Chapter 21

Chapter 21

A manor owned by the Gu family in the countryside had run into some trouble. Xie Licheng didn't know the specifics—the moment he got back, Xuan Cui urged him to pack his things and follow Gu Zhangyuan's carriage out of the Gu estate.

This time, Xie Licheng drove the carriage right behind Gu Zhangyuan's.

Staring at the lavishly decorated carriage ahead, he inexplicably thought back to that day in the pavilion, when Gu Zhangyuan's fingertip had tapped the back of his hand.

To be honest, faced with such a fresh, lovely beauty, Xie Licheng had had a fleeting wicked thought.

For instance... once the world descended into chaos, he might just force the man into his personal pocket dimension.

Of course, that notion vanished in an instant, and he quickly dispelled it.

Forcing love was something only guys with no charm would do.

He wasn't bad-looking, and he was bound to become a powerhouse later on.

Compared to forcing a beauty to be with him, he preferred one who came to him willingly.

Because a melon forced off the vine isn't sweet, and a beauty forced onto the bed will bite.

To Xie Licheng, his pocket dimension was the safest, most comfortable place.

He didn't want to live there and have to stay on guard day and night against the person sleeping next to him.

Over this period, Xie Licheng had leveled up a lot, reaching level 70.

Plus the attribute points he'd painstakingly saved before, he now had 35 attribute points.

There was no level cap—as long as he could level up, he could earn attribute points.

It's just that the higher his level got, the more experience he needed to level up.

Hitting level 100 was a big milestone, and it came with one lottery draw.

This draw was for attribute points, ranging from a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 100.

In his past life, Xie Licheng had gotten lucky and drawn 49 attribute points.

With that many extra points, he'd boosted his agility and defense a lot.

Xie Licheng really wanted to hit level 100 before the chaos broke out, so he could snag those free attribute points.

Of his current 35 attribute points, he kept 10 in reserve for survival and put the remaining 25 into strength and luck.

After adding those 25 points, Xie Licheng's strength was 54 and his luck was 30.

After nearly twenty days of training and good eating, Xie Licheng had gotten his weight up to 67 kilograms.

With the extra weight and enough strength, his combat power was growing fast.

Knowing there were still over two months before the chaos, Xie Licheng wasn't in such a hurry.

For now, he could take some time to stock up supplies in his pocket dimension.

His pocket dimension seemed to have plenty of stuff, but with that sudden quest progress bar, he'd probably be stuffing living people in there later.

Once the numbers grew, his supplies might not be enough.

The future was anyone's guess, but ever since getting this pocket dimension, hoarding had become his obsession.

No matter what happened, supplies would never betray him. If the situation allowed, he still wanted to stock up as much as he could.

...

The Gu family's troubled manor was in a town over forty li outside the city. The place was a bit out of the way, so Gu Zhangyuan had brought quite a few people along.

They traveled for a whole day and only reached the manor after dark.

It was only then that Xie Licheng found out what had happened at the Gu manor.

Two hired hands had gone missing. Losing two strong young men in a row—something about it felt off.

Normally, a steward could have handled something like this.

But Gu Zhangyuan's uncle, the Second Master of the Gu family, thought he should get out and gain more experience so he could one day carry the Gu family's name.

As the legitimate eldest son, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't easily refuse his uncle's explicit suggestion without looking useless.

Honestly, Xie Licheng didn't really approve of Gu Zhangyuan leaving the city at this time.

In the novel, it said that only two months later, in the summer, the whole of Lingzhou City would fall into chaos.

But that timing wasn't set in stone—a place didn't just erupt overnight; there were signs long before.

In the story, Gu Zhangyuan hadn't come here alone either, so Xie Licheng didn't approve of this trip.

But since they were already out here, and he was by Gu Zhangyuan's side, he couldn't vouch for anyone else's life, but he could protect Gu Zhangyuan.

Xie Licheng arrived at the manor with the convoy and got busy like the other drivers.

He first parked his carriage, then unloaded the goods, and worked until late into the night before resting.

Since he hadn't seen Gu Zhangyuan in a long time, and with this trouble at the manor, Xie Licheng planned to sneak over and check on him.

Once the other drivers were asleep, he quietly pushed the door open and slipped out.

It was a clear night, and the moon was big and bright.

Moonlight was cold—no matter how big or bright the moon was, it wasn't like daylight.

It felt like a thin veil draped down from the sky, casting a hazy glow over everything in the night.

As Xie Licheng stepped out of his room, he ran straight into two patrolling house guards.

These guards had come with Gu Zhangyuan from the Gu estate. Seeing Xie Licheng sneaking around in the dead of night instead of resting, they didn't ask any questions.

Not because they were slacking off, but... by now, everyone in the Gu household knew that Xie Licheng, the driver, was the Eldest Young Master's bedmate.

It was kind of funny—Xie Licheng still didn't have a proper name to his name, yet everyone in the Gu family remembered his face.

They all knew he belonged to the Eldest Young Master and figured they'd already done the deed.

With the Eldest Young Master's label on him, even as a nameless driver, everyone instinctively remembered him.

Seeing they didn't bother him, Xie Licheng boldly headed straight for Gu Zhangyuan's courtyard.

Then, as he walked along, just as he was about to reach the entrance to Gu Changyuan's courtyard, he suddenly sensed something flash by not far away.

Xie Licheng's steps faltered slightly, and he headed toward the spot that had made him uneasy.

By the time he got there, the shadowed spot where the moonlight didn't reach was empty.

Xie Licheng was sure someone had been there just moments ago.

That person had hurried off because of his sudden arrival.

Xie Licheng stood there for a moment, then turned and headed back toward Gu Changyuan's courtyard.

A guard posted at the courtyard gate glanced at him and said, "It's the middle of the night; the young master's already turned in. Come back tomorrow if you've got business."

Xie Licheng didn't leave. Instead, he said, "The young master said I can see him whenever I want. Just let me in—he won't blame you, and he might even reward you for it."

Xie Licheng talked as if he and the young master were thick as thieves.

In reality, the closest he'd ever gotten to the young master was grabbing his hand once to protect him.

But since the whole Gu household now thought he was the young master's chamber maid, the young master probably wouldn't bother setting the servants straight.

Even if Xie Licheng claimed they were close, the servants wouldn't dare go ask the young master to confirm it, so he could basically say whatever he wanted.

Of course, the main reason he dared to say all that was because Gu Changyuan didn't care how people gossiped about their relationship.

If Gu Changyuan actually minded, Xie Licheng would never do anything to tarnish his reputation.

The guard shot him a look, disdain flickering in his eyes.

He probably looked down on a guy like Xie Licheng who got by on his looks, and probably figured Gu Changyuan had lousy taste to be into a horse slave like him.

The guard frowned and said, "Fine, go on in. If the young master gets upset, you're taking the blame alone."

Xie Licheng patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, the young master will only thank you for being so accommodating."

With that, Xie Licheng walked through the courtyard gate.

By then, Gu Changyuan had already lain down, but he wasn't really asleep.

He was worried about the estate. It was in a remote spot.

There were a few big connected mountains nearby, and the estate manager said there might be bandits up there—the two laborers had probably been taken by them.

Before Gu Changyuan got there, the estate manager had already reported it to the authorities.

Unfortunately, the authorities had been swamped lately, and they'd only come by to take a look, with no clue when they'd get results.

Gu Changyuan remembered the news the servants had brought back from the temple.

He'd heard bandits had shown up in northern Lingzhou—could they be causing trouble here too?

The estate grew good crops, and he hated to abandon it, but he also worried there really were bandits in the mountains.

Lots of farmers and laborers lived there, and if more people went missing, the whole place would be in a panic.

Gu Changyuan felt something was off. What he'd been told before coming wasn't this serious—no one had mentioned bandits at all.

If he didn't know his uncle wouldn't deliberately hurt him, he might suspect his uncle wanted something bad to happen to him.

As Gu Changyuan was mulling this over, Yuan Qiao came in smiling, leaned in close, and whispered, "Master, that little groom's here to see you."

Gu Changyuan shot him an amused look. "Little groom, little groom—that big guy of his is anything but little."

Yuan Qiao: "But he doesn't have a name, so this servant's stuck calling him that."

Hearing that, Gu Changyuan remembered that was true.

He tilted his head slightly, signaling for him to go fetch the man.

After Yuan Qiao left, he glanced down at himself and couldn't help feeling his face heat up.

Even though his father had said he could have some servants for fun, his tutors had drilled him too hard on propriety.

The thought that he, an unmarried young master, was about to meet a male slave in his own room still felt utterly absurd and daring.

But remembering his father's words and his own high status, he took a deep breath to steady himself.

Soon, he heard the door open outside.

Yuan Qiao showed the man in but didn't come in himself.

Xie Licheng stepped in from outside, where the spring night air was still a bit chilly.

It was a whole different world inside—Gu Changyuan's room was warm and fragrant, and as he walked in, a wave of sweet scent hit him.

The scent was nice, sweet and soft. Not too strong, but after a while it made you feel a little lightheaded, like the air was full of sticky, silky pink threads wrapping around you.