Chapter 520: Stealing Shoes (1/2) Translator: ChibiGeneral Editor: ChibiGeneral In the camp, there was silence. On a bright red table, books were stacked highly into a pile. At times, wind would blow through the window and carry the fragrance of the grass with it, as it flips the top few pages of the documents. It was a bright and sunny day outside, at times, sounds of battle horses or hump wolves could be heard from far away. This in fact, intensified the silence in the camp. As Ma tribe’s young tribe leader, Ma Ying Jie was sitting on his cushion as he lowered his head, helping his father settle the administrative matters of the alliance army. Ever since Ma tribe unleashed a sneak attack and exterminated Fei tribe, their largest obstacle in the heroes assembly had been removed. Thereafter, at Tian Chuan heroes assembly, Ma tribe suppressed Cheng tribe to become the alliance leader. After taking the poison vow, Ma tribe’s military force rose to six hundred thousand, they were at the peak of their strength. After that, Ma tribe ventured west, going southwest from Tian Chuan. Along the way, they found beast groups or stubborn forces to train their troops, sharpening their battle strength. Because of the continuous battles and the absorption of defeated tribes, they expanded once more and their morale was surging. Right now, Ma tribe had arrived at mirror lake and found an equal — Song tribe alliance army. At the moment, Ma tribe was building their first line of defense. "Report!" At this moment, the investigative Gu Master from outside the tent reported. Ma Ying Jie’s eyes shone with brilliance, he knew that this would definitely be some important military information, thus, he placed down his documents and called: "Come in." The exhausted investigative Gu Master heard the call and was about to enter, but the guard outside stopped him: "Do you know the rules? Change your shoes, don’t dirty the carpet inside." The investigative Gu Master apologised profusely, after changing his shoes, he entered the tent. Upon seeing Ma Ying Jie, he kneeled down on one knee: "Subordinate greets young tribe leader. I have brought important information regarding Yu Tian." He reported a summary of the events that happened, and after Ma Ying Jie made some inquiries, about fifteen minutes later, he left. "Hei tribe defeated Dong Fang tribe, that is the first crucial victory they had." Ma Ying Jie’s heart was slightly heavy. The Imperial Court contest had occurred for many times, at his level, he was already clear of the rules of this game. He knew the importance of victory, after Hei tribe defeated Dong Fang tribe, they would receive a huge amount of compensation. These compensation would include Dong Fang tribe’s newest Gu recipes, as well as an ocean of battle resources. As long as they make good use of these gains, and take in the captives, Hei tribe army’s battle strength would rise by five times! "In all the past Imperial Court contests, the first battle is the most crucial. Once the first fight is won, the foundations would be earned. Those who lost the first fight would almost certainly be eliminated, very few could reverse the situation. Hei tribe has already won their first battle, while we Ma tribe and Song tribe are still at a stalemate..." Fei Cai carefully came to the tent entrance, trying not to make any noise. The two guarding Gu Masters gave him a look before diverting their gaze. After Fei tribe was wiped out, the blur Fei Cai was chosen by Ma Ying Jie and luckily became his personal servant, avoiding the terrible fates of his tribesmen. His daily job was to manage the shoes outside the tent. Ma Ying Jie was a clean freak, every guest that entered his tent would need to change their shoes, so as to not dirty his elegant and beautiful carpet. After every guest wears the shoes provided, Fei Cai would need to wash it before placing it back in. But this time, it was different. Fei Cai held the shoes worn by the investigative Gu Master and hesitated for a moment before stuffing the other pair of shoes in front of his chest. No one noticed this tiny action of his, Fei Cai managed to leave without any problems, and after ten tents, he came to the water pond. He squatted beside the pond as he started washing the worn shoes, he was extremely focused and did not even notice that there was one person behind him. "Hey, big dummy, why are you so serious in washing shoes!" A small hand patted Fei Cai’s shoulders roughly. Fei Cai was shocked, turning around, he saw a girl that resembled jade with pinkish skin, and a pair of crystal clear eyes. It was Zhao Lian Yun. Zhao Lian Yun used her ’tiger-wolf-sheep’ analogy and conceived Zhao tribe leader to leave, after some hurdles, they arrived at Ma tribe camp without casualties, and was welcomed by Ma tribe leader. Zhao tribe managed to join Ma tribe army and was highly regarded by Ma tribe higher-ups and received warm hospitality. "It is you, Lady Xiao Yun." Fei Cai saw Zhao Lian Yun and showed an innocent smile. After his father was killed, he sunk into endless grief. By chance, he became Ma Ying Jie’s personal servant, and was ostracized by the old servants, thus he did not have a single friend. After Zhao Lian Yun made fun of him many times, but he acknowledged her as his only friend. Thus when he saw her, he was overjoyed. "Lady Xiao Yun, I have something for you." Fei Cai lowered his volume, moving his head towards Zhao Lian Yun’s ears. Zhao Lian Yun pushed his head away, muttering unhappily: "Hey blockhead, don’t come so close, do you know that there should be prudency between sexes." Fei Cai almost fell into the water after being pushed, but he did not mind it, he secretly pulled his shirt and exposed the shoes that he were hiding, asking as if he was looking for praise: "Look, what is this?" Zhao Lian Yun gave him a look of disdain: "A pair of stinky shoes, they’ve obviously been worn before. Stupid blockhead, why are you so dumb, you actually gave me something like this. It doesn’t even fit me, and I wouldn’t wear this pair of stinky shoes anyway!" Fei Cai said: "Lady Xiao Yun, didn’t you say you were lacking primeval stones earlier. This pair of shoes is exquisite and beautiful, we can sell it in the black market and exchange it for primeval stones." Zhao Lian Yun’s brows lifted, looking at Fei Cai in another light: "Oh wow, blockhead, you actually thought of abusing your position and smuggling public property? Amazing, I never thought you would think of this. But how much can this pair of shoes sell for? My daily pocket money is ten times of the shoes. I appreciate it, but you should sell it. Change your tattered and dirty clothes." Fei Cai rubbed his nose, shaking his head: "No need, my clothes are still wearable. Actually, I did not think of this. Those old servants always do this, since there is a large number of shoes constantly worn by different Gu Masters, and lord young tribe leader loves cleanliness so much, he always changes the shoes together at set intervals." Zhao Lian Yun nodded. Snakes and rats have their own way of living. Servants might have low statuses, but they also have their own way of living. Especially someone like Fei Cai, although he is a servant and lost his freedom, he got close to Ma Ying Jie and was most likely the first person to receive information from Ma tribe higher-ups. Zhao tribe had entered Ma tribe’s army, Zhao Lian Yun purposely got close to Fei Cai because she also had the intentions of gathering intel. At this time, a commotion could be heard. "Where is Fei Cai? Get out here now!" "Fei Cai, you’re in trouble now, you dared to take young tribe leader’s shoes." "Young tribe leader wanted to walk around the camp, but realized his shoes were gone. Fei Cai, you are too daring, you are unforgivable!" A bunch of old servants shouted arrogantly, coming out of the entrance as they searched for Fei Cai’s whereabouts. Fei cai’s expression paled: "Oh no, I have been discovered. Lady Xiao Yun, quickly leave, this has nothing to do with you. I cannot implicate you, I will go ask for forgiveness from young tribe leader." "Forgiveness my ass!" Zhao Lian Yun shouted, her expression turning ugly: "You fool, you have been plotted against and you don’t even know it! Quickly follow me and run." "Ah?" Fei Cai had no idea what’s going on, but as Zhao Lian Yun pulled him, they entered a narrow alley. "Damn it, this path has been blocked off." Zhao Lian Yun relied on her familiarity of the area and brought Fei Cai around, finding four exits, but three were blocked. "Lady Xiao Yun, quickly go, it will be too late otherwise!" Fei Cai was getting dizzy from moving around, he had lost his sense of direction. He was anxious as he did not want to get his only friend into trouble. Zhao Lian Yun stomped her feet in anger, howling in her heart: "Was it easy for me to find an insider to provide information?! In this day and age, where can I find such a dummy like Fei Cai? These old servants are all shrewd snakes, they will request for money when I want a bit of information, and they would even give half-truth information. Hmph! They are jealous of this newcomer Fei Cai and wants to get rid of him. As expected, any place with humans will have conflicts, and thus schemes. No way! I cannot take this lying down, you are courting death if you want to harm my informant!" Zhao Lian Yun’s expression was full of uncertainty as she tried her best to think of a solution, while the old servants’ voices could be heard. "He’s not here, I’ve searched the water pond, he’s not there either!" "Did he leave?" "How can that be, we were following him, I’m sure he came here." "We have not searched there yet, go." Hearing the old servants’ footsteps, Zhao Lian Yun thought of a solution amidst the anxiety. "Big dummy, you are truly lucky, I just bought some silk from the market." Zhao Lian Yun said as she took out some high grade silk from her pockets. This silk was meant to be made into clothes for her. "Big dummy, listen to my instructions and do as I say, this might benefit you greatly!" Zhao Lian Yun placed the silk into Fei Cai’s hands. "Ah?" Fei Cai was dumbstruck. Zhao Lian Yun quickly told him about her plans. After a dozen breaths’ time, Fei Cai walked out and was discovered by the servants. They were overjoyed, encircling him as Fei Cai clenched his fists, beating them to a pulp like he was crazy. "He’s revolting, revolting, this dog slave dared to attack us seniors!" "Fei Cai, you are in huge trouble, young tribe leader is looking for you, we came to arrest you but you dared to resist!" Fei Cai shouted: "Young tribe leader is looking for me, I will go on my own. Don’t touch me with your filthy hands you lowly scum!"