Pregnant? Ice-Snow Soul Beasts Invade

Just as Su Changge had anticipated, when the Murong Earldom sent Sun Meng's head as a New Year's gift to Viscount Molan, it truly intimidated him.

In fact, to maintain his ridiculous aristocratic dignity, Viscount Molan personally endorsed the narrative, defining Sun Meng and his men as nothing more than common "bandits."

He even dispatched an envoy bearing a thank-you letter written in his own hand!

The tone was earnest and sincere, almost as if it were actually genuine.

However, after Su Changge and Murong Ruyan read the letter, they tossed it aside like trash.

Winter had arrived, and they had plenty of matters to attend to.

The most important of these was the wedding of Su Changge and Murong Ruyan... though it was quite sudden, Murong Ruyan had become pregnant shortly after their return from Wheat Fragrance Village.

Su Changge was thrilled, yet felt a touch of trepidation.

With an heir on the way, his first trait would finally come into play.

But... when it came down to it, even having lived two lifetimes, this was his first time becoming a father.

Their wedding was held at the castle; aside from inviting a few key officials of the earldom, they did not hold a grand celebration to make it public knowledge.

Before the Murong Earldom had truly grown strong, excessive attention would only invite more covetous eyes.

After Su Changge and Murong Ruyan were wed, Astin Guilaer began visiting Murong Ruyan with increasing frequency.

As the first heir to the earldom and its only Soul Master, Murong Ruyan's prestige and power had reached their peak following the annihilation of the bandit group at Wheat Fragrance Village.

Astin Guilaer had finally recognized the reality of the situation: even though her son was the second heir to the earldom, facing the mountain that was Murong Ruyan, her son had absolutely no chance of ever sitting on the seat of the Earl!

All distracting thoughts and desires for power were completely severed!

If she and her orphaned son wanted to survive, they could only rely on the grace of Murong Ruyan... and Su Changge.

As the deep, cold snow swallowed the Murong Earldom, spreading all the way to the northern edge of the Star Dou Mountain Range, Su Changge found himself with more free time; political affairs had dwindled, and intimate relations were off the table.

Every day, aside from honing his soul power and refining his combat techniques, he spent most of his time in the armory, overseeing the production of matchlock muskets and the nascent prototypes of cannons.

However, this peaceful life lasted only a month.

In mid-December, turmoil broke out once again in the villages along the southern border of the Murong Earldom.

After several years of silence, the ice-type soul beasts dwelling in the high altitudes of the Star Dou Mountain Range had descended from the peaks once more.

Wherever they went, corpses littered the fields and walls crumbled; several outposts established by the earldom along the southern border were completely destroyed.

"What a massive headache."

"Ice-type soul beasts, of all things!"

Inside the study, Su Changge's gaze darted repeatedly over the intelligence reports as he rubbed his temples in frustration.

The invasion of ice-type soul beasts into the earldom was merely a microcosm of the situation along the long border between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Dou Mountain Range.

Yet, even as a microcosm, there were at least a thousand soul beasts charging into the earldom.

This blizzard-ravaged weather was a paradise for ice-type soul beasts to run wild; conversely... for the castle's cavalry, mobility was drastically reduced, and one careless move could result in them becoming fodder for the beasts in the wilderness.

Lacking high-level Soul Master combat power, he could think of no better way to block the invasion than to rely on defensive warfare using matchlock muskets and the newly developed cannons.

Tap! Tap...

Su Changge's fingers drummed against the desk as he fell into deep thought.

Beside him, Murong Ruyan and the core officials who had been summoned held their breath, fearing they might disturb him.

After a long while, Su Changge's fingers stopped; he had made his decision.

"The villages along the southern border must be saved. Not only must we save them, but we must pin every soul beast that has descended from the Star Dou Mountain Range to that border line. We absolutely cannot let them reach the heart of the earldom."

"Otherwise, those beasts will catch the scent of humans and charge into the most densely populated areas. If that happens... even Murong Castle will not be spared."

"I will go myself!"

Su Changge's voice rose a notch.

However, before he could arrange the subsequent strategy, Murong Ruyan clutched her stomach and threw herself into his arms.

"Changge, I'm going with you."

"Even if it means death, I want to die with you and our child."

"We are willing to follow Lord Changge to our deaths!!!"

The several high-ranking officials in the room knelt in unison.

It was not that they did not fear death, but they knew that, as Su Changge had said, they had no way out.

As for fleeing the earldom?

Abandon the people and run?

Never mind the big shots of the Heaven Dou Empire finding out; even if the King of the Kingdom were to learn of it, he would send men to drag them back and skin them alive himself.

Furthermore!

Their families, clans, and properties were all within the Murong Earldom. Those things... were what they had once traded their lives for; they could never be abandoned.

"Who said anything about dying?"

"You bunch of bastards, can you stop being so ominous?"

"My precious child hasn't even been born yet, and you're already going on about death?"

Su Changge kicked Commander Mo, who was standing closest to him, sending him sprawling, and cursed at them.

"Ruyan, you are pregnant. Stay in the castle and focus on your health; you don't need to worry about matters at the border."

"Although the situation is tricky, it is not as complicated as it seems."

Su Changge stroked Murong Ruyan's hair, his peripheral vision sweeping over Commander Mo and the others as he continued, "In the intelligence reports, I saw the border guards mention the records of ice-type soul beasts in the Murong Earldom over the past few decades. Based on my calculations, this should be caused by an increase in the base population of ice-type soul beasts in the high-altitude regions of the Star Dou Mountain Range..."

"The habitat remains unchanged, and the resources remain the same, but with more ice-type soul beasts, once they reach a certain number, they will exceed the resource consumption limit of the high-altitude regions of the Star Dou Mountain Range."

"Behind this invasion of ice-type soul beasts, there must be high-level soul beasts guiding them from the shadows. Their goal is not slaughter, but to deliberately incite conflict and war to thin out the population of the ice-type soul beasts."

"Only when the number of ice-type soul beasts drops to a certain level will the ecology and order of the high-altitude regions of the Star Dou Mountain Range return to their original track."

"Therefore... we do not need to fight these ice-type soul beasts to the death! As long as we reduce their numbers to the threshold expected by those high-level ice-type soul beasts in the high-altitude regions of the Star Dou Mountain Range, they will retreat on their own."

"Everyone, go and prepare. Have the cavalry ready, and bring every matchlock, cannon, and piece of ammunition from the armory! Additionally, conscript all the militia and able-bodied men from the nearby villages. Issue them weapons and pay them well; do not be stingy."

"Three days from now, we march to the border..."

Commander Mo and the others took their orders and left, and under Su Changge's deliberate reassurance, Murong Ruyan relaxed her taut nerves and agreed to stay in the castle.

However!

Was everything Su Changge said truly the truth?

Where exactly was the threshold for those high-level ice-type soul beasts?

With the Murong Earldom's current military strength, could they truly hold out for that long?