The Silly Alchemist

From now on, three more chapters will be released on Sunday. Get ready to snuggle and read on the weekends! (read Author’s Note for more.)

“What?” asked Ye Lang. He did not sense her embarrassment, he was referring to why they stopped.

“You’re an idiot. We’ll return to where we came from if we go in this direction, we have to head there!” Li Yue knew Ye Lang must not know what just happened so she pretended as if nothing had happened.

“Ah, is that so? Lion, turn around, let’s go there...”

“Roar...”

And just like that, Ye Lang was heading towards the tiger tribe once again. This time, he had a lion to ride, at least he didn’t have to run on his own.

He wasn’t planning to keep the lion for long. They would soon be able to get a carriage when once they leave the plains and as a prodigal son, he liked travelling in a carriage more than on a lion.

...

There was a major town to the north of the Soaring Sky Empire on the border of the grassland— Muyang Town. It was a more developed area where many nomadic tribes traded goods.

There were many nomadic tribes in the area and they consisted of many members too. It was a coincidence that Ye Lang did not meet any of them during his journey, that wasn’t supposed to be likely.

Ye Lang was a lucky kid after all!

A group of stern soldiers were guarding the outskirts of Muyang town. They were part of the town’s own military and were the empire’s fifth-largest troop- Tanlang Troop!

The Tanlang military troop was the group of soldiers in charge of defence in the northern parts of the empire. They were the only group too. Due to the huge patch of grasslands, they were very far from the center of the empire.

Not just geographically- the influence of the empress was weaker here too. The empire rarely interfered with affairs in this area, leading to a situation that could be described with the common saying: the taller the mountain, the further the emperor is.

Tanlang military troop was an example. Although it was only the fifth largest, it was the most independent troop compared to the rest- this area felt as if it was ruled by the military too.

This was a problem the empire was looking to fix but since there were more pressing matters, Muyang town continued to be left alone and the problem grew more severe as time passed.

In the beginning, the border of the Soaring Sky Empire stopped where the grasslands ended. This northern area was expanded later but it was obvious that the government’s influence had not caught up with the territorial expansion.

However, Tanlang soldiers and the little self-proclaimed kings did not do anything public either. They belonged to Soaring Sky and were still going to listen to the empire’s commands. There were no blatant signs of treason.

At least not on the surface, that was why the empire did not send people just to deal with them, especially not soldiers.

This problem did not affect Ye Lang– at least no yet.

It was a sunny afternoon, the scorching sun shining down on the vast lands. Gusts of wind blew towards the town.

“Fuck, I hate strong winds. It’s always hot air during the day and freezing in the night, who did I offend, why was I sent here for duty?!” lamented one of the soldiers as he took a gulp of water.

“It’s not about who you offended- you just didn’t have the right support system. The best duties are obviously taken up by people with good families. We’re just ordinary people with no strong backgrounds, naturally, we’re sent to these awful posts!” said the other soldier flatly.

“He’s right, quit complaining. At least this is a lot better than the ones sent to the frontlines of the battles. Those people never know if they are going to return from battles alive,” said another.

“You’re right, we must learn to be content with what we have, this place isn’t bad either! We get to see the nomadic women of the grasslands, it’s great here.”

“Please stop that, we are soldiers.”

“So what? Soldiers need women too. I wonder what sort of women will visit today, I’ll flirt with a few of them.”

“Stay within your limits, don’t be stupid. I don’t want you getting into trouble.”

“I know, this isn’t my first time, you think I’m new to this... Eh? I think I see something approaching very quickly...”

As he spoke, the rest of them saw a silhouette appear on the vast grassland slowly getting bigger as time went on.

“This isn’t right, why is it travelling so quickly?”

Initially, the soldiers didn’t think much of it but this shadow was travelling too fast, approaching too quickly.

“What’s that...”

In the end, they realised there was much more to be shocked about!

In the beginning, the object was kilometres away but in the blink of an eye, it was practically in front of them. At this point, they realised it was travelling way faster than they imagined.

“Fuck!”

“Help...”

“Oh my god...”

...As the soldiers saw the object clearly, every reaction was a strong one, all of them different. The only similarity between their reactions was that they took several steps back to keep a distance between them.

Anyone who saw it would’ve instinctively started to prepare and maintain a safe distance because this was a fearsome beast, the king of animals– it was a majestic red lion!

With a lion like that, anyone would’ve been intimidated. Civilians would’ve been displaced immediately out of terror, these soldiers weren’t too bad, there were some who did not run.

Yep, just some of them. The rest of them ran to the back and planted their shields in front of them for protection.

“Excuse me, what is this place called?”

A magnetic, friendly voice rang. Everyone who was initially focused on the lion realised that there were two people on it.

A young man and a young lady!

The young man was slightly tanned, his smile was very natural- like he was very friendly- and he was clad in what looked like a common cloak. This was a regular traveller’s clothing, though his was special– it was made of the finest silk.

If someone noticed this detail, they would’ve concluded that this young man was no ordinary person, he must be an aristocrat!

At the same time, the young lady had a cooler demeanour. Not the iceberg kind of cold, just the kind to deal with matters with an air of calmness.

Both of them had a head of black hair, hers was shiny and soft. She was in a ponytail and very pretty.

Her eyes were not black like the young man’s eyes- they were silver. This was a rare feature, giving her an air of mysterious beauty that matched her delicate features. She was absolutely beautiful.

Both of them together gave everyone a feeling of a beautiful, young power couple to be admired from afar.