Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Afterwards, Xie Licheng set Gu Zhangyuan down and dragged the mole man's body outside.

When the bandits saw their Second Chief and Third Chief lying dead side by side, they immediately stopped wanting to fight.

They'd come to this manor to help the Gu family's Second Master kill the Gu family's Eldest Young Master.

The manor's steward had let them in. Posing as regular farmhands, killing an off-guard young master would've been easy.

The worst they'd figured for this job was losing a few brothers during the hit.

But they never figured the Third Chief would die, let alone the Second Chief too.

How were they supposed to explain this to the Grand Chief back home?

And after a loss this bad, who'd still want to ride with them into danger?

They couldn't even take down a lowly horse slave—other crews in the underworld would laugh at them. Might as well just break up now.

Some bandits were done with this life; others had been scared shitless by Xie Licheng.

Since Gu Zhangyuan and the others were stuck in the courtyard, they hadn't seen what went down outside, so they had no clue how scary Xie Licheng really was.

When the Third Chief went at Xie Licheng, a few other bandits were backing him up.

Xie Licheng took on a whole group by himself, and those two daggers of his hit exactly where he pointed them.

One went through a bandit's left eye; the other punched clean through a bandit's chest.

Then he grabbed the big sword off a bandit he'd just killed and lopped off their Third Chief's arm like it was cutting tofu.

A bunch of them tried to get through that courtyard gate to grab Gu Zhangyuan, but none of them could get past him in one piece.

Some lost their heads; others lost their legs.

A killing machine like him was way out of their league.

With both chiefs dead, they didn't want to keep fighting anymore.

So the bandits outside the courtyard looked at each other and took off without a second thought.

They bolted, but there were still some bandits scattered around the manor.

Seeing that, Xie Licheng glanced back at the courtyard and decided to take Gu Zhangyuan along to clear out the rest of the estate.

He'd bragged to Gu Zhangyuan that he'd keep him safe.

To make sure nothing happened to Gu Zhangyuan while he was gone, he figured it was safer to keep the kid with him.

Xie Licheng called back to the others, "Come on, I'll take you to go grab that steward."

Gu Zhangyuan was about to follow when Xuan Cui said to him, "Young Master, the manor's gotta be really dangerous right now. Maybe... you shouldn't go?"

Xuan Cui meant well—she was just worried about Gu Zhangyuan.

But Gu Zhangyuan knew damn well the safest spot in the whole manor right now was right next to Xie Licheng.

He'd already figured Xie Licheng wasn't your average guy, and after tonight, it was even clearer he hadn't been wrong about him.

This horse slave was hiding way more than he'd ever imagined.

He didn't seem like a criminal slave at all—more like a soldier who'd been on battlefields and seen blood up close on the regular.

Gu Zhangyuan told Xuan Cui, "Don't worry. I'm safer with him."

With that, Gu Zhangyuan got up and headed over to Xie Licheng.

He got to the courtyard gate and looked at his personal guard and the few house guards still standing.

"Keep them safe. Having him with me is enough."

Gu Zhangyuan's personal guard did have some real skill.

The other house guards were all banged up to some degree—only him and Xie Licheng came out without a scratch.

Of course, there was another reason he wasn't hurt—Xie Licheng had taken the brunt of the attacks.

If Xie Licheng hadn't been here today, he and the house guards probably wouldn't have made it out alive.

They were too few and totally caught off guard—they'd have been wiped out easy.

The guard nodded and went into the courtyard to check on Xuan Cui, Yuan Qiao, and the rest.

There were two bodies in the courtyard—one killed by Xie Licheng's dagger, the other by that female martial guard.

The guard walked over to the bandit killed by the dagger and crouched down, staring for a long moment at the blade buried almost all the way in.

He'd thought it was ridiculous before that the Eldest Young Master had taken a shine to a horse slave.

But now that he'd seen the man's skill firsthand, the guard suddenly got why the Eldest Young Master was into him.

People naturally respect the strong—and men are no different.

That groom's skill was honestly on another level from regular men.

He seriously doubted he'd last half a shichen against that guy before getting cut down.

After Xie Licheng left with Gu Zhangyuan, the guard helped Xuan Cui up and asked, "You know anything about that groom's background?"

Xuan Cui answered without thinking, "He... isn't he just a criminal slave from the slave camp?"

"If he's a criminal slave, he's gotta have some story. You know where he's from?"

Xuan Cui frowned and thought hard. "I think... he's a descendant of some military general from a past dynasty."

Hearing that, a look of understanding flashed in the guard's eyes.

So he really wasn't some ordinary guy—no wonder he'd learned his skills from his old man.

And in a place like the slave camp, folks without real skill just couldn't survive.

Meanwhile, Xie Licheng hadn't gotten far with Gu Zhangyuan before the young man stopped, his face going pale.

Seeing how bad he looked, Xie Licheng walked up to him and asked, looking down, "You feeling sick somewhere?"

Gu Zhangyuan shook his head. "I haven't been sleeping well lately, and I didn't eat right today. Guess the scare and shock just left me feeling weak."

Xie Licheng looked at him quietly for a moment, then patted himself down and pulled out a strawberry candy.

He unwrapped the candy and brought it to Gu Zhangyuan's lips.

Gu Zhangyuan looked at the candy, then at Xie Licheng, and asked, "What is this?"

Xie Licheng said simply, "Candy."

Gu Zhangyuan didn't really want to eat it—not out of fear that Xie Licheng might poison him, but because he had no appetite at the moment.

He was covered in blood, a complete mess, and thinking of the gruesome deaths of those men earlier made his stomach churn.

Xie Licheng said, "Eat it, so you don't pass out from exhaustion later."

Gu Zhangyuan didn't want to be a bother to Xie Licheng either, so after hesitating, he opened his mouth and popped the candy in.

To his surprise, the candy was actually pretty tasty.

The Gu family was wealthy, and he had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth.

As a child, he had a sweet tooth, and his dad would often buy him wild honey.

Cakes and candied fruits—he'd eat them like meals.

Having eaten so many good things, he'd gradually lost interest in them.

But this candy from Xie Licheng seemed different; he savored it slowly, and it was better than a lot of sweets he'd had before.

Seeing Gu Zhangyuan perk up a bit after eating the candy, Xie Licheng wanted to hurry him along.

But Gu Zhangyuan was delicate—walking along, he didn't see a hole in the road and twisted his ankle.

Xie Licheng didn't know what to say.

So weak, so spoiled, crybaby, timid... it was just...

He thought this to himself, but meeting Gu Zhangyuan's slightly hurt, beautiful eyes, he swallowed back all the harsh words on the tip of his tongue.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "Maybe I should just go back."

He felt like following Xie Licheng just made him a burden.

Without him, Xie Licheng could get things done faster and easier.

But Xie Licheng didn't send him back—he'd already bragged he'd protect him well.

If he sent him back and something happened to Gu Zhangyuan, wouldn't that be a slap in the face?

Xie Licheng came back to Gu Zhangyuan and crouched down, turning his back to him.

He said to him, "Get on my back. I refuse to believe I can't protect you."

Gu Zhangyuan looked at his broad shoulders, hesitated, then carefully climbed on.

The man's shoulders weren't that broad or solid, probably because he was too skinny.

He'd asked the Gu family's kitchen to give him extra meals, hoping to fatten him up a little.

But... this horse slave had been gone for half a month, and when he came back, he looked even tanner than before.

Come to think of it... both he and Xie Licheng were pretty absurd.

Given how dangerous things were now, Xie Licheng had to catch that steward and kill the other bandits in the manor.

Logically, no matter how capable he was, he shouldn't be bringing along a pampered young master—and a good-looking one at that.

But he did, and the funny thing was, Gu Zhangyuan thought he was right to do it.

In the whole manor now, in Gu Zhangyuan's eyes, none of his attendants or the house guards protecting him could guarantee his safety.

He only believed Xie Licheng could keep him safe.

And now that he'd twisted his ankle, Xie Licheng didn't plan to send him back either, thinking he could handle things while carrying him.

Gu Zhangyuan believed him and went along with it.

In the past, Gu Zhangyuan always thought of himself as a bit timid and cowardly.

But right now, his actions were bold and reckless.

If his father found out, he'd probably be stunned by his behavior.

His father would definitely ask him, "Why do you trust a horse slave so much?"

Yes, why did he trust a horse slave so much?

Just recently, he'd told this horse slave that he was a bit scared of him and couldn't fully trust him.

But when real danger came, he instinctively chose to trust him anyway.

Before Gu Zhangyuan could dwell on his own fickleness, the horse slave strode off toward the manor with him on his back.

The manor was in chaos now, fires blazing everywhere, and a lot of people had been killed by the bandits.

It was a terrifying sight, enough to make anyone panic and feel uneasy.

Gu Zhangyuan was a bit scared too, but not really.

This horse slave was amazing—being on his back made him feel safe.

Gu Zhangyuan whispered, "You're no ordinary man. Who are you, really?"

Xie Licheng didn't want to explain much; he kept walking and said, "To you, I should be a good man."

"A good man?"

"Yes, because I think I've been pretty good to you."

Xie Licheng had indeed been good to him—Gu Zhangyuan couldn't deny it, and he wouldn't.

He licked the candy in his mouth, letting the sweet taste spread across his tongue.

"What's your name?"

Xie Licheng was about to say he had no name, but then he realized bandits had already risen here, and the chaos in Lingzhou seemed bound to come early. After a moment's thought, he simply said, "My name is Xie Licheng."