Chapter 409: You Should Have Dreams
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Little chap, I have already left. Come and wait for me at the Imperial City.
Xu Que knew that these words had been left for him by the Water Empress. She was the only person in the Cultivation World who would call him 'little chap'!
"Well, really! She's still calling me little chap… she knows nothing about being respectful. Next time I see her, I shall teach her a lesson. Ha…" Xu Que murmured under his breath.
He had finally made it to the Snow Mountain and entered the Holy Ground. But both the Water Empress and the Ice Queen had already left. What a shame!
"The Water Empress has left some words for you!" Situ exclaimed, seeing the words on the ground. "Who is this 'little chap'? Is the Water Empress implying something?"
"I have no idea who this was written for either." Xu Que pretended to be confused. He would not let anyone else know about the Water Empress calling him 'little chap'. He would become a laughing stock.
Little chap? Seriously? I am a big guy and I have a big penis!
"Situ, now we know that the Water Empress has left this place safely. We must go down the mountain and to the Imperial City," Xu Que said seriously to Situ.
Situ nodded. "Right. Her Highness has said that she will be in the Imperial City in five days' time. We can take a rest for a day or two. After that, we will depart."
"What? You want to take a rest? No, we cannot, we do not have enough time!" Xu Que said, waving his hands.
"Hero Zhuge, there is a transportation array in the Snow City. It can send us directly to a city very close to the Imperial City. From there, it will only take us less than a day to arrive at the Imperial City," Situ said.
"That's not what I mean. What I want to say is that we should lead our soldiers in a march toward to the Imperial City. We should take back all the lost cities along the road within the five days. Hopefully we can aim to reclaim two cities per day," Xu Que said.
"What?" Situ was stunned.
Taking two cities back a day, to reclaim the whole Water Nation in five days? Are you joking? The Ice Queen spent almost ten days bribing all the nobles. She also had a very powerful army with her. And you want to take the city back within five days with just a few thousand soldiers?
Situ shook her head and said, "Hero Zhuge, you are joking right? With the number of soldiers we have and your help, it would already be a miracle if we managed to take back one city in five days…"
Yes, it was true that they had only a few thousand soldiers. If it had not been for the restrictions on True Core Strength and Xu Que's amazing inventions, they would never have managed to defeat the fifty thousand soldiers of the Ice Troops.
The restrictions had negated the effect of all the soldiers' True Core Strength—however, Xu Que had helped all the Snow City soldiers regain their strength with his ice lollies. Furthermore, the Kongming Lanterns and the Zhuge Repeating Crossbows had been vital tools. Without all these things, it would have been impossible for them to defeat the soldiers of the Ice Troops.
Throughout the rest of Water Nation and within the other lost cities, there would be no restrictions on True Core Strength. The soldiers of both sides would be able to use magic inscriptions to heal their wounds. Additionally, all the cities were under the protection of the Protection Array.
Situ would not possibly be able to lead the soldiers and take all the lost cities back… without Xu Que's leadership, at least.
But even with Xu Que's help, Situ thought that taking back one city would already be an extremely difficult thing to do.
"Situ, you should change your way of thinking. As a person, you should have dreams. A man without dreams is like a dead fish," Xu Que said.
Situ laughed. "Hero Zhuge, I just feel like we should not rush to take our lost cities back. Let's just focus on one city first and take it back within five days. I think the Water Empress would definitely be happy with that."
"Situ…" Xu Que said.
"Hero Zhuge, I believe that you are powerful! But as the General, I have to be responsible for my city and my soldiers."
Hearing this, Xu Que felt rather sad. In reality, he would totally be able to take back all of Water Nation by himself.
But if he wanted to take all the other lost cities back too, he would need at least a few thousand soldiers to help him. He wanted to present them as a big surprise to the Water Empress when she came back.
When he had been in the Tower of Souls, he had done many things to please the Water Empress, but the Water Empress had not shown him any appreciation.
That was why he was so eager to take all the lost cities back within five days. He wanted to please the Water Empress again.
But he had never thought that Situ would be so stubborn!
Xu Que then said, "Situ, you stay in the Snow City. I will take a few thousand soldiers with me to take a city back. If I fail to do that within a day, I will immediately come back to Snow City. Do you agree?"
Situ thought carefully and said, "How many people do you need?"
"Around three thousand. Do not mind the food and medicines, I have got enough for them," Xu Que said.
"Deal!" said Situ.
After all, he has said that he will come back if he fails to take a city back within a day.
But Situ had no idea that Xu Que was famous for breaking his own promises…
In fact, he had already decided that he would take all the lost cities back along the road to the Imperial City…
Soon, Xu Que and Situ went back down the mountain with the remaining soldiers of the Snow City.
That night, they held a party to celebrate their victory.
To Xu Que's surprise, Buttface had already sneaked into the city. He had shamelessly said that he had also made huge contributions to this battle, and that he deserved to be treated with delicious food.
The people in the city had known about Buttface, so they had all given food to him to eat.
He was eating happily when he suddenly heard that Xu Que had come back. Buttface groaned, and acted as if he was on the verge of death. "You... you finally came back. I was attacked on the way when I was fetching help for you. I am badly injured, so I had no choice but to come back..."
Xu Que coldly looked at Buttface and said, "Bring me the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow!"
"Yes!"
Seeing this, Buttface jumped up and shouted, "Stop! I have brought big news for you! It is about the Five Elements Mountain!"
...