Following that, one of the river beavers snapped up the pastry in its hand, then turned around, transformed into a black shadow, and burrowed into the clear pond.
The little maid saw this, not knowing what happened.
But in just a moment, with a whoosh, the river beaver burst back, mouth carrying a piece of golden-hued meat the size of an adult’s palm.
The meat glistened with a pale golden luster, and a unique fragrance assailed the senses.
The river beaver tossed the meat in front of the little maid, looking quite heavy.
The little maid saw the meat and was at a loss. She had never seen this type of meat before, but it smelled wonderful, vaguely familiar, and seemed extraordinary.
She’d never eaten pork, but had seen pigs run, blinked her eyes and said, "This meat seems like a treasure. Are you giving it to me?"
The two river beavers nodded, then pointed their paws.
Seeing this, the little maid couldn’t help but start crying out of a sense of grievance.
She was originally in the Ninth Mountain with her young sisters, living carefree, when she was suddenly driven out and felt very scared. She had no family and had been taken in since she was little, and now really didn’t know what to do.
Hearing that she had to leave, the two little creatures brought out their treasures to give to her.
Human hearts are not like animals’, and the sudden concern made the little maid named Little He, pour out her grievances to the two non-speaking animals in tears.
"I don’t want to leave, but the steward is driving me away, they want to place their own relatives in and please the General."
"I don’t know what to do."
Seeing the girl crying, the two river beavers squeaked loudly.
Then, tugging at the hem of the little maid’s pants, pointed upwards, and then the two little critters dashed toward the mountain top with a whoosh, disappearing without a trace.
The little maid cried with a face wet with tears, not knowing where the two river beavers had gone, chirping a few times, but receiving no response.
However, the two river beavers, along the way, shuttled through the snowy mountain forest at high speed.
They passed a mountain cave that resounded with snoring sounds, shaking the surrounding forest and causing snowflakes to fall.
Inside was a black bear hibernating, and the mist exhaled at the cave mouth was rich with a thick, misty light, as if breathing in the glow of the dawn.
But after passing by, at a certain distance, all the noise disappeared, as if it had been concealed.
Then, the two river beavers saw a young deer sprinting through the empty mountain forest like a silly roe, joyfully frolicking with great speed, its whole body glowing, even possessing Profound Body Cultivation...
As the two river beavers darted toward the mountaintop, occasionally, Prohibitions lit up, but they were effortlessly passed through thanks to the golden light on the fur of the two critters.
Soon after, the two critters reached the mountain top, where a strictly guarded Colonel Hall was located.
At this moment, in the backyard of the Ninth Mountain Colonel Hall, under a pavilion, on the table was a low brazier burning charcoal, atop which sat a duckbill pot emitting intoxicating wine fragrance.
Outside the pavilion rolled snow, inside boiled murky wine, with an unusual satisfaction reminiscent of ink and water paintings.
Under the pavilion, Chen Yuan, in casual clothes, held a cup, his ears slightly twitching.
By the side, two Record Officers were reporting on the unusual celestial phenomena investigated in recent days,
"West City, expensive wine shop, Liuzi Lane, a dead tree that had perished many years ago blossomed overnight yesterday, but no other circumstances have been detected."
"Seven hundred li south of the city, Baping County has recently been stirring. Rumors say that at night, a mountain behind their ancestral mountain glows, but that mountain was not recorded before and disappears during the day. I have already dispatched Troops to verify."
"Moreover, two hundred li north of the city, in a place called General Mountain, suddenly gushed fiery glow from underground, ravaging a twenty li radius with lava everywhere, still erupting, and spit out such a stone, please General have a look."
Gao Yu and Fan Chou reported the various anomalies gathered from all around in the past three days, around Jingguan City, there were five or six unusual incidents.
As Gao Yu spoke, he presented a palm-sized, thoroughly fiery-red stone.
Chen Yuan gestured with one hand, capturing the iron-hot stone in his grasp, meanwhile, the snowflakes dancing outside the pavilion landed on this stone, immediately being vaporized, and the surrounding air also started warming up.
Clearly, the surface of the stone was as searing as its color.
Chen Yuan carefully sensed the small stone, which seemed like a furnace inside.
With a slight pinch of his five fingers, he only left the imprint of his fingers on the stone, which surprised him.
Then, he exerted more force, and the stone instantly burst open, emitting a burst of firelight, which Chen Yuan quickly absorbed. His eyes slightly brightened; inside it contained impressive Fire Essence, though it was mixed with many impurities and was violent!
Chen Yuan slightly raised his eyelids, turned to the side, and quietly said, "I am not very familiar with such things, do you recognize this object?"
"Sir, this is a Red Fire Crystal, commonly found in volcanoes rich in Fire Essence. It has to be mined from deep within volcanoes and is rare in Shu. Such crystal stones can be used in Artifact Refining, forging Taoist Soldiers, and even assist in the cultivation of Fire Attribute Cultivation Techniques and Divine Skills, but this piece is of inferior quality due to its numerous impurities," explained Fan Chou, shedding light on the origin of the object, his thick and disordered eyebrows raised,
"However, treasures from deep within a volcano that burst forth indicate that there must be more below."
Chen Yuan nodded, his eyes sparkling with insight,
"You’ve seen it, the fluctuations of Essence Qi between heaven and earth will surely bring about a series of changes. Only a few days have passed, and there are already significant signs!"
Speaking of which, he cautioned the two of them, "This sort of matter will catch the attention of more and more people and cannot be concealed, so act carefully when dispatching your men."
"This subordinate understands."
At that moment, Chen Yuan’s eyes twinkled, seemingly recalling something, and he took two cups from the tea tray, poured two cups of warm wine, and gently swept his sleeve to the side, "The weather’s getting colder, have some warm wine. Before, an elderly man would always warm up a cup of wine for me to have when I returned from a mission."
Chen Yuan’s expression softened a lot as he spoke.
The two Record Officers rarely saw Chen Yuan in such a mood, feeling slightly surprised, wondering about the identity of the old man remembered by the General.
Taking Chen Yuan’s kindness without pretense, they took the cups and drank all the wine in them.
"Good wine, if I may be so bold, I’d like to ask for another cup," said the burly, ruffian-looking Fan Chou, clearly a connoisseur of wine. After drinking, he smacked his lips, still not satisfied, and spoke up.
Chen Yuan smiled and flicked his finger, causing spring water to surge out from the wine jug, splashing into the cups held by the two men, filling them up again, and he then casually brought up another matter.
"Have the troops from various families reached Chuanzhong Pass?"
He was referring to the matter from three days ago when he summoned over a hundred soldiers from Heavenly Pass to the hall, instructing each family to send people to support the frontlines.
Fortunately, these people didn’t dare cause trouble anymore. On the next day, each family sent ten people led by one from Heavenly Pass to leave the border.
"Last night, my people sent a message via fast horse. The individuals from each family’s Heavenly Pass have reached Xiongan City, a thousand miles outside Chuanzhong Pass. By now, they should have entered Chuanzhong Pass and met up with Lord Pei. I have already sent a message to Lord Pei ahead of time as per your orders, General. There shouldn’t be any trouble."
"Gao Yu chuckled a little less cautiously.
"Lord Pei will probably be pleased." It must be said, the support from various families in Jingguan City to the frontlines greatly relieved The Overseers and gave them a moment to breathe.
As he finished speaking, his expression suddenly changed.
"There’s Demonic energy!"
"What demon dares to come here, seeking death?"
Saying so, he suddenly reached toward a wall about dozens of meters to the side.
There, two snowballs about a foot tall were squirming along the base of the wall.
Suddenly, the air whistled as a blue claw mark about a meter long fiercely struck toward the two snowballs.
In the next second, the snowballs exploded.
Two chubby figures, shaking off the snow, revealed their forms, appearing endearingly clumsy.
"Benbo’erba, Babo Erben, what are you two doing sneaking around here instead of cultivating in the mountains?"
Just then, a voice sounded.