Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 865 - 863_1

Chapter 865: Chapter 863_1

After playing for a couple of days, General Di was no longer content to just watch from the ship. He jumped into the sea hoping to join in the fun, but Xiao’er used his age as an excuse to not let him join in these extreme sports and had someone escort him back onto the ship.

The soldiers were thrilled to see him unable to participate as his absence meant one more surfboard was available for them to play with!

After holding back for two days, General Di couldn’t bear it any longer and claimed that they had to rush to Zhan’er Island, thus putting an end to everyone’s fun.

The ship’s deck was buzzing with lively discussions about surfing experiences and thrills, excitement and fear. They even planned to surf again near Zhan’er Island, to the frustration of General Di who could only watch but not partake in the fun.

Seeing everyone’s interest in these exhilarating sports, Xiao’er said: "Actually, besides surfing, alpine skiing is also a lot of fun and exciting. Going down from the mountain top, you can fully experience what thrill, elegance, agility, strong dynamism, and great excitement are! When any of you have a break in winter, come find me in the Imperial Capital, and I’ll take you skiing."

On hearing this, General Di thought: If water-based extreme sports aren’t suitable for older people, then surely the ones on land should be fine. He is a highly skilled martial artist, after all!

So he said, "Young lady, by next winter at the latest, I’ll be returning to the Imperial Capital; you must remember to take me skiing."

Xiao’er gave General Di an apologetic look: "General Di, all extreme sports are not suitable for older people to play!"

"Pfft!" Everyone burst into laughter after hearing this.

General Di frowned: It seems like the old indeed get bullied.

Fearing that General Di might develop depression, Xiao’er suggested: "Alpine skiing isn’t suitable for the elderly, but flatland skiing is also fun. If General Di isn’t afraid of breaking all his old bones, you could give it a try."

General Di finally felt satisfied after hearing this: "Don’t worry, I’ve got sturdy bones! They won’t break!"

"That’s right, they won’t break, they’ll just crack!"

"Bah, go away! If you dare to spout such nonsense again! I’ll break your legs first!"

The other soldiers started to make a racket and the atmosphere was cheerful for a while.

...

After enjoying their surfing, the ship started heading towards Zhan’er Island.

When the ship got near Zhan’er Island, they found a group of coral reef islands.

"We call this place Wanli Shitang. Nangong Country once stationed soldiers here but feeding and providing water to them every day was too troublesome so they abandoned it," General Di explained.

The islands remained uninhabited mainly because they were mostly made up of rocks, and their area was too small - the largest island merely covered thousands of square kilometers, which was not conducive for living. Moreover, these islands were often flooded, and several nearby countries had once occupied the archipelago, only to abandon it within a year. So, it became a completely deserted archipelago.

"Since no one else wants it, let’s occupy it from today!" Xiao’er suggested, intuition telling her that this island was very important and would likely become larger! Since no one wanted it at the moment, why shouldn’t they occupy it? Even if it was used as a military training base in the future, it would be excellent, plus the location was close to Zhan’er Island.

"Zhan’er Island will soon be ours; occupying this island now is a good move and will make things easier for us in the future." That way, they could bypass Nangong Country to reach Zhan’er Island, and they could go straight out to sea, passing through this group of islands to get to Zhan’er Island.

Around the coral reef islands, the big ship didn’t dare to go too close to avoid hidden reefs. They found a place to anchor, the soldiers lowered a small boat, and everyone took the small boat to get there.

Originally, Xiao’er wanted to stay on the ship with Shangguan Xuanyi, enjoy a few more days at sea and then land directly on Zhan’er Island when the agreed transfer time was near.

However, seeing this group of small islands, Xiao’er changed her mind: "Brother Shangguan, let’s also go check out these small islands!"

"Alright." Shangguan Xuanyi nodded in agreement after hearing this.

Meanwhile, a golden snake crawled ashore on the other side of the island.

Shangguan Xuanyi and Xiao’er got off the boat together and took a smaller boat to the island. Xiao’er asked General Di for a map showing the distribution of the islands in the archipelago and inquired about when humans first discovered the islands.

Seeing Xiao’er’s interest, General Di shared everything he knew.

The archipelago was relatively new; it had only appeared a few decades before. Regular earthquakes and tsunamis used to occur, only calming down about a decade ago.

Hearing this reinforced Xiao’er’s belief that the tectonic movements here were far from over and these islands would definitely get larger.

"We must guard this place well. It may not have a big use now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t in ten years, fifty years, a hundred years to come."

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers instinctively responded in unison.

What happens ten years later, or fifty years later, or a hundred years later might not be under their control anymore.

But as soldiers who were expanding and defending their country, protecting their home was not just for themselves but for their nation, their home, their descendants, their people, and the long-lasting prosperity of their country.

So defending their territory was a duty they wished to fulfil while on duty.

"Brother Shangguan, let’s go check out the largest island." The island they were currently on was not the largest in the group; the biggest one was farther away.

"Okay." Shangguan Xuanyi also had this intention. He also thought that the island would likely be very useful in the future.

Suddenly, Xiao’er felt something crawling up her calf, as if a snake was creeping up her leg. She screamed out of fear and flung her leg, tossing the golden python back into the sea.

Simultaneously, a familiar voice appeared in her mind: "Owner, why did you throw us out?"

Cursing in her heart, Xiao’er was certain that the golden python did this on purpose! Knowing she was afraid of snakes, it still chose to scare her, so she decided to ignore it.

Shangguan Xuanyi saw that it was Xiao Huang that Xiao’er had thrown out and gently patted her back: "Don’t be scared, that’s Xiao Huang."

"I know!" Xiao’er gritted her teeth in reply.

"Was that a snake? And it was gold?" General Di blinked, thinking his vision was fading.

"Yes, it’s a golden snake. It’s the Princess’s pet. It’s been missing from home for a while, didn’t expect it to come here to play." Shangguan Xuanyi casually explained.

General Di’s lips twitched: Who would keep a snake as a pet? And snakes run away from home?

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