"Status..." Zhu Feng asked once he arrived near the supply-train.

About one hundred meters away from these carriages, the soldiers responsible for the inner defensive-perimeter could be seen standing in orderly ranks and being in a state of full-alert.

Despite being just fifty or so in number, these men were unleashing their fighting-spirit and bloodlust in full... clearly they can't wait for the outer defensive-perimeter to be broken. That's the only way they could see themselves getting some action!

Cang Yanmei squeezed Feng's hand once before letting go. Afterwards she ran towards her special-detachment, obviously this beauty is seeking to personally lead her followers towards the battle.

Because—believe it or not—this seductress is carrying a belly-full of anger towards whomever that interrupted her sweet moment with this young-man!

"We're being attacked by an army of about six-thousand men, most of them are light-infantry which explains how they're able to suddenly appear in close proximity without alerting our scouts in the rear. Their identity remains to be known... but-" Li Konglai ran towards his Young-Baron and reported while feeling ashamed of himself, especially since their situation could get really complicated if this enemy managed to push-through their ranks and succeed in squeezing their small army towards the Dark-swamps.

However, the young captain got interrupted by his Lord.

Once Feng noticed how his logistic-captain began to hesitate, he raised his hand and heavily let it land on his shoulder while saying : "That's not your responsibility, these little shits just happened to choose the worst time is all. Unfortunately for us, these guys made their move while Battalion-commander Niu is on a very important scouting-mission! However, that doesn't mean that we're sitting ducks.... if things develop according to plan? then, probably none of them would leave this place alive."

Li Konglai : "Really m'lord?"

Zhu Feng : "Thankfully these idiots didn't wait long for us to properly set camp, order for the camp to be disassembled and for the civilians to prepare to be on the move once Niu's unit arrives."

"Right away m'lord."

"Where's your father?"

Zhu Feng asked once the young captain was about to leave and received his answer from the man who pointed towards the south-west and said : "Over there, he's the first to respond once the report arrived from our scouts." Then the logistics-captain disappeared behind one of the tents.

"Shadow, Harmony... let's go greet our uninvited-guests."

"Neigh...."

"Whine...."

Zhu Feng called his mount and companion while wearing his head-mask and helmet, when he closed the visor of his helmet.... both the black-horse and the brown-wolf felt frightened by the thick wave of bloodlust and killing-intent when the pair of black-eyes behind the mask began to glow!

*****

Going back in time, a few days after Zhu Feng left Sword-Villa.

Commander Yao : "Your highness."

Shi Bolin : "Mm-hmm."

This battalion-commander of a thousand Royal-Guards was currently in disguise and acting as a carriage driver, meanwhile the Third-Prince—who's currently asleep inside the same carriage—is disguising himself as some wealthy merchant.

After hearing this lazy reply from his liege-lord, commander Yao said : "We've arrived at Sword-Villa."

"Already?" The Third-Prince did sound like he's in disbelief since this very short journey has been both quick and comfortable!

"We could've arrived much faster however, this subject choose not to and preferred to give your highness some more time to relax." The thousand-man-commander explained himself before his expression became a lot more serious when he continued to say : "I've got to admit that Baron Zhu did really well in constructing this trade-road, no-wonder he's appreciated by general Lian."

"Humph. He's a piece of work indeed, go-on then... let's see what kind of wonderous Village did that young-man create for his peasants." Shi Bolin said while using one of his fingers to push-aside the curtain of his window.

*****

"Bibi!"

"Master!"

Both pregnant ladies hugged and the maid behind Biyu helped little Fang into Da Donghai's house, right now the Youngest-Lord is learning to walk on his own.

Bao Baozhai : "My oh my! The Little-Baron is gracing this humble subject with a visit, today is such a big day for me and my family.... our daughters are so going to bully you tonight."

Bo Biyu : "Humph, humph, humph.... don't come crying later when my Fang go bulling on their hair or tear at their clothes."

Somehow the poor maid felt afraid when she sensed some electric-sparks flying between the two pregnant women once their eyes met, especially when they smiled a very "dangerous" smile at practically the same time!

*****

"Father!"

"Lanfen!"

Zhu Lanfen : "Eh!" The Baroness gawked when her father completely ignored her attempt to embrace him!

Hui Huiliang swiftly bypassed his daughter before going directly for his granddaughter Zhu Meili. Once the old man held her, he smiled widely and his face brightened once he kissed Meili and received a shy reaction from her.

Hui Huiliang : "Who's a good girl? You're a good girl!" The old man tossed his granddaughter in the air and caught her while enjoying her giggles then said : "Ah! Let's go visit your little-auntie.... you two must be best-friends when you grow up, learn how to take care of one another...."

Zhu Lanfen : "Humph." Rolled her eyes when her father took her daughter and went upstairs to spend some quality time with his daughter—her own little-sister Hui Lanfei—and granddaughter.

"B-Baroness.... y-you mustn't be angry with Huiliang, he's just excited to see the Little-Baroness is all!" Lanfen shook her head and smiled helplessly when she heard these timid words from her step-mother.

"Auntie Bing.... it does feel comfortable indeed. I'm so jealous of that smelly father of mine, little Lanfei too. They both get to rest in that lovely embrace of yours, your bosom is amazing girl! you've got to be more proud of your body. Whoever dares to bully my auntie Bing is so getting bitten by my Joy, you have my word for it." The Baroness smiled mischievously before throwing herself at her step-mother.

Auntie Bing : "Y-you can't! Baroness.... there's people looking at us." The poor woman blushed like never before when the maids began to giggle after seeing their lady rest her head on these large-boobs before gently fondling them.

Zhu Lanfen : "Does that mean that I get to do what I want when there's no one looking?" The pregnant-lady smirked like a villain while saying that.

"O-of course not!" Her step-mother stuttered before struggling to say these words, her beautiful expression caused the maids to burst in a laughing fit.

"Humph. Stingy.... come then, let's go have some fun with Biyu in uncle Donghai's house." The Baroness puckered her lips before deciding to stop teasing this kind woman and smiled like a rose in bloom. After giving her step-mother a calming hug, Lanfen pulled her outside and together with her maids she began to walk outside her fathers house.

*****

"Wow! The food in here is just.... fantastic." Commander Yao muttered these words after trying his first bite.

"Indeed. That cheese-burger and these fries.... my god! This Pizza-thing is so delicate yet extremely tasty, here try some of that Chicken-Tandorri. Phew! Glug, glug, glug.... be-careful though. That.... cough, thaht Biryani-Rice reahlly bahcks a buhnch." Third-Prince Shi Bolin was acting like a three-years-old kid once he entered one of the restaurants in Sword-Villa.

Still, he did make quite a comical-scene once he tried some of the extremely-spicy Indian-food.

Even his personal-guard had to look away once his liege-lord began to spill milk on his clothes when he drank to quench the fire in his throat, despite all his attempts though.... his voice ended-up becoming hoarse.

Yao : "Try some of that Mutabbal. It aught to cool things down a little, that Spaghetti and this Bolognese-Sauce is a real treat as well!" The thousand-man-commander politely ate small bites from the dishes that his prince recommended then helped by recommending some of his own.

Shi Bolin : "Tell me.... is this heaven?" The Third-Prince leaned his head downwards on the window and asked while looking at the clean and crowded-streets of this Villa, everyone seems happy and content.... everyone is properly-dressed.

Everything is just orderly, and neat!

His personal-guard just sighed and kept being silent to allow his liege-lord to think in peace.

"Whoa! That woman is so pretty.... unfortunately she's already pregnant," Third-Prince noticed some pregnant-lady walking side-by-side and hand-in-hand with some big-chested woman and muttered these words, "She seems like someone important.... but, it doesn't matter. Kekekeke.... let's go make some trouble before we go back." Shi Bolin tossed a small leather-pouch towards the waiter and walked towards the stairs, when the young-man opened it he found more than fifty gold-coins inside it.

*****

"M'lady"

"Hmm..."

Little-Ling was walking behind Lanfen with the other maids but, once she took a look behind she moved a few quick steps forward in a hurry.

Niu's young-wife leaned towards the ear of her Baroness while voicing this word to pull her attention.

Zhu Lanfen raised an eyebrow after the little-maid interrupted her conversation with her step-mother.

Little-Ling : "Behind us there's two men, they've been following us since we left your father's house."

Zhu Lanfen : "You sure?"

Auntie Bing : "T-they might be of the Baron's men." Poor big-chested lady almost got scared out of her wits once the thought of being followed by strangers crossed her mind.

"I'm m'lady. I've been with Thunder almost all the time, I don't think anyone other than Joy could follow me without me noticing."

"We're almost there. If any of them tries to do anything funny? then.... don't hesitate to sound the whistle at once."

"A-are we in danger?"

Lanfen just smiled to assure her step-mother, then walked towards Da Donghai's house confidently.

*****

"Your highness."

"What? I'm not giving you any of that Ice-Cream, the same goes for that Pop-Corn."

Commander Yao almost rolled his eyes once he heard this reply from the Third-Prince, the mere sight of him hiding these delicacies ever-so protectively is.... absolutely hilarious! The thousand-man-commander smiled before saying : "We've been spotted."

Shi Bolin : "So fast! But we've been keeping our distance from them, how could they notice us? I even stopped to buy crackers, juice, ice-cream, nuts, pop-corn, sweet & sour gum, a lollipop, and a cold-beer. Still missed the stalls who sell the Kebab, Shawarma, Dim Sum, Thali, Paella, Falafel, Hummus, Gyro, Burrito, Tacos, Sushi, Sashimi, Ramen soup, Caviar, and the Pecking-Duck skewers. These are the ones I could remember!" The eyes of this Third-Prince shone brightly when he spoke "fanatically" about the "wonders" of this Villa.

"One of the maids behind that woman seems like an expert. I'm afraid that.... the identity of that pregnant-lady isn't simple."

"Humph. So what? This Prince isn't afraid of causing trouble, the general's lackey has already left anyway. His wife the Baroness is nothing but a cheese-maker peasant, if she dares voice a single complaint in my presence? Then.... this Prince wouldn't mind "smacking" some sense into her thick, commoner-skull for daring to go against her superiors."

*****

"Go, go, go.... yes! My dear Fang is just amazing. Aint'cha the cutest baby ever, oh yes you are.... of course you are."

"Giggle...."

Bo Biyu was standing next to Bao Baozhai and Qing Qiuyue, the three of them—plus the servants—were cheering three little toddlers in their race with open arms.

The Youngest-Baron managed to barely reach his mother before the two little girls and his mother was over the moon with her celebration!

"Humph. That race isn't fair to begin-with! little-Fang is already a few months older than my little-Xue." The appraisal hugged her daughter tightly and began to complain after seeing how exaggerated this goddaughter of hers is in her celebration.

"That's true, my little-Xia was indeed faster than little-Fang in the beginning. She just got distracted by that butterfly at the end.... she looked so cute when she stopped to admire its beauty." The store-owner supported her sister while feeling so proud of her little girl.

Bo Biyu : "Stop making excuses and quickly cough-up what you owe me and my son!"

Had Zhu Feng witnessed how his woman is using his eldest-son to gamble with his aunties? Then.... certainly our proud Baron would cough-up a liter or so of blood!

*****

"It's been more than two years since I've been to this part of the continent, it does feel like ages ago." A teenage girl muttered to herself once Rock-City came to her view in the horizon.

Her raven-hair is fluttering behind her while her feet are standing on top of a longsword! Its guard is made from white-ivory while its blade have these blue, wavy, pattern-like and fire-like lines on its sides.

This mighty-looking blue-sword carried this heroine a few hundred meters up in the sky and moved at a startling-speed, in a matter of seconds she was already within the city.

The first thing she noticed was the clean, paved, and orderly streets. Even the merchandise being sold within these stores seems of a better quality compared to before!

When she arrived in her auntie's store she discovered that it has been renovated, meanwhile there's lots of products which seem like quite a treat.

"L-lady Liling?" One of the men within the store gawked once he noticed this teenage girl from his office on the highest floor, quickly afterwards he ran down the stairs as if his own butt was on fire!

Qing Liling : "Manager Tong we meet again, nice work.... business finally seems to be going alright here in store." She asked while walking towards the first floor of the store, then she began to admire the different types of products.

Manager Tong : "Lady Liling overpraises this one, it's all thanks to Baron Zhu's hard work." The old man quickly wiped some imaginary sweat from his forehead while clearly explaining that all of this has nothing to do with him.

"Mmmm.... this thing tastes really nice! who's that "Baron-Zhu" exactly?" The girl tried one of the animal-shaped sweets then complimented the handiwork before turning towards the man and asked while rolling her eyes, since he's been following her maintaining his lowered posture as a gesture of being polite while in-fact it just makes him look weird instead.

"Baron Zhu Feng is a very close and dear friend of your aunt lady Qiuyue, despite being very young.... he's like a living legend around here." The old manager straightened his spine when he began to talk about Zhu Feng.

Qing Liling : "Do you mean coward Zhu Feng?"

Manager Tong : "Lady Liling. Do you happen—by chance—to know Baron Zhu?"

"Humph. If we're talking about the same person? then.... he wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for me," The girl crossed her arms while reminiscing about the day she spent with the poor and sad fellow, "Anyway. Where's auntie Qiuyue?"

"She's been living at Sword-Villa with her family since her wedding." The old man said while smiling.

Qing Liling : "W-wedding!"

*****

"Sister-Lanfen. Come, come.... check this out." Biyu ran towards her sister once she spotted her entering the house, the excited and proud mother began to display the trophies that her son managed to earn—so far—from these two "suckers"!

"Whoa! Fang is really kicking butts today," The Baroness was clearly surprised but she quickly remembered about what her maid little-Ling has said earlier, "Auntie Bing. Go ahead and spend some time with the aunties, me and Biyu.... we have something to take care of before joining you." Then she pulled her sister and walked back with her maids towards the exit.

Her step-mother kind-of figured that this step-daughter of hers is intent on handling the people who've been following them earlier, the timid woman quickly nodded and did what she was told.

*****

Outside Da Donghai's house.

The highest-paid instructor within the Light-House institute is living at one of the most famous and luxurious streets of Sword-Villa.

Despite the Villa being almost one-hundred percent safe all-day-around, the residents and owners of this street in particular are "Blessed" with an extra layer of security both in the open and in disguise.

It could be said that near forty-percent of the martial-artists who graduated from the Light-House institute are working as guards in these establishments! meanwhile.... about half of their instructors are daily clients within these, clothes and armament shops, restaurants, tea and wine-stores.

Most of these martial-arts instructors are peak-tier grandmasters of their profession, most of these instructors got personally gifted with a Dark-Gold or even a Violet-Gold VIP-Badges from the owners of these establishments!

*****

Meanwhile, the Third-Prince and his personal-guard were standing outside Donghai's house unaware of these simple facts.

Once Shi Bolin noticed Lanfen exiting the house with another pregnant-lady.... his eyes twinkled and a perverted smile surfaced on his expression before his tongue slithered from between his lips towards the Ice-Cream in his hand.

Commander Yao frowned slightly once he noticed the change in his liege-Lord, this wasn't the first time he's accompanying Bolin in one of his "Adventures"! If this thousand-man-commander were to give his honest opinion? then.... this Third-Prince is a better fit than his brother Bolei the Crown-Prince in ascending the throne.

'If only his interests and hobbies were normal, if only his taste in women wasn't that.... different!' The man thought while shaking his head.

Still he watched in silence as the two pregnant-ladies walked directly towards the two of them with their maids following behind them, the eyes of these maids carried visible anger and clear disgust towards the prince and his guard.

"Heh." The Third-Prince smirked like a proud peacock when he saw the two beauties walking towards him.

"Out of the way! You're blocking the storefront fool, better scram immediately.... before the Baroness and Madam get anymore repulsed by your attitude. Creep." Little-Ling shouted at Shi Bolin and commander Yao which attracted the attention of everyone in this street.

Commander Yao : "Baroness!" The thousand-man-commander was immediately alerted after learning about the identity of this pregnant-lady.

'This is bad, we're here to tour the Villa. Not to cause trouble while Baron-Zhu is absent.' Shi Bolin's personal-guard thought while trying to pull his Liege-Lord out of the way.

However, the worst happened when the Third-Prince opened his mouth to say : "Humph. A mere low-rank Noble from some barren mountain-range Village dares allow one of their servants to insult their superiors, laughable."

'Sigh.... now it's all-over.' Commander Yao rolled his eyes at the Third-Prince while having this thought.

*****

"Hey. What's with all this commotion?"

"Some fancy-pants Noble is looking for trouble with Baroness-Lanfen and Madam-Biyu, this pair of courageous-morons blocked their path in broad-daylight."

"Snort.... who do they think they're? the royal-family perhaps!"

"Beats me. I'm betting that even if they're royalty.... they're not getting out of this unscathed."

"Damn right they aren't!"

"Hell yeah. That right there.... is a blatant-insult to Baron-Zhu."

"What're y'all blabbering your mouth for? C'mon! let's go fuck 'em up."

"Count me in, the only reason why I'm living like a Lord in this place is because Baron-Zhu took me in anyway."

"I was barely scraping-by back in the Dojo of my hometown, all I had was a pair of scrawny and clumsy disciples. Now I'm being greeted everyday by more than a hundred of bright-minded and diligent disciples whenever I attend class."

One by one these martial-artists swarmed the street once word got-out.

Somehow the guards didn't even get a chance to intervene before these hundreds of grandmasters, by the time Zhu Feng's men arrived.... they discovered that only a squad of soldiers were on-site to protect the Baroness and Madam!

The rest were these instructors, their colleagues, and their students.

*****

"Who are you? Why were you following me earlier? State your intentions right now, or these men are going to throw you lot in the dungeons where you'll be staying until your origins are cleared." Zhu Lanfen glared at the annoying man and his guard while asking these questions.

Honestly she's been holding herself back from the moment she looked at these two, judging by the way that man has been checking her and Biyu out.... he more than deserves to be thrown in the dungeons for a few days or to be served with a few dozen lashes each.

"Girl. Have you found your courage now that these lackeys of yours are standing between us?" The Third-Prince smirked while saying that then gave the crowd of martial-artists, soldiers, and spectators a nonchalant side-glance.

"Impudent!" One of the squad captains roared like and enraged and furious lion while glaring at this scoundrel who insulted the Baroness.

"Stay your hand," Bo Biyu told the squad captain before looking at the man who insists on causing trouble then towards the crowd of martial-artists and saying : "Everyone, respected instructors. Please apprehend these two troublemakers and throw each of them in a detention-cell."

'This one is much crueler than the Baroness alright.' Commander Yao thought once he heard what Biyu just said, immediately afterwards the thousand-man-commander of the Royal-Guard stood protectively in front of his Liege-Lord and raised both of his open palms while hollering at the top of lungs : "Hold-on, one second. Allow me to explain."

The crowd—which was tightening the encirclement on the Third-Prince and his Royal-Guard—did indeed stop their intimidating advance once they heard what the big man just said however, the look in their eyes delivered a single message that said : "Let's hear it then. But, it better be something valid and solid. Otherwise.... y'all are still going to get the beating later-on anyway."

*****

Within Da Donghai's house.

Bao Baozhai, Qing Qiuyue, and auntie Bing could hear the commotion outside and moved outside to take a look.

"That's.... what's that brat doing in here?" The store-owner frowned once she discovered the cause of these problems.

"What's wrong sister Yue? do you know that well-trimmed man?" The appraisal asked while admiring the way this beard is groomed, this woman would've gone to ask for advices if this situation was different.

Her Donghai's beard is growing bigger each day and the one-handed idiot is becoming prouder of it which is frustrating because her and her sister both thinks that it's a hideous-looking apparition!

Qing Qiuyue : "Third-Prince Shi Bolin. He's famous for being a crooked person, his taste in women is plain-weird."

Bao Baozhai : "Oh! how so?"

"He loves toying with pregnant-women. They must be impregnated by other men," The store-owner frowned while saying these words, honestly she didn't believe these rumors in the beginning and took them as some nonsense being said to tarnish the reputation of this Prince by some other faction within the capital.

Auntie Bing : "Huh!" The big-chested woman gawked then hid herself behind the appraisal.

"That isn't all.... none of these pregnant-women survive these sick "games" of that man, same goes for their unborn-children." Finally Qing Qiuyue dropped this bomb in the end.

"This monster! wait.... is he targeting little-Bibi and little-Fen?" The appraisal began to bull at her sleeves and was about to head towards her goddaughters.

Qing Qiuyue : "Sister.... don't be impulsive, let's watch a little longer." Afterwards the store-owner smiled then took a fleeting glance upwards at the sky.

*****

Commander Yao : "I'm Yao Yaozi. I'm a thousand-man-commander of the Royal-Guard, here's my token of identity." The man raised a golden-seal high for everyone to see then handed it to the squad-captain for confirmation.

"What business does the Royal-Guard have in coming to our Villa? Not to mention that you two are acting all "High and Mighty" and causing trouble in Baron-Zhu's territory, heck.... one of you even dares to insult the Baroness!" One of the grandmasters began to question commander Yao while pointing fingers at the Third-Prince, an action that caused the man to frown.

"This filthy-peasant dares to point his finger at this Prince! Yao. Give him twenty lashes at once." Shi Bolin said while being overcome with disgust.

'Fuck!' The thousand-man-commander cursed once the Third-Prince ordered with complete disregard for the consequences of his actions.

After all.... they're alone in this Villa, and commander Yao is entirely-aware that he wouldn't be able to protect the Prince if this crowd of soldiers, martial-artists, and very angry civilians decided to attack them.

"Huh! What did this fool call me?" The grandmaster's complexion darkened and he balled his fists while glaring at this arrogant and foul-mouthed prick.

"Peasant. Filthy.... peasant."

"He's entitling himself as a Prince too!"

"Interesting.... this Villa never ceases to amaze me really, there's always something new in Baron-Zhu's territory."

"Hahaha.... did you hear his order?"

"This sissy-dude thinks that he's hero-general Lian or something, ordering for people to whipped on his whims."

"Hey! stop spouting nonsense, whenever general Lian orders for someone to be lashed then it's for a just cause."

"You're absolutely right there, it's my bad."

"Hehe.... not to mention that this toothpick thinks that this Royal-Guard is captain Li or something!"

"Yeah. Then it's going to end-up bad for that thousand-man-commander."

"Oh! Why's that?"

"Don't you all remember what fate befell captain Li back then?"

"Good analysis my friend. If that commander Yao dares to whip anyone on Baron-Zhu's territory? Then.... our Young-Lord would certainly show him hell later-on."

"Only if commander Tusai doesn't beat him to it."

"Now that you mention it.... where's he at?"

*****

The barracks, Ba Tusai's office.

*Bang....*

"All of you, follow me. Move!" Fu Liwei kicked the door of the conference-room where the supreme-commander was speaking then shouted these words at the men gathered in this meeting, this blade-user looked hilarious in his colorful pajamas, forked-slippers, messy-hair, and the sleep-mask which he forgot to remove from his forehead! The only item that could give-away how serious this situation is his famous Katana which he's holding in his hand.

Most of the men in the conference-room were subordinates to Fu Liwei anyway, Ba Tusai was updating them to some top-secret information about safety-measures and the procedures of applying them to Zhu Feng's family in-case of an emergency.

The other half of the Baron's Personal-Guards were on vacation with their captain Liwei!

Apparently the Baroness and Madam took advantage of this meeting and eluded their guards then.... escaped the manor without being escorted.

Joy is resting since the last stages of her pregnancy is taking its toll on her, her half-siblings are accompanying her.

Once Fu Liwei received the news about how his naïve men got hoodwinked, the poor guy ran without wasting a few seconds to at least wear his ZhuQing attire! first stop in his path was to rudely interrupt the men in the meeting before continuing to sprint towards the Baroness.

'These fuckers are going to be the death of me someday, I'm certainly going to show them hell later. How could they let the Baron's entire family slip-through their fingers? Even if they were blind.... certainly they're going to notice that they're gone from the manor at some point!' He thought while feeling cold shivers down his neck whenever he imagined something wrong happening to the Zhu-family.