Gu Moran sat on the couch.
A warm current suddenly surged through the meridians of his body. The internal energy that had been lingering at the Fourth Rank Peak for a long time rushed up along his spine and smoothly flowed through the major acupoints of his body.
With each breath, the true energy that originally required conscious effort now flows naturally through the flesh and bones, and the pores on the body surface close freely, without even the slightest fluctuation of true energy unique to martial artists escaping.
From the outside, he still appeared to be that pale-faced, frail, and idle prince.
"Alright, get up."
Gu Moran leaned back on the soft pillows and spoke lazily through the screen.
"I am a businessman. I have taken the profits from your three copper mines. Sending you a few cartloads of medicinal herbs is just to protect my own capital."
Stop praying here. Instead of wasting your time, go and collect the dried bamboo shoots drying in the kitchen. We're going to stew cured pork tonight.
Meng Jiuning straightened up, rubbed her eyes, and glared at the screen with annoyance. "I know, you bossy prince."
Despite her verbal retort, her steps became much lighter as she turned and quickly left the front hall.
After everyone left.
Gu Moran placed the teacup in her hand on the low table.
Raise your right hand, bring your index and middle fingers together, and lightly tap the old locust tree in the courtyard outside the window.
There was no sound of wind breaking through the air, nor any earth-shattering gust of energy.
About 30 feet away, a withered branch, about an inch long, with a smooth, mirror-like cut, fell to the ground with a thud.
Gu Moran withdrew his fingers and tucked them into the wide, moon-white sleeves of his robe.
This feels much more natural than simply throwing stones.
Once you've mastered the technique, you can play the "removing armor" game with your wife.
Hehehe~
A hundred miles away.
Southwest direction.
The sky was dark and gloomy, and a fierce wind swirled up hard snowflakes that seemed to seep into people's collars and trouser legs.
Chen Qing hunched over, clutching his chest tightly with both hands, and trudged through the knee-deep snow pits.
He wrapped the bronze seal of Prince An and the sheepskin blueprint given to him by Yang Tie in three layers of oiled paper, pressing them tightly against his skin, which made his heart burn.
"To become a prime minister... hehe, just wait until I hand these blueprints over to the rebel chieftain of Dali..."
Chen Qing's lips were purple from the cold, and his breath frosted over his eyebrows. He was still muttering to himself as if possessed.
"At that time Anyang, Yi Prefecture, Dali all be in complete chaos, and the princes on both sides will have to beg me to mediate!"
Gu Moran is nothing, Gu Mochen is a good-for-nothing. In the end, the entire Great Yan Empire will have to depend on my, Chen Qing's, whims!
The more he thought about it, the more wonderful it seemed. With a sudden burst of strength, he stomped onto a patch of loose soil covered in snow.
"Snap!"
The hidden pit collapsed, Chen Qing lost his balance, tumbling down the snow slope with a thud, landing face-first in the dirt, his mouth full of foul-smelling mud and snow.
Before he could even climb out of the snowdrift, a sharp, piercing whistle suddenly rang out from behind the bare rock walls on either side.
"Splash--!"
Dozens of thick hemp lassoes soaked in simmering butter were flung down from the air, tearing through the wind and snow with a sharp sound, and precisely lassoed Chen Qing's neck, arms, and waist.
"Hey! Who is it? What are you doing!"
Chen Qing let out a strange cry as the lasso yanked him violently, sending him flying several feet into the air before he crashed heavily onto the hooves of a tall, black horse.
Four or five Tubo cavalrymen, dressed in smelly sheepskin coats and wearing pointed leather hats, rode up and surrounded them.
The curved blades were drawn, their cold light flashing, and the tips of the blades were pressed against Chen Qing's face.
The leading Tubo squad leader jumped off his horse, grabbed Chen Qing by the hair and lifted him up from the snow, cursing in broken Tibetan, and roughly searched Chen Qing.
The sheepskin drawings and the heavy bronze seal of Prince An were unearthed on the spot.
Chen Qing's tongue was stretched out due to the strangulation, and his face turned a deep purplish-red, yet he still persisted in his nagging.
"Let go... let go of me! I'm a distinguished guest who's here to bring wealth to your commander!"
If you hurt a single hair on my head, I'll skin you barbarians alive!
The Tubo squad leader recognized the seal script on the bronze seal and the checkpoint markings on the map. His expression changed drastically, and he kicked Chen Qing hard in the stomach, making him curl up like a shrimp.
"Tie him up! Take him to the central command tent!"
The thick hemp ropes were tied up layer by layer, binding Chen Qing into a sturdy dumpling. He was then slung across the horse's back like a dead pig, and galloped wildly towards the camp deep in the valley amidst the wind and snow.
Deep within Wild Wolf Valley lies the Tubo camp.
More than thirty large cowhide tents were arranged in a staggered pattern. The central command tent in the center of the camp was particularly spacious, and its surroundings were filled with blood-red battle flags painted with black yak totems.
Inside the tent were four large, red-hot iron basins, the charcoal fire crackling and filling the tent with the strong smell of beef and mutton, and the stench of raw meat and blood.
The Tubo general, Zhaxi Dawa, sat imposingly on the tiger-skin chair in the main seat, his broad upper body bare.
This man was as tall as half an iron tower, his bronze skin as thick and tough as old tree bark.
Three grotesque knife scars, each about the width of a palm, stretched across his chest from his left shoulder to his lower abdomen, their flesh torn and gruesome.
He had a thick beard like steel needles on his face, and his two large, round eyes were bloodshot with a fierce look.
He held a chipped, rusty dagger in his hand, viciously slicing a large, bloody chunk of meat from a half-cooked roasted lamb leg, stuffing it into his mouth and chewing it greedily. Fat dripped down his beard onto his chest, making him look as ferocious as a beast just released from its cage.
"Bang!"
The tent flap was roughly pulled open, and a cold wind carrying snowflakes rushed in.
Two Tubo guards dragged Chen Qing, who was bound hand and foot, through the gate and slammed him onto the muddy animal skin carpet like a sack of potatoes.
The squad leader quickly stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and held the sheepskin blueprints and bronze seal that had been found high above his head with both hands.
"Reporting to the commander! We've captured a spy from the Central Plains in the secret passage. A bronze seal from the Prince An's Residence, along with a defense map of the southern route of Bronze Gorge, were found on him!"
Zhaxi Dawa swallowed the meat in his mouth, then casually stabbed the short knife into the cutting board, the blade sinking three inches into the hardwood.
He stretched out his large, calloused hand, grabbed the roll of sheepskin blueprints, glanced at it, then weighed the heavy bronze seal in his hand before his gaze slowly returned to the prisoners on the ground.
Chen Qing was thrown around and was completely disoriented. His forehead hit the gravel beside the charcoal brazier, breaking a large patch of skin.
He had prepared a whole host of persuasive arguments, intending to use the name of Prince An to put on a good show in front of these barbarians.
But when he looked up and his gaze met that of the shirtless, burly man on the tiger-skin chair, he was completely stunned.
The glow of the charcoal fire illuminated Zhaxi Dawa's body, revealing his broad back that could support a horse, his muscular arms that bulged like hills, and the three shocking dark red knife scars.
Rough, savage, and imbued with the most primal masculine power.
Chen Qing lay on the ground, his gaze sliding from Zhaxi Dawa's thick beard down to the other's broad chest, glistening with the grease of raw meat.
A strange heat surged up Chen Qing's tailbone and shot straight to the top of his head.
Dude, you smell amazing!
Brother Ba, am I being too fickle?!
Before me stood a colossal, savage giant, like a wild, ferocious beast.
That's what a man should be like!