Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 4 Dragon's Might: Do Dragons Really Exist in This World?

Yun Ce's yard also had many morning glories. Unlike the neat and uniform morning glories of his ancestors, the vines of his morning glories climbed all over the place, some even climbing up to the windowsill and decorating his window.

Seeing the familiar courtyard, Yun Ce really wanted to continue living, but for some reason, he always felt that he was about to face a great calamity.

There is no such thing as a victory without effort in this world. Yun Ce understands this very well, especially after his parents sacrificed themselves for their work. No one understands better than him that the flower of glory needs to be watered with blood.

After descending the mountain, I pushed open the faded door of the main hall, and sunlight immediately streamed in, brightening the room instantly.

Yun Ce lit three incense sticks and placed them in the incense burner. He knelt down and kowtowed three times to the ancestral tablets on the offering table. After reflecting on his actions and realizing that he had not done anything wrong, Yun Ce immediately asked his ancestors for protection.

The room was bright and airy. Although Yun Ce was alone, he felt as if the room was full of people. His grandparents were sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) on the left, smiling at him. His father was complaining about how few holidays he had and how few times he came home. His mother was carrying a red lacquered plate full of food as she walked in from outside.

Yun Ce picked up a cup of Langjiu liquor that had been sitting on the altar for a long time and had little flavor, and drank it. The ancestors in the house then returned to their homes. Apart from the dust in the light accompanying his silence, there was nothing left.

There's no need for paper money or offerings to commemorate the fallen heroes in the cemetery. They didn't care about them when they were alive, and they care even less about them after death. The only thing that's indispensable is Langjiu liquor.

This wine comes from a small county on the banks of the Chishui River in Sichuan. When Yun Ce was a child, he went there with his mother to buy wine for his grandfather. To this day, he still doesn't understand why his grandfather, who was always indifferent to material things, would like the wine from the rugged and dilapidated mountain valley. It's only twenty or thirty miles away from the famous Maotai Town.

Yun Linchuan loved Moutai; he spent all his salary on liquor before he turned eighty.

However, Grandpa didn't like it. Not only did he dislike it, he also disliked his own father, Yun Linchuan.

That's true. No matter who is Yun Linchuan's son, it's impossible for them to be a loving father and a filial son. Falling apart is inevitable, and it would be a miracle if they didn't.

Fortunately, both Moutai and Langjiu are brewed with water from the Chishui River. In the end, they share the same source, just like the relationship between my grandfather and Yun Linchuan.

My mother said that the reason for choosing Langjiu was related to the song "The Wolf Returns" that my grandfather often talked about. Whether it was "The Wolf Returns" or "The Wolf Returns," Yun Ce was too young at the time and couldn't understand those complicated emotions. He always felt that "The Wolf Returns" was more domineering.

As he grew older, he became more and more inclined towards "The Return of the Lang".

Yun Ce always keeps Langjiu (a type of Chinese liquor) at home for them. When it's calm, it's like a pool of water; when it's violent, it's like a ball of fire.

Before the sacrifice, Yun Ce took a sip himself. A line of fire shot from his throat to his stomach, then turned into a ball of fire in his stomach, and it seemed as if his limbs and bones were on fire.

Slightly tipsy, Yun Ce poured drinks for each of these boisterous men...

Our ancestors' advice was very clear: since we do not know the source of fear, then we should go to war and confront it head-on. We will either be killed by fear or we will overcome it. We can use any means necessary to overcome fear, except for fleeing or surrendering.

The graves are filled with tough bones. It's because their bones are so tough and they are so responsible that they died young. Yun Ce really enjoys being with them.

Offering sacrifices to ancestors and bidding farewell to loved ones are things that must be done before the battle begins.

Back in the ancestral courtyard, Yun Linchuan looked Yun Ce up and down, who was slightly drunk, and nodded, saying, "Not bad, your legs aren't weak."

Yun Ce let out a burp and said, "I'm trying my best to hold it in."

Yun Linchuan lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, "When you feel uncomfortable, you can lie down, but you can't kneel. Once you kneel, you'll never be able to straighten your back again."

Yun Ce forced a smile and said, "My legs are too strong to kneel down."

Yun Linchuan added, "When it comes to survival, one can't worry about many other things."

Yun Ce said, "If I am unwilling to die, I will naturally try my best to live. I am not a rigid person. Now, can you tell me what makes me so afraid?"

Is fear about to descend?

"Yes, I even felt it was right above my head."

Yun Linchuan looked up at the blue sky above, then glanced at the dark clouds looming over the horizon, and thought for a moment before saying, "It's going to rain. Let's sleep for the night before we leave. We're going to take up our new post in the development zone tomorrow, so don't be impolite."

"Even now, you still won't tell me the source of your fear, or do you think I can continue living my comfortable life?"

Yun Linchuan looked into Yun Ce's eyes and said, "I'm worried that if I tell you, you'll be even more terrified."

Yun Ce sat on a bench and said in a low voice, "The unknown is the most terrifying."

A hint of pity suddenly appeared in Yun Linchuan's weathered and cloudy eyes as he said to Yun Ce, "In your future life, countless unknowns will appear."

Yun Ce remained silent, stubbornly staring at his ancestor, whose heart was as hard as iron, waiting for him to continue.

Yun Linchuan suddenly waved his hand impatiently and said, "Do you know that there's a girl in America who's going to fly to Mars and never come back?"

Yun Ce's pupils contracted slightly, and he said in a trembling voice, "That was a lie."

Yun Linchuan said, "What you said is not a lie."

Yun Ce was so surprised that he almost forgot his physical discomfort. He spread his hands and said, "I am not an astronaut, I can't operate any spacecraft, and I have never received astronaut training."

Yun Linchuan said irritably, "Even an ancient person like the Yellow Emperor could ascend to heaven on a dragon, so can you!"

Yun Ce felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and said in a daze, "I think the story of the Yellow Emperor ascending to heaven on a dragon is more like a political assassination."

Yun Linchuan gestured for the staff around him to leave, and after they left, he whispered, "We have evidence to prove that dragons exist."

"That's impossible!" Yun Ce exclaimed.

Yun Linchuan regained his usual calm and composed demeanor, looking calmly at Yun Ce.

Gradually recovering from his shock, Yun Ce said bitterly, "So, you offered me to the dragon? Just like you entrusted my parents with a mission from which there was no return back then?" Yun Linchuan said indifferently, "Someone always has to sacrifice. Why can't it be your parents?"

"Why must it be my parents?" Yun Ce's deep voice came out from his throat.

"Because they are the most suitable candidates, if they die, it's because they're out of the loop; if they live, they should be useful! This is Lao Tzu's strategy for employing people. Do you have any complaints?"

Yun Ce let out a long breath and said, "I didn't need to ask you that question. Your heart is a stone."

Yun Linchuan's face, covered with age spots, twitched slightly before he calmly said, "We are peasants with nothing to our name. Only through continuous fighting can we build a peaceful world."

That's how the Wolf Run Water Fortress came to be, and that's how our country came to be. Fighting is our instinct, and dying in battle is our destiny. We have no other way but to keep fighting.

We sacrificed our lives and shed our blood to build this prosperous and powerful nation from nothing. Now, it's your turn.

Upon hearing Yun Linchuan's words, a chill instantly shot from his tailbone to the top of his head, making his hair almost stand on end. Even the nameless fear vanished completely at that moment.

Even Yun Linchuan felt that the task, which required sacrificing one's life to complete, must have been incredibly difficult; even the phrase "ten deaths and no chance of survival" was insufficient to describe it.

"What kind of mission?" Yun Ce's throat was terribly hoarse.

Yun Linchuan looked at Yun Ce, who was still able to stand, and nodded, saying, "He has inherited some of his father's backbone."

With a trembling body, Yun Ce continued to ask, "What kind of mission?"

Yun Linchuan looked up at the sky with a blank expression, and after a long while, he slowly said, "With the rapid development of our communication technology, some people have deciphered some strange signals from the sounds of nature. After a long period of tracking, we discovered traces of dragons in the uninhabited area north of Kunlun Mountain and south of Tianshan Mountain."

Later, I established contact with the dragon race.

Yun Ce said coldly, "You've even blocked off the Tarim Basin and the Tarim Desert with grass checkerboards."

Yun Linchuan continued, "Six days ago, a dragon left the Tarim Basin and went to Baiyin City, where you are. It stayed there for nine minutes and seventeen seconds, from 7:10 pm to 7:19 pm, and then it left."

Yun Ce swallowed hard and said, "There was a large-scale thunderstorm in Baiyin City that day. My unease started from that thunderstorm. At first, I thought it was the lightning that scared me, but I didn't expect it to be a dragon."

I still don't understand, why me? It makes no sense at all.

Yun Linchuan muttered to himself, "I'd also like to know why."

Yun Ce suddenly laughed, patted his chest and said, "I never thought I could make the Yellow Emperor and other sages who ascended to heaven on dragons not have all the glory. I just wonder if the chickens and dogs of the Yun family can ascend to heaven with me."

Don't you want to go? After all, you're the one who most needs to become an immortal and achieve eternal life.

Yun Linchuan seemed oblivious to the sarcasm in Yun Ce's words and continued slowly, "Through mathematical modeling of the dragons' behavior, we have come to a conclusion—the dragons are leaving."

Yun Ce glanced down at the still-standing hairs on his arm and asked casually, "Where are they going?"

Yun Linchuan sighed and said, "Judging from their flying speed and the size they exhibit, Earth is far too small for them."

"Before you leave, are you going to dry me out and use me as provisions?"

Yun Linchuan looked up at the azure sky and said, "Exploring space is a major undertaking that everyone hopes for."

"I'm nineteenth in my generation. I think Yun Da and Yun Er, who keep saying they're from the aristocracy, are more suitable to be dragged out and used as rations. Not only are they in high positions and have more power, but they're also fatter than me."

Yun Linchuan stared at Yun Ce for a moment and said, "They are useless."

"Are you willing to let your great-grandson be used as food?"

“As long as you can help people find the right direction and open up a channel in the vast universe, you can take my life immediately. I know you have been hating me for killing your parents all these years.”

Yun Ce stood up and shouted, "And my grandfather, you're just an old, stinking salted fish, old, hard, and smelly!"

Yun Linchuan smiled silently, and waved his hand with difficulty at Yun Ce, saying, "If you really arrive safely in the new world, remember to do a social survey, so that later people won't be completely ignorant of that world."

Let's see what this new world is really like, whether it can become our new anchorage, and whether it can become the home we hope for.

Yun Ce laughed and said, "If I don't die when I get to the new world, I will definitely be the worst and most vicious person in that world. After all, my family members, apart from the dead heroes, are basically all bastards."

Yun Linchuan said wearily, "After I die, they will definitely be purged. No matter how much they took advantage of us before, they will pay it back with interest. Don't worry, this country will not be controlled by your bastard cousins. Through years of experimentation, our self-purification function is still very strong."

The conversation lasted for an hour, and Yun Linchuan was already feeling a bit tired. Yun Ce wanted to end the conversation immediately, but the old ancestor stubbornly refused to sleep despite his heavy eyelids, and kept talking to Yun Ce about unrelated things.

When dark clouds obscured the blue sky above, the centenarian finally succumbed to his sleep and fell into a deep slumber, a low rumble of thunder rumbling from his throat.

Four staff members emerged from all around, their faces displeased, and raised their hands to ask Yun Ce to leave. One of them had already placed his hand on the ancestor's pulse, while the other two were pushing a wheelchair into the inner room.

Just as Yun Ce was about to leave the living room, Yun Linchuan suddenly opened his eyes and said to Yun Ce, "I'll see you off tomorrow morning."

Yun Ce didn't stop, but waved his hand loudly and said, "I understand."

He practically crawled home, his heart burning with rage, but his limbs felt limp and powerless.

He sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), closed his eyes, and prepared to endure the pressure. However, after only a short while, an overwhelming pressure suddenly appeared, and his vision went black as he lost consciousness.

(End of this chapter)