Xie Yuancheng hugged my waist from behind and started showering me with sweet talk again, keeping both sides busy.
"Yes~ I know Ying'er is shy. I'll have to teach you properly when we get back, but you can't graduate yet. What if you get upset and run away? Even if I go looking for you with my sword, I won't know which way to go."
"Good to know. Shall we dismount?" I saw some light again. Were they using bronze mirrors to illuminate it? Otherwise, where would the light come from?
"Alright, let's wait on the side." Xie Yuancheng led me off my horse. I saw something moving and asked a soldier nearby to give me a bow and arrows.
"Lord Marquis?" The soldier was truly afraid of Xie Yuancheng, and only placed the bow and arrow in my hand after seeing him nod.
I couldn't be bothered to waste words with them. In the territory of those troublesome Western Region people, my archery skills were still quite good. I shot arrows at the spots where the movement had occurred, hitting three places in a row.
These three places are a bit strange. As soon as I shot an arrow, I heard a terrifying roar, which startled me so much that I fell off my horse. Fortunately, Xie Yuancheng caught it, and he ordered his men to launch fire arrows at the spot where I shot the arrow.
These arrows were coated with anesthetic; they could pierce anything. I leaned against Xie Yuancheng's chest. This sound was more terrifying than a ghost's wail. What on earth was it?
"Ying'er, don't be afraid. I told you you were a hero for only a few seconds. You should have let me do it earlier."
Xie Yuancheng held me close. Fires had already been lit outside the woods, and the soldiers in front were guarding with shields. Then, another roar erupted, and suddenly a giant python appeared. I was shocked to see such a creature here. I quickly leaned against Xie Yuancheng, trying to hide my gaze. The flash I'd just seen was from this giant python, clad in strange armor; its body was almost as long as a tree.
Fortunately, it was hit by many arrows, but it could only howl and couldn't attack people. As the fire rose, a lot of insects fell in; if we weren't outside, I would have jumped on Xie Yuancheng.
Xie Yuancheng blocked my view; even in a situation like this, he could still calmly give instructions. If we had kept walking, the giant python would have suddenly appeared and eaten us when we weren't paying attention—just thinking about it makes me shudder.
"Add nail polish remover and alcohol, and burn them all!" the teacher shouted. I could feel the heat in front of me.
I pulled Xie Yuancheng's hand away, and there was a fire dragon right in front of us, burning so fiercely: "Yuancheng, won't it burn down all the surrounding mountains?"
"How could that be? Only with these little messenger items and the fire powder we used to fuel the fire could it burn so beautifully. Let's see who's trying to ambush us."
"I told you, with a beautiful wife at home, there's nothing to worry about. Luckily, my love for Ying'er is unwavering, and I kept her by my side, otherwise she would have been eaten up for no reason today."
"Yuancheng~" It was Meng Anshi's voice: "We saw a huge fire burning here from across the street. What happened?"
"You'll see if you get closer." Xie Yuancheng was such a wicked person, and Meng Anshi actually went to see for himself. He immediately ordered people to help intensify the fire.
"Honestly, the fire is already big enough, there's no need to add more." I'm not afraid now that I don't see anything I dislike.
"We still need to be careful. The giant python is very strong and likes to eat people. It has a lot of fat on its body. If we add some more and make the fire bigger, even if it wakes up, it will only perish here."
Xie Yuancheng pulled me back a little, and I found it strange: "Shouldn't it live in a very hot forest or river? How come it's here?"
"Someone must have brought it here. It's wearing special armor, meant to be invincible."
"How treacherous! Luckily, I have good eyesight. I saw flashes a few times just now, and something was moving in the tree."
I took a deep breath; the fire was burning fiercely. Suddenly, the teacher played a tune on the flute, and at that moment, some strange birds flew over. Before they even got close, they flew into the burning forest.
"Ying'er, let's keep going." Xie Yuancheng pulled me onto his horse and led a group of people forward.
Before I could even react, the ground was moving. When I turned around, I saw some elephant soldiers. They were incredibly tall. When they roared, it felt like the ground was about to be stomped.
"How come you can raise elephants?" I was dumbfounded. Those elephants looked huge.
"These are the animals our teacher raised. He likes some very strange animals. Now that the people of Piaomiao Residence can travel back and forth between the two places, our teacher felt that the shape of Linyang had been formed, so he sent his uncles and elders with elephant soldiers."
No wonder they ran away. These horses were like mosquitoes next to the elephant cavalry. We went a little further ahead and stood on a small hill to look at the burned forest.
It really was just some woodland that was burned. Some villagers went to watch the spectacle, but they all kept their distance, occasionally clapping and cheering. Suddenly, a huge python, its entire body ablaze, appeared in the woods.
It was half-exposed above the forest, its tail flicked but before it could go far enough to escape before it fell into the sea of fire. Its vitality was truly remarkable; it was estimated to be tens of meters long, and its open mouth was a gaping maw.
If we hadn't tried shooting arrows first, we would have suffered heavy casualties. Whoever sent them, I suspect they had ulterior motives. Most of the people here are unarmed; if they were to devour an entire village, it would be a minor matter.
"Yuancheng, do you think there are other places with this? It's so big, how did it get here?"
"There are many mountains and forests. The people behind this big thing acted quite quickly. By the time we received the news, they had probably been in action for some time."
This was all thanks to Ying'er. When we get back, I'll give you a few days to rest, and we'll go sightseeing in Linyang City.
"Let's get down to business first. This thing is much scarier than crawlers. I thought its screams were even more terrifying than ghosts. We must find the people behind it."
"Yes~ Ying'er has given the order, we will do our best."
The forest fire dwindled, and the teacher's flute began to play again. The elephant soldiers actually left in an orderly fashion; they were well-trained and could even understand music.
Meng Anshi and the others came over, with Ling Wu following along. They praised me as soon as I got close, making me almost embarrassed. These are just guesses; it seems I'm still quite useful.
“There are cellars in Liujia Village, and some people hid in them when they were being driven out. This time we guarded them all night before we finally caught them.”
Strangely, even though they were clearly going to eat tree roots and grass, they were still so lazy and didn't do their jobs properly.
Meng Anshi was talking to Xie Yuancheng, and his surprised expression was quite amusing. Xie Yuancheng had told them to send everyone out, thinking that those who stayed behind were very diligent; they were just passing the time like this, not doing anything at all.
"However, there are some temporary houses built on the back mountain of Liujia Village, which look very suspicious. We have already sent people to investigate, and we expect to have results in the next couple of days."
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