“My lord, why don’t we also give it a try—first capture the monster, transport it back to our home, and release it at Yushan. What do you think of this idea? This subordinate and you have even caught whales in the Eastern Sea. Such a monster shouldn’t be difficult to catch, right?” Liu Jinbao stared mesmerized at the monster frolicking in the distance and said thoughtfully to Yun Ye.

“Nonsense. The Daoist sect doesn’t regard human life as important, but our family can’t do that. We have thirty-some people—we can’t afford to lose even one. Who has time to waste their life on one thing? Dying for the country is unavoidable—our family is a military household, we eat this blade’s rice. Dying in battle on the battlefield then being wrapped in horsehide to return home is glorious. Losing one’s life for selfish gain is very unworthy.”

Wu She drank wine despondently. Glancing at the monster, he said to Yun Ye: “It’s really boring. Let’s go back.”

Wanting to appreciate the lake scenery—there were monsters inside. Wanting to see the snow mountains—there were worms there. Speaking a bit loudly would even get one struck by lightning. It was indeed very uninteresting. With a shout, Yun Ye prepared to descend the mountain.

The three old Daoists were very petty, moving stones to block the cave. They didn’t know how they managed to move millstone-sized boulders over. They also very much agreed with descending the mountain and going home, only insisting on staying behind to guard the rear.

Passing through the wild men’s territory, Yun Ye’s perfume was equally effective. Taking advantage of the large wild men all going to the valley bottom, Liu Jinbao chased away several teeth-baring little wild men and drilled into the wild men’s cave to search for treasures. The result was returning empty-handed. Inside were only a few little wild men hugging their heads and nothing else. This made him very angry. He kicked the little wild men until they squealed chaotically, only then running swiftly out of the cave, because the veteran soldiers standing guard outside had already issued a warning—the large wild men were rapidly climbing upward.

The group took to their heels and ran. For some unknown reason, those wild men just wouldn’t go to the grassland ahead. Standing at the mountain pass, they threw a few stones and went back. Yun Ye estimated that because they had long stayed in darkness, their eyes had already degenerated and couldn’t withstand the strong light on the sunny side.

Butterfly corpses were everywhere, fallen on the green grass like blooming flowers. Only as everyone’s feet swayed the grass, these flowers would fall to the ground one after another.

Yuan Shoucheng was so heartbroken he was about to shed tears. He firmly believed these butterflies were also the Daoist sect’s wealth. How could they just die so easily? Holding a large butterfly’s corpse in his hands, it was as if he were mourning over a severed head.

“Don’t be sad. According to the Academy’s research, these butterflies all died naturally. When we came, they were hanging on trees mating. I disturbed them with a barrage of pebbles, then they flew up regardless of their exhaustion. The final result was being worked to death. Don’t feel sad—they’ve already completed the meaning of their lives. Having finished mating, what else would they do but die?”

“You clearly knew this would be the result yet deliberately used stones to disturb these living creatures. Tingyu, record this: from now on, when passing through this grassland, prohibit anyone from disturbing the butterflies. Violators will have their hands chopped off!” Yuan Shoucheng pointed at Yun Ye with his finger in sorrow and indignation, then issued a very stern order.

Yun Ye shrugged his shoulders. Without a care in the world, he hung his body on Liu Jinbao’s shoulder. The two of them laughed and joked. Turning from the sunny side to the shady side was like returning from spring to the depths of winter. Here it was still bitterly cold. Everyone put on fur coats, preparing to descend to where the scorpions hibernated to rest for a night, and incidentally to chop some wood to make ice sleds. Such a long stretch of glacier—not riding ice sleds and walking on their own would be too unprofitable.

The snow mountain was far from here. No need to worry about snow dragons charging over. The veteran soldiers quickly made an ice sled for everyone. To reduce friction, Yun Ye specifically tied two sections of wire to his ice sled. With the wire, his sled was much lighter and faster than others’ sleds in any case.

After sleeping well for one night, everyone raised their heads to look at the sky. Only when those great eagles appeared in the sky were they safe. Only at this time did the snow dragons not dare come out.

A loud eagle’s cry echoed in the mountain valley. Yun Ye just couldn’t understand why this overlord of the sky had to make this cry. To demonstrate its royal status, did it have to scare away all its food?

With this cry, all the marmots drilled into their holes. The snow dragons probably also buried their bodies in snow piles. Only a few snow sparrows, knowing the eagles looked down on their meager meat, still searched for grass seeds in the snow.

This kind of stupid thing—Yun Ye remembered Li Er had also done it. Everyone said that striking unexpectedly was the essence of military strategy. After Gaochang King Ju Wentai spoke treasonous words, Li Er actually clearly stated in the imperial edict to Ju Wentai that next year he would dispatch a great army to punish him. He plainly and clearly told Ju Wentai his intentions, and as a result was thoroughly mocked by Ju Wentai.

However, Li Er was much more powerful than this eagle. When the great army advanced to Zikou, Gaochang King Ju Wentai was literally scared to death. Who knew who this eagle would scare to death.

This cry was the signal to set out. Yun Ye put on dark glasses, wrapped his fur coat tightly, pushed off the ice surface with both hand picks, and slid out. The gentle slope was precisely a good place for skating. In no time, Yun Ye’s speed was swift as a meteor, leaving everyone far behind. Liu Jinbao had a rope around his waist tying him to Yun Ye. This rope immediately stretched taut. Liu Jinbao could run swiftly with almost no effort.

Yun Ye paid no attention whatsoever to Liu Jinbao and Wu She’s shouting behind him. He only felt that sliding now was extremely exhilarating. Since coming to the Great Tang, it had been a long time since he felt this carefree.

No matter how hard Wu She, the veteran soldiers, and Yuan Shoucheng and his group used their hand picks to accelerate, they couldn’t catch up to Yun Ye. This was the difference displayed by different tools.

Too exhilarating! The cliffs on both sides swiftly retreated backward. The wind whooshed in his ears. Encountering some smaller ice crevices, there was no need to stop at all—the ice sled could fly over them on its own. As for those very large fissures, prominent markers had already been made when ascending the mountain. Seeing the markers and avoiding them was enough.

Yun Ye very much wanted to loosen the rope at his waist to let his speed increase even more. He even wanted to fly.

Sure enough, his wish came true. Yun Ye suddenly discovered he really had taken flight. But what were those people behind him shouting?

When the ice sled dropped to the ground, he was certain he had already flown. It seemed someone was carrying him in flight. Looking down at the shadow on the ice surface, he got a fright—an eagle had grabbed onto his backpack and was flying along the glacier valley. Two massive wings stirred up countless snow particles. Yun Ye even saw two snow dragons swiftly drill into the depths of snow piles.

This wouldn’t do! For the dignified Grand General to feed an eagle would be losing tremendous face. Fortunately, his body weight plus the backpack’s weight meant the eagle couldn’t fly high. He took out silk thread from his jacket pocket, bound it backward around the eagle’s talons, and tied the other end firmly to the rope at his waist. If they were to die, they should die together. Let’s see how you survive with both talons bound together.

Yun Ye felt the rope at his waist forcefully pulling him downward. He was extremely terrified. These brainless people—this old master was currently flying at a speed approaching one hundred miles per hour. If pulled down, even without being eaten by the eagle, he’d be smashed into pulp.

A crossbow bolt drilled into the eagle’s wing root. At this time, only Wu She would dare use this method. The eagle’s body tilted. It released its talons. With a wretched cry, Yun Ye fell. Falling halfway, he was forcefully caught by the silk thread. That eagle let out an extremely shrill cry. Even if its two talons weren’t severed by the silk thread, it was close.

The eagle wanted to gain altitude, but the several people below were forcefully pulling downward. The two sides in stalemate, Yun Ye was forcefully suspended in midair. Taking advantage of the eagle fleeing for its life, Yun Ye loosened the rope at his waist. With a splat, he heavily smashed onto the ice surface. His entire body felt as if it had been shaken apart. Liu Jinbao swiftly rushed over and pressed down hard on Yun Ye’s body, fearing the eagle would attack his lordship once more.

Over a dozen veteran soldiers also rushed over, surrounding his lordship. Only then did Liu Jinbao slowly get up. At this time, Yun Ye only had half a life left. Falling onto the ice surface from over a zhang high, he hadn’t caught his breath back yet. Then being heavily pressed on by a strong man—if the time had been any longer, this life would have been gone.

With great difficulty, like a drowning person surfacing, he drew in a breath. Only then did he truly come back to life. Originally wanting to discipline Liu Jinbao at the first opportunity, seeing this fellow had already cried beyond recognition, he couldn’t bear to discipline him. He could only vent his anger on the eagle.

“Capture this fellow! Tonight we’ll use it to stew soup!”

The eagle ultimately still landed. Just now it had cried out, probably summoning companions. Sure enough, seven or eight eagles all dove downward. Wu She had one foot stepping on that eagle’s neck. Yuan Shoucheng was winding silk thread around the eagle’s feet. The rest of the veteran soldiers activated the mechanisms. Of those eagles diving down, two more fell. The remaining eagles flew away in panic, wailing and flapping their wings.

Yun Ye was delighted. He had always wanted to catch two great eagles. Who would have thought it would be realized now? Taking a little risk wasn’t a big deal. Seeing the veteran soldiers also capturing the other two eagles, Yun Ye was so happy he nearly jumped up.

“Treat their injuries, hurry! They absolutely mustn’t die—they’re all treasures! Liu Jinbao, get the wound medicine from my backpack. Remember to disinfect first. When removing the arrows, take off the barbs.”

At this time, Yun Ye no longer spoke of using eagles to stew soup. The eagle that grabbed him was very large, a full times larger than those two injured eagles. It seemed those two were still young eagles. This was simply an unexpected delight.

The veteran soldiers were all experts at treating wounds. Smelling the wound medicine Liu Jinbao brought over, they praised it as good medicine, then carefully dressed the wounds of the three eagles.

The injuries weren’t serious. Bird feathers actually had very good arrow-blocking ability. Pulling out the arrowheads and wrapping them with wound medicine, this largest eagle began struggling. Both talons had already been skinned of a layer. The silk thread was deeply embedded in white bone. No matter how it struggled, it was all in vain.

Yun Ye came before the eagle, beaming as he threw dried meat in front of its beak, seeing if he could bribe it a bit to make it follow him in the future. This eagle showed no appreciation whatsoever. The wind stirred up by its flapping wings almost made it impossible to open one’s eyes.

The rope Liu Jinbao was gripping loosened slightly, and the eagle charged out headfirst. Who knew if it was an accident or if it wanted to commit suicide—its head heavily struck the rock. After twitching a few times, only its wings were still fluttering.

Wu She looked at the twisted eagle neck and sighed: “It’s dead!”