Chapter 7: The Suddenly Vanished Lord

"No problem, I'm here; even if there are ten people, or even thirty, you won't go hungry. The camp has some dry firewood; a few of you go light the fire first, and then wait for my delicious feast." In fact he had never caught a fish, and at that moment a faint fish scent drifted over from the opposite riverbank. From their expressions you could tell they were all hungry, but they dared not say it, and could only soothe their hearts with a cowhide for now.

It really is a tricky matter.

……

At the school-uniform girls' camp on the south bank of the White Horse River, the frames of seven wooden cabins had just been completed, oriented south‑to‑north, directly facing Li Bucai's camp.

"Princess, it's time for lunch," the girl Qing'er said. She had also been introduced by an administrator from the top‑tier labor market, possessed civil‑service qualifications, was proficient with numbers, and was a financial whiz.

Under the shade of a tree, the school‑uniform girls lounged there and asked, "Is the food enough for everyone now?"

"Replying, Princess, we currently have 122 large fish: 15 weighing one jin each, 35 weighing eight liang each, 72 weighing half a jin each, and the remaining small fish total about ten jin; we have also gathered many mountain vegetables. We are twenty people, with meat and vegetables mixed, and at a rate of two jin of food per person per day, this should sustain us for five days."

The school‑uniform girl nodded satisfactorily and asked, "How's the camp? Can it be finished before nightfall?"

"Replying, Princess, they are speeding up construction; barring any mishap, they should be able to erect five structures before nightfall."

"Hmm, good. Don't forget to build a slightly more comfortable big bed for this Princess."

"Qing'er has already given the orders downwards."

"Let them rest for a while, resume work after lunch. Also, in the afternoon have two guards continue patrolling; the safety of everyone must be guaranteed."

"If the Princess doesn't eat first, how could we servants dare to eat? It's getting late; we should let the Princess eat first." All those people pointed at the Princess, starving the Princess, Qing'er couldn't bear it.

Girl Shuang'er, skilled in cooking, prepared excellent dishes, had already set out bowls and chopsticks. Before the school‑uniform girls sat down, she presented the cooked delicacies, neatly arranged on the makeshift wooden table. Though only fish and wild vegetables, the fish alone was prepared in several styles—stir‑fried, boiled, steamed, and braised—very abundant, with bright colors that whetted the appetite.

The school‑uniform girls savored the delicacies while admiring Li Bucai across the river, who was now tugging at his trouser cuffs, feeling around in the water; several times he almost caught a big fish, but they slipped away, splashing him all over. The girls felt an extra surge of happiness.

After finishing lunch, they sipped fragrant tea beautifully. After a while, with a light sigh, she said, "Guard Shen."

"Present," Guard Shen Jun immediately came forward and performed a salute.

"Do you know where this river can be crossed?"

"Replying, Princess, three li downstream there is a shallow sandbank that can be crossed."

"Hmm, after the meal, take a few people and walk over to the opposite bank."

"I obey your command, but the Princess must first confirm whether we have an alliance, to guard against mishaps." If not allied, entering another's Territory unannounced would cause the local guards to treat us as enemies and shoot us.

The school‑uniform girl gave a slight nod and said, "Hmm, understood, go down first."

Li Bucai had a good impression of her, and truly could not bear to see him eliminated like that, so he set down his tea cup and went alone to the riverbank. At some point Li Bucai vanished from the riverbank; just as he was about to call out, a group emerged from the opposite woods—Wu Zhuoran and others returned.

"You pervert, all of you are women; you'd better starve to death," she huffed angrily, turned and went back to the camp.

……

After Li Bucai took the fishing rod again, seeing that it was so late and both parties hadn't returned, he sent Rui Tong to search, and had Xianghong keep Yan Qiu at the camp to comfort her properly.

Half an hour later, Rui Tong returned with Wu Zhuoyue's team, and shortly after, Wu Zhuoran's troops also came back.

"Sister Zhuoran, you're back..." It was already past lunch when Yan Qiu's group saw Wu Zhuoran and the others return and asked. Wu Zhuoran's face was expressionless, but he noticed the group behind her all wore tense looks; Yan Qiu felt something was off and hurriedly asked, "What... what happened..."

"Where is the Lord?" She usually spoke with a light tone, but this sentence was clearly heavier than usual.

Already famished, Wu Zhuoyue noticed something amiss, pointed toward the riverbank and asked, "What's wrong, sister?"

"Lulu Beast," Wu Zhuoran replied with just three words, then hurried toward the riverbank.

When Wu Zhuoyue and the others heard the words "Lulu Beast," their faces turned horrified, and they asked Wu Zhuoran's subordinates in disbelief, "Is it true?"

Although they had previously ventured beyond the Sky City, they had long heard of the Lulu Beast—a wildly ferocious beast, whose herds number at least fifty. Though herbivorous, their massive weight and sharp twin horns could make every resident of Sky City pale. Legend says that long ago, the Emperor's thousands of iron cavalry, when confronted by a herd of a hundred Lulu Beasts, were swept away like fallen flowers and water; only a dozen or so survived, the rest perished beneath the beasts' lethal horns.

Junyi Wan'er replied gravely, "We walked north for over ten li and at the bend of the White Horse River we found a herd of Lulu Beasts drinking there; they could endanger the camp at any moment, so we couldn't stay and returned immediately to report to the Lord."

"Where is the Lord?"

From afar, Wu Zhuoran's shout rang out, as if the Lord was no longer by the river. The girls all ran over; at the riverbank only a fishing rod lay slanted in the water, and Li Bucai had vanished without a trace.

"He was just here a moment ago..." Xianghong had secretly slipped over before the half‑burned incense stick to see how many fish the esteemed Lord had caught.

Wu Zhuoran gave Xianghong a deep, hard stare.

Xianghong realized she was being blamed for failing to watch over the Lord, and meekly said, "The Lord asked me to stay with Yan Qiu; he was fine a moment ago, how did a living person just disappear like that?"

The Lord, a living person, was right beside them yet vanished silently; everyone instantly felt an ominous premonition. This stretch of river, except for the three‑meter zone near the bank where the bottom is visible, is bottomless elsewhere, and the current is very calm—could it be that...

Xianghong sobbed, "Could it be..."

No one wanted to believe, nor dare to think of going there; when Xianghong said that, everyone's mind shifted from possibility to certainty, and they couldn't help but weep in a heap.

Without a lord, they would find it hard to survive.

All Wu Zhuoran could do now was search, so she told Wu Zhuoyue, "Split up and look; you go upstream, I'll go downstream, we must find him."

The two sisters each led a few people to search both sides of the river, but the current remained; even at the shallow sandbank there was no sign of anyone. Could they truly have sunk into that waterway?

After more than two hours of searching, both parties returned empty‑handed, gloomily back to the camp, staring at the deep green river; with no one who could swim, they could only sigh at the river.

They hadn't expected that on the first day in the Territory they'd lose their own lord; what awaited them was either starving to death here, or the Lulu Beasts noticing an enemy species entering their domain, wandering here, and dying beneath their sharp horns…

……

The girls sat around the fire, hungry and afraid, hoping for a miracle—that their lord would suddenly appear before them; even without food, at least they'd have something to cling to. But night had fallen, and in the darkness distant unknown creatures let out eerie cries now and then, adding to the terror.

Having gone a day without a meal, the girl Wan'er whispered, "I'm hungry... maybe... we should grill the fish."

Yan Qiu hurried, "These... these are for the Lord..." There were only three pitiful little fish; Li Bucai's comforting words at the riverbank gave her a happiness she had never felt. No matter what, she couldn't believe the Lord would silently abandon them; even if he truly drowned, she would reserve those three fish for the Lord's soul, as he had said he liked this kind of fish.

Wan'er sobbed, "It's so late, the Lord still hasn't returned; it looks like he really won't come back. We'll truly be buried here."

The girls' tears, which had just ceased, overflowed again.

"What was that sound?" Wu Zhuoyue shouted suddenly.

Everyone immediately stifled their cries, pricked up their ears; in the woods, the occasional "Lulu" sound and the cracking of branches could be heard.

"Lulu Beast!" the girls shrieked, instantly panicking, hopelessly shouting, "It's the Lulu Beast, the Lulu Beast is coming, Sister Zhuoran, what should we do..."

Wu Zhuoran's heart raced; death was inevitable either way, so she shouted, "Form ranks, prepare defense."

Although the girls were startled, their training showed; the two groups merged into one formation, surrounding the unskilled Yan Qiu in the center. Two Blade Badge Warriors took the front, half‑crouching with wooden shields protecting the line; scouts and swordsmen positioned on the sides; the military doctor guarded the rear; the Wu sisters commanded from within; two archers and crossbowmen took the high ground on the outer flanks. They swiftly formed a plum‑blossom array, ready for a fight to the death.

The Lulu sounds grew nearer, and the girls' heartbeats quickened... Suddenly, a clump of shrubs at the edge of the clearing toppled, and a plump black silhouette appeared on the open ground; from its outline it was unmistakably a Lulu Beast.

"Release... release the arrows," she said, her voice trembling because the opponent was too powerful.

The two archers panicked even more; their hands no longer obeyed them, trembling as they held their bows, unable to nock an arrow onto the string.

Seeing the Roo‑roo Beast inching closer, only a few dozen meters away, Wu Zhuoran strained to steady his trembling hands, drew the bow fully, and aimed at the black shadow…

Suddenly, a familiar voice said, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Lord?" Wu Zhuoran quickly hooked the string, while the black shadow ahead kept making a "Roo‑roo" sound; suspecting an illusion, he dared not retrieve the arrow.

With a "Thump", the black shadow halted in place. After a moment, in front of the shadow, Li Bucai's figure slowly appeared before everyone—it was their Lord…

……