Chapter 316
Chapter 316
A few days later.
Shen Lang's diplomatic party reached the border. The State of Yue was just ahead, so their escort duty ended here. But Princess Arona showed no sign of stopping; she intended to follow Big Dummy. She no longer wanted to stay with her family. They were all ruthless villains, no longer her family. Only her Master and Big Dummy were her loved ones.
Shen Lang said to her,
“Princess Nana, you cannot leave the Qiang Kingdom.”
Arona instantly erupted.
“Why not? It's only natural for a wife to follow her husband. What business is it of yours if I want to go with Big Dummy?”
“I cannot take the thousands of slaves here back to the State of Yue. Because the journey passes through the Su Clan's territory and Sanyan's stronghold, my one hundred warriors are not enough to protect them. Therefore, they must remain in the Qiang Kingdom, and you must protect them.”
“Why? Why me? Just why?”
Princess Arona was the kind of person who would let go of even her closest companions without a second thought if they wished to leave, but she couldn't bear to part with Big Dummy.
“It is your responsibility. The technique of using variolation to prevent smallpox has already spread. But your father is too greedy. He will surely use the smallpox vaccine to exploit the hard-earned money of the Qiang people. This is also a golden opportunity for you. If you build a settlement at the foot of the snow mountain and generously provide smallpox vaccinations to everyone, countless people will come to seek your protection. Then, at the most critical moment, the Qiang Kingdom will need you, and so will we.”
At Shen Lang's words, Arona burst into tears.
‘I don't want to stay. I want to follow Big Dummy.’
Divine Lady Xue Yin approached and gently stroked her disciple's head.
“Roro, this is your inescapable duty.”
Arona threw herself into Xue Yin's arms and wept loudly. Then, she looked at Big Dummy and said,
“Follow me!”
Big Dummy followed her. Princess Arona entered a small, dense thicket at the edge of the area. Shen Lang's hair stood on end, but at the same time, he was incredibly envious.
‘A thicket? Even I haven't tried that with my darling Mulan yet. Who would go into a thicket with me now? No one…’
***
Big Dummy went deep into the small thicket, seemingly unaware of what was about to happen. He was still lost in the sorrow of their parting.
“Big Dummy, have you ever slept with a woman?”
“No.”
“Then have you ever seen another woman's body?”
“No.”
“Do you want to sleep with me?”
“I do. But what does sleeping together mean? I don't know how!”
“You might not know, but I do! I've never tried it, but I've seen it many times.”
Then, she tore off her clothes.
“Big Dummy, lie down, put your legs together, open your mouth, and kiss me. Put your hand here.”
And just like that, Princess Arona bravely slept with Big Dummy.
***
This woman was definitely crazy. The sounds of their movements carried for several hundred meters, making it incredibly awkward for Shen Lang to listen. Moreover, he waited for a very long time—about an hour.
‘Damn it, it's a lie, it must be a lie!’
Shen Lang cursed inwardly. Princess Arona must have been putting on an act for over an hour just to save Big Dummy's pride. After all, wasn't Big Dummy just a novice experiencing his first time?
After a full hour and a half, Princess Arona emerged from the dense thicket, holding Big Dummy's hand. Her face was as red as if she were drunk, and Big Dummy looked like he had eaten a ginseng fruit, his eyes having lost their focus. He had just suddenly opened the door to a new world. He had done the deed without knowing anything. It was like a man filming an erotic movie without ever having seen a picture, a video, or having any knowledge of the subject. Then, in front of everyone, Arona boldly kissed Big Dummy.
“Remember, if you so much as bump into another woman, I'll kill you.”
Big Dummy said with a startled expression,
“But what if I accidentally bump into a woman while walking down the street?”
Princess Arona was so exasperated that she bit him fiercely again.
“Let's go!”
She led the thousand-odd refugees from Yue and ten thousand people from the Qiang Kingdom, turned around, and left. Following Shen Lang's advice, she then established a settlement at the foot of the snow mountain. And there, she built a new sacred temple and provided free smallpox vaccinations to everyone. You might ask, don't the people of the Qiang Kingdom find moving troublesome? Sorry, they don't have houses. Wherever their cattle and sheep were, wherever they pitched their tents, that was their home. Shen Lang led the diplomatic party, and under the protection of Big Dummy and Divine Lady Xue Yin, they entered the territory of Yue and returned to the capital.
***
Inside the Royal Palace of Yue.
Magpies chirped, and the sky was clear and cloudless. The weather was neither too cold nor too hot, making it very pleasant. King Ning Yuanxian was inwardly tense, yet filled with anticipation. It was because of Consort Bian. As everyone knew, Consort Bian was the daughter of Duke Bian Wu of Wei, and she was the king's most favored consort. Although she was not stunningly beautiful, she was truly wise, sensible, and did not contend with others. The only regret was that her health was poor, and in the decade since she had married Ning Yuanxian, she had not borne a single child.
But recently, she had been feeling nauseous. At first, they thought she had some illness, but the royal physician mentioned the possibility of pregnancy. Was that possible? She had still had her monthly cycle for the past two months, so the chances of pregnancy were very slim. Besides, her body was very frail, making it extremely difficult for her to conceive. In recent years, both the King and Consort Bian had tried every method imaginable to improve her health, but she had never been able to conceive. But now, she was pregnant?
The King was also worried about another matter. It was about Shen Lang's diplomatic mission to the Qiang Kingdom. Someone had blocked all information, and there had been no news of Shen Lang. Everyone in the capital was saying that Shen Lang and the entire diplomatic party had been killed, that their heads were on their way back to Yue, and that their bodies had been boiled and eaten by the people of Qiang. How ruthless was the Qiang King? Making a man like that write a letter admitting his guilt? And building a sacred temple on Qiang land? That was like an idiot talking in his sleep.
‘Shen Lang harmed others, and in the end, he harmed himself. To get your father-in-law, Jin Zhuo, enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xuanwu, you, Shen Lang, reached for the sky and accepted any mission, didn't you? You're probably dead by now, and Jin Zhuo can forget about ever being enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xuanwu.’
Of course, King Ning Yuanxian wasn't worried about Shen Lang's life, but about the possibility of Shen Lang and the entire diplomatic party being killed. If that happened, what would he do next? It would be another blow to the prestige of the State of Yue. If they were slighted twice and did not retaliate, the King would lose all face. But if they were to retaliate, with the war against the Nanguo already bogged down, could the State of Yue really start another war with another country? They couldn't afford to start another war. But if the entire diplomatic party was murdered and he did nothing, it would deal a huge blow to the King's political reputation.
Perhaps, in a fit of anger that day, he shouldn't have allowed Shen Lang to go to the Qiang Kingdom as an envoy. A person's death was a small matter, but a political move was a major one. Shen Lang might be a very remarkable person. But making a tyrant like the Qiang King admit his guilt and building a sacred temple on Qiang land? That was a pipe dream; those two tasks were harder than climbing to the heavens. No matter how outstanding Shen Lang was, he would be powerless in a place like the Qiang Kingdom. For such a clever person to die in the Qiang Kingdom, it felt somehow regrettable and a waste.
Just then, two eunuchs arrived before the King, one after the other. The eunuch in the back knelt down, his face beaming with joy, and said,
“Your Majesty, great news! Consort Bian is truly with child.”
The eunuch in the front also knelt, equally joyous, and said,
“Your Majesty, great news! Shen Lang has successfully completed his mission to the Qiang Kingdom. The Qiang King's letter of apology is already on its way to the capital, and a true sacred temple, complete with statues of the sages, has been built in the Qiang Kingdom. Shen Lang has greatly enhanced our nation's prestige. The might of our State of Yue and the majesty of Your Highness have spread far and wide!”
On the way back to the capital, Shen Lang sat comfortably inside the carriage while Grandmaster Xue Yin drove the horses outside. Big Dummy was riding an ox in the distance. A full day had passed, but he was still thinking about what had happened the day before.
‘So this is the fun of sleeping together? It was really, really good.’
Shen Lang held two glass vials in his hands. The one in his left hand was quite large, about a hundred milliliters. Most of what was inside was Grandmaster Xue Yin's blood, along with hundreds of millions of Gu worms. Hundreds of millions of Gu worms might sound like a lot, but since men release hundreds of millions in a single go, it wasn't that many.
But the strange thing was that the blood in the glass vial was still seething. Five days and nights had already passed, and Shen Lang had thought the Gu worms would have died long ago, but they were still alive. They were seething more and more fiercely, as if they had devoured some kind of power, and the color of the blood in the vial was gradually changing.
The essence of Big Dummy's golden bloodline was pure gold, the Gu worms were purple, and Grandmaster Xue Yin's blood was red. With these three mixed together, it should have turned red or light purple at the very least. But unexpectedly, the golden color in the vial grew more and more prominent, and deeper. And the queen Gu worm lay quietly in the test tube, as if it had entered hibernation. Even though it was spring.
Shen Lang scanned the queen Gu worm with his X-ray vision, trying to find similar data, but he couldn't find anything at all. Because no such creature existed on Earth, even Shen Lang's internal computer couldn't retrieve any data. Shen Lang had finally encountered a completely alien species in this world.
Shen Lang said,
“Fairy Master, Big Dummy lost a lot of blood. Will it affect his martial arts practice? I drew two catties of his blood, which contained a great deal of his bloodline essence.”
In fact, Qiu Yao'er had drawn much more blood than that. Because even now, whenever she felt unwell, she would draw her own blood.
Divine Lady Xue Yin replied,
“The effect will be minimal. The essence of his bloodline regenerates within his body.”
“Fairy Master, where did the golden bloodline that Big Dummy and Qiu Yao'er possess come from?”
“They were likely born with it, or inherited it from their parents. It is one of the highest-level martial arts secrets in this world, and even we have yet to understand its principles.”
“Grandmaster Zhong Chuke looked at my bloodline and said he couldn't make heads or tails of it. Fairy Master, please take a look. How is my martial bloodline? Is it amazing?
Divine Lady Xue Yin looked at Shen Lang and replied,
“Lang'er, it is said that the wise use their minds, not their bodies. You are truly the most remarkable of them all.”
Sigh! Shen Lang had now completely given up on martial arts. The Fairy Master had put it very diplomatically, but her underlying meaning was probably, ‘Continue on your promising path as a pretty boy living off your in-laws, and don't even think about practicing martial arts, you trash.’