But there was an additional piece of news that surprised Yang Ruxin a little—it turned out that Xiaolun and Xiaoyin had offspring.

Back when Gu Qingheng was heading into the desert, Xiaoyin was already pregnant. Naturally, as the husband, Xiaolun had to stay with her, which was why he didn't accompany Gu Qingheng.

Honestly, regardless of the species, if they get married and mate, having children is normal. Just like Xiaohei and Heihei—they now have Xiaohei Jr.

But what Gu Qingheng mentioned in his letter was that the offspring of Xiaolun and Xiaoyin turned out to be a golden snake.

Yang Ruxin found this rather bizarre. Green and white—how could that mix result in gold? Could it be a mutation? She wondered if its appearance would also differ from its parents.

She wrote the question into a letter and sent it off with Gugu.

After pondering for a moment, Yang Ruxin called over Xiaohei. "You need to recruit more subordinates. I need intelligence, but you guys clearly can't keep up with all the work. So, go find a few more, and preferably all Hai Dongqing…" Most organizations would raise messenger pigeons anyway. Now that she had such a unique edge, why not take advantage? Besides, these hawks were far superior to pigeons and could double as bodyguards.

Xiaohei pecked at Yang Ruxin's sleeve. "Do you think Hai Dongqing are cabbages that grow everywhere?"

Yang Ruxin poked Xiaohei's head. "I said preferably. It doesn't have to be Hai Dongqing. As long as they can fly and obey orders, it's fine. Of course, they need to be smart. We can't have them getting lost, can we?"

Xiaohei rolled his eyes. Where would she find so many smart ones? A sovereign like Black King himself was one of a kind.

Yang Ruxin vigorously ruffled the feathers on Xiaohei's head. "Will you die if you stop boasting for a second?"

As a result, a single black feather floated down.

"Eagle abuse!" cried Xiaohei in startled indignation, flapping his wings.

Yang Ruxin couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Come on, it's just one feather. It'll grow back soon enough."

"It's not your feather, so of course, you don't feel the pain!" Xiaohei squawked even louder. "I warn you, if you keep laying hands on me, I…I'll go on strike…"

Yang Ruxin flicked Xiaohei's forehead. "Oh, you're quite the showoff, huh? Go on, strike then, let me see…"

Xiaohei screeched faintly. Just like a human threatening someone—not quite; an eagle threatening someone—oh forget it. A smart eagle like him wasn't going to bicker with a woman. There was no reasoning with women anyway. Thank goodness his wife wasn't unreasonable like this, or his days would be unlivable…

"Alright then." Yang Ruxin rubbed Xiaohei's head again and pulled out a few medicine pills to hand to him. "These are new ones. I was in the wrong earlier…"

Xiaohei perked up instantly, chirping happily twice. Seeing her flattering gesture, he decided to forgive her this time.

The transport teams on the northern and southern routes set out at least twice a year. Along with the various branches of the Feiyang Dart Bureau, they continually expanded and refined intelligence across the land. Although it didn't seem like much now, she was confident that one day, she would establish a complete and comprehensive intelligence network.

On the early morning of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Du Man finally returned.

"I was wondering if you all would make it back in time for the New Year. Didn't expect you'd actually catch up!" Yang Ruxin said with a smile, watching the group of travel-weary figures. "Say no more for now—go take a hot bath, clean up, and get some sleep. I'll have food and drinks prepared here for you. Rest well, and we'll talk afterward."