A bright red handprint appeared on her smooth snowy skin. After slapping herself she began to laugh. She laughed at the fact that she still cared about other people befriending her. She laughed that she dreamt that her appearance would magically be fixed and a charming prince would come swoop her off her feet.
“Why should I care about those people who ignored me because of how I looked? She thought to herself.
But now everything is different. With her appearance fixed she no longer wanted other people to accept her. She had come to this realization after meeting Zhang. She had realized that there are people out there who would be kind to you and befriend you despite your looks or status. And these people were the only people who was worth befriending.
For now, only one image appeared in her mind. She saw a young man who would smile at her and talk to her even if she was extremely ugly. This young man would treat her how he treated everyone else. If she was pretty he would treat her the same, if she was ugly he would treat her the same.
The next day Lu Lingqi for the first time in a long while left her herbal garden. She headed toward the guest rooms in the hopes of meeting Zhang once more. Although she rarely left the herbal garden Lu Lingqi knew the lay out of the lord’s mansion like the back of her hand.
Inside the corner of her mind a hint of fear also loomed about. She was afraid that this entire time her impression of him was but a misunderstanding. “What if he isn’t the type of person I think he is?” She thought to herself.
-Knock Knock-
“What happened to the young man that stayed here last night.” Lu Lingqi asked.
The city lord’s mansion was not a place for random people to wonder about. With hundreds of guards patrolling the ground it meant that random people who are able to wander around on the grounds were very powerful in terms of cultivation to be able to avoid all the guards.
“Ha you don’t recognize me?” Lu Lingqi broke out into a hysterical laugh. To become a stranger at her own home, how funny would that be?
“Do you see this?” Lu Lingqi said as she pulled out a medallion made of green jade.
“Now tell me what happened to the young man in this room.” Lu Lingqi impatiently said. Although she did not care for the opinions of others anymore it still felt awkward talking to other people for too long.
Upon hearing this Lu Lingqi dashed away in the direction of the mansion’s horse stables.
Lu Lingqi dashed out the front gate of the mansion. As her horse sped through the streets her clothes fluttered and she caught the attention of many pedestrians. Many men stared at her without blinking an eye.
“The city lord’s mansion? When did someone like that live there.” Another man added.
Once this rumor and many others had spread out throughout the city lines of men lined up before the lord’s mansion asking to meet the eldest lady of the house.
Zhang had left the city lord’s mansion a bit ago and was speeding toward the gate. He needed to have his troops prepare to move and the sooner the better. It would take them three months to pass through the Dragon’s Maw maybe a bit longer due to the narrowness of the passage.
He looked back and saw that Lu Lingqi was high up in the city gates. Once he saw her he stopped his horse to see what she wanted.
Upon hearing this Zhang smiled and waved at her. “Until next time we meet!” He yelled back and began riding once more. As he began riding away from the city he could hear singing.
The singers voice seeped into their soul. If she sang a sad song everyone would weep, if she sang a happy song then everyone would be happy. Lu Lingqi’s voice alone was able to mesmerize everyone who was able to hear it. If they could listen to it for hours on end, then they would forsake everything they had to do to listen to her.
The crowd had become so large that it caused the city’s guards to come and disperse them. Using her green medallion Lu Lingqi commanded a group of soldiers to escort her back home. Once back home she went directly to her herbal garden.
As he his mount galloped at full speed the camp that his soldiers had set up was in view. Overnight a mini fort was erected by the soldiers and when Zhang got closer the soldiers guarding the gate greeted him and opened the gate.
“Commander.” Lu Xun said when Zhang walked into his tent.
“Right away.”
“Good morning!” Zhang yelled as he walked into the tent.
When Zhang looked around the tent he could see two almost naked women trying their best to cover themselves with pieces of clothing. Turns out the two of them were changing clothes and Zhang happened to walk in at the best time possible well for him at least.
Shortly after Yuying and Ai both walked out fully dressed in armor. Soon the entire army was mobilized and mounted. The trio along with Lu Xun lead the rest of the army through two giant gates that opened up into the Dragon’s Maw.
“Sing for you? Why should we sing for you?” Yuying teased.
“If you won’t sing for me would you get jealous if someone else did?” Zhang said jokingly.
As the trio joked with each other something jumped at Zhang.
Yuying had named the Titanic Golden spider queen Silky. And it had doubled in size since it first hatched. It was still small enough to sit on top of Yuying’s head though but over time she became fairly attached to Zhang and Ai also.
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Yuying released Silky into the passageway and had it order the colony of Titanic Golden spiders to not attack anyone from the army. After doing so Zhang ordered hundreds of men to go down the large pit that he had fallen into and bring up huge jars of water.
After completing their task Zhang gave every soldier in the army three days of rest before continuing into the tunnel. Over the three days Zhang spent most of his time getting to know the soldiers better. Names, personalities, this and that. He felt as a leader the better he knew his men and the better they knew him then more trust could be built up and orders would be followed more precisely.
“Brother are you excited? In a month or two you’ll be home.” Yuying asked as they rode through the tunnel.
“Why would he be happy?” Ai asked.
“Who will marry you!?” Yuying yelled while blushing.
Zhang directed the army to go to Xi Ning’s village. He wanted to meet up with Xi Ning and see if the tasks that he had left the man was completed. Zhang wondered if the project that he left Xi Ning was completed by now because it would play an essential part in his plan.
Soon the path leading to the village was before them. However, this time something was different from before. Blocking the way up the pass was a large fortress made up of logs. This had not been here before when Zhang had gone to the village.
“Right away my lord.” Lu Xun as he ordered a lone rider to move out.
“My lord your back!” Xi Ning said as he jumped off his horse and bent one of his knees.
“Yes my lord over the last half a year we have expanded and doubled in size. We absorbed seven other bandit groups and increased our total number of troops to ten thousand. These man are all veterans of battle so little training is needed. Using the funds, you left me all of them are properly equipped also.
“Good, good you’ve done well.” Zhang praised Xi Ning he did not expect that so much progress would be made over only a few months.
“No need we will be moving out now. Rally your men.” Zhang said.