The soldiers packed up their tents and set off. Initially, Ren Baqian was still thinking over how he should persuade Ning Caichen to stay behind. After all, the situation in Tianjing Basin should be kept a secret during this short period of time. Ren Baqian wasn't going to place any hope on the other party keeping this situation confidential.

It turned out that not only did Ning Caichen not leave after taking the stun batons, he also did not have the intention of leaving.

"You are preparing to stay here?" Ren Baqian casually asked.

Ning Caichen swayed his body and asked flirtatiously, "Where else can I go when I'm in such a state? Why doesn't Sir Ren take care of me?"

Not to mention, his small b.u.t.tocks were so coquettish that even Ren Baqian had the urge to pinch them.

"Amitabha!" Ren Baqian's expression was solemn.

However, it was a fact that Ning Caichen wouldn't be able to return to his family.

Ren Baqian felt that if his son became like this… He would kill him with his own hands.

Although the situation of gender ident.i.ty disorder actually existed and a modern person like Ren Baqian would be able to understand, he could only be understanding if it happened to the son of another family. It would be absolutely incomprehensible if it happened to his own son, let alone such a thing happening in this other world.

Furthermore, although the both of them had friendly relations with each other, Ren Baqian didn't think that Ning Caichen would help him to keep his secret. It was the optimal scenario for Ning Caichen to stay behind on his own accord.

"If there isn't a place for you to go, it just so happens that I still lack the manpower to do things. Brother Ning, what do you think?" Ren Baqian pondered for a while before speaking. This Ning Caichen knew a lot about Great Xia and was well informed as well. A person like him would be beneficial.

"In that case, I will belong to Sir Ren, right?" Ning Caichen smiled provocatively.

Pow!

Ning Caichen flew away.

The empress's gaze was fixed on Ning Caichen as she left Ren Baqian's side without even taking a glance at Ren Baqian.

Ren Baqian grimaced. He felt that there was something weird about the empress's whereabouts. It seemed as if she was everywhere and had countless of clones.

Moreover, the empress's overprotectiveness was growing more serious.

Even so, he still felt a tinge of sweetness in his heart. After all, she only behaved like this because he had a considerably important position in her heart.

"My teenage heart… is going to be melted by Your Majesty!" Ren Baqian clutched his chest and exclaimed.

After that, he was kicked by the empress from behind and fell to the ground.

They rode on fork-horned cows and climbed over the rocky kills. A few miles ahead, farmland welcomed them. There was also a river that was more than 100 meters wide right behind that stretch of farmland.

After crossing the river, they would arrive at a large plain with neat farmland everywhere. It was a sight that was full of vitality.

Under the sun, it was just like a beautiful pastoral scene.

A few kilometers past the river, there was a hill that wasn't considered big and troops that were getting into formation. Countless flags were also waving in the wind.

Ren Baqian already knew about these enemy forces. After all, they had been entrenched here for two days and were even in an attacking stance.

"They want to obstruct us with just these few people?" Xi Wanya spoke in a tone that despised the other party.

"Your Majesty, the winged cavalry requests for your permission to attack so as to destroy those rebels and bring glory to Dayao's army," Gong Zheng said, asking for the empress's permission.

"Permission granted! Xi Wanya, dispatch someone to attack in concert with the winged cavalry," the empress said cooly.

"Yes!" The two of them went to prepare in high spirits.

Just when Ren Baqian arrived at the plain at the bottom of the mountain, a baihu came forward and reported, "Sir, the current water level has decreased significantly compared to the last time I was here."

"Oh?" Ren Baqian glanced at this baihu who had fled from the south. His surname should be Qiao. If it was only the water level that had dropped, he wouldn't have come all the way to report this. Perhaps he had discovered something fishy about this matter.

"How much has it decreased by?" Ren Baqian asked.

"At least a meter! Even some shallow parts of the river bed on both sides of the river have been exposed," he said in a deep voice.

Immediately, Ren Baqian went into deep thought.

Although he didn't know much, he knew that the water level had fallen by one meter within a month. He was afraid that something was amiss.

If this was a small river, it would be easy to deal with. However, this river was at least 100 meters wide. A river with such a wide surface would certainly contain a large amount of water. For the water level to decrease by about one meter, this meant that a significant amount of water had disappeared.

"Sir, your subordinate has also previously thought about this. My guess is that since it rained so rarely over the past few days, perhaps this is the cause of the drop in the water level," another baihu chimed in with a smile on his face. This baihu's surname was Xu, and he was also from the south.

"Oh?" Ren Baqian responded faintly, then asked the first baihu who had reported, "What do you think the reason is?"

"I don't know. What Baihu Xu said is possible, but the water level has decreased so much, and it's a little strange," the other baihu said softly. "Maybe Sir Ren can send someone upstream to have a look?"

"Not bad!" Ren Baqian nodded and then casually shouted, "Guards!"

"Sir!" There were two guards by his side, and in no time, they took two steps forward.

"Arrest him!" Ren Baqian pointed to the baihu, whose surname was Xu.

"Sir!" That baihu's face turned pale.

"If I said something that shouldn't be said, please forgive me, Sir!" The baihu didn't dare to resist and was arrested by those two guards. They brought him to right in front of Ren Baqian. He was in extreme distress.

"I heard that when we go out to the sea, we have to wors.h.i.+p the Sea G.o.d. Likewise, we have to wors.h.i.+p the River G.o.d too. If nothing bad happens, you will be fine. If something unfortunate happens, chop him up, and wors.h.i.+p the River G.o.d!" Ren Baqian said bluntly.

That baihu's face instantly turned black.

"Sir, those were unintentional words!"

"Don't be nervous. If nothing happens, you will naturally be fine." Ren Baqian flashed his good-natured smile. "Unless you think that there will be an accident?"

A few of the other baihu in the surroundings heard what Ren Baqian said and became startled.

"Take him down and watch over him. If he escapes, we'll use the two of you to wors.h.i.+p the River G.o.d!" Ren Baqian instructed the guards to take that baihu away and went to meet the empress.

"Your Majesty, get General Xi and Captain Gong to hold their horses. Let's go up front to take a look first."

"What did you discover?"

"A little conjecture! I will still need to see it with my own eyes."

"Alright!" For Ren Baqian to say such words, the empress was certain that Ren Baqian had discovered something.

A short while later, she called for Xi Wanya, Zong Sheng, and Gong Zheng before heading to the riverbank.

Ren Baqian stood at the bank of the river and immediately saw what he wanted to see.

"Your Majesty, Protector General Xi, a.s.sistant Protector General Zong, and Captain Gong, take a look. The riverbank was originally in the vicinity here, and there are traces of it now. Moreover, it's only here, which indicates that the water level of this river has always been very stable.

Yet, at this time, the water level has fallen to there, which is less than one meter."

"What did you discover?" The empress instantly shot him a question.

Ren Baqian pointed at the remains of a bridge on the opposite bank of the river, "Originally, there was a bridge there. The purpose of the other party destroying that bridge wasn't because they wanted to stop us from crossing the river. Instead, they want us to build wooden boats and sail over.

If the other party built a dam to hold back the water in advance, then when we cross the river, they will break the dam, let the water flood out, and our troops will naturally suffer heavy losses. Your Majesty, send someone upstream to scout, and we'll find out."

"What Sir Ren said makes sense," Gong Zheng replied on the spot. After that, he smiled and continued, "Still, that mastermind actually underestimates my winged cavalry. Do we even need to build wooden boats to cross this river? As long as we throw tree trunks into the river, our winged cavalry would be able to cross it."

"After that, would the winged cavalry attack the enemy on their own? There are now only about 700 winged cavalry warriors left, and it would be disastrous if they continue to suffer losses," Ren Baqian responded. Presently, the remaining number of winged cavalry warriors had reached an alarming figure. If they were to lose another portion of them, it was as good as losing the next half of the war.

"Gong Zheng, send someone upstream immediately to check!" the empress ordered.

…

At this time, on the hill across the river, a young man was looking at the troops that were already prepared to attack at any time. However, the young man actually stopped them. Subsequently, he divided dozens of mounted soldiers into different squads and instructed them to dash upstream.

"Those barbarians found out? It seems like they are much smarter than what I had expected! Yet, that's all there is to it."

The barbarians all thought that the other party wanted to break the dam while they were crossing the river.

In fact, according to the rebel's plans, even the two sides of the river would be swept away, including the current position of the aboriginals.

Unless all of you return to the mountain now, you guys will not be able to escape when you discover the raging river!

Even if I can't completely get rid of your soldiers, at the very least, I must make you lose half of them!

After destroying half of your troops as well as your army provisions, I shall see how all of you continue to fight this battle!

With a faint smile on his face, the young man gestured. The person next to him opened a bag, and a multi-colored bird that was around the length of a finger flew in a circle before heading upstream.