squeals subsided, replaced by the howls of another animal. Yun Ce thought it sounded like a bear's cry, but he wasn't sure.

Later, the squeals of pigs and the roars of bears seemed to blend together, and Yun Ce stopped paying much attention to what was happening there.

There are only three possible outcomes of a war: the first is that the pig wins, the second is that the pig loses, and the third is that it ends in a draw.

Yun Ce thought it was unlikely that the pig and the bear-like creature would have a third possible outcome. A draw would only happen in human wars, not in wars between wild beasts.

For Yun Ce, war was a very boring thing. He had been tired of listening to it since he was a very young child, sitting on his great-grandfather Yun Linchuan's lap. At that time, he not only had to listen to Yun Linchuan talk about how to fight the Japanese, but also his grandfather had to talk about how to fight the Americans. Most importantly, he also had to listen to his father tell him stories about his work on the secret front.

These people usually have to abide by all sorts of confidentiality rules, but these rules are ineffective when dealing with a two- or three-year-old child alone, so they have to go into great depth.

They spent very little time with Yun Ce and were unaware of the child's precociousness. They thought that their brief conversation had taken root in Yun Ce's mind.

On the battlefield, there is no such thing as humanity. Whether it is the righteous side or the evil side, everyone is trying their best to kill the other side, because only by completely killing the other side can victory be achieved.

Therefore, Yun Ce never liked war. After graduating from university, he chose to go into politics, which he thought was a good thing.

Only by entering politics can he learn from the ancient sages how to live better in primitive society, and only by entering politics can he fairly distribute social resources to everyone.

Compared to beheading enemies and building a colossal mound of skulls, Yun Ce felt it was far more fulfilling to have more fruit yielded on the same land area.

Of course, when war is needed, Yun Ce believes that we should fight with all our might, and only by killing the enemy with the fastest speed and the most resolute attitude can we bury them in the ground.

Then, you can quietly sow seeds on the corpse-fertilized field and wait patiently for the bountiful autumn harvest.

The herd of pigs outside had long since gone far away, moving very quickly. Even the long-snouted, big-bellied sows had gone to help, indicating that the battle on the wild boars' side was getting intense. As dusk approached, the moon was expected to be full tonight, and the night wasn't too cold. Yun Ce simply built a thatched hut behind a large tree.

After the little black pig finished eating, it crawled into the shed and started to sleep, grunting softly. Before falling asleep, it glanced at Yun Ce one last time, and seeing that Yun Ce didn't seem to be sleeping, it went to sleep on its own.

When the sun had set and the full moon occupied one-tenth of the sky, he lit a bonfire, took out a pig's hind leg from the Dragon Ball, and roasted it over the flames.

Once the pork leg is heated up, you can slice it with a knife and eat it.

This pork is delicious. It has just the right amount of salt flavor without needing any added salt. The best part is that there is almost no fishy or gamey smell in the meat. When you cut off a piece with a knife and put it in your mouth, the meat is not only chewy, but also has a slightly bouncy and crisp texture like eating sashimi.

After eating half a pig's leg, Yun Ce still felt a bit hungry, but his stomach seemed to be full and couldn't hold any more meat.

(End of this chapter)