“Grand Master Mother, stop it!”

  The shrill voice of an anguished girl cut across the air. Funing, dressed in white and riding atop an exotic beast, flew in from afar. The silver lock she was wearing on her chest was ringing. The beast she was riding had the body of a horse, a dragon’s head, and a thick dragon’s tail. The fur on its body was thick, similar to an elk. It was about the size of an adult male elephant. But it moved swiftly and soared across the sky like it was traveling on the ground. Like a bolt of lightning, the exotic beast carrying Funing hastened toward Xiao Luo.

  What on earth?

  Grand Master Mother furrowed her brows. She wanted to strike at Xiao Luo quickly but was afraid that she might hurt Funing. Being their Queen, Funing was the life force of Baiyue Nation. She was of noble birth and could not be put at risk. So, the grandmaster had to rein in her inner force and stop her attack.

  “Grand Master Mother, I will not allow you to hurt him!” yelled Funing.

  She jumped off the back of the exotic beast and extended her arms, standing right in front of Xiao Luo. She looked straight at Grand Master Mother, who was still hovering in mid-air.

  The mute maid?

  Xiao Luo stared at Funing with surprise. He looked at the exotic beast that she rode and realized it was the Zhongshan God from “Shan Hai Jing.” In myth, it was known as the Mountain God and was as strong as a beast demon. Who would have thought the mute maid would ride on such a beast? Was it possible she had a secret identity?

  “Greetings to Her Majesty!”

  The female soldiers bowed down to show their respect and devotion to Funing.

  Her Majesty?

  The mute maid was the Queen of Baiyue Nation?

  Her identity took Xiao Luo by surprise. He would never have imagined the queen of a vast kingdom was only a seventeen to eighteen-year-old girl. In the Original World, the girl would most probably have just graduated from high school. As the queen of a kingdom, she was a supreme ruler with authority and wealth. Just trying to imagine such a young girl governing a vast nation was nothing short of surreal.

  The Duck Emperor and Ghost were equally shocked. They found it hard to believe that the Queen of Baiyue Nation was a young girl.

  “It is the Queen of Baiyue Nation! She is indeed beautiful. She is so pretty she can destroy a country with her beauty,” Duck Emperor praised.

  \r \r \r

  “Is that true?”

  Ghost was a little upset, and she questioned Duck Emperor, “So, is she prettier or am I?”

  The Duck Emperor did not notice that Ghost was acting a little odd, and replied in candor, “Both of you are pretty in different ways. You are both neck-to-neck.”

  “Do you think Senior Luoluo likes her more, or does he like me more?” Ghost questioned even further.

  “It is hard to say. But this pretty girl is the Queen of Baiyue Nation. She has an entire kingdom under her, and the kingdom is full of other young and beautiful girls. If I am the goddamn little brat, of course, I will choose her…… Gah, gah,” Duck Emperor was drooling as he imagined the prospect of being served by all those beauties.

  Ghost was riled up and immediately grabbed onto Duck Emperor’s wings and flung him far into the distance.

  In her anger, she used her full strength. Even though Duck Emperor could fly, he could not withstand the amount of force she had put in. He shrieked as he was flung back like a small cannonball and smashed a hole in one of the building walls. ……

  Meanwhile, the Grand Master shouted down to Funing, “Majesty, please move away. Allow me to enforce the law of our land!”

  When others were around, she would address Funing as “Majesty,” as was the protocol for addressing members of the monarchy.

  “Grand Master Mother, he cured me. I can talk again. He is a good person. Please do not hurt him.” Funing used her authority to protect Xiao Luo, the man who made her heart race just thinking of him.

  The reason Her Majesty could talk again was because of that man? Did he cure her?

  The female soldiers were shocked. They thought it was the Grand Master who used some heavenly method to cure Funing’s vocal cord, which had not functioned for years.

  “Any man who enters Baiyue Nation has to be executed. It is the national law. It is the law the previous queens had enforced. Is Her Majesty going to change the national law for just a man?” Grand Master shouted down to Funing.

  “If Grand Master Mother is resolved to make a serious issue of it, then you might as well kill me too,” Funing stubbornly argued. She closed her eyes, viewing death as nothing more than a homecoming. Her determination to protect Xiao Luo was firm even though she wasn’t sure there would be a future for them both. But she honestly did not want Xiao Luo to die.

  “You……”

  The Grand Master gritted her silver teeth and glared at Xiao Luo. If she could kill him with her eyes, Xiao Luo would have already been shredded into strips of dead meat.

  Not long after, Grand Master Mother sighed, released her clenched fist, and said, “Forget it…… Forget it!”

  She flung the ball of flames, which were dancing on her palm, toward a mountain that was a few kilometers away. The fireball streaked through the air and smashed into the mountainside, resulting in a loud explosion. Heated air and debris rose and covered the sky, as the mountain shook violently threatening to crumble.

  “Screw her ducking grandmother! Her destructive power is way too scary!”

  The Duck Emperor had just extricated himself from the pile of bricks and tiles from the broken wall. He witnessed how the Grand Master had sent the ball of flames crashing into the mountain. He was so shocked his eyes were bulging in fear. But thankfully, the Queen of Baiyue Nation arrived on time and stopped the Grand Master from using the ball of flames. Otherwise, from where he was standing earlier on, he would have suffered burn effects from the blazing wave.

  “Majesty, if you want to let him live, he will still have to pass the three tests first. It is all that I can compromise according to the law of our land,” said the grandmaster. Her command reverberated across the sky like a God-like voice issuing a decree from the Heavens.

  Funing furrowed her brows tightly and had nothing to say in response. There was indeed such a rule in their laws. A man could escape execution if a Queen appealed to spare his life. However, it was on condition that the man had to pass three tests. The Grand Master Mother had already given in. If Funing demanded anything more, then she was disrespecting the laws of her nation. But she got what she wanted for the time being. At least, her grandmaster would not kill Xiao Luo on the spot.

  Had to pass three tests?

  What in the world were they up to this time?

  Xiao Luo knitted his brows. Such a bother! Xiao Luo felt like he was Tang Seng from Journey to the West. Everywhere Tang Seng went along his travels, problems awaited him. Still, Xiao Luo was glad to know that once he passed the three tests, he could leave Baiyue Nation safely. So, it was not such a bad idea after all. A safe journey to his next destination through the teleportation portal in the Baiyue Nation would be a perfect ending for his visit to this kingdom. It made little sense to engage in combat every time he landed in a new place.

  He took a step forward, lifted his head to look at Grand Master Mother, and said, “Let us not waste any more time. Let us begin.”

  “Hiss!”

  The soldiers gasped and wondered if the man was insane. Did he ask to take the three tests immediately? The tests were just another method for the Grand Master to kill him. Was he so eager to die?

  Funing got a shock. She turned around to Xiao Luo and whispered, “What are you doing? No matter what the three tests Grand Master Mother have prepared for you, it will be difficult to pass them. She would make things impossible for you. I wanted to buy you some time. When I find the opportunity, I will secretly let you go. But you are asking to go through the tests now—don’t be so stupid.”

  “It is alright. I will have to face what I have to face!” Xiao Luo said with a slight smile.

  The grandmaster raised her eyebrow cynically, somewhat surprised, and said, “Interesting. It is the first time this Grand Master here has met someone as interesting as you. Arrogant and complacent, ignorant and pathetic!”

  “Do not insult my Senior Luoluo. Just bring it on!” shouted Ghost, angry at Grand Master Mother’s sarcastic remarks.

  “Huh!”

  The Grand Master sneered. Then she turned into a wisp of green smoke and drifted toward the Royal Palace.

  The heavy-set officer turned to her troop and ordered them, “Bring this man back to the Royal Palace.”

  “Understood!” responded a group of female guards.