Chapter 60: General Qin And Seventh Young Master (2/2)

Hu Ling'er smiled and replied, ”I don't eat this.”

Devil ape then brought the pine leaves to the face of dragon elephant and said, ”Eat, strong!”

Dragon elephant shook its head but devil ape pressed down his head and pummeled it again in anger, ”Eat!”

Dragon elephant's eyes welled up with tears and ate the pine leaves silently, appeasing devil ape who then sat down to eat its share slowly. Hu Ling'er couldn't resist speaking out, ”Big fella, did you know? Dragon elephant is not a vegetarian, it eats meat as it had the nature of a dragon and not an elephant.”

Dragon elephant felt moved and immediately nodded its head.

Devil ape sneered, ”Vegetarian, strong! I, vegetarian, strong!”

Dragon elephant's tears flowed profusely as it continued to eat the pine leaves.

The ship sailed closer and Qin Mu immediately saw the officers and soldiers wearing armor on the ship. There was an imperial canopy and under it, was a young general sitting there in an imposing manner.

On the wide deck, there was also a few paintings. In front of every painter was a bronze mirror that was three yards in height.

At the side of the ship, there were also soldiers dressed like herders as they opened iron cages and released the golden eagles from the ship.

Awakening his Heaven's Eyes secretly, he could see pictures of green hills and clear waters that kept on changing appearances as reflected on the bronze mirrors.

Suddenly, the cries of eagles sounded out and Qin Mu raised his head to see a golden eagle flying above them.

He instantly realized what was happening, ”The pictures in the bronze mirror is showing them what the golden eagle is seeing! What sorcery is this? To project what the golden eagle see into a picture on the mirror… That's it! The painters are painting a topographic map of Great Ruins!”

Releasing the golden eagles high up into the sky to look at the topography of the areas around Surging River, then projecting it onto the bronze mirror allows the painters to paint the landscape. In this way, as they sail from downstream to upstream, they could paint out the topography of Surging River.

”Who are these people? Why are they painting the topographic map of Surging River? What are they using the map for?”

Qin Mu blinked his eyes in puzzlement.

At this moment, a soldier quickly went under the canopy and knelt down on one leg as he gave a fist and palm salute, ”General Qin, there's someone spying on us on the riverbank!”

The young general under the canopy raised his eyebrows and turned his head to look at Qin Mu. Qin Mu's heart leaped as the gaze of the general turned over. It was as if there were two extremely bright light shining over, dazzling his eyes and disabling him from seeing anything!

Hu Ling'er and devil ape also exclaimed in astonishment and covered their eyes with their hands. Only dragon elephant was concentrated on eating the pine leaves and didn't notice anything wrong.

”They're just normal villagers on the riverbank.”

The General Qin closed his eyes to take a nap as he said, ”They aren't any threat if they can't even handle my gaze, there's no need to worry about them.”

”Yes, general!”

The soldier hesitated for a moment and continued, ”General, seven months ago under the emperor's orders, we had searched and seized the house of Yan Zheng, the director of Board of Rites. Yan Zheng always had an honest reputation among all levels of society and frequently spoke up for the small sects. He was also from the Hua Qing Sword Sect and had a high position in all levels of society. Seeing how general had seized his house and threw him into prison with the emperor ordering his execution under general's hand, our journey won't be too smooth. The remaining of Yan Zheng's lackeys would lay their hands on us.”

General Qin smiled coldly, ”It was the emperor's order to search and seize his house, it was also the emperor's order to execute him so what does it have to do with me? Yan Zheng angled for fame and actually accused that Imperial Preceptor had intentions of mutiny, wanting the emperor to immediately execute the Imperial Preceptor. How preposterous! For just a slight moment of fame, he would dare to drive a wedge between the emperor and Imperial Preceptor's friendship. He deserves death due to his impure intentions so who else should be killed if not him?”

He rubbed his temple and sighed, ”The emperor wanted me to seize his house and execute him because I'm Imperial Preceptor's disciple and was promoted by him. It's also to tell all levels of society that the emperor has had the utmost trust in Imperial Preceptor and for the rest of the treacherous court officials to give up these thoughts! What a pity that some people couldn't see the current politics clearly and could not understand the meaning behind them, sending themselves to death.”

The soldier continued, ”However, there might be people angling for fame waiting to ambush us…”

General Qin waved his hand and said indifferently, ”I'm exactly trying to bait the remaining lackeys of Yan Zheng out and capture all the rebels in one swoop!”

Standing up, he walked to the head of the ship and looked at the churning river bringing the floating ice downstream. Looking at the mountain range and cliff, he said indifferently, ”Imperial Preceptor had ordered me to enter Great Ruins to draft out the topographic map of Surging River for the empire so to incorporate Great Ruins into our Empire's territory. These rebels not only have a lack of understanding towards the hard work of Imperial Preceptor, they even want to kill me? Aren't they worthy of death for trying to create chaos in the lands of Eternal Peace Empire?”

At this moment, a young master walked out from the ship's cabin. He wasn't fat but he had a little baby fat on his face. With a dot of red on the heart of his brow and a folding fan, he laughed, ”I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the fact that this kind of person carries the title of an honest and faithful official! This kind of faithful official and honesty should just be exterminated!”

General Qin immediately turned around and greeted, ”Seventh young master.”

The seventh young master raised his head and looked up the mountain. From the mountain, the shadow of Qin Mu and devil ape projected down and shrouded the sailing ship.

”General Qin, I've heard that the aboriginals in Great Ruins are all people abandoned by gods, am I right?” Seventh young master asked.