Dark mountains like the sea, sunset like blood.

  On the vast and desolate prairie, autumn insects chirped, a bleak scene.

  Jade and Evie led a group of people of varying heights, walking through a picturesque landscape.

  The tall figure of the emerald green highland rose gradually from the horizon's withered grass, revealing its majestic posture. After trekking across the barren land for many days, Richard's fief was finally within sight.

  Richard's vassals and family members are very complex, with giant pandas and mastiffs, short and small people, in addition to the three hundred obedient children, the composition of the vassals also includes two affiliated tribes given by Viscount Simeon to Ningyu, one is the stinky badger people of the Kunke tribe, and the other is the hedgehog people of the Haigou Hong tribe.

  These two tribes were originally vassals of the Piggu tribe when Helen's family was in Maple Village. After the desert bandits slaughtered Maple Village, the Piggu tribe and its vassal tribes, except for a part that migrated to Bok Village, scattered and relied on other Fox families.

  This time in Florence, apart from these two tribes willing to follow their own mistress, (PS: This is probably still the result of Viscount Simark's coercion.) There was no one else who would follow Helen to the center of this terrible wilderness.

  Loyalty and reality still have some distance between them.

  Jing Yu looked at this group of vassal tribes who were as short as half a person, and sighed quietly in her heart.

  Along the way, they walked relatively safely, without encountering any large-scale bandit attacks. The only ambush was also repelled by the Mastiffs and Pandas with ease.

  The little piglet Li Bai on the shoulder of the cannibal Carlu performed exceptionally well, under the command of Guo Lao Da, it burst out a water arrow that shot and hit the goblins who were ambushing in the face.

  Only after that, Karu's chest was swollen for half a day.

  The Sanggan River, a tributary of the Taimur Snow Mountain meltwater, is the largest river on the Donau Prairie. Except for the dry season every winter, this river has been surging all year round, and the rushing water cleverly divides the Mongolian world and the prairie into two pieces, one side leading to the unknown and the other side leading to civilization.

  On the riverbank, a vast expanse of reeds stretched out, their white plumes waving gently in the breeze. As the wind blew, the rustling sound filled the air, and the fluffy seeds danced through the sky, drifting away to distant lands.

  "Actually no bridge?" Jingyu looked at the rushing river water and frowned.

  As soon as she spoke, she realized that she had said something superfluous. The distance between the two banks of the Sanggan River was at least five arrows wide, and it was indeed beyond the ability of Meng's carpenter to build a bridge across such a wide river surface.

  "With such a vast river surface, probably only the craftsmen of your mysterious Far Eastern continent could build a bridge." Evie stretched out her arms, feeling the surging water element, which made her feel very comfortable.

  Like her, Jingyu of the Sea Clan also felt refreshed and invigorated.

  Maybe coming here isn't a bad thing after all. Jingyu felt that at least there was a river here, and compared to the dry land, she would rather choose this place.

  The sentinel at the frontier post on the banks of the Sanggan River also discovered this group of tall and short pioneers, and quickly blew the horn.

  This is the most forward outpost on the border of Burma.

  The old barracks had been abandoned for a long time, and the dilapidated arrow tower stood on the riverbank like a lonely ghost.

  The officer at the military station was a handsome foxman, after checking all the documents, the officer brought this group of pioneers to the Sanggan River, where there was a simple dock in the reeds, and several giant vines were stranded on the shore.

  "This is a large boat specially prepared for you to cross the river after receiving notifications from the military department and the temple." The Fox tribe officer smiled and said, "Originally, this military station has not been used for a long time. In order to wait for your arrival, we have been guarding here for several days. Fortunately, we finally waited for you to come."

  "Are these boats sturdy enough?" Evie looked at the coarse, large tree-trunk-made hulls with some distrust. She wasn't worried about herself and Ningyu - they were both sea tribespeople, so it didn't matter to them. But the skunks and hedgehogs who had come along looked pale when they saw the river, and she was afraid that if something went wrong, the consequences would be unthinkable.

  "Don't worry, noble miss." The fox tribe officer, seeing the two beautiful women's noble demeanor, didn't dare to slack off: "These vines are all wild grapevines from the wasteland, with a high oil content. We'll weave them into boats, and then expose them to scorching sun. These vines will shrink together, without even a gap, absolutely won't leak."

  "We have a lot of people, adults, these vines won't be able to hold us, right?" Jingyu also had some misgivings, these boats compared to the old Penglai were simply children's toys.

  "Wait a minute, I'll give you a demonstration!" The Fox tribe officer nodded to the Piggu deputy officer beside him, and a stout Piggu warrior drew out the standard military sword from his waist and slashed it onto the side of the ship.

  With a loud crack, sparks flew from the blade and the ship's hull.

  "Is this vine so hard?" Qingyu and Evie clicked their tongues, looking at the knife marks on the side of the boat. The finger-thick vines were cut with great force, but only a quarter of an inch deep notch was left.

  "The key is that the oil content is relatively sufficient, and after drying, the fibers shrink, making these vines extremely hard." The Fox tribe officer smiled: "Now, the two ladies should be at ease, shouldn't they?"

  Jade and Evie exchanged a smile.

  These ships are a piece of cake for pandas who can maneuver giant vessels on the sea.

  "The Sanggan River winds its way through several bends, eighteen miles of waterway to Feilai Village, where there is a red earth plateau on the bank..."

  "A lord has come out, his name is Richard..."

  "Oh no, so fed up..."

  The pandas' high-pitched loud singing attracted the boys and girls on the boat to sing along together.

  As soon as they heard this song, Jingyu and Aiyue couldn't help but burst out laughing. Richard was a funny guy, the more time you spent with him, the more you felt that way. Although he had been sent to Fenglin to guard the border, he still managed to make the best of it, first composing a "Sanggan River" song to teach everyone.

  "Good!" Jingyu shouted at the panda who was using a long wooden pole to push against the bow of the boat, "Drink less wine!"

  "Got it!" Good responded with a loud and energetic tone, then chugged two more large mouthfuls of rum. Since the half-human came, the pandas felt like they had entered heaven, having delicious rum to drink every day. However, after two incidents of overdrinking, resulting in "drunken madness", their boss cancelled their quota. This time, with the boss away and the two madams being easy-going, Good didn't miss the chance to chug a few more mouthfuls before speaking up.

  "Ning Yu sister, I suddenly had an idea." Evie said with a red face, holding onto Ning Yu's hand and speaking in a somewhat mysterious tone.

  "What's wrong?" Jingyu smiled and patted the little piglet that jumped into her arms on its butt.

  "Aren't we lacking armor? The price of steel armor is too expensive, but we can make it ourselves!" Eve's two beautiful eyes shone with light.

  "But we're not going to smelt steel! We're not dwarves, we don't have sensitive noses that can detect the presence of minerals." Jingyu picked up Guoguo who was lying beside her with a big belly: "I'd love to help Richard make some armor, but unfortunately my only jade accessory was pawned last time and I couldn't afford it anymore."

  "Not necessarily!" Avril patted the side of the ship lightly, a sly glint in her eyes.

  "Are you saying......" Jingyu's eyes also lit up.

  "We should also help Richard share some of the responsibility, so he won't be dizzy and confused by that little fox spirit every day!" Elvira pouted, her face full of vinegar.

  "Doesn't this vine-woven armor look a bit shabby?" Jingyu furrowed her brow.

  "We can carefully design the pattern, and make it more majestic!" Avril grasped Jingyu's hand excitedly and said: "Isn't our sea tribe's armor all woven from seaweed in the sea? The vines are the same too!"

  "Avery, you're so clever!" Jingyu stroked the mermaid's cheeks and said lovingly: "Actually, Richard has been praising you behind your back all along..."

  "I don't believe it..." Avril's tough words were still tough, but the smile on her face was very pleasant.

  *********************************************************************

  The herds of Saola and Takin, under the shouting of Hedgehog Men and Skunk Men, broke through the tranquility that Phlox had always had.

  The soil and Danube plain's soil color is different here, it's reddish-brown with a metallic sheen, not a single blade of grass grows.

  On the vast and desolate prairie, a giant red earth slope stands tall, with a height of over 40 meters and a length of over 200 meters. On this barren red earth slope, only a few lonely dogtail grasses grow, and it is dotted with large and small caves and gullies.

  In the middle of a red earth slope, a giant stone statue of a god's face is embedded, with more than half hidden in the red earth layer. This is a relic after the ancient gods and demons war. There are many such relics on the Donau wasteland.

  In front of the high slope, there are clusters and clusters of red earth cones that rise from the ground like giant trees, becoming a unique symbol here.

  This high slope had no name before, and the Mong Kingdom only knew that every year at the turn of spring and summer, the Oolong tribe would come here to dig up some red soil and take it back. Red soil and bananas are two indispensable things in the diet of the Elephant Tribe.

  Ning Yu finally understood why the temple had named this originally nameless place "Feilongcui". Near the red earth high slope, a large area of red land was covered with only low shrubs and lingonberry bushes clinging to the ground, desolate to the extreme. Not far away, on the Donau wasteland, lush wild grasses divided into a semicircle along the range of the red earth, outside the circle was a fertile grassland, inside was barren red soil.

  The setting sun, like blood, had painted a layer of bright, dripping color on the red earthy hills.

  "How beautiful!" Evie felt that the desolation here gave her another kind of feeling, an indescribable sense of beauty.

  "It's beautiful, but also desolate." Jingyu looked at the large crowd of people behind her and frowned again. In the past, Richard took care of everything, and she didn't feel anything was wrong, now that it's her turn to be in charge, she finally understands Richard's difficulties.

  This period of frowning almost became a unique symbol of Jing Yu.

  "We can make Florence rich! Become a pearl in the wilderness!" Evie's boastful words made Qingyu frown again.

  "Where are we sleeping? We can't always sleep in the tent, it's too damp." Good strode over, nodding at the two landladies. He had a cracked blister on his lip.

  "It's already autumn, if we continue like this, everyone will get sick. We can't sleep on the ground." Jingyu also nodded in agreement.

  "We need to build a castle, watchtowers, and fences." Evie counted on her fingers, the more she thought about it, the uglier her face became. She finally understood why Master Jingyu had been frowning for the past few days. She suddenly remembered that they didn't have any money now, what were they going to use to build a castle and watchtowers?

  "Let's talk about this when Richard comes back, first solve the problem of where to sleep." Jingyu sighed and said. She felt that she really missed Richard, with him around, even if they couldn't solve the problem, she had someone to rely on, unlike now, her heart was full of worries.

  "Winter is approaching, we must build our camp before the frost sets in, I'll go chop wood! There's a pine forest on Snow Mountain, all pandas and Tibetan mastiffs will work together to try to return within a day and night." Gudun took out his wine pouch and gulped down another mouthful, "This damned wilderness has nothing but withered grass and shrubs, not even a single tree! May the first one to die be that bear!"

  "You've left, what about the guard work?" Jingyu shook her head.

  "It's just one night, it should be fine." Good said after a moment of silence: "Without wood, we can't build the castle, this problem must be solved first. You also want to give Lord Richard a surprise when he comes back, don't you?"

  Jingyu fell silent. She indeed wanted to share some of Richard's responsibilities.

  "At night, we can sleep in the cave on the red soil hill first. You see, the cave above is very large and should be able to accommodate hundreds of people without any problem. As for guarding, don't worry, I've got everything under control!" Aevil patted her chest and said with a smile: "I'm a mermaid who has natural communication skills with water elements, a great water magic master!"

  "What a great idea! Avril, you're so clever!" Jingyu's eyes lit up, "I'll go tell the hedgehog people to mow the grass right away. Soft and fluffy dry grass must be very comfortable to sleep on, and being in an underground burrow should keep us far from the damp earth."

  "Let those stinky Kunlun people move to another cave, they love farting all the way and it's suffocating." Aiyue said to Ningyu.

  "You little imp!" Jingyu smiled and pinched Evel's nose.