Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 361

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!”