Chapter 113: Visiting Ping'an City

  "An adult, not afraid of ten thousand, only afraid of one in ten thousand." Jack insisted: "Although it seems that this trip should be safe and sound, what if something unexpected happens? If the adults insist, either the guard will increase to one thousand, or Vandy must follow up!"

  Li Xie wasn't ignoring his own safety, it's just that there were too many people slowing down their progress. Meanwhile, Vandy Zell had to stay behind to protect Chrysanthemum City. After all, leaving Jack alone on guard duty meant the entire city was left with only one skilled fighter. If an enemy attacked, he would find it hard to cope single-handedly.

  In addition, the Great Stick Dynasty is not even half as large as the Tudor Dynasty, and its army is less than 200,000 strong. Li Xie's Chrysanthemum City alone can threaten the very existence of the Great Stick Dynasty! In that case, the Great Stick Dynasty does not dare to move against Li Xie, let alone a small city like Pyongyang!

  Li Xie's current strength is enough to flatten Pyongyang!

  So, in Li Xie's view, there is no safety issue on the side of Pyongyang Castle.

  As for the Cheetah Legion of Sunflower City, they didn't know about Li Xie's visit, and even if they did, with Ze Ennarde and Kano's strength, it would be impossible to break through a thousand or two thousand people to escape. If the Cheetah Legion wanted to send enough people to completely capture Li Xie, they would need at least five thousand elite soldiers. If they made such a move, Jack's people wouldn't be able to detect it, and even if Li Xie didn't leave and just stayed in Chrysanthemum City, he would eventually be killed anyway.

  Of course, Li Xie had two other dependencies: he could fly and was immune to eighth-order and below Dou Qi magic!

  If things go wrong, just fly away, basically nothing will happen, in this way, having more people is actually a burden.

  If it weren't for needing some guards to save face, Li would rather go with Zayn and Nadir, flying there, which is safer and faster.

  However, Jack insisted on this, and Li Xie no longer argued. He said, "Then bring a thousand guards. Fang Di will stay behind, and the Chrysanthemum City must have an expert in charge to prevent unexpected events."

  "Good!" Jack stood up: "I'll go mobilize the troops now. When are you preparing to set off?"

  Li Xie glanced at the hourglass and said, "Let's set off now. With a thousand soldiers, we need to hurry. We can only reach Ping'an City tomorrow. As for the ceremonial guards, there's no need for them. We're not going to show off our might."

  "Yes! Sir!"

  A thousand-man team quickly assembled and set off, all riding fast horses, traveling non-stop until deep into the night, until they saw Pingdu City in the distance, before stopping.

  Nothing unusual happened along the way. Li Xie ordered his men to rest on the spot and sent a guard to Pingdu City to report, so that they would know that Li Xie could arrive the next day.

  Deep in the night, a thousand guards dispersed into a circular formation surrounding Li Xie and his companions. Li Xie sat on the ground with Kanosein by the bonfire, nothing unusual happened throughout the night.

  The next day, the sun rises in the east.

  Li Xie and his party set off at a steady pace towards the North Gate of Pingdu City.

  Arriving at the North Gate of Pyongyang Castle, the gate was wide open. The honor guard stood in two rows, stretching 100 meters from the gate. As soon as they saw Li Xie's horsemen approaching from afar, drums and gongs thundered loudly, creating a fervent atmosphere.

  Pyongyang Castle Lord Kim Ji led a group of over 100 officials who had been waiting outside the castle gate.

  Li Xie saw this array and knew that the Lord of Jin Zhi should have come out of the city to welcome him personally. The person in front, wearing a golden brocade robe, with a black flat-top hat, fat head and big ears, and looking at his back, all were dressed in luxurious clothes, so this person should be the Lord of Jin Zhi.

  Li Xie waved his hand to signal the troops to speed up, and only slowed down when they arrived at the welcoming guard of honor, whereupon they all dismounted their horses.

  "The God of the Forest is above! This must be the infamous Evil Lord! I am Jin Zhi, the lord of Ping'an City, nice to meet you."

  From afar, Jin Zhi beckoned with a bow.

  Li Xie dismounted his horse and walked quickly to Jin Zhi's front, laughing loudly as he gave Jin Zhi a hug, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years: "I am Li Xie, nice to meet you! I don't know why, but every time I see Lord Jin, I feel like we're long-lost friends!"

  Gold coins, how come I just recognized you now!

  Li Ye's heart was crying out in madness.

  "Really? Really!" Jin Zhi, who was made somewhat unnatural by Li Xie's enthusiasm, had a cold sweat on his forehead. It wasn't until Li Xie let him go that he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "Lunch is ready, please lead the way into the city, Lord Xie, and allow me to welcome you and wash away your travel fatigue."

  "Alright, alright. Let's go."

  "Jin Duo Duo, take good care of the evil lord's guards."

  A group of people entered the city, exchanged a few words with each other, and Li Xie, Ze Ennaide, and Kano got into their respective carriages and headed to the City Lord's Mansion. The little cat remained on top of Li Xie's head, disguised as a fur hat.

  The nobles of the Continent of Gods usually discuss official business at banquets, which is a custom, so along the way, Jin Zhi didn't have much communication with Li Xie either.

  Pyongyang Castle Lord's Mansion, Banquet Hall.

  Jin Zhi sat in the main seat, Li Xie, Ze En and Na De, three people sat on the right lower noble seat of the main seat, and the rest of the officials took their seats one after another. A long oval table, about thirty-four people were seated.

  "Come, let's raise our glasses! First, let's welcome our beloved Lord Li Xie." After the necessary formalities, Jin Zhi sat down and smiled at Li Xie's head: "I heard that Lord Li Xie has raised a beast of bad luck, is it the one on your head?"

  The disguise was blown, the kitten stood up its tail and shook it, then squatted down, jumped onto the table, meowed at the crowd, and then started licking its paws and washing its face, completely ignoring the Pyongyang nobles around it.

  The nobles of Pyongyang Castle heard the cat's cry, and none of them failed to take a deep breath. Only Kim Ji-ryeong smiled as usual, without seeing any excessive change in his expression. He just smiled and said: "It is said that there are ominous beasts in legend, I didn't expect to see it with my own eyes today! Come on, I heard that giving gold coins to the ominous beast can bring good luck. Let's let good luck be the beginning of our diplomatic relations!"

  As he spoke, the Lord of Golden Wisdom took out a black crystal card and called for his servant to take it to Li Xie. The other nobles followed suit, taking out their own crystal cards, although they were not all the same color, but at least they were all yellow crystal cards or higher.

  Li Xie hadn't even opened his mouth, yet thirty-one crystal cards appeared in his hand! After a rough calculation, he earned approximately three hundred million gold coins. This situation made Li Xie's eyes gleam with excitement.

  As expected! First tell them, Laozi loves money is right! Look, this group of people must have prepared gold coins on their bodies long ago! What a lovely bunch of people!

  Li Xie smiled and put the crystal card into his spatial ring, the little cat on the table lifted its paw to scratch the wine glass in front of Li Xie, who understood and quickly said: "Sending gold coins can't bring good luck yet!"

  "I understand, I understand!" Lord Jin Zhilei laughed and said: "The fine wine has been prepared, but it's not convenient to bring it over. It's already packed and sent to the Evil Lord's guards. The Killing Thousand Knives Wine of the Big Stick Dynasty will surely not disappoint the Evil Lord... Ah, no, it won't disappoint the Calamity Beast!"

  "Hahaha……" Oh, this guy knows it's me who's been cleaning up, and he's still so proactive in sending gold coins and fine wine. Hmm, has potential! Although he looks fat, but he seems especially affable, right? Li Xie laughed loudly and raised his cup: "A good start is half of success! This wonderful beginning, let us create a wonderful ending with a wonderful process! Come on, cheers!"

  Li Ye took a swig of wine and felt his mood lift to new heights!

  Just sat down and received 300 million, this trip to Pingchuan City is still worth expecting?

  "I heard that Pyongyang has the largest crystal trading market in the Great Baroque Dynasty, as well as the largest metal mineral industry. As for crystals, we can discuss them, but personally, I'm more inclined towards cooperation in this area. However, it seems that metal minerals cannot be traded with other countries... is there a clever way to get around this?"

  Li Xie accepted the money from others, and naturally began to discuss official business, especially since Jin Zhi was generous and self-aware. Li Xie believed that establishing an economic relationship with them would be a good development path.

  As for the content of cooperation, Li Xie is not very interested in crystal. Because crystals are mostly consumed by nobles, and there are hardly any nobles in Chrysanthemum City, so there is no market. However, metal minerals are now one of the scarce resources in Chrysanthemum City.

  Kim Ji looked at the nobles with a smile, and they all smiled back at him. Then he heard Kim Ji say: "It seems that Lord Xie has come to cooperate with me in Pyongyang Castle, I'm very happy about it. However, Lord Xie has traveled far and must be tired from the journey. As the host, how can I not let Lord Xie relax a bit before discussing official business? Let's just talk about literature and art today, and not discuss politics or economy. We can formally meet again tomorrow, what do you think, Lord Xie?"

  Wow!

  This guy is really thoughtful!

  Li Xie initially accepted the money and didn't seem anxious at all. He smiled and said, "Alright then, let's have a romantic adventure!"

  An afternoon banquet passed by in idle chatter.

  Li Xie was full of food and drink, and the little cat was also satisfied with licking its fur. King Jinji ordered someone to send Li Xie to the largest hotel in Pyongyang, the First Hotel, and instructed a reception officer named "Jin Lirai" to entertain Li Xie and his party.

  Li Xie originally thought that since they weren't discussing official business, he might as well go sightseeing around Pyongyang. However, Jin Li Lai said that Jin Zhi planned to personally accompany Li Xie on a tour of Pyongyang tomorrow and introduce him to the city's attractions, so for today, please have a good rest.

  Li Xie came from afar and is a guest, so let's not say anything more and just let others make arrangements.

  A bathtub in the Presidential Suite.

  A five-meter-long and three-meter-wide bathtub was filled with steaming hot water.

  Li Xie and Canoze En sat on either side of the bathtub, each with two beauties in gauze clothes serving them, one massaging their shoulders and the other pouring wine and serving dishes.

  Originally, Kano was not daring to take a bath with Li Xie, but Li Xie didn't mind those status issues. Zaynarde obviously wouldn't have Kano's status anxiety, at least he never thought his status was lower than Li Xie's.

  As for that little kitten, it's even more unbelievable - not only is she not afraid of water, but she swims around in the bathtub, having the time of her life.

  "Ah..." Li Xie let out a relaxed sigh, being away on business and soaking in the bath felt incredibly relaxing, especially with beautiful women massaging and pouring drinks. Except for his first time entering the imperial palace, he hadn't enjoyed himself like this in a long time.

  Although he had the power and status, not to mention two beauties, even twenty beauties serving him in bathing would be a common thing. However, whether it was at the Evil Duke's Manor or the current City Lord's Manor, Li Xie felt embarrassed to let his familiar female servants provide such services, this was where his little pure heart played tricks on him.

  "Ah, great..." Kano looked at Li Xie with a pleased expression, his eyebrows twitching as he chuckled and said: "The big sisters are quite nice, black hair and black eyes have a unique flavor, and their faces are so pretty and charming. This is indeed exotic beauty, sir! I just asked Jin Lirai, and he said it's all arranged. How many do you want tonight, sir?"

  "How many?"

  Yes.

  "Which one?"

  "Ahah!" Kano laughed particularly wildly.