CHAPTER 651: CHAPTER 108: OVERNIGHT STAY IN THE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE

Dawo Village, also known as Quarry Village.

The core village area, when converted using modern data, is but 15,000 square meters.

It is located in the southern part of the Empire, poor and backward. In earlier years, it was prosperous because the local area produced a kind of sturdy building stone.

Local stone mining once flourished for some time, but due to over-exploitation, the village gradually declined as there was no more stone to be mined.

The mountain road to the area was also submerged and collapsed by sudden flash floods and mudslides during the process of excessive mining, making it difficult to pass.

Luckily, there was a large Transmission Array used for transporting stones in earlier years, which prevented the mountain village from being completely abandoned.

Even so, all the young residents of the mountain village have moved away, and only the elderly remain living there.

If outsiders want to enter Dawo Village through other channels, they can only do so through flying creatures such as Flying Profound Beasts.

Thus, although it is only dozens of miles away from the Imperial City, Dawo Village is utterly dilapidated compared to the bustling Imperial City.

The reason the Southern Expedition Army arrived at Dawo Village was also because of that Transmission Array.

The route to Fandi Port stretches for tens of thousands of miles, and even the best-flying Sub-Asian Dragon cannot endure such a continuous flight.

Moreover, to conserve the strength of the Southern Expedition Army and the Profound Beasts to the greatest extent possible, it is necessary to make effective use of the Transmission Arrays along the way.

Before setting off, Long Jiuzun had already selected several large Transmission Arrays to serve as obligatory routes for transporting the Southern Expedition Army, with Dawo Village being the first stop.

Following an order from Long Jiuzun, the Southern Expedition Army descended rapidly.

A hundred or so people and hundreds of Profound Beasts made as much noise as a small earthquake, and upon hearing the commotion, the villagers poked their heads out one after another.

Seeing the Southern Expedition Army in Battle Armor descending like Heavenly Gods, along with a large group of various Profound Beasts, the villagers shrank back in fear, not daring to go outside.

Finally, it was Long Jiuzun who found the elderly village chief and explained their identity and intentions.

Upon learning that it was the Empire’s regular army, the village chief’s expression softened a bit. He bowed to Long Jiuzun, "Your Excellency, there is a Transmission Array in the village, but it has been inoperable for several months now, and the villagers have had to rely on wild vegetables and game for a living."

"Why was such important military intelligence not reported to the Ministry of Industry?" Long Jiuzun exclaimed in great fury upon hearing this.

If it was not possible to transfer through the local Transmission Array, an additional few hundred miles had to be flown to reach the next Transmission Array in the town county.

The Southern Expedition Army had descended at dusk when the western mountains were aglow with golden clouds, making it inconvenient to set off again.

The Ministry of Revenue within the Empire is responsible for managing the nation’s infrastructure, roads, Transmission Arrays, and yet the inoperability of Dawo Village’s Transmission Array for several months had gone unreported.

Startled by such a rebuke, the old village chief trembled uncontrollably and fell to his knees.

"Gramps, don’t kneel to these people. Why haven’t we reported it? Since the beginning of the year, when the Transmission Array stopped working, my dad tried every way to send the message out through travelers. Those people took my dad’s offer but never came back," blurted out a young lad from among the villagers, strong and robust, with a tiger-like appearance and a hunting fork on his back.

He was unafraid of Long Jiuzun, glaring fiercely as he helped the elder to his feet and spat at the Southern Expedition Army.

Yue Jinghua watched from the side, quietly sizing up the sturdy mountain village lad.

"Where did this bumpkin come from, daring to offend Young General Long," a few sycophantic sons of prominent families stepped forward, grabbed the lad, and prepared to give him a good thrashing.

Who knew that the boy was so strong and fierce? No sooner had a few of them surrounded him than he grabbed hold of a Southern Expedition Army soldier nearby, his eyes red with anger like an infuriated bull.

It was unclear if it was due to his astonishing brute strength, or the Southern Expedition Army soldier’s negligence, but he flung the man over his shoulder and slammed him to the ground before drawing a wood-cutting Sword from his waist. "Any of you dare to come closer, and I’ll chop this lad here," he threatened.

"You little punk, do you know who my father is..." The Southern Expedition Army soldier tried to act tough, but then saw the Woodcutter’s Sword in the hands of the young villager flash as it sliced through the air, and with a swipe, a rock the size of a bowl was cleanly split in two, the Sword remaining undamaged.

"Damn, I don’t care who your old man is, people in my village haven’t had a taste of meat in a month. Don’t believe me? I’ll swallow you whole," the young villager boasted with his bare strength that was jaw-dropping, like a wild tiger or leopard in the mountains, unstoppable.

Long Jiuzun’s face turned pale and then flushed as his heroic brows arched up.

A chuckle was heard as Cheng Ying emerged from the crowd. Walking gracefully forward, she reached into her clothing and pulled out a Purple Handkerchief, "Where did this greenhorn come from? You’re all sweaty, let me wipe that off for you."

The young villager had never seen a woman from the Imperial City, only to see a graceful beauty approaching him.

Looking at her Purple Handkerchief, he was captivated by her soft and boneless pale hands.

Beneath the Purple Handkerchief, a scent that was both fragrant and not wafted up to his face.

Before the young villager could react, he fell down with a thud, having passed out.

That Purple Handkerchief was smeared with a heavy dose of confusion powder, which would knock out even a large elephant.

"Thank you, Miss Cheng. That damned brat, daring to scheme against me," said the struggling noble’s scion, raising his foot to stomp on the unconscious villager.

"Enough," Yue Minzhi rushed up to hold back the noble’s scion, "Young General Long, first we must clarify, what exactly happened with the Transmission Array."

In the newly promoted Dragon Riders, Yue Minzhi had become the leader among the dozens of Dragon Riders, as he was a once-in-a-century Double Dragon Knight, and Ji Yun among others held a fearful respect toward Yue Jinghua, creating an unspoken hierarchy.

Within the Southern Expedition Army, two factions had emerged: one was comprised of the Dragon Riders, and the other was led by Long Jiuzun, consisting of the noble dandies.

Although Long Jiuzun was displeased, scanning the Five-Colored Jiao Dragon standing behind Yue Minzhi and then looking at the surrounding villagers begging pitifully, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

The sun had indeed sunk low, and since they needed to rest in the village today, Long Jiuzun could only nod in agreement.

To prevent the villager from causing a disturbance upon waking, everyone tied him up.

Seeing that the Southern Expedition Army did not blame them, the old village chief finally relaxed.

Yue Minzhi and the others then invited the old village chief and inquired about the damages to the Transmission Array.

The old village chief shook his head; knowing that it was futile to elaborate, he led Long Jiuzun and Yue Minzhi directly to the location of the Transmission Array.

Seeing that the others had walked away, Yue Jinghua sneaked over to where the villager was detained. As she was about to step into the hut, Cheng Ying also showed up unexpectedly.

"I knew you’d come looking for this villager," said Cheng Ying with a teasing look as she took out a vial of smelling salts from her bosom, reviving the boy.

Whether acknowledged or not, Yue Jinghua’s and Zong Shaoqing’s dissenting posture had been waning, and the closer they got to the Di Gang Plateau, the more they could sense the land’s frailty.

They were like a group of civil servants, timid and shying away from Yue Jinghua who led the martial hall, behaving effeminately and awkwardly.

The guerrilla units did not acknowledge the delicate guests from the Imperial City, waiting instead for the seasoned Imperial Dragon Cavalry Group. Little did they know, they had sent a bunch of neophytes instead.