After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows-Chapter 96: Thousand Year Old Black Turtle

Jiang Lingxi slowly turned her head to look over, then met a pair of eyes that were almost pure black.

But the eyes seemed insignificant to this creature before her. The reason being, its size was simply too immense.

The head had now extended to about the height of an adult, and its large, cumbersome limbs supported a heavy shell, nearly five meters long, looking like a car commonly seen on city streets.

Even though these eyes did not express aggression, and turtles are known for their gentle nature, this is limited to turtles smaller than people. Out of caution, Jiang Lingxi unconsciously took two steps back.

However, the creature slowly moved a bit closer towards her. freewebnøvel.com

Jiang Lingxi: "..."

Was it targeting her or what?

Again meeting those eyes under the moonlight, now vaguely ink-blue, with a hint of longing, Jiang Lingxi was inexplicably dazed.

The steps she initially planned to retreat also paused in place.

In fact, after a few silent breaths, she even stepped forward.

Now, aided by the moonlight, she could even see the mottled patterns on the head of this giant turtle before her.

When she found a scar about the size of a bowl on those engravings filled with the traces of time, she couldn’t help but take a sharp breath.

A turtle that has lived for over a thousand years, even in her past life, exalted as an emperor standing at the peak of power, she had never seen nor heard anyone mention.

Yet, this creature before her, recorded historically as a symbol of longevity, had indeed crossed the millennia and reappeared before her.

She still remembered this scar.

Thinking back, it should have been the third year of her enthronement, just after stabilizing the turbulent court. But this stability was limited to the capital, while dissatisfaction with her as a female emperor persisted in the countryside.

So she decided to travel in disguise.

A true incognito journey, intended to be kept even from the courtiers in the capital.

She planned to take only two people, her usual Qing Yuan, and the Guard Captain of the Xuanyu Guards. One for care, the other for watchful protection.

However, at the time of departure, her intentions were accidentally discovered by Shen Moqing.

Thus, the disguised travel group expanded from three to four people.

This giant turtle was rescued during her first incognito journey and the first time she punished a corrupt local official.

At that time, naturally, the giant turtle wasn’t this big, but it had already lived for nearly two hundred years, having been arduously raised by three generations of a family of healers.

Because many animal-beneficial medicinal herbs had been used during its upbringing, the giant turtle was then also known as a medicinal turtle, and its discarded shell had much higher medicinal value than an ordinary turtle’s.

But because of this, it attracted covetous eyes.

The local Prefectural Governor had been indulgent in wine and women most of his life, and with age, his body had become mostly hollowed out. Learning by chance of such a medicinal turtle under his governance, he became obsessed with the idea of using it to make a broth for longevity.

The family raising the turtle naturally refused, as the turtle, though a pet, had become like family to them over the years.

Cooking the turtle for soup felt like endangering their family members’ lives.

The result of firmly declining was their entire family being imprisoned in the State Office’s jail on a made-up charge and sentenced to exile, leaving the turtle as an ownerless entity.

When she led troops to rush over, the turtle’s head was already pinned to the ground, with a large gash forcing it to bleed while the Prefectural Governor stood by eagerly, ready to drink a bowl of still-warm turtle blood before she drew her sword and slashed his throat.

Unfortunately, by then, the family had already been exiled, their fate uncertain. She could only send someone to rescue and treat the ailing turtle.

After the turtle was saved, the family was never found, and she had to continue her incognito journey. Bringing such a large turtle with her would be too conspicuous, so she released the big fellow into a swamp they passed by.

Whether it lived or died would depend on its own fortune.

Yet, who would have thought, a thousand years later, she would have a day to reunite with this giant turtle.

How could she not marvel at the wonders of the world?

Back then, she had indeed told the turtle that since it had already lived for two hundred years, it might as well live a little longer, but she never expected it to live over a thousand years.

The once swamp had turned into a deep lake, change as vast as the sea and mulberry fields.

"Calculating it, you must be around one thousand two hundred years old now. Not bad, you’ve lived quite long. After all these years, it seems you still recognize me, your intelligence must have grown as well," Jiang Lingxi mused, a sudden thought occurring to her, "Can you understand me, if you can, nod your head."

Naturally, she waited for no nod.

The two pairs of eyes, one human and one turtle, gazed quietly for a moment before the turtle unexpectedly moved towards the lake, and Jiang Lingxi sharply turned her head towards the forest where a sound came from, "Who?"

Xu Zhao’s voice drifted over, though he didn’t seem to come any closer, "It’s me, seeing you’ve been gone so long, Xu Ai and I got worried."

Jiang Lingxi looked back at the silhouette of the turtle quietly disappearing into the lake and turned to walk back without hesitation, answering as she went, "I’m fine, sorry for worrying you. The scenery here is quite nice, so I stopped to appreciate it for a moment."

As she rounded a bend, she was face-to-face with Xu Zhao.

"It’s good you’re okay. It’s getting late; we should hurry back to rest. Even though we’re not filming tomorrow, we probably have another full day of travel ahead."

Jiang Lingxi nodded and glanced back at where she had been standing.

She realized early enough that from this angle, Xu Zhao couldn’t see her, let alone the turtle.

Only then did she quietly let out a breath.

It wasn’t that she mistrusted Xu Zhao’s character, but such a large turtle was rare in this era, and once publicly known, it could spread nationwide in minutes in today’s society.

There was no shortage of humans who coveted it in the past, and there surely wouldn’t be a lack of them now.

Until she had enough ability to protect such a big creature, the best arrangement was for the turtle to remain unknown in this deep lake.

The noise of her entering the tent inevitably stirred the sleeping Xu Ai, "Why did you go out? Did you go to freshen up, why didn’t you take me with you?"

"I saw you were sleeping soundly." Jiang Lingxi responded and opened the sleeping bag, just lying down when a furry ball snuggled close to her.

Jiang Lingxi was about to reach out to wrap it in her arms, but the little one abruptly stopped just ten centimeters away, its small nose twitching slightly. When it looked back at her, there was a trace of reproach in its eyes.

As if saying, "How could you flirt with other animals when you have me?"

Jiang Lingxi: "..."

She had merely touched the scar on the turtle’s head, and this little one’s nose was quite sensitive!