The Empress’s Gigolo

A few days after Ren Baqian returned to Dayao, he finally saw Li Fu, the testicles-kicking monster, when he came back totally wobbly.

Li Fu still looked like how he had looked previously. He wasn’t very depressed and wasn’t missing a limb either. It seemed like his first attempt at parachuting was successful and that the empress had to continue deferring her advancement to the rank of third most powerful expert in the world.

Li Fu was still riding a black-faced guy, which was a wild boar. It was over three meters tall, covered in short ash-brown hair, and emitted an aura that was no weaker than that of an Earth Wheel expert. Such a powerful black-faced guy could be said to be an overlord in the forest. No other beasts dared to provoke it, whereas even other fearsome beasts at the same caliber had to avoid it.

However, this boar was a little wretched at the moment because its tusk was broken in half and one of its eyes was big while the other was small. It was carrying loads of bags on its head, it seemed like quite a bit of the hair behind its neck had been plucked out, and it looked pretty miserable.

However, its ferocity hadn’t decreased one bit as it directed an ominous glint at whoever it looked at. It then gave off a miserable squeal when Li Fu gave its head a knock.

“This is for you!” Li Fu jumped down from the black-faced guy as soon as he saw Ren Baqian.

Just as he jumped off, the beast turned around and wanted to take off. However, a few of Ren Baqian’s bodyguards immediately surrounded it.

This black-faced guy was big and strong. If it wantonly barged around in the city, it would probably hurt quite a number of people.

Shi Hu landed a punch to its head, but he ended up being bumped away and smashed the walls of Shi Qing’s residence into shambles.

Ren Baqian made a squishing sound with his mouth. Ever since the school had been established, Shi Qing’s walls seemed to have been destroyed a number of times…

As expected, a few burly men leaped out of the Shi Residence again to reason with Shi Hu. Just as Shi Hu was about to stand up from the rubble, he was pinned down by them and he immediately flew into a rage, almost getting into a fight with them. Thankfully, he had the testicle-kicking monster and the black-faced guy to put the blame on, which got him off the hook.

The man versus swine situation was still ongoing. Even though that black-faced guy was only at the Earth Wheel level, its strength was greater than that of a human’s. With its coarse hide and thick flesh, it took about seven bodyguards to finally break all of its limbs and pin it down to the ground after much effort.

Covered in dirt, Shi Hu pounded on his own head and vented his anger before looking up and asking Ren Baqian, “Sir, how do we settle this?”

“Take it back to the palace, slaughter it, and cook its meat!” Ren Baqian answered casually. Domesticated animals of such caliber were few and far between, and the essence blood accumulated in their bodies was plentiful. It would be wonderful to consume such meat as a tonic.

As if the black-faced guy could understand Ren Baqian’s words, it started struggling violently again. Unfortunately, all of its limbs were broken, so it wasn’t able to do much even while struggling. It eventually got beaten up by the bodyguards again before being brought back to the palace.

“What did it feel like in the sky?” Ren Baqian turned around, smiled at Li Fu, and carefully sized him up. He seemed to be in a pleasant mental state since his entire face was blushing.

“Even though I went higher than the tallest peak, it was still too low. There was also too little time to see anything. If I were able to go a little higher with a little more time, maybe I would have been able to discover something,” Li Fu replied bluntly.

“However, it was a rather good feeling. It was the first time that I felt so close to the heavens. Since you said that you could make a better one, I will wait for you. However, you need to hurry up a little. I have waited for so many years and can’t wait any longer. When I was up in the sky, I felt an excitement that I haven’t felt in a very long time. Even my heart felt much younger with that surging vitality. I have always thought to myself how great it would be if I could fly!” Li Fu said with a yearning look.

In reality, even if you fly higher, you probably won’t be able to see much, unless you fly out on a rocket. Then, you would be able to see a huge ball! Next, your head will start to tremble as you ponder about why you are floating above the ball and not falling. If you have a high power of understanding, you might still be able to discover gravity… After that, you will think about something more serious, which is that you will never be coming back again… Ren Baqian thought to himself, but he didn’t say it out loud before turning around and smiling.

“In that case, you probably have to wait. It’s mainly due to various restrictions, but it’s very hard to make a big improvement in a short period of time. If you are willing to help destroy the Yun Nation, we might be able to hasten the process a little. Dayao is severely lacking in resources.”

Li Fu immediately rejected this without hesitation and said, “I can’t do that. If you are willing, I can bring you to Great Xia. I have a long acquaintance with Xia Bailong’s grandfather, so Xia Bailong will probably accommodate my requests.”

“The grass on Xia Bailong’s grave has already grown 15 meters tall!” Ren Baqian was dumbfounded. This piece of news had set Lan City abuzz some time ago.

Aren’t you a little too much of a recluse?

“That kid’s dead? It’s ok as long as his blood runs in the successor—the new emperor will still have to oblige me.” Li Fu stroked his beard.

“The problem is that I don’t want them to oblige!” Ren Baqian rolled his eyes, turned around, and walked toward the school.

Li Fu laughed mischievously and seemed to appear unconcerned before disappearing in a flash.

There was something important going on in the afternoon at the school. After more than two months, all the hard work provided by around five students and the seven blacksmiths that were transferred over had finally led to the completion of the locomotive.

According to Ren Baqian’s request, 50 meters of track had been laid out in the backyard of the school. Perhaps, light railroad track would be a better description of it.

Each meter of rail weighed 25 kilograms, equating to 50 kilograms for the two rails of the track. This was well below the standard of normal rails. These light rails were already forged out of all the metal rods in the school.

In the afternoon, all the new and old students waited in the backyard. Since it wasn’t exactly crowded, they were scattered all over the courtyard.

In front of everyone was a 50-meter long rail that had a slight curve. The steam locomotive was mounted on the rail and looked a bit like a tractor.

The steam locomotive still had a cylindrical shape with metal wheels and rods of varying sizes fitted beneath it. Behind the engine, there was only a furnace that was used to increase the heat, and there weren’t any carriages.

Just this thing alone took them more than two months to complete, and most of the time was spent on the metal rods that were attached to the wheels. This was more complicated than the previous one because it was almost entirely a new design.

“Let’s begin,” Ren Baqian said.

After that, the procedure was the same as before: start the fire, add coal, and add water. Soon after, the chimney at the top of the steam engine began to emit clouds of black smoke as the train gradually moved forward.

“We have succeeded!” Many of the students clapped and cheered in excitement.

Even though they had also succeeded previously, it was moving on a rail this time around. Furthermore, all of the parts were replaced with metal. Before starting the trial, the students were still rather apprehensive and worried that something might go wrong.

Thankfully, everything was going smoothly for now. There were no problems that arose, so everyone felt at ease.

The steam engine picked up speed and followed the curvature of the rail, drawing an arc in the courtyard. The smiles on their faces grew bigger when they saw this, and they felt extremely content.

“Are there brakes this time?” Ren Baqian suddenly asked.

“What are brakes?” Shi Gan asked.

“How is it going to slow down?” Ren Baqian pointed at the steam engine.

Shi Gan was speechless.

Everyone else was dumbstruck as well.

The steam engine subsequently derailed and smashed through the walls of the courtyard. It then barreled across the street before smashing into the walls of Shi Qing’s residence again. Eventually, it toppled to the ground with a loud bang.

The students in the school rushed over like a swarm of bees before hearing an angry voice coming from Shi Qing’s courtyard.

“You guys again?!”

“Sixth uncle, listen to me…” Shi Gan tugged on a burly man’s arm as he shouted, “Hurry, bring it back.”

“What’s there to explain? Just wait for a beating!” The burly man lifted Shi Gan up as if he was holding a baby chick and shook him in the air. At that moment, things like a small round mirror, two short metal rods, a handkerchief, and a purse started falling from his body…

When Ren Baqian arrived, Shi Qing had his hands on his waist. He stood there, looked at Ren Baqian with a friendly smile, and asked, “Do you guys have a hatred for my house’s walls? You destroyed it in the morning and wrecked it again now…”

“Perhaps the feng shui of your courtyard isn’t that good!” Ren Baqian responded with a serious look.

“My guess is that being your neighbor is the thing that isn’t good…” Shi Qing sighed.