Edited by: acutebird
With every step Dofie took, her features recovered.
And with every step she took, within a radius of one Zhang , the green grass turned grayish yellow, and the shrubs and trees that had just sprouted withered in an instant.
Sha Lang’s gaze at Dofie’s back was like she had seen a devil. As soon as she saw a change in the grass and trees, she didn’t dare to approach again, so she kept her distance.
Dofie didn’t want to use her old woman’s appearance to meet Captain Fei Li and his subordinates. She was eager to regain her youth and didn’t care about the obvious traces left along the way.
Fei Li and Zei Xi followed the big bird in the sky and ran into a forest by a small lake in the north; they had already crossed the outer moat by a certain distance.
“My lord!” Ai Di, who had fallen to the ground, gasping uncontrollably, struggled to get up as soon as he saw Fei Li and Zei Xi.
“Ai Di! Why are you injured? Where’s Han Ke?” Zei Xi ran over and lifted his upper body.
Ai Di covered his wound and gasped for breath, saying quickly, “Lord, go save Han Ke! Han Ke has been caught by the barbarians! Hoo, they have an ability warrior!”
“Ability Warrior?” Fei Li’s expression changed slightly. “What level?”
“Level four. That person can control the soil. Hmph. Your Highness, those barbarians must have caught the princess too. We need to rescue the princess!”
“Did you see the princess?”
Ai Di shook his head and adjusted his breathing as he spoke. “No, but those barbarians were in a hurry to go somewhere; unfortunately, they found us… how could they have found us? Those barbarians even knew how to use tricks to trick us out of the sky!”
Ai Di still found it unbelievable.
Fei Li didn’t immediately say he wanted to save Han Ke. He didn’t take a level-four warrior seriously, but that city was really strange. He needed to think carefully before taking action.
Zei Xi climbed up a tree, found their luggage hidden in the forest, jumped off the tree, ran back to Ai Di, searched for medicine and bandages, and quickly bandaged his wound.
“Lord?” Ai Di looked at Fei Li urgently.
Fei Li looked up and said, “You only saw one capable warrior?”
“Yes!” Ai Di confirmed and immediately asked, “Lord, did you discover other ability warriors when you went to the city to investigate?”
“The highest level seen was only level two.”
“Lord, is it possible for them to also be able to hide warrior-level markers?”
Fei Li admitted to the possibility: “If the princess is really here and helping them, it’s very likely that she taught them this.”
“Those mermaids and dwarves didn’t have warrior markings on their faces,” Zei Xi interjected.
Fei Li shook his finger at Zei Xi and said, “Those aliens are different from humans. They also have markings, but their location and display are different from ours. That’s the secret of those aliens; they won’t tell us.”
“So those mermaids in the river could also be capable warriors? Their equipment is much better than that of those barbarians, and I saw that they held bone-refining weapons in their hands.”
This was also why Fei Li wasn’t certain about the strength of that castle. He didn’t understand why the mermaids, who had always disliked humans, would appear in the moat of a human castle, as well as the large number of dwarves in that castle and those bees. All of this was too archaic.
Fei Li took two steps in place and made a decision: “Let’s go save Han Ke first. Ai Di, are you sure Han Ke’s still alive?”
“I don’t know,” Ai Di said worriedly. “Han Ke’s whole body was wrapped in soil. He told me to run quickly, so I don’t know if those barbarians killed him.”
“They dare!” Zei Xi, who had changed into battle armor and carried a bow and arrows on his back, suddenly changed his expression. “If they dare to kill Han Ke, I will kill their entire clan! “Even daring to harm Ai Di is already a great crime! Lord, let’s go!”
Ai Di struggled up, put on battle armor, and also carried his bow and arrows on his back. “I’ll lead the way. Mother goddess above, if I knew those barbarians would dare to attack us, I would have definitely brought my bow and arrow to let them know the reason why the Third Army is great!”
“Who?” Fei Li suddenly turned around.
“It’s me,” Dofie said, walking out from behind the trees on the green grass.
Yan Mo had a feeling that he had missed something very important.
He stared at the man-eating bees landing on the tree as he tried to recall.
What was bothering him so much?
“Mo! We may have enemies.” Meng ran over quickly and told him about the discovery of two strangers fleeing the city.
“Wait! You just mentioned that you saw a big bird rushing into the northern forest. Those two outsiders also fled to the north.” Yan Mo turned around, and something flashed in his mind.
“Yes, there have been big birds hovering over the tribe these days.”
Big birds… birds chirping… oh no! Yan Mo finally remembered that on the day Yuan Zhan left the city, bird calls could be heard in the sky. He didn’t pay much attention at the time, but now it felt even more strange, especially when he thought of how most large, ferocious birds avoided Jiu Feng’s territory.
“There’s a problem with those birds!”
“Mo?”
“If I’m not mistaken, those birds must have been acting as scouts. They were monitoring and observing us. Damn it, I should have thought of that long ago! Meng, how many big birds have you seen flying near the tribe these days?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I’m not sure, but I saw at least four big birds hovering together in the sky.”
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“Do you think those two men have a very similar appearance to Dofie?”
“Yes.”
“Dofie is also missing.” Meng scratched his head. He had always felt that Dofie was his responsibility.
“It’s not a problem that Dofie is missing. Her wanting to stay made me feel strange. The city is too big. I should make it smaller,” Yan Mo muttered.
“Mo, what are you talking about?” Meng didn’t hear clearly.
“The city is too big; if an enemy harbors hostility towards us, it will be difficult for us to defend the entire city. Can you find out how many people came? And what is their strength?”
“They have no markings on their faces, but judging from their running speed, their physical fitness is at least level two or above. The number of people is currently unknown, and I have asked someone to notify the hunting team so they’ll keep an eye on their movements,” he said.
“What is our strength now?”
“Twenty two members of the A’Wu tribe have reached the level of a first level warrior, while Da Ze and Mu Changming just reached level two. The only capable warrior is Wu Chen, who is still at level one. The others don’t have markings on their faces yet and are not considered warriors.”
“So the maximum number of people we can form for combat effectiveness is only twenty-five?”
“Adding me and you, that’s twenty-seven people.”
Yan Mo looked at the man-eating bee flying beside him and raised his hand to let it land on the back of his hand. “If there is really an enemy attacking, what is your arrangement?”
After being shocked, Fei Li and the others saluted Dofie together.
Fei Li had a lot of questions to ask Dofie.
Dofie spoke first. “I know you have many questions, and I am the same. But now I have something more important to attend to, and I hope you can listen.”
Fei Li bowed and performed a noble etiquette. “Your Highness, no matter how important it is, it cannot compare to your safety. I am overjoyed to see you safe and sound. If His Majesty the King knew you were fine, he would definitely be very happy.”
“Sire Fei Li, I know you haven’t received my father’s orders,” Dofie said calmly. She had learned a lot from that little priest during this time.
Fei Li was surprised and asked, “Your Highness, why do you think so? Your Majesty has been worried about you all along.”
“He only worries about why his women haven’t given him a son yet.” Dofie didn’t want to waste time beating around the bush with Fei Li. She said directly, “Sire Fei Li, killing me won’t do much good to your master. If I were you, I would listen to this princess’ advice before taking action.”
Zei Xi and Ai Di looked at each other, feeling as if they had heard something they shouldn’t have heard.
Fei Li’s expression remained unchanged. “Your Highness, it seems that you have misunderstood. I just received orders to come out and find you.”
“I don’t plan to return to Tianqian City.”
“What?” Fei Li’s face showed real surprise.
“I have two suggestions, or rather requests. Would you be willing to listen, sire?”
Fei Li raised his hand, and Zei Xi and Ai Di retreated outside the woods.
“Your Highness, please speak.” He was curious about what this princess, known for her beauty and intelligence, would say.
“Help me seize the city of the Jiuyuan tribe, or send me to another land with barbarians. No matter which one you help me achieve, I swear, the benefits will be much greater than the reward you would get for killing me. Your master just doesn’t want me to go back and stop him from sending women to the king. If I don’t go back, my threat to him will not exist. In the future, he will give as many women as he is willing to give to my father. I will be happy to have more siblings in the future.”
Innocent princess, that one didn’t just want to send a woman to the king. Fei Li also had no intention to explain this to the Royal Princess. Maybe the princess was very smart, but it wasn’t enough to make him loyal.
“Your Highness, I thought that city belonged to you.” Fei Li asked in confusion.
“Unfortunately, I also hoped that the city would belong to me, but the truth is that it belongs to a young priest of unknown origin,” Dofie sighed lightly.
“Priest? A priest of the Three Cities’ Temple?”
“It’s possible.” Dofie didn’t say that she even suspected Yan Mo was from the legendary Holy City; no one would have reservations about their enemies, even if the other party’s attitude was ambiguous.
Fei Li’s expression became serious, and he said, “Your Highness, if you want me to help you, then I need to know everything about that castle, especially the abilities of that white-headed priest.”
Meng explained the defense plan he had discussed with Yuan Zhan before leaving: “Zhan also considered that the city was too large to defend. Our plan is to divide the mermaids into three batches, with two batches guarding the earthen moats of the north and east gates and another batch swimming in the inner moat to deal with enemies who can enter the water. Our people will guard the earthen roads of the west and south gates. If you can persuade the dwarves to help us guard one gate, it would be best, but the man-eating bees came, so perhaps you can ask your bee guards to help guard the south gate, and our people will concentrate on guarding the west gate.”
Yan Mo wasn’t a warrior and had zero combat experience. Perhaps he could recite the 36 strategies of Sun Tzu’s military strategy, but he couldn’t apply them.
“There is also the sky; we must be wary of attacks from the air.” Yan Mo felt a headache. After listening to the plan of Yuan Zhan, he didn’t know what needed to be modified and paid attention to, so he could only use his brain on weapons and armor.
What was the most important urban defense weapon in ancient times? In addition to artillery, it was also a catapult used for bows and the city walls.
He had wanted them to make these things before, but he hadn’t had time to propose them, let alone find someone to make them. In such a short time, he had too much to do; everything was starting from scratch, but, unfortunately, they still had various troubles to deal with.
“Shield.” If there wasn’t enough time for bows and crossbows, then they’d make the simplest ones first.
“Shield?”
“That’s right.” Yan Mo squatted on the ground and picked up a branch to draw the shape of a shield on the ground. “These are protective equipment. Our people can hold a spear and a shield in one hand. Also, did Gerge and Derde make a winch?”
Meng didn’t know what a shield was, but he knew what a winch was. Previously, in order to figure out how to build a suspension bridge, he and Wu Chen almost memorized all the drawings and vocabulary related to suspension bridges drawn by Yan Mo, and the winch was the most important component in building a suspension bridge.
“They seem to understand, but I’m not quite sure exactly where they did it,” Meng said. Since Gerge and Derde volunteered to help them build the suspension bridge, he seemed to have escaped and left everything to Wu Chen and those two dwarves without paying any attention to it.
“Later, you can bring Gerge and Derde over. If they have a winch, I need them to help us make something else first.” Yan Mo planned to have the dwarves study more complex catapults and let Wu Chen and the others make simpler bows and crossbows.
Bows and arrows shouldn’t be difficult to make without considering quality and range. As for the crossbow, he remembered seeing the oldest method of making it during the Neolithic period in a museum. It was only slightly more complex than the original bow and arrow, but had much larger range and strength. If he and Wu Chen worked together, maybe they could figure it out.
Of course, this time, it wouldn’t be cheap for the dwarves. If they wanted to learn how to use the catapults, they would have to pay a sufficient price!
He just didn’t know if there was any suitable wood for making bows and crossbows. And they would be starting now; was there still time? What should he do to defend this city and protect the lives of most people? Escape? But where could they escape to?
If only Yuan Zhan was here, that guy could at least help him out. No, if Yuan Zhan were there, it would be him giving the ideas and the other making the choices and carrying the pressure. Yan Mo regretted it; if he had known, he would have gone with Yuan Zhan to secure the salt.
“Meng,” Yan Mo called out to Meng, who was about to leave.
Meng quickly turned around.
“You have to send a message to the hunting team, asking them to go through the West Gate when they come back, and telling them that they should never attack the bees. Also, when looking for the dwarves, remember to act very angry and make accusations against them. You should curse a little harshly, because they don’t understand; just say they have brought powerful enemies to the Jiuyuan tribe.”
Meng smiled mischievously and moved to carry out his orders, ready to scare the dwarves to death. He had long been dissatisfied by the chattering and overeating dwarves. This guy belonged to the completely stress-free type, even if the enemy attacked in front of him, as long as he could escape with Mo and fulfill his brother’s plan. As for the A’Wu people, he would try to escape with them.
After leaving abruptly, Yan Mo sent a message to the man-eating bee on the back of his hand, saying, “My lovely subjects, I need your help. Go to the forest north of two large rivers and find out how many people and large birds are hidden there, and come back to tell me. If you encounter someone attacking you, you don’t have to be polite; just take them down, but you don’t have to resist. Your life is the first priority.”
Yan Mo didn’t know if the bee colony could understand his instructions. He thought of the specific direction and the appearance of the enemies and the big birds. The humans had a male appearance based on Dofie, with a focus on hair color and foot shape.
The man-eating bee shook its wings and circled around Yan Mo before flying back to its companions. Soon, half of the swarm buzzed northward.
In the forest, Fei Li was considering Dofie’s suggestion.
His excellency, who had sent him out, hadn’t demanded that he kill Dofie, nor had he demanded that he find the other party.
His predecessor clearly didn’t understand this point and used his strength in the wrong places, so this difficult task fell on him.
After he came out, he did not look for the royal princess carefully. He flew around the wild with his three brothers, almost as if they were playing games. He occasionally bullied the natives. When he saw the beautiful natives, he exchanged something of low value but rare for the barbarians for those girls for a night. When he had enough fun, he would change to another tribe.
They also saw some relatively powerful tribes, and for these tribes, they only observed from a distance and didn’t get close.
When they flew to this land, they also had the same plan as before, exchanging some rare objects and sleeping with the beautiful barbarian women. That was, until they saw the strange castle with only city walls.
Although there was some speculation, he didn’t expect that they actually found the princess, let alone that this castle had nothing to do with the princess.
He understood why the princess wanted that city.
If he was also a child who wasn’t treasured by his father, he would certainly hope to start over elsewhere, and starting from scratch was always difficult. Seizing a castle directly could reduce a lot of preparation time. And what could be better than a new castle under construction with few people, promising prospects, strong allies, and no worries about food and clothing?
The princess’s request was also very simple; he just had to kill four people, including the leader of the Jiuyuan tribe, Yuan Zhan, the priest Yan Mo, the warrior Meng, and an old clan shaman.
Then he and his people just needed to help the princess subdue the tribe for a period of time so that the princess could completely control the residents of the Jiuyuan tribe, and once they gained control, they could leave. The cost was that they could take women and children from the tribe as slaves at will, while more precious mermaids and dwarves could be provided for them to hunt in the future.
The princess even hinted to him that if he was willing to stay, she would be willing to let him stay and assist her as the princess’s husband, so that he could be above ten thousand people.
The conditions sounded really good.
This place was very far from Tianqian City. As long as he didn’t report the situation here after returning, Her Highness Dofie could steadily develop here until Tianjian City wanted to shake her, which would then require careful consideration.
The position of the royal husband was also a temptation. If the queen died and there was no heir, the royal husband had the right to inherit.
The second requirement for the princess was simpler. They’d just take the princess out of here and choose a primitive tribe that looked honest, stupid, and easy to deceive at random, so that the Royal Princess could accept it.
What exactly should he do?
“Sir! Look what we caught! A woman!” Zei Xi and Ai Di dragged a tall woman into the forest.
Fei Li immediately looked at Dofie.
Dofie sneered and said, “This woman’s name is Sha Lang, and she’s from the Jiuyuan tribe. She’s been staring at me all along.”
“Your highness, do you want to kill her?”
“No, not for the time being.” There were very few women in the Jiuyuan tribe, and it was more valuable for her to let Sha Lang live until they brought more women to her. This was also something she learned from Yan Mo. If it were before, she would definitely have killed Sha Lang, who looked down on her everywhere.
Sha Lang glared fiercely at the four people, neither begging for mercy nor shouting. This made Fei Li take two more glances at her.
This woman who couldn’t be considered beautiful and was relatively old – Fei Li quickly lost interest.
“Zei Xi, go outside and keep an eye out; see if anyone else is following.”
“Yes.” Zei Xi quickly ran out of the woods.
Fei Li asked Ai Di to tie Sha Lang deep in the forest. “Remember to block her mouth.”
“Yes.”
Ai Di dragged Sha Lang into the depths of the forest, and Fei Li confirmed with Dofie again, “The strongest warrior in that tribe is their leader; the leader is among the few people who went out, right?”
“Yes.”
“Does that priest really lack combat power?”
“He… is better at medical skills, praying for blessings, and communicating with other races. As long as you don’t touch him and kill him directly from a distance with a bow and arrow, you don’t have to worry about him harming you,” Dofie said based on her experience of being drained of vitality.
“Prayer for blessings? Like Lord Ye He, can it increase the soldiers’ vitality and courage?”
“No, it’s just a common prayer.” Dofie concealed Yan Mo’s ability to awaken a child’s divine bloodline through blessings, which was unheard of among priests. She didn’t have to think about how attractive this ability was to warriors, and she didn’t want them to discover it.
After careful consideration, Fei Li finally said, “The leader of the barbarians has captured Han Ke. Zei Xi and I must go and rescue Han Ke first. Your Highness, are you waiting for us here or are you going back to be our agent?”
“I’ll wait for your good news here. If you can directly kill Yuan Zhan outside, this city will no longer be a threat to you.”
“Those mermaid warriors?”
“I will give them benefits and discuss with them. If Yuan Zhan and Yan Mo die, they don’t need to abide by all the agreements made with them anymore.” After finishing speaking, Dofie smiled and took the initiative to say that she could help Ai Di recover from his injuries and revive his physical strength.
The atmosphere of war spread throughout the city, but the A’Wu people were no longer in panic.
As soon as Yan Mo saw the dwarf clan leaders Lang Lang and Kathi, he frowned and said, “We have found out that those two outsiders are the owners of the monsters that attacked you.”
“Ha?!” Langlang jumped up. “Do those monsters actually have owners?”
“Yes. Because we sheltered you, the little monsters dared not approach, so their owners secretly came to investigate our strength.”
Kathi lowered her voice and said, “Revered Priest, I remember you have an old woman who looks very similar to those two outsiders.”
“You also look similar to the warlike brother clans you spoke of. But Dofie’s identity is something we are looking into as well; she is an outsider we rescued in the winter, and we suspect she is either a runaway slave of those outsiders or a spy. A spy is someone who hides in our clan, observes us in secret, and communicates messages to her own people.”
“Then……”
“That’s the question. Dofie was always honest before, but when you arrived, those two outsiders suddenly appeared, and Dofie disappeared. What does this mean?” Yan Mo’s accusing expression was almost like he was pointing to the dwarf’s nose, saying, “These enemies were instigated by you!”
The timing was too coincidental, so it was difficult for the dwarves to deny it.
Lang Lang and Kathi looked at each other. If those outsiders were really the owners of those monsters, should they run away immediately or take this opportunity to seek revenge?
Yan Mo held his chin and caught the attention of the two. “And we just received news that those outsiders are asking us to drive you out of the residence of the Jiuyuan tribe, otherwise they will attack us.”
Upon hearing this, Lang Lang became unsatisfied and immediately shouted, “You can’t do this. We still owe you a debt, right? If you drive us away, no one will pay your debt. And we are friends, right? Those outsiders can’t be trusted at all. Even if you send us out, they might still attack you. Keep us, and we can help you protect your place together.”
“I need to consider.”
“Do we really still need to consider this?” Lang Lang said it urgently.
“Of course, according to what you said, your combat effectiveness is not worth looking forward to. To protect you, our tribe will have to pay a huge price. If it were you, what would you do?” Yan Mo stopped arguing with the dwarves and turned around to leave. Those who delivered themselves to others doorsteps wouldn’t be cherished, so it was better for them to figure it out on their own and actively demand it.
Ai Di was hovering in the sky with Fei Li and Zei Xi.
“Strange, we were fooled by those barbarians here and attacked by them. Where are they?”
Fei Li retracted his wings and landed, carefully observing the ground. “There are bloodstains; Han Ke may have been injured.”
“Did they run south? I didn’t see them on the road just now.” Zei Xi also came down.
“No, if they’re smart, they should go back.” Fei Li flew back into the sky and asked Zei Xi to fly south for a while to see if there were any traces. He then flew low with Ai Di, suspecting that they had missed Yuan Zhan and the others on the way.
Half an hour later, Zei Xi caught up with them and said, “We didn’t see them from the south unless they’re running faster than we can fly.”
“They must have turned around, look carefully!”
“Yes!”
As Fei Li and his companions flew to a grassy and bushy grassland about seventy miles north of where Han Ke was captured, Ai Di suddenly shouted, “Lord! Look! Is that Han Ke?”
The three of them lowered their height a little more, and in the grassland, Han Ke, whose wings were broken and hanging on both sides of his body, was lying on the grass; whether he was alive or dead wasn’t known, while Yuan Zhan and the others were nowhere to be seen.
“Han Ke! They actually broke off Han Ke’s wings! How come Han Ke’s left arm is gone?” Ai Di’s eyes were wide with rage as he leaned down.
“Wait! Ai Di! Don’t!” Zei Xi shouted, quickly pulling out the bow and arrow from behind, pulling the strings, and aiming it at the ground.
Fei Li directly rushed to grab Ai Di.
On the cliff at the southern end, several pieces of broken stone rolled down from the sealed cave wall.
“Bang!”
More gravel fell off the cliff.
The soil that sealed the hole became loose, as if someone were vigorously kicking inside.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
“Puff!” A huge claw hook poked out from the cracked stone wall.
TN:
I made it 😅, my editor got a bit busy then I got a bit busy, so we couldn’t finish up fast enough, we’ll keep working on it though 🤞.
thank you so muchh
Thank you for the chapters! Things are getting interesting now, I can understand Dofie’s motivations but on the other hand she is just too greedy, I hope she can end up working with Yan Mo and not against him.
Jiu Feng woke up!? 😨
Thank you for the chapter 😍
Lol the name of this chapter is so apt. All these accusations flying around and deceit everywhere. I like. Thanks for the update!
Ty😘😘😘🥰❤️❤️