After seeing Jingang off, Verdant Green Maiden returned to Xiang Yang and set off on her own ox.
It wasn't that she didn't want Jingang to carry her. It was just that the Wolf Brothers were so enormous that they'd draw attention the moment they went out. It wouldn't take long for word to spread, and that would be too much trouble.
As the sun sank in the west, the shadows of Verdant Green Maiden and Old Yellow Ox stretched long and slanted, swaying as they walked onward.
"Brother Ox, how long will it take you to get to Xin Ye? It's not far, less than two hundred li. How about we make a deal and get there tonight?"
"Moo—!!"
Old Yellow Ox let out the loudest bellow of his life.
"Aw, if you can't, you can't!"
Verdant Green Maiden patted Old Yellow Ox's back to soothe him. A while later, she asked again, "Hey, Brother Ox, do I smell fragrant? Can creatures like you—wolves, oxen, horses, and the like—smell that?"
"Moo?"
Old Yellow Ox tilted his head.
Seeing his confusion, Verdant Green Maiden sighed. "Sigh, it's like playing a lute to a cow."
Old Yellow Ox: "..."
Meanwhile, after returning to Xin Ye, Liu Bei appointed Zhuge Liang as his strategist and entrusted him with deciding all military affairs. But Zhuge Liang remained troubled by what Verdant Green Maiden had said, so after a day of military training, he went to find Liu Bei.
"My lord, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Strategist!"
Liu Bei hurriedly pulled Zhuge Liang into a seat and, before he could say anything, shoved a straw hat into his hands.
"I made this straw hat in my spare time. It's a gift for you, Strategist!"
Zhuge Liang: "..."
"My lord, we must