Chapter 754 - Heroes of the Woods

Chapter 754: Heroes of the Woods

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Even though these 1,000 men had just been recruited into the winged cavalry, they hadn’t really realized that they were becoming soldiers. One after another, they started talking louder than each other. It was as if they were worried that the empress couldn’t hear them.
Since they all hailed from different mountains and villages, Ren Baqian felt that it was as if people had come from the 36 caves and 72 islands to visit the Tianshan Elder in the novel Demigods and Semidevils .
It was also pretty apt to describe them as the 108 heroes of Liangshan from the novel Water Margin .
They truly felt like the heroes of the woods!
“Keep quiet!” Qi Ziting’s voice overpowered everyone.
They all immediately fell silent.
Even after he had become crippled, Qi Ziting was still pretty reputable among these people.
There were no Cardinal Heaven experts within a 500 kilometers radius who hadn’t been beaten up by him before!
He built his reputation through his true prowess!
“What have I taught you all this time? Do you not know the punishment for disobedience?” Qi Ziting scolded, looking extremely angry.
Along the journey, he had already divided them into teams led by the senior winged cavalry officers. However, they became very disorderly after entering the valley.
Seeing Qi Ziting’s angry expression, everyone broke into chaos again and quickly formed back into their teams.
Ren Baqian watched from the side and couldn’t be bothered to interfere. Naturally, the discipline level of these aboriginals could never match up to a modern-day army.
It was pointless to count on this group of simple-minded people to have a lot of discipline when they only knew how to use brute force.
If the military was already full of such people, then it was needless to mention these aboriginals.
“Those from Mount Gongmu, get over here!”
“Yes, coming!”
The name of this mountain was special and so were the voices of its people.
They were actually the loud and clear voices of women.
A few women, all roughly in their twenties, threaded their way out of the crowd. They had bronze skin, looked very healthy, and were full of wild nature. They were wearing clothes made of animal hide, which outlined their outstanding figures.
They were also wearing tail feathers on their heads.
These people were actually the riders of those large, multi-colored birds that Ren Baqian saw earlier!
“Greetings, Your Majesty. We are Gong Yang, Gong Yue, Gong Xing, and Gong Shan of the Shouquan Village of Mount Gongmu!” The ladies stepped forward and greeted the most respected woman in Dayao, before curiously sizing her up from the corners of their eyes.
“You, the one carrying the bird, come out!” Qi Ziting shouted again.
A man in his twenties made his way through the crowd while holding a chubby and adorable owl in his arms.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. I’m Li Bai of Mount Ligang!”
“These people are adept at searching. I got people to bring them over after I heard about the situation,” Qi Ziting told the empress.
“You are so thoughtful, brother!” she replied before turning to look at the people and saying, “Since all of you have donned feathers, I suppose you have a special set of communication methods? Demonstrate it for me.”
These ladies leaped off of their birds after hearing this. They then gave the birds a few pats on their wings and made crowing noises. Soon after, the birds flapped their wings and began to take off.
As the birds took off, the ladies grabbed ahold of the birds’ feet and dangled beneath them as soared into the sky.
They disappeared into the darkness very quickly.
Li Bai started making crowing noises as well. He pushed his hands up and released that chubby owl into the air.
This owl was so chubby that Ren Baqian was worried for it when it started to flap its short wings. It swayed around in the air and seemed like it would fall at anytime.
After exhausting its energy and fluttering for some time, the owl finally soared into the sky, only to fall back into Li Bai’s arms after less than a minute.
As the owl landed with a loud flop, it sounded as if a meteorite had struck the ground.
Ren Baqian even felt a slight tremor from the ground.
Li Bai’s feet had almost pierced through the soil.
“Crow, crow!” the owl cried out.
“Your Majesty, there’s a large hamster 100 meters away in that direction! You may want to send someone to check it out!”
“There’s no need to check!” Ren Baqian said.
Looking at the location that Li Bai pointed toward, Ren Baqian knew that it was the roaring emperor.
However, Ren Baqian still asked pretty worriedly, “How long can this bird fly for?”
“Exactly five minutes!” Li Bai stuck out four fingers and seemed rather proud of it.
The owl lifted its head as well, looking pretty arrogant.
“Crow, crow!”
Ren Baqian cringed. After expending so much energy, it could only fly for five minutes? Why were they still so proud of this?
He couldn’t even be bothered to ridicule Li Bai for showing four fingers after saying five minutes.
In any case, the aboriginals’ mathematics were so bad that it seemed as if it was their physical education teacher who had taught them.
The few ladies of Mount Gongmu returned after flying for a few minutes and said, “Your Majesty, there’s a large hamster in that direction!”
In the distance, the roaring emperor stuck its head out from the ground with a weird look on its face.
“How long can you guys stay and scout in the sky?” Ren Baqian asked.
The ladies looked curiously at him and felt that he had an exquisite luster on him under the night sky. It was as if his body was capable of giving off a radiance that made an amorous feeling grow within them!
“He was the most eye-catching when we were up in the skies. I could see him no matter how far away I was, and he looked very attractive!” The ladies’ eyes were twinkling.
One of these extremely wild natured ladies even sent a wink at him.
“Two hours!”
“15 minutes shorter than her!”
“15 minutes shorter than her!”
“30 minutes shorter than her!”
When Ren Baqian glanced across them, he knew that the duration they were able to stay airborne was directly related to their body weight.
The lighter they were, the less burden there was on the bird, and they could stay airborne longer.
The lightest one could stay airborne for two hours.
The heaviest one could stay airborne for 90 minutes.
This was more reliable than that owl.
“How far can you see?”
“Sir, Her Majesty and you must know that we, the ladies of Mount Gongmu, have the best eyesight. During the rule of the previous emperor, the commander of the scouts in the military were the ancestors of Mount Gongmu! We can see as far as the multi-colored eagles can!” One of the ladies smiled with pursed lips.
“There is the male spring and the female spring atop Mount Gongmu. From a young age, the ladies drink from the female spring and have excellent vision that is 10 times better than ordinary people!” Qi Ziting added. He had a great understanding of the situations of the villages in this area.
“I see! Very useful indeed! In a few days’ time, after the main body of the army sets off, you will embark on your scouting. After the mission is over, rewards will be bestowed according to your merits!” the empress said to the five ladies.
“Your Majesty, my owl can only survive by eating crowing crested cobras. They are only native to this mountain, so it’s difficult for my owl to leave this place,” Li Bai said.
“If we leave the village, the rest of our people will have to go hungry. We have stepped forward to assist Your Majesty due to the urgings of Senior Qi! We still have to return to our villages after this!” A few of them shook their heads and didn’t seem willing to leave the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
The empress didn’t feel mad despite getting rejected by multiple people.
She was exceptionally lenient toward these aboriginals.
“I will not force it upon you if you don’t wish to leave. After you fulfill your military task, I will reward you accordingly!” the empress said.
In fact, during a battle, they were able to scout using drones.
These days, Ren Baqian’s drones were greatly aiding Hong Wu and Zi Donglai.
As such, the empress wasn’t too concerned about this.
However, using these people in the mountains would be a more convenient option.
After dismissing the people to let them rest, the empress told Qi Ziting about the events that had happened over the last few days.
After hearing what she said, he muttered to himself irresolutely, “Back when I was looking for our father, I actually discovered a few empty villages. Many of the goods and belongings were left behind, and I found it very strange. So they were the troublemakers! We must not spare these herdsmen!”
He then turned to Ren Baqian and the empress and said, “Your wedding is near, little sister. Leave all of this to me!”
He then stared at Ren Baqian and said, “It’s your greatest fortune to marry my little sister. If you were to let her down in the future… I’ll let you experience how I deal with people!”
Qi Ziting grinned after he was done talking, revealing his white teeth. Ren Baqian felt that he reeked of blood.
It was like he was facing a fearsome beast that would devour him in one bite!
“I can’t leave!” the empress interjected.
“Are you regarding me as a cripple now? You think that I can’t even deal with these trivial matters?” Even quicker than turning the page of a book, Qi Ziting suddenly turned hostile.
“I’m a ruler of the empire and these herdsmen feed on the aboriginals. How can I leave so easily?” The empress stood her ground and gave him a cold look.
Qi Ziting stared fiercely at the empress before calming down a few minutes later.
Next, he laughed and declared, “Haha! My little sister has grown up and become responsible!”