The Empress’s Gigolo

The power of the two was evident with just one look. Although it wasn’t possible to gauge their real potential, it was understood that they surpassed the skills of the onlookers.

In addition, the extent of the superiority of these two was a few levels higher.

The striking speed of their hands was lightning quick, while their ability to defend was better than that of a tortoise.

They could also smash a wall with one punch.

Yet, these two were only playing a finger-guessing game! A punch thrown during a game, which was enough to send someone through a few walls, wasn’t within the ability of the

Were they able to join in this game?

A fist slam would smash their brains.

Lei Gong and Zhao Yu were enlightened after seeing the game that the two were playing and knew that they weren’t qualified to participate. Yang Sen greeted the two as a form of introduction before they went into their room for a long discussion.

They understood that their mission was to observe and learn as much as possible from the other party.

At the very least, they could avoid many detours in their cultivation journey.

The next day, everyone set out to look for the two missing guys. They were dressed like ordinary people to avoid unwanted attention.

However, with the presence of Xiong Zhan and Xiong Ying, it was hard not to attract attention.

The two were like fireflies in the dark or a heap of dung on the road, and it was hard not to notice them.

At the airport, a girl in her early twenties looked curiously at the duo and was startled by the stare of Xiong Zhan. She immediately grabbed the arm of her male partner and exclaimed, “Oppa!”[1.Oppa: Brother in Korean]

That man took a look at Xiong Zhan and Xiong Ying before quickly moving away with her.

“That sissy is her father!” Xiong Zhan said.

“Well, I heard that, but it doesn’t look like that! Their ages are about the same,” Xiong Ying said after giving them a glance.

“Maybe he has eaten something similar to the Jade Embryo,” Xiong Zhan continued.

“What are we waiting for? Rob them! If we give it to the empress, we will be promoted by at least three ranks!” Xiong Ying said eagerly.

“There isn’t any rush, and we don’t know whether there is any left. There are many people around, and furthermore, I have heard that the people here are taking the same flight as us. When we get to the destination, we can catch up with them and subject them to some interrogation,” Xiong Zhan said.

The two looked at each other and were in total agreement.

If it was regarding other matters, the two would obey the lady boss and not cause trouble, but for a treasure such as the Jade Embryo, they had to take action.

Presumably, the empress and lady boss wouldn’t blame them. They were fixated on this idea and even forgot about the excitement of going on their first flight.

Upon getting out of the airport, Bai Yuhe and company’s attention slipped, and the two disappeared without a trace.

They turned to find that the two guys behind them had gone missing and were nowhere to be seen. The three were totally confounded, as was the interpreter that came along with them.

At this moment, four people appeared at a staircase in a secure area of the airport.

Two of them were bear-like men, whereas the other two were a couple that had already fainted.

Xiong Zhan slapped the two people to wake them up. They saw the fierce and beast-like humans in front of them and started screaming.

Xiong Zhan displayed his snow-white teeth with a smile and punched the wall. Cracks appeared where his fist landed and almost caused a hole to form. This almost made the two people urinate out of fear.

“Have you ever seen a fist as big as a casserole? You have seen it now! Do you believe that your head will be smashed by a punch from me? Shut up and hand over your treasure!”

These two people knew a little Mandarin and at least knew what “shut up” meant.

The lady huddled behind the man and cried out softly, “Oppa!”

“She’s addressing him as her father, so torture her father!” Xiong Zhan declared to Xiong Ying. Then, his eyes narrowed as he said, “Someone is coming. Beat him until he is unconscious.”

As soon as a man opened the security door, he saw a bear-like man raising his paw and fainted.

Three minutes later…

Xiong Zhan asked, “What are the two of them saying?”

“I will bring those guys over. They should be able to understand,” Xiong Ying said.

At this time, Bai Yuhe and company were getting frantic. They hadn’t even gotten out of the airport, yet they had already lost those two!

The moment Xiong Ying appeared, all three spotted him instantly.

Five minutes later, the four clarified the situation and looked at the couple huddled in the corner. They didn’t know what expression was appropriate and felt like saying expletive words, but they didn’t dare to do so.

Xiong Zhan felt awkward and asked, “Is that so? I thought he was her father because she kept calling him “Pa”… You can see that her father is so young…”

The four looked excited, but they were confounded.

Where do these guys come from? What’s this treasure they are talking about? A treasure that can impart everlasting youth—Is there really such a thing?”

…

When Ren Baqian returned to Dayao, he watched the students working on the steam engine and train locomotive every day. After more than one month, the train locomotive was looking like a tractor.

In addition, he went to the Ministry of Works to discuss with Tong Zhenye about the distribution of the prisoners.

The first priority was to expand cement and brick production by operating 20 factories.

Next in importance was the construction of a cement road from Lan City to the Protectorate of the Northeast.

With a cement road and rubber tires, the speed of transportation could be greatly increased overnight. Compared to the mud roads that were full of pits after a rainstorm, the speed could be doubled or tripled.

The cement road wasn’t only intended for the Protectorate of the Northeast. Ren Baqian’s aim was to link all four protectorates in the North, South, East, and West and to eventually connect the Sixty Thousand Mountains.

This plan was christened by Ren Baqian as the “Ten Year Highway Plan!”

As for the rate of progress, it depended on the number of prisoners available.

If a million were available and the production rate of the cement and brick factories could keep up, them the five protectorates could be connected within five years.

For this project, even Tong Zhenye and Tu Wan knew it was one of the most important of the next few years, so they didn’t impede its progress.

Even the Ministry of Revenue was hard pressed to provide the food for these people.

As for provisions, although they were still worried, the people were getting more optimistic. In a year’s time, the yield of those crops brought by Ren Baqian would be able to support the large scale use of prisoners for the construction projects in Dayao.

During this period, Ren Baqian returned to Earth once. He discovered that those winged cavalry warriors had returned safely and didn’t bother to find out more.

He didn’t know how much trouble they had caused or that they had even tried to rob someone of a treasure… If he had known, he would certainly have told them about the importance of learning a foreign language.

Anyway, Yang Sen now had more white hairs. He was an Atheist, but prayed to Buddha for the safe return of these four people.

The two were jubilant when they returned, but Yang Sen was concerned when he saw the haggard faces of Bai Yuhe, Lei Gong, and Zhao Yu.

In Dayao, the New Year was approaching while Lan City was bustling again after the empress’s birthday celebration.

The residences of the important officials were also being decorated.

The skeletons they treasured were hung on the walls, and every house had many rows of eerie-looking white bones on their walls. Some were animal bones and some were human bones, which they considered as worthy trophies.

Every time the wind blew, the skeletons would rattle creepily throughout the whole Beihong District.

Especially in the streets at night, the rattling of bones in the wind gave people a ghostly sensation.

Even the empress was eager to decorate the palace. The head of Teng Yue was dug up and hung above the palace gate. An erhu was hung beside the head as well.