The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 639 Zhao Du'an: You're all courting death
Deep in the dense jungle, shouts and roars of some wild beasts mingled together, drawing ever closer.

Zhao Du'an was on edge. He subconsciously glanced at Old Zhang behind him, and seeing that Old Zhang looked calm, he lowered his voice:

"What's going on? Could it be the Liao people? We were discovered so quickly?"

Zhang Yan glanced at him with disdain: "I'm new here, how would I know?"

He paused, then added, "It's nothing more than dealing with soldiers when they come, and using earth to block water when it comes."

"Can't you just stop showing off?" Zhao Du'an muttered to himself, but then he heard the compass needle in Yu Xiu's hand suddenly stop, and she said urgently:

"We are currently located near the core stronghold of the Liao people, and there should be many patrolling soldiers nearby."

Patrolmen? Zhao Du'an's heart skipped a beat, and he fell into deep thought.

Jin Jian, whose cultivation was suppressed, looked a little timid. He gripped his staff nervously with both hands and suggested, "Shall we hide first?"

Zhao Du'an shook his head and said, "No. We'll wait for them to come."

Then, amidst the two women's questioning gazes, he patiently explained:

"According to the intelligence, the Liao people's army should have already set off to attack Yunfu. In other words, the Liao people's main camp is likely to be empty now. However, this is just speculation. We must obtain the latest intelligence to decide on our next move."

Yu Xiu asked in surprise, "You want to eat this patrol team and torture them to find out what's going on?"

Zhao Du'an nodded and glanced at Zhang Yanyi:

"With the Celestial Master present, eating some people should be enough to cover it up, right?"

Seeing Zhang Yan hesitate, Zhao Du'an quickly added:

"After all, with the Celestial Master's abilities, how could he not even be able to do such a small thing?"

"..." Zhang Yan stood with his hands behind his back, exuding the air of a master, and said with a faint smile:
"I am here, young friend, you may fight freely."

Master is so domineering... Yu Xiu and Jin Jian smiled, feeling that this place was no longer scary.

……

……

Another part of the forest.

A thrilling chase is unfolding!
In the forest, a group of about thirty or forty elite warriors of the Liao people, riding their beasts, were relentlessly pursuing a thin young man.

As the warriors charged forward, they roared angrily, "Catch him!"

The earth was shaking.

The slender youth, however, leaped between the trees like a monkey, stretching out his arms with each leap, dodging the bone spears and arrows shot from behind with the agility of a large bird.

"Woo!"

While the young man was in the air, he heard a sharp weapon cutting through the air behind him. He quickly used the force of the air to grab the bone spear with his hand. The enormous force of the bone spear also pulled him down to squat on a tree branch.

The young man grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and said:

"There is an old saying in our Yu state: 'Those who understand the times are heroes'... Why do you all insist on pursuing this so relentlessly?"

A burly warrior from the forest, wearing a helmet with bull horns, roared:

"You scoundrel! Give me back the bone spear!"

The young man smiled earnestly, his right hand gripping the bone spear, his left hand making a grasping motion in the air:
"Foolish warrior, did you drop this spear made of bone, or this new spear of the emperor... Damn it!"

His expression changed as he saw a giant, spinning axe coming down!

Instinctively throwing away the bone spear to block the giant axe, Han Zhao fled in a disheveled state, inwardly lamenting his misfortune:

Despite his seemingly effortless demeanor, his magical power is almost exhausted. Once he can no longer use his wind manipulation technique, he may very well perish in this wretched place.

Just when Han Zhao was feeling miserable and desperate, he was surprised to find that the Liao people soldiers behind him had not chased after him.

Turn your head and look back.

"Huh? They're gone?"

Han Zhao was surprised to find that the pursuers seemed to have sensed something and abandoned him, retreating on the spot and returning to the direction of the main camp.

"Phew... Heaven has shown mercy!" Han Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and slumped onto a tree branch, sweat pouring down his face.

This fourth disciple of the contemporary Celestial Master, Zhang Yanyi's unworthy disciple, and the "fourth senior brother" Jin Jian'er mentioned, reached out and pulled out an ancient sixteen-sided die from his loose Taoist robe.

The sixteen faces of the die were covered with the character "凶" (ominous), and the blood-red characters gradually disappeared.

"So it was because they held on until this round of memorizing characters ended..."

Han Zhao sighed softly and muttered:

"If I had known this place was so dangerous, I would have asked Senior Sister Yuxiu for advice beforehand..."

He hesitated for a moment.

Han Laosi, who called himself the "Gambling Saint," ultimately didn't dare to throw the dice again.
"Fine, I'm having bad luck in the evil god's territory too. But if I just leave like this, wouldn't it be a waste of time? They said the Fangren's stronghold was empty, and they wanted to borrow some gambling funds..."

Han Zhao's eyes darted around, gazing in a certain direction, hesitant.

……

……

People are coming!
After waiting for a while, Zhao Du'an and his companions saw about thirty or forty Liao warriors riding strange beasts and wielding sharp blades approaching from afar.

At this moment, he couldn't help but recall that when he was fighting the Prince of Qingzhou in the outskirts of the capital, he had seen such a ferocious beast in the army.

But this was the first time he had ever seen a Liao person.

These foreigners had dark skin, were all robust, and had exceptionally large hands and feet. They were all a size larger than the people of Yu, looking like little giants. They wore soft armor made of animal hides, and their overall style was extremely rugged. The weapons they used were also very primitive.

Most of them were bone spears and longswords, but even though they were not as sharp as the weapons of the Yu Kingdom, they were still incredibly powerful when used as clubs to hit people.

Among these people, the leader was exceptionally tall and even shirtless, with thick chest hair growing between his chest muscles. He had a fierce appearance, wore a horned helmet, and held an extremely exaggeratedly large bronze axe.

"These are the Liao warriors?"

Zhao Du'an felt pressure from this group of people almost instinctively.

The leader of the warriors, in particular, made him feel as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

You must understand, he is a perfect martial artist in the world. Even if he is being suppressed, he shouldn't be treated like this!

Even an ordinary Liao warrior can make me nervous?
She concealed the compass in her jade sleeve, held the jade flying sword between her fingers, and said with a solemn expression:
“These are not ordinary warriors, but elite guards protecting the stronghold. Did you see the black flutes at their waists? That proves their identity; they are probably similar to the emperor's personal guards.”

Zhao Du'an indeed saw that the group of people had black flutes hanging from their waists, and said:

"I have heard that the Liao people are tribal, and their chieftains are also high priests, who are the representatives of the gods."

Within the entire Liao people, each tribe has different professions; some tribes are responsible for fighting, some for hunting, and some for building things...

And the most outstanding members of each tribe would be bestowed by their tribal chief a flute of a color corresponding to the color of their tribe.

He did his homework before he came!
However, the Liao people are isolated from the world and do not trade with the Yu Kingdom, so their understanding is only superficial. Yu Xiu stared at the group and nodded, saying:
“That’s right, so this group of people are definitely not ordinary warriors. Strange, those who wield the black flute should be elites responsible for combat, so why would they be sent out on patrol?”
Especially the leader, he's a formidable figure, ranking second among the warriors in the entire Black Beast Tribe. In terms of combat strength, he's definitely not weaker than you or me when we're not being suppressed, and might even be stronger.

"Wait... what tribe did you say?"

Zhao Du'an pricked up his ears and listened intently.

Suddenly, a familiar word slipped through his mind, and he turned to stare at Yu Xiu.

The ascetic Taoist nun paused for a moment, then said:

"The Black Beast Tribe. Hmm, that's what the people of Yunfu call this tribe, a metaphor for rough, dark beasts... Is there anything wrong with that name?"

"No, not really..." Zhao Du'an hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Jin Jian, standing beside him, gripped his staff with both hands, his knees slightly together, and said nervously:
"The second warrior of the Black Beast Tribe? How strong must the first one be?"

Yu Xiu shook her head and said:
"I've never seen him before, but I'm afraid he's no weaker than a half-step Celestial Being. When I was exploring this area, I fought with this guy and almost lost."

"They're coming!"

at the same time.

Mangu also arrived with a large group of subordinates and saw the four Yu people standing in the forest.

The second warrior of the Black Beast Tribe, his azure eyes filled with solemnity, gritted his teeth and said:

"Another spy? Could it be an accomplice of the one from earlier?"

Just now, Man Gu was chasing Han Zhao, but just as he was about to succeed, he suddenly sensed an abnormal fluctuation behind him.

As the strongest warrior guarding the stronghold, Mangu dared not be careless, fearing that he might fall into the cunning Yu people's "luring the tiger away from the mountain" trap.

They decided to give up on Han Zhao.

They hurriedly drove back.

But the group of four in front of him puzzled him.

However, according to his senses, only the young man and the taller female Taoist priest among the four possessed considerable strength and could contend with him. But considering that this was the territory of the gods and that he was leading an entire squad of warriors, Man Gu did not take them seriously.

As for the short girl and the frail, harmless old man, he ignored them even more.

"Surround them!"

With a loud shout, the warriors behind him swarmed forward, surrounding the four of them.

Then, one bone spear after another locked onto the four people in the encirclement, as if they would be pierced into hedgehogs at the slightest command.

"People of Yu! How dare you invade the divine forest territory!"

Man Gu approached on his mount with a cold smile, speaking in a not-so-fluent Yu language with a strong Yunfu accent!
Almost all the experts of the Liao people had captured Yunfu people and learned the language of the Yu Kingdom.

As soon as he finished speaking, Man Gu's gaze fell on Yu Xiu's face. He frowned, feeling that she looked familiar. After thinking carefully, he suddenly glared at her:

"So it was you! You trespasser! You dare to come back?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the other warriors roared as if they wanted to devour them alive.

Zhao Du'an looked at Yu Xiu with a strange expression:

"How come your reputation here is worse than mine?"

"..." Yu Xiu turned her head away in annoyance, ignoring him.

Zhao Du'an wasn't annoyed. Instead, he took a step forward with interest, looked at the giant-like barbarian bone, and laughed:

"I heard you're the second warrior of that Black... that tribe? Great, I'm completely unfamiliar with this place and was just looking for a local guide."

Man Gu was stunned for a moment, staring incredulously at this Yu Kingdom "noble" who was even more beautiful than a woman...

Yes, in his mind, Zhao Du'an, dressed in fine clothes, looked exactly like those noble young men from the State of Yu.

Then, he couldn't help but laugh, a very happy, unrestrained, and... funny laugh!
Barbarian sat atop the massive beast, stroking the handle of his axe. His smile faded, and he looked down at the intriguing human expert, chuckling:

"You, a man of Yu, are quite interesting. Are all cultivators in Yu as naive and arrogant as you these days?"

Zhao Du'an feigned ignorance: "Am I naive and arrogant?"

"Otherwise?" Barbarian's gaze was sarcastic.
"I haven't met a Yu Kingdom person as naive as you in a long time. Which powerful family spent rare and precious materials to forcibly cultivate your power? You think you're an expert and dare to venture into the Great Frontier?"
"Heh, I originally thought you were spies sent by Zhao Shixiong to gather intelligence, but now I retract that judgment. Spies aren't as ridiculous as you."

Spies? Has war really broken out?
Zhao Du'an's heart stirred, and he said seriously:
"You seem to have some misunderstandings about me. Actually, I don't like fighting and killing; I prefer making friends and resolving issues peacefully. So, I have some questions, and if you can answer them, then..."

“Fine,” Barbarian interrupted him rudely, laughing down at him.

"Sure, but I have one condition."

Zhao Du'an gestured for him to speak.

Barbarian Bone grinned widely, rubbing his dark, sweat-drenched chest with his large hand. His eyes were fixed on the jade sleeves and the golden tablet, the two female priestesses, one large and one small. He lewdly chuckled:

"You, hand over these two women from the Kingdom of Yu for my amusement. The younger one can have a different question, and the older one can have two questions instead, how about that?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the other twenty or thirty Liao warriors around him burst into laughter, their eyes roaming over the two women with ill intent.

Jin Jian was stunned for a moment, and her face gradually darkened.

The jade flying sword hidden in her sleeve flickered intermittently.

Zhao Du'an remained composed, his smile even becoming more gentle, as if he hadn't been angry at all.
"You mean, you want them?"

Barbarian's eyes were playful:

“Not bad! Although the women of Yu are too frail and ugly, they have their own unique charm. Especially this eldest one, who has some grudge against me, which is why I am willing to pay a high price. As for this young one, well… I’m afraid she’s going to spoil. I should tell you this in advance.”

Zhao Du'an's smile widened, but anyone familiar with Zhao Yanwang would know that such a smile usually meant that the person in front of him was on Zhao Yanwang's kill list.

"Is that all? But I have more than three questions to ask."

He seemed hesitant, then pointed behind him:
"Old men, do you want some? How many can you exchange?"

Zhang Yan, who was watching the commotion, was suddenly brought up and glanced at him expressionlessly.

Barbarian was also taken aback for a moment, then said unhappily, "Old man, I don't want it! It's worthless!"

Zhang Yan's expression turned even uglier...

Yu Xiu and Jin Jian's expressions became quite interesting.

“However…” Barbarian suddenly stroked his chin, and said teasingly:
"I've heard that the emperor of your Yu Kingdom is also a woman, and a very beautiful one at that. If you could send me that empress, I'd answer any question you ask, how about that, haha..."

His words were naturally sarcastic and mocking, both a test of Zhao Du'an and an indication that he found this man from the State of Yu quite interesting.

However, none of the Liao warriors, who were laughing wildly, noticed.

The smile on the young nobleman's face gradually disappeared, replaced by utter boredom.

"court death."

(End of this chapter)