CH 40

Before, when he was in Baihe Mountain Village, Liu Xian’an had actually thought about making flying wings. He couldn’t wait, so he immediately penned out a plan with great interest, starting from drawing graphics, what materials to prepare, and how many craftsmen were needed. There were eighteen sheets of paper filled with details – the flying wings he wanted to make at the time were much more luxurious than the Mute Condors. The level of sophistication of the mechanisms was comparable to a gorgeous moveable palace, so there were too many things to prepare. Writing and writing, he successfully became tired of writing.

When he got tired, he thought, forget it, it’s not necessary.

Anyway, in the Three Thousand Worlds, he could fly wherever he wanted, so why did he have to make one in reality? So Second Young Master Liu gracefully threw the manuscript into the brazier, rolled up in a blanket, and went on to sleep comfortably, swimming with the sun and moon in his dreams.

But now, he suddenly discovered that there were still some differences between the two. Flying in real life, you couldn’t ride a white crane or step on the wind and clouds. With both feet on firm and stable rock and powerful arms around his waist, the wind against his cheeks was a little cool, but his back was extremely warm. Liu Xian’an couldn’t wait to become part of the thousands of galaxies, and couldn’t help but move forward again.

Gravel rolled down the high cliff, and the small soldiers who came to help felt their legs go limp at the sight. They couldn’t understand how this lazy young master could be so bold. Why didn’t he even hesitate a little? Standing together in a row, they watched the two people leave the high ground!

The howling wind blew past their ears, and the mountain scenery changed rapidly before their eyes. Liang Shu controlled the direction of the Mute Condor with one hand, and the other hand wrapped around Liu Xian’an. Both hands had good rewards. For reward one, he found that a slightly bent posture was convenient for controlling the flying wings, and for reward two, there was a slender waist under his gentle palm.

And Liu Xian’an was not in the mood to care about if his waist was thick or slender. He gazed up at the dream-like galaxies, very much pleasantly surprised, and felt that he was about to turn into a bright beam of light, so he stretched out his hand to look for the immortals in the clouds, but Liang Shu pressed down and changed their direction midair.

The wind grew stronger in an instant, blowing the robes of these two people high. Gao Lin stood at the landing point and looked up, and had a trance-like illusion that they were not falling, but flying toward the palace outside the nine heavens. Taken aback by the thought, he hurriedly rubbed his eyes to take a closer look until he was sure that the pair of shadows under the moon were getting bigger, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

Liang Shu took Liu Xian’an to land steadily on the ground, and everyone stepped forward to remove the flying wings for the two of them. Liu Xian’an’s body was still full of the weightlessness of gliding just now, the sound of the wind in his ears unceasing. Liang Shu handed over the holsters on his wrists to a soldier and waved a hand in front of him: “Are you in a trance again?”

“I’m not.” Liu Xian’an shook his head. He was actually thinking that it would be great if they could fly higher.

Liang Shu asked: “How much higher?”

Liu Xian’an though wildly. It must be about forty-eight thousand zang.[1]

Gao Lin was amused, and interjected: “There is not a mountain that high in the world, they are two thousand zang at most.”

Liu Xian’an replied: “That’s fine too.”

“How can it be so?” Liang Shu tapped his head. “At more than two thousand zang, the peaks are covered in snow all year round, how will you get up there? All right, stop thinking about his kind of question.”

These rude and unreasonable words interrupted the Second Young Master’s dreams of soaring and ascension.

The successful test flight of the Mute Condors greatly boosted the morale of the army. Even Lu Xiang couldn’t hide his joy. He felt that after all, he was the commander of the garrison. If they won the battle, even if he didn’t get a first class merit, at least he could gently set aside the crimes of negligence and indulgence and then firmly slide a chair under his ass.

The army moved on.

Liu Xian’an also continued to lie lazily in the cart loaded with food and fodder. However, there were fewer and fewer soldiers who had time to listen to the heavenly dao, because war was about to break out and everyone was on edge. He yawned idly and was just about to go back to sleep when someone knocked outside the cart.

Liang Shu called: “Come out.”

Liu Xian’an emerged from the grain cart and was surprised to find that it was already dark.

He went with the flow and took Liang Shu’s outstretched hand, letting him pull him onto the horse’s back.

Liang Shu picked a few straws out of his hair, taking advantage of the situation to support the crooked body in his arms. The night he got down from the Mute Condor, he had a second dream, which was even more absurd and ludicrous than the previous one. This time, he finally saw that face clearly, and also saw how white that waist under his unyielding grip was, as white as snow and frost.

Battle was imminent, yet the carriage was undulating with passion. It was unreasonable no matter how he thought about it, even heretical. So in the past few days, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang didn’t look toward the rear of the army much, wanting to put a halt to the dreams. Yet as a result, he met a forty-eight thousand year-old Sleeping Immortal, who was like a heavy weight. If you didn’t look for him, he was liable to lie in a pile of fodder for an entire day. Liang Shu’s teeth itched along with his heart. At this moment, he dragged the man onto the horse and reprimanded him with displeasure: “Won’t you come find me and say two pleasant words?”

Liu Xian’an was very cooperative. Anyway, it was not tiring to say a few pleasant words, such as ‘every battle will be a triumph,’ ‘all attacks will succeed,’ ‘you will cut through like a sword through bamboo and win instant victory,’ ‘the flute plays plum blossom music, and the sword enlightens the ring of the moon.’[2] Have as many as you want.

Liang Shu: “……”

This was the first time in his life that he had anything to do with the desires of the world of mortals. He lacked experience, so his work was not very proficient, and he could only fumble along from time to time, vividly demonstrating one-sided enthusiasm. However, Liu Xian’an may have become close to Liang Shu recently, or maybe the dao was more open-minded and liberal, but in short, he had an infinitely tolerant attitude toward small actions such as tugging his hair and touching his arms. It just didn’t make any sense at all.

His Royal Highness Xiao Wang kept pondering which step he didn’t perform correctly, and how it could be completely different from the dream.

Liu Xian’an stretched vigorously, quietly gazing at the sky in the distance: “It’s going to be very windy tomorrow.”

“I will send some people to guard you,” Liang Shu said. “Would you like to stay behind or watch the Mute Condors attack the city?”

“Watch the Mute Condors.”

“Then you can only sleep for less than two hours. It will take some time to climb the mountain.” Liang Shu walked his horse slowly around the camp. Gao Lin was very surprised to see it. His prince was not sleeping in the middle of the night, why on earth was he riding a horse with Second Young Master Liu? He feared there would be some trouble again, so he rushed to find out what happened in person.

Liang Shu asked: “What, you want to hear it too?”

Gao Lin replied bluntly: “Ah, yes. I want to.”

Liang Shu sent Liu Xian’an to A-Ning’s side and rode his horse back to the campfire. Gao Lin promptly stepped forward and asked with concern: “Your Highness, what happened?”

Liang Shu said: “This lord had a dream a few days ago.”

Gao Lin’s attitude was very serious. En, a dream, what kind of dream, was it related to the battle, a good omen or a bad omen? He was dedicated to battle, pure as the driven snow, so he had no defenses at all, and was wholeheartedly invested. Then bam, bam, bam, his head was filled with unspeakable things in an almost head-on attack. When he was able to react, it was like five thunderbolts striking him on the spot.

“Liu, Liu, Liu, Second Young Master Liu?” Gao Lin’s tongue tied itself into a knot, and he swallowed hard.

Liang Shu glanced at him: “Is there a problem?”

There is a little bit of one, ba! Gao Lin’s entire person was going to rupture. It was inexplicable how these feelings came about. With Second Young Master Liu, disregarding whether a young master of Baihe Mountain Village could be married casually, even if he could be married, he was once the man in the eyes of the princess. Moreover, the emperor had always wanted the prince and Third Young Lady Liu to marry…..older sisters and younger brothers, older brothers and younger sisters, eight points of connection, could this relationship be more chaotic?

“Your Highness,” Gao Lin attempted to provide guidance, “Is there such a possibility that you were blinded in the dream, and it was actually the young lady of the Liu family?”

Liang Shu asked: “What, do you want me to describe the details to you?”

Gao Lin gasped and quickly refused. No need, this is not something a person of my status should hear!

Liang Shu was going to shamelessly ask his subordinate what he should do in this situation, but seeing as this person’s brain was not functioning well at this time, he felt that he wouldn’t be able to spit out anything worthwhile. With a wave of his hand, he mercilessly sent him away.

Lieutenant General Gao tossed and turned for most of the night, trying to parse out the cause and effects of the incident. He succeeded in tormenting himself to the point of dizziness, and when he went to the high cliff to supervise the battle the next day, his whole person was unsteady. He was the first victim of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s love affair.

Under the protection of a group of soldiers, Liu Xian’an climbed another, lower mountain. A-Ning wrapped a cloak around him and said: “The wind is getting stronger and stronger.”

“It’s strong, but not strong enough.” Liu Xian’an stuck a weathervane into the ground. “We’ll have to wait another quarter of an hour.”

From where he stood, he could see the Mute Condors led by Gao Lin up high, and on the other side of the canyon in a lower place, the army led by Liang Shu was slowly emerging on the horizon. Then it stopped neatly, just outside the arrow range of Qingyang City.

Dark clouds covered the bleak sun, and the wind made the entire mountain tremble.

A-Ning could only grab his young master’s sleeves to prevent the two from tumbling down, but Liu Xian’an didn’t pay it much mind, and only stared at the weathervane intently. It wasn’t until the small flag at the top seemed to be in a suspended state that he said: “Now!”

At the same time, Gao Lin also stood up by a weathervane and ordered loudly: “Let’s go!”

A hundred Mute Condors soared into the sky in an instant!

Liu Xian’an forgot to breathe. He calculated the time, counting the wind wings one by one, and it wasn’t until all the Mute Condors turned their steering wheels and returned to the previously set route that he breathed a sigh of relief.

Gao Lin was also one of those hundred people. He flew back and forth, but when he saw the Dayan army in the distance, he couldn’t help but think of his own prince’s obscene dream and couldn’t control his thoughts at all. It could be seen that he had been greatly injured.

And Qingyang City was already in chaos. The guards looked at the army soaring in the sky and shouted: “Shoot the arrows!”

It was no use, because Liu Xian’an had designed an additional set of light armor and a mask on the basis of the original Mute Condor, which could effectively guard against stray arrows. Gao Lin landed first and raised his hand to cut off the head of a rebel, three times, five times, and removed the wind wings: “Follow me!”

The sounds of killing shook the sky.

Catapults and hot oil were tossed off the tower, and there was no telling who set a fire in the panic. On the bluestone wall, a dazzling red waterfall appeared. Black clouds billowed and dark smoke covered everything. Screams accompanied by the clashing of swords echoed in the mountains for a long time.

A signal flare flew into the air.

Liang Shu drew his sword out of its sheath and commanded loudly: “Siege the city!”

[1] A zang (丈) is 3.3 meters. ⮐

[2] This is from ‘March in the Army’ by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. ⮐