Chapter 316: Whimper, Whimper

The people of Yan had a very long tradition of raising Pixiu. According to legend, when the ancestor of the Ji Clan received the Great Xia Son of Heaven’s command to defend the north, he had ridden a Pixiu into battle.

Because of that, the Pixiu had always been a spiritual totem of the Yan people and was revered as a divine beast that protected the state. Possessing a Pi Beast was itself a symbol of status and rank.

Take note: a Pi Beast, not a true Pixiu.

A Pi Beast was a lesser breed carrying a trace of Pixiu blood. When Zheng Fan had first awakened in this world, one of the first things he saw was Xu Fatty riding past him on a Pi Beast. That had opened an entirely new door in his understanding of this world.

Xu Fatty’s Pi Beast looked fairly similar to a warhorse, except it had scales and horns, and its endurance was a level above an ordinary horse’s. Otherwise, how could it possibly carry Xu Fatty?

Even that kind of Pi Beast was extremely precious and notoriously difficult to raise.

Only truly high-ranking officials were eligible to receive one as an imperial reward. Among military officers, one generally had to reach the level of Chief Commander; among civil officials, one had to be a regional dignitary on the level of a Pacification Commissioner.

A genuine Pixiu was worth far more still.

As far as Zheng Fan knew, only a handful of people in the whole of Great Yan possessed true Pixiu. The Marquis of Zhenbei and Marquis of Jingnan each had one, and the First Prince had one. Perhaps a few others did as well, but the total number was unquestionably tiny.

Even Li Fusheng’s mount, strictly speaking, was not a Pixiu but a Pi Beast.

If the Pixiu bloodline were easy to breed and raise, then Great Yan could simply replace the mounts of its iron cavalry with Pi Beasts and charge. At that point, there really would not be much need to fight battles at all.

In fact, the State of Yan did not possess a single cavalry formation, not even a small one, mounted entirely on Pi Beasts. That alone showed how rare they were.

Still, given the Marquis of Jingnan’s current standing, asking the imperial court to obtain one for Zheng Fan was hardly difficult. As long as the court still possessed one, it would certainly be handed over. It did not matter who had previously been promised the beast. Right now, a single word from the Marquis of Jingnan outweighed any prior arrangement.

This was an enormous courtesy and an extraordinary favor. More importantly, in the eyes of the true great figures and anyone paying close attention, everyone knew who was raising the Young Marquis of the Marquis of Jingnan’s Residence.

Once this Pixiu was bestowed upon Zheng Fan, it completely nailed down the relationship between Zheng Fan and the Marquis of Jingnan’s Residence.

There would no longer be even the slightest room for ambiguity.

Truthfully, even a so-called Pixiu was still enormously different from the divine beasts of myth that could summon wind and rain at will. One could even say they were practically different species altogether.

But those were minor details. Zheng Fan would already have been perfectly satisfied with a Pi Beast as a mount. Receiving a true Pixiu instead was an entirely unexpected delight.

More importantly, the Demon Kings beneath him possessed quite the variety of bloodlines themselves. If he handed this Pixiu over to them to raise, who knew whether they might find some way to stimulate its bloodline and push it another step higher?

A man should always have dreams.

What if one actually came true?

When Zheng Fan finally saw the Pixiu, he was briefly stunned.

It was not especially large, roughly the same size as a warhorse. When it was led out, its eyes carried an unmistakable look of impatience.

That emotion was strikingly human.

Its fur was silver, with a single horn rising from its head. Beneath the fur, its hide was exceptionally tough, and its paws were broad and thick.

When Zheng Fan reached out to touch it, the Pixiu made as though to open its mouth and bite his hand.

Zheng Fan did not withdraw.

He simply continued lowering his hand.

Seeing that Zheng Fan had not been frightened, the Pixiu silently closed its eyes and allowed him to touch it.

The First Prince had already explained on the road that Pi Beasts and Pixiu were given a basic degree of training before ever being released from their enclosures.

As long as you did not deliberately provoke them, they would not casually attack people.

After all, it would be rather amusing if the Yan imperial house rewarded someone with a ferocious Pixiu only for the beast to immediately chew its new owner to death.

The First Prince had also warned Zheng Fan that Pixiu were naturally proud. If he wanted to become the beast’s master, he could not reveal fear in front of it.

Its fur was not soft. Touching it felt nothing like petting a dog or cat. It was rather rough against the hand, so absentmindedly stroking it for fun was probably out of the question.

The First Prince took a chain from one of the handlers, looped it around the Pixiu’s neck, and helped lead it outside with Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan rode a horse. The First Prince rode his own Pixiu. Behind them, they led the second Pixiu, which now belonged to Zheng Fan. Two men and three mounts returned to the Shengle Army camp just after daybreak.

Fan Li was waiting outside the camp gates. He had been responsible for the night patrol.

When he saw Zheng Fan and the First Prince returning together, he shouted loudly into the camp:

“Master’s back! And he brought two of them back with him!”

“...”

The First Prince.

Zheng Fan had no choice but to turn toward the First Prince apologetically.

“This is one of the fierce generals under my command. He fights fiercely, but when he was little, a fever burned his brains a bit, so he can be rather... fierce in ordinary life too. Your Highness need not take offense.”

“General Zheng is too serious. This warrior has an imposing build. He truly has the bearing of a fierce general. May I ask his name?”

“Oh. He’s Fan Li.”

“Fan Li? Truly, one must never judge a man by appearances.”

“Hm?”

“I have heard that General Zheng has a brilliant strategist beneath him named Fan Li. Seeing him today, his bearing is indeed extraordinary.”

“...”

Zheng Fan.

The Shengle Army made extremely proper arrangements for the two “things” General Zheng had brought back.

First, Zheng Fan directly assigned the First Prince to Jin Shuke’s unit. On paper, the First Prince would serve as a Lieutenant Commander under Jin Shuke.

There were two reasons for that.

First, Zheng Fan could not possibly allow the First Prince to keep wandering around beside him. The man’s status was simply too unusual. Keeping him farther from the commander’s tent was safer. Zheng Fan had worked too hard to build this army; it had to listen to him and him alone. He was not about to allow anyone else to interfere.

Second, Jin Shuke already had successful experience ingratiating himself with the Sword Saint. Zheng Fan figured that if he handed the First Prince over to him, Jin Shuke should also be capable of making this honored guest feel thoroughly “at home.”

As for Zheng Fan’s Pixiu, the soldiers set aside a separate enclosure and built a small fence around it.

The soldiers from the Jin lands had seen plenty in their lives. The Tianduan Mountains were rich in strange beasts, so none of them found this especially shocking. They simply assumed General Zheng had brought back some unique Yan beast.

Besides, Zheng Fan’s Pixiu had only just reached adulthood. Its frame did not yet seem fully grown. Compared with the mounts of the Marquis of Zhenbei, Marquis of Jingnan, or even the First Prince, it looked slightly “pocket-sized.”

Zheng Fan and the Demon Kings present, on the other hand, were extremely excited. They gathered around the enclosure and stared at the Pixiu lying inside, trying to rest.

“Master, let’s make one thing clear first,” Xue San immediately warned him. “This time you are absolutely not allowed to name it casually.”

The Marquis of Jingnan’s son had been named Tian Tian by Zheng Fan. How could anyone be that careless?

Such a fine creature was sitting in front of them now. If Zheng Fan casually slapped another random name onto it, would that not be a complete waste?

“Fine. You lot name it.”

Zheng Fan did not care much either way.

“Then what should we call it?” Xue San began to ponder.

At that moment, the Pixiu apparently grew irritated at being stared at like a pet dog by the entire group.

It stood, raised its neck, and roared directly at Liang Cheng, who happened to be closest.

“ROAR!”

Liang Cheng’s expression did not change.

He opened his mouth.

Two fangs emerged.

His eyes turned green.

“ROAR!”

“...”

The Pixiu.

The Pixiu blinked.

Then it took several steps backward.

Apparently, it had been frightened.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Be good, little darling,” A’Ming said, in the tone one might use to tease a dog.

The Pixiu possessed considerable intelligence. It could clearly sense the contempt in A’Ming’s voice.

It immediately turned its head, opened its mouth wide, and roared at him.

“ROAR!”

A faint smile appeared at the corner of A’Ming’s mouth.

His face began to pale.

His entire presence turned strange and inhuman, blood-red pupils spreading through his eyes.

Then he opened his mouth and released a piercing shriek.

“...”

The Pixiu.

This was a Pixiu that had been raised in captivity and had only just reached adulthood.

It had never gone to war.

It had never had a first owner.

In other words, it had never seen the world.

And in the space of a few breaths, it had been frightened twice.

It suddenly felt that this place was extremely dangerous.

Dangerous enough to make it profoundly uneasy.

It slowly backed away until it reached Xue San.

Xue San immediately crouched down, bracing himself on three limbs, tilted his head, and studied it.

“How do you tell whether a Pixiu is male or female?”

The Pixiu abruptly felt a chill beneath its body.

All four paws scrambled against the ground as it hurried away from Xue San.

Then it began backing toward Fan Li.

Fan Li was vigorously rubbing his face.

He seemed to be preparing himself for something.

Then he opened his mouth, beat both fists against his chest, and unleashed a rapid series of deep roars.

“ROAR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!”

The roars came like a string of firecrackers.

Fan Li possessed “barbarian” blood.

The “barbarian” blood here did not refer to the desert barbarians of this world, but to the race setting from the old game.

And in that game setting, those “barbarians” had lived by eating the flesh and blood of strange beasts.

The Pixiu was frightened yet again.

It went completely frantic, racing in circles around the inside of the enclosure.

Anyone watching could feel its despair.

How had the world suddenly become this terrifying?

After all, the poor thing was nothing more than a fresh “graduate” entering society for the first time.

Who could have expected it to receive a vicious beating from several Demon Kings the moment it started its career?

“All right. Stop frightening it. It only needs to learn the rules.”

Zheng Fan finally spoke.

“We’re in the middle of a war. We’ll be setting out in three days, so I’m not taking this Pixiu with us for now. Leave a small force here to guard it.

“Once this battle is over, you lot can study it properly and see if there’s any way to strengthen its bloodline further.

“And San—don’t start randomly feeding it blood. If you feed it to death, I’m holding you responsible.

“That applies to the rest of you too. Stop casually giving away your own blood.”

The Pixiu finally noticed its “master.”

Suddenly, it realized that among everyone present, this man seemed to possess the most normal aura.

And in an environment like this, a normal person somehow felt incredibly kind and reassuring.

It walked over to Zheng Fan on its own.

From its throat came a soft, aggrieved whimper.

“Whimper... whimper...”

Then it rubbed the front of its muzzle against Zheng Fan’s chest.

Zheng Fan was extremely satisfied by the gesture.

He reached out and patted the Pixiu on the head.

“Mm. Good.”

“Whimper... whimper...”

[End of Chapter 316]