The First Order

The next day, when the plum flower entered his hand, the smell filled his nose. It was like the hibiscus duckweed plum flower Lulu had described, so Hu Tie Ning must not have played any tricks, after all, not anyone would dare disobey the emperor’s decree.

After giving his thanks, he led Wei Chou and the others to leave Five Valleys City, quickly heading towards the Lingbei Province.

As the sound of hoofbeats faded, Lin Mu Yu’s group disappeared across the horizon.

Hu Tie Ning suddenly let out a sigh and softly said, “Qian Lin.”

Long Qian Lin cupped his hands at the said and said, “Sir, this subordinate is here.”

“Did you talk to Lin Mu Yu about the barbarian slaves and camp women last night?”

“Yes.”

Hu Tie Ning raised one brow and said, “What did he say?”

Long Qian Lin respectfully said, “He just briefly said that this matter was not fair, but he didn’t give any thoughts. He is not like the Wild General Lin Mu Yu of rumours that could start punching at any moment!”

A sharp light flashed in Hu Tie Ning’s eyes, “He has control over his emotions and this Lin Mu Yu’s current cultivation has far surpassed my expectations. I can see that he is hiding his power and acting like a normal person, this kind of expert is not simple! In the future……Our Cangnan Province cannot offend him. This kind of opponent is too terrifying.”

Long Qian Lin nodded before suddenly saying, “Sir, there are over seven hundred barbarian slaves seized in our camp and they are all at the age of being married, this subordinate thinks……Perhaps we can not have them become camp women and match them with our soldiers. They can become the families of our soldiers and enter Five Valleys City. How does sir feel about this?”

“Ha, ha……”

Hu Tie Ning turned to look at Long Qian Lin, as he said with cold eyes, “Qian Lin, you are really this soft hearted?””

Long Qian Lin quickly said, “This subordinate……This subordinate feels that doing this is not fair to them. It’s like Lin Mu Yu said, the fate of these barbarian girls shouldn’t be like this, but we don’t have the power to change it.”

“No!”

Hu Tie Ning said in a deep voice, “I insist on having them as camp women. Qian Lin, your talent is second to none in this world, but you can’t be too soft to women. I want you to know that war is a game for supremacy. There is only benefits and power, there is no kindness and no morals.”

Long Qian Lin gritted his teeth, but he cupped his hands and said, “Yes, this subordinate understands!”

“Qian Lin.”

Hu Tie Ning’s voice became softer as he said, “Go spend some time with Xiao Yun if you have spare time. She is your fiancee and my daughter. You can’t just spend all your time training, understood?”

Long Qian Lin said with a nod, “Yes…..Sir, this subordinate will free up time to spend with Xiao Yun after tying up loose ends with the camp, sir can be assured.”

“Un, good.”

In the afternoon, the warhorses flew across the main road.

“Sir, why didn’t we take out that clearance document to question Hu Tie Ning?” Wei Chou rode up beside him and looked at Lin Mu Yu with a confused look, “Even if we can’t punish Hu Tie Ning, at least we can warn the others!”

Lin Mu Yu shook his head and said, “There is no need, this matter wouldn’t have proceeded so smoothly if we tore apart all semblance of courtesy. Not to mention, you have all seen the powerful army of Five Valleys City, their cavalry is one of the most elite group of the northern Qin Mountains. To defeat twenty thousand barbarians with a disadvantage is the best proof of that. Once there is a conflict, our group of one hundred isn’t even enough to fill the gaps in their teeth. As for whether Hu Tie Ning is loyal or not, it’s alright if we know it. There is no need for him to know it.”

“Yes, sir is wise!”

Lin Mu Yu turned to look at Xiahou Sang and asked with a smile, “Xiahou, how were the two dancers from last night?”

Xiahou Sang’s face turned red as he said with a smile, “Sir is teasing this subordinate. I, Xiahou Sang normally don’t have any hobbies, just having this lust. This…..I’ll be frank. Hei, hei, those two dancers were very skilled. Hu Tie Ning is truly courteous, giving us this kind of beauties to serve us……”

Lin Mu Yu’s lips curled as he said, “Don’t treat this as a good thing, gifts blind one’s eyes. Your handle will be grabbed by Hu Tie Ning, perhaps one day this will take your life.”

Xiahou Sang couldn’t help breaking out in laughter, “Sir is too worried. I, Xiahou Sang am not someone who can be coerced. If Hu Tie Ning really used this to coerce me, I would get angry instead. Sleeping is sleeping, father doesn’t owe him anything.”

Lin Mu Yu raised his thumb, “You really are terrifyingly straightforward.”

“Hei……”

Speeding through the night, it began to snow when they approach the Cangnan Province’s forest. Although it wasn’t thick, only accumulating to around three centimeters, it did make the weather much colder.

Lin Mu Yu observed every movement in the forest on the way and his brows tightly knit.

“Sir, is there something wrong?” Wei Chou had sharp eyes, seeing the strangeness with Lin Mu Yu.

“No, nothing is wrong.”

Lin Mu Yu shook his head and said, “We’ll set up camp in another ten miles.”

“Yes!”

After travelling another ten miles, they set up camp in the forest beside the main road. After Lin Mu Yu fed his horse a bit, he walked patrolled around the surrounding before saying, “Wei Chou, release the birds we brought!”

“Yes!”

Wei Chou gave the order and ten Imperial Guards took baskets from their horses. The moment they opened the baskets, the black birds flapped their wings as they flew out. These birds were not normal birds, they were tamed based on military needs. They could be released to scout and they made little noise, so they weren’t easily discovered.

“We have already searched a ten kilometer radius, is sir still worried?” Wei Chou asked with a smile.

Lin Mu Yu held his sword as he stood under a large stone wall. He rubbed the back of his hands together to deal with the cold as he said, “Since we left Five Valleys City, something has been following us the entire time.”

“Ah?” Wei Chou was stunned, “What is this thing that we didn’t discover it?”

“It doesn’t seem to be human.”

Lin Mu Yu narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, “It seems to be a kind of beast. I have noticed many beast tracks on the snow. They have three toes and are in a diamond shape. Do you know what it is?”

“Leopard Wolf?”

Wei Chou was shocked as he said, “According to sir’s analysis, this beast should be the legendary Leopard Wolf……It’s said that the royal army have people who have trained Leopard Wolves and they act as hunting dogs. The Leopard Wolf is small and runs very fast. Most importantly, the Leopard Wolf’s sense of smell is a hundred times stronger than normal dogs, so it is very good at tracking.”

“Could it be a Leopard Wolf trained by Five Valleys City?” Lin Mu Yu softly said.

“It’s hard to tell…..”

Wei Chou said with furrowed brows, “Five Valleys City has a strong army and Long Qian Lin is not a normal talent. With him there, perhaps it’s not impossible for them to train a Leopard Wolf. Sir, if we’re really being watched, what do we do?”

Lin Mu Yu softly said, “Have the troops not take off their armours tonight and be prepared to fight until dawn. The horses will be tied near the camp and won’t be too far away. We’ll prepare to fight once the birds come back with news. The first one who attacks has the upper hand, we’ll fight if we can and run if we can’t. Our horses are all western region horses, they can definitely outrun them.”

“Yes!”

After quickly finishing some marching food, it was already night time.

Lin Mu Yu didn’t sleep. He left his horse to the side of the camp and jumped up onto a high rock. He wiped off the snow and placed his cloak over him as a pair of clear eyes swept over the snow covered forest. At the same time, his Spiritual Pulse Technique gradually spread out. With his current cultivation, he could heard movements five miles away with the Spiritual Pulse Technique, which could be more useful than the scouting birds.

After travelling for a day, he was a bit tired.

Gradually closing his eyes, he held his sword as he gradually fell asleep on the rock. Without knowing how long passed, there was suddenly a strong movement from his Spiritual Pulse Technique. A large group of people entered the range of his Spiritual Pulse Technique, causing Lin Mu Yu to immediately open his eyes. He jumped down from the large rock and immediately headed into the camp, saying in a low voice, “Get up, there’s people coming!”

Wei Chou quickly charged out of the camp holding his sword and said, “Sir, the birds still aren’t back!”

“No need to wait, everyone mount your horses. Head to the west gully to prepare for an ambush.”

“Yes!”

Everyone skillfully headed to the ambush point. The horse hooves on the snow were not big and very quickly, they were all hidden. After covering the mouths of the horses, bright eyes stared into the distance, waiting for their target to come.

“Hua, hua, hua……”

A black bird fell onto an Imperial Guard. This Imperial Guard had learned to interact with the bird and after hearing the bird’s chirp, he turned to say, “Sir, there are close to five hundred people approaching, but we can’t determine which group they come from.”

Lin Mu Yu nodded. Actually his Spiritual Pulse Technique had already noticed this group, there was around five hundred auras. The strongest was in the 3rd Earth Tier and there were several of them in the Human Realm, with the others not even being considered cultivators, just a ragtag group of people. However for all these people to come out at once, it wasn’t simple.

“Don’t make any noises and control your auras. Wait for my orders to move.” Lin Mu Yu softly said.

“Yes!”

First, he had to determine who it was.

There was no light on this snowy night, the shadows in the darkness moved through the small road in the forest. They were all riding horses, but there were covers on the horses’ hooves, so their steps were very light. There was also a few torches in this group, with not a single one making a sound. They were much more discrete compared to the Swordsman Hall people they met before.

Lin Mu Yu took a good look. Under this weak light, he saw a golden badge on the leader’s neck, but it wasn’t a Gold Ranger, rather it was an Envoy!

As expected, it was Swordsman Hall’s people again, but they should be the people from the Cangnan Province headquarters. They moved this many people and even an Envoy came personally.

Wei Chou turned to Lin Mu Yu, asking whether to move or not.

Lin Mu Yu slowly opened his palm and a golden light was released. The gourd martial spirit had already appeared as he shouted, “Imperial Guards, close your eyes!”

“Weng!”

The golden gourd soared into the sky and Lin Mu Yu used his martial spirit’s special skill, Dawn!

The dazzling light bloomed in the night and made it like day. The sudden blooming of intense light in a dark space was not something normal people could take, so instantly the large group of people couldn’t keep their eyes open as they fell into chaos.

“Hua la!”

Gourd vine popped out and tied up the Envoy and his horse. Lin Mu Yu raised his hand and the little Demon Sound Blade silently flew out. With battle qi around it, it disappeared with a flash of golden light. At the same time, he roared out, “Open your eyes and fire! Charge!”