Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 361 – Great Chu Empire’s noble one

Captain Shi’s complexion changed. He grabbed onto the unconscious woman’s hand and probed her condition. “My apologies. The noble one isn’t in a good condition right now; she must be treated immediately. We will be leaving first! You hold onto the noble one and follow behind me!”

Picking up a long sword, Captain Shi led the way forwards. He swung the sword around, sword energy crisscrossing through the air and opening a bloody path in front of them.

The remaining guards saw the intention of their leader. They roared together and stubbornly held onto their opponents.

Captain Shi stood at the front. The maid held onto the noble one and staggered behind. The sounds of slaughter gradually dimmed down but the skies had also turned completely black.

“The wilderness is too dangerous at night and the noble one needs to be treated. We will stop here.”

With several more slashes, he cut apart the tangle of thorns blocking a weathered cave entrance. He walked in and soon came back out. “It’s safe here. Take the noble one inside.”

He stood outside, erasing the traces of his sword slashes. Then he laid down an aura-concealing array disc and walked back inside.

The maid took out a luminous night pearl. She expertly placed it in a small hole in the cave and the darkness was chased away.

“Captain Shi, please rescue the noble one immediately!” Her face was pale and her voice trembled with fear. She also seemed to be shivering in the cold.

Captain Shi nodded. He knelt to the side of the noble one and held her hand. He said, “Miss, I need some clean water. Prepare it quickly.”

“Alright!” The maid flipped her hand and a large green jade basin appeared as well as a bucket of sealed water. She tore apart the film covering the bucket and poured the water into the basin.

Puff –

The dull tearing sound was especially loud in the sealed up cave. The maid’s hands shook and the basin of water fell onto the ground.

Her eyes widened in panicked shock. She watched as Captain Shi slowly drew his bloodstained longsword out from the corpse of the woman below him, and she continued to shiver.

Captain Shi turned around, his gaze as callous and stoic as before. “You are a loyal servant, so follow the noble one to the yellow springs and continue to serve her there.”

As he spoke he walked forwards, lifting his sword to finish off the maid.

But at this time a strange color filled Captain Shi’s face. He stared at the maid for a long time and slowly said, “It was you?”

The maid’s face was still pale, but the panic and fear had vanished from her expression. Her eyes were filled with contemptuous loathing. “Depending on you, you aren’t qualified to kill me.”

Captain Shi furrowed his eyebrows. He took one step forward and another step forward. The maid had already fallen back to the edge of the cave. Only a single meter divided the two.

But this meter was an insurmountable gap. His tall and sturdy body fell forwards as he toppled to the ground.

Black blood gushed out from every orifice of his head. Countless tiny life forms could be seen struggling in the black blood, quickly losing their vitality as their host died.

The maid picked up the long sword and lopped off his head. Her complexion paled further and she began to shiver once more.

From her appearance, she was only 15-16 years old. There was a fear in her eyes that couldn’t be suppressed.

If she hadn’t changed clothes and also fed this man a cup of vow-breaking poison wine, she feared she would already be dead by now.

Captain Shi was actually one of their people!

The maid shivered even more violently. Fear rushed through her like a tide, nearly drowning out her thoughts.

She continued breathing steadily for a long time, forcing herself to calm down. Then, light flashed in her eyes.

It didn’t seem that she had any other choice now. She could only wait here and see whether or not there was some favorable turn.

Otherwise, even if she had managed to kill Captain Shi, with her cultivation there was no way for her to escape the wilderness.

She picked up the luminous night pearl and the cave fell into darkness once more. The maid sat against an icy cold wall and grabbed onto her knees. She forced herself to not think of the two corpses in the cave and only then was she able to force herself to sleep.

Later, a faint sound awakened the maid. She immediately stood up, her complexion beginning to pale.

“Lord Shi, are you and the noble one inside?”

The maid’s eyes brightened. She quickly walked over, grabbed something from the two corpses, and then left the cave. The sky outside was already bright and sunny.

Twenty some guards stood outside, all of them injured. As they saw the maid their eyes brightened, “How is the leader and the noble one?”

The maid swept her eyes around. She turned her hand and took out a token. This thing seemed like metal and yet not metal. As she poured magic power into it, an extremely pure golden light shined outwards, filled with majesty and dignity.

“I am Great Chu’s Nineteenth Princess, Xiong Yuane. In order to rescue me, Captain Shi and the maid have both perished.”

The guards were frightened; they naturally recognized the token of the royal family. They fell to their knees. “We didn’t know the princess’ identity. We ask the princess for forgiveness!”

Xiong Yuane had a dignified expression. “Not knowing is not a crime, especially with loyal guards such as yourselves. Once I escape from the clutches of this vile plot, all of you will be richly rewarded.”

“We vow to fight to the death for Your Highness!”

Xiong Yuane swept her eyes around, an imperceptible light in her eyes. “You, you, and you, enter the cave and bring out Captain Shi’s corpse.”

The three guards mentioned all revealed a flustered expression. They hurried into the cave.

Soon, Captain Shi and the maid’s corpses were brought out. But then the three guards cried out miserably and fell to the ground, soon dead.

The guards moved restlessly. Xiong Yuane shouted, “This is bad, the corpses have been poisoned; we must leave immediately!”

No one argued against this.

It was only then that the princess’ heart began to loosen a little.

Although she didn’t know if there were still spies amongst the guards, she was at least much safer than before. She inquired about last night. It seemed that a powerful monster beast had suddenly appeared, forcing the attackers away. Only then were these guards able to survive.

It was unknown where the blown up speedcar was manufactured, but the quality was ridiculously high. Even after being battered around it could still start up once it was cleaned a little.

Xiong Yuane lowered her head deep in thought and cautiously took out her handphone. She opened it, checked around, and then printed a map before closing it. She shut her eyes. After several breaths of time she gave the map to a guard, “There is a Beast Hunting Battalion here. As long as we can reach it, we will temporarily be safe.”

Five days later, a weary troop slowly entered a mountain range. Ten remaining guards trudged forward, all of them wounded. It was clear they had experienced a series of fierce and vicious battles.

“Halt! Who are you? How dare you break into the Beast Hunting Battalion’s territory without authorization!” Several sentry guards were alert but didn’t go further.

This was because they could smell a rich scent of blood on the guards. It was clear they were all people who had fought numerous battles.

Of course, a more important reason was that battered speedcar.

The sentry guards might not have a high cultivation, but after being in the Beast Hunting Battalion long enough, their eyesight wasn’t bad either.

This speedcar had suffered numerous impacts along the way, but it was still intact. It was clearly extraordinary.

Could it be some great figure who came into the wilderness to hunt?

As the thoughts of the sentry guards raced, the car door opened from within and a dazzlingly beautiful woman appeared. She wore a voluminous long dress with auspicious clouds embroidered upon it. Every thread seemed to exude powerful fluctuations of strength. There were only three or four ornamental pins in her pitch black hair, but they sparkled with divine light beneath the sun.

Besides dazzling, the sentry guards really didn’t know how to describe her.

A moment later, the Lord Commander arrived at the transmission mountain. After confirming the genuineness of the token, he respectfully said, “Noble one, we invite you and your guards to rest in our battalion.”

Qin Yu had gone into seclusion to seek a breakthrough point, not knowing that a great deal of trouble had just entered the Beast Hunting Battalion.

After settling down Great Chu’s Nineteenth Princess, the Lord Commander returned to his office. He wiped his face with a hot towel and sat down in his chair, a weary expression on his face.

Xu Jiao received the towel and said with an anxious expression, “My Lord, this matter isn’t as simple as it seems.”

The Great Chu Empire was located in the south and its territory accounted for almost a fourth of the seven great empires. Their strength was transcendent within the world and it wasn’t an exaggeration to call them the strongest.

The Immortal Sect, Demonic Path, just how honored were these influences? But even they had to retreat in the face of the Great Chu Empire. Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to spread their teachings anywhere.

This princess had a status much higher and more honored than the rulers of many small countries.

But it was clear that this princess entered the battalion today because she was being hunted by someone.

When they said they had suffered a disastrous attack from monster beasts, that was only an excuse to cover up the real reason. The wounds on the guards and the traces left behind on the speedcar were clearly caused by cultivators. Even so, such a solemn and honored princess of the Great Chu Empire was being hunted down and still insisted on concealing the identity of her pursuers. The hidden meanings behind this left one shaking in fear.

The Lord Command bitterly smiled. “Brother Xu, you and I both know that we have encountered a disaster.” He paused and stated briefly and to the point, “People will die.”

Xu Jiao had a heavy heart. “My Lord, since her highness is deliberately concealing things, we can only pretend that we don’t know and send her away as soon as possible.”

“I only fear the princess won’t leave so easily.”

“Agree to all conditions!” Xu Jiao gravely said. “I believe that the princess won’t force us into a desperate situation, otherwise it’s easy for there to be accidents.”

The commander faintly smiled. “Brother Xu seems quite angry. Even the Southshine Nation is a vassal of the Great Chu Empire. Do you or I still dare to do anything to her highness?”

Xu Jiao’s heart relaxed a bit and he calmed down. “None of us would dare do anything to her highness, but just because we can’t do anything to her doesn’t mean that we can’t hide. I don’t think her highness wants to see this either.”

“Haha, I’m lucky that I have Brother Xu here to help solve my problems.”

“The Lord already has the situation well in hand, so what need do you have of me to solve anything.”

On the next day, the Lord Command requested a meeting with the princess. After a moment he left and convened a meeting of all high-level personnel within the Beast Hunting Battalion.

“Everyone, I have already issued an order to block everything related to her highness’ status. I hope that you won’t reveal anything in order to avoid provoking further troubles.” The Lord Commander swept his eyes around, “Alright, we will now begin discussions concerning the noble one’s request.”

Xu Jiao stood up. “The noble one has requested that our Beast Hunting Battalion provide supplies and guards. There must be 10 Divine Soul cultivators.”

After he gave a simple explanation he nodded and sat down.

The commander said, “The noble one’s safety is more important than anything else. The candidates you propose must have a thorough grasp of their own abilities, otherwise if something were to go wrong, all of us will be in trouble.”

An officer probingly asked, “Lord Commander, can we perhaps seek help for the noble one from the Southern Overwatch Pass?”

The commander remained expressionless. “The noble one has requested that this remain a secret.”

The meeting room fell silent.

Everyone understood this was a suicide mission.

With the Lord Commander’s reminder, everyone knew that the candidates had to be trusted subordinates. Thinking of this, everyone had ugly complexions.

Trusted Divine Soul realm subordinates. To them, these were extremely valuable chips, but now they had to toss them out in vain.

The Lord Commander lightly said, “As the leading commander of the Beast Hunting Battalion, I will take the lead. I will be responsible for three people.”

With this, the atmosphere relaxed a little. There were still seven spots, but as long as each person put forth one person, that would be enough.

An hour later, there was a named list of 10 Divine Souls. The high-level personnel all left in a hurry.

Following this, there were still many things left to arrange. For instance…having their subordinates willingly go off to die.

The guards that the noble one wanted were of course not as simple as 10 Divine Souls. There also needed to be 100 Nascent Soul cultivators.

Of course, in the eyes of the high-level figures, this was a simple matter.

Yuan Jingzhe returned to his office. But before that, he briefly paused and visited four colleagues. He didn’t spend much time with them before bidding his farewells.

There was a knock on his door. Yuan Jingzhe straightened himself, “Come in.”

A cultivator with white hair and slightly opaque eyes walked in. “Greetings, my Lord.”

“Zheng Hai, are you clear about the situation?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Do you have any complaints?”

“My life was rescued by the Lord.”

Yuan Jingzhe lightly said, “Once you leave, I guarantee that I will receive your son as my adopted son.”

Zheng Hai revealed an excited expression. He fell to his knees. “Thank you, my Lord!”

Yuan Jingzhe’s eyes flashed with a cold brilliance. “Within the guards, there is a person called Qin Yu. I want you to personally kill him.”

Zheng Hai diabolically grinned, “This subordinate will surely accomplish that!”

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