Chapter 747

Archers were stationed on the mountain. The soldiers guarding the imperial carriage's ceremonial escort were in a brief frenzy, and the Owl Cavalry guarding the elder princess's carriage personally went over to handle it.

Weini got off the carriage and instinctively headed for its carrot, which was produce from the Dawang's vegetable garden base, irresistibly attractive to bears.

Unfortunately, before it could pick it up, White Marsh swiped away the arrow with a paw and, lifting its paw, firmly stepped on the carrot.

Weini wanted to sigh.

"You live among humans, you don't hunt, and if you can't even beat humans, what use are you to your master?

The carrot is dirty and inedible; those blocking us are enemies who steal our rations. Go teach them a lesson, let these villains know you're not to be messed with—just like when you usually spar with Xiaojin. Go!"

Makes sense!

Weini had been talked into limping, and it nodded vigorously. But this fellow crawled forward two steps, then slowed down—it had never done this before, still hesitating, unsure how to start.

White Marsh isn't the Dawang—it swiftly lifted its paw—

In the next instant, those fighting around the imperial carriage felt a large dark shadow drift across the sky, and before they could see what it was, it crashed to the ground!

A bear fell onto the central battlefield!

The thick-skinned, thick-furred bear blocked two arrows without a scratch and even knocked down an unlucky assassin.

This fellow scrambled up, saw the place awash in blood with limbs flying, instinctively wanted to flee, but upon looking up saw the White Marsh boss lifting its paw in the distance…

Weini scrambled back, then noticed there were plenty of assorted villains nearby, and one tried to slash it with a knife—can't let him do that—so this fellow was finally driven onto Liang Mountain, charging forward and knocking someone down with a headbutt.

After knocking one over, it immediately gained confidence—villains aren't that tough! This fellow charged into the melee, slapped one down with a palm—swift, precise, ruthless—it was a nimble fat guy who didn't run.

Even though this Dawang bear is pure, having eaten a low‑grade monster pill, a single palm strike leaves humans powerless. The assassins quickly realized it was a major weapon, swarming to surround it. Weini simply stood in place and slapped, its presence both eye‑catching and a formidable force—so much so that the distant Owl Cavalry even had time to cheer loudly for it.

One bear holding the pass, the assassins had no counter.

Surrounded, Baili Hu felt conflicted, thinking these might all be people from Jing Province, he felt deep pity and even anger.

Such moth‑to‑flame sacrifice is unnecessary—don't you see his guards haven't moved at all? They're not in a hurry!

"Are you from Jing Province? This prince orders you to stand down! This prince is the lord of Jing Province—who are you taking orders from?! Stand down!" Baili Hu, not caring about losing face, shouted at the top of his lungs.

The frenzied assassins' movements visibly slowed; they hesitated. Seeing this, Colonel Liu, leading the troops, raised his arm to signal the soldiers to hold fire first.

Seeing this, Baili Hu really started cursing, asking, "They really are from Jing Province!"

In the assassination attempt, the Dawang's beloved pet struck and the enemy surrendered in no time.

There were many living captives; Colonel Liu consulted the Elder Princess of Ningguo, then simply continued escorting them on the march, to have the emperor deal with them upon reaching Yingtai Isle.

Not long after the imperial carriage left Youzhou City to the south, the Dawang had already reached Ningan, and it was clear it would soon arrive at Yingtai Isle.

Rushing there would be tight on time, so he simply slowed his pace to spend the night in the city. Wei Shen watched this social terror effortlessly strike up a friendship with a child outside the walls—in an instant their bond spanned a thousand miles, quickly developing into an invitation for the Dawang to come over as a guest.

At that moment the Dawang squatted shoulder‑to‑shoulder with the landlord's child at the field's edge, whispering privately.

After the rain the scenery was green; in the sunshine the lingering clouds glowed. The Dawang wore a mint‑green cloud‑silk robe, and together with the landlord's child in a grass‑green robe they squatted at the field's edge, a verdant blur that in the twilight seemed to merge with the distant crops.

Want to know how they struck up a conversation?

That's naturally what heroes see… no, heroes' tastes are slightly alike.

Thanks to the Dawang, over the past two years the textiles of Great Jin have become far more colorful, with the populace going from plain black‑hemp brown‑gray straight to vivid reds, greens, and tiny florals everywhere.

The Dawang made contact through this green‑tinted cloud‑silk robe and the eldest son of Ningan's biggest landlord.

The other party was the youngest son of Ningan's major landlord, named Yue Man. Yue Man had gone out with his father to inspect the family fields when the Dawang caught him outside the city.

The child was only eleven, naive to the world, and the Dawang wanted to befriend him; they hit it off immediately. The Dawang's identity today was the sole heir of a major Shangdang merchant, his family wealthy, with an uncle well‑connected in the military—and sure enough, they were both riding black‑wind horses like the northern border cavalry.

Together they felt they'd met too late, talking endlessly. From black‑wind horses to grilled squid, topics ranged far and wide. After a while Wei Shen leaned in to listen closely, and the Dawang was openly envying Yue Man's family for their farmland and their exam quota. Sure enough, without a purpose this fellow couldn't keep talking so long!

The map is exhausted, the dagger appears.

The bear‑child opposite obviously only half‑understood; to him the imperial exams seemed impossibly distant, but the Dawang wasn't discouraged, preparing to talk with the bear‑child's father.

Yue Man's father isn't as gullible as his son, but the Great King, dressed in cloud-smoke gauze, and the guard Wei Shen, riding two Black Wind Horses, left him no choice but to look up at them with respect.

"... Uncle, you're amazing! This whole large tract actually belongs to your family; the family wealth is considerable and yet you aren't classified as merchants—truly amazing! My father is just foolish, insisting on doing business.... No, no, that was fine before, but now doing business is certainly not good! I'm so smart, I study so hard, my grades are so good, yet I can't even take the imperial examinations!..."

What? Studying that hard? You're almost forgetting the two characters 'hard work'. Wei Shen struggled to keep his questioning expression under control.

Fine, as long as you have no guilty conscience.