Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"What are the two characters?"

"Li as in 'parting,' Cheng as in 'town.'"

"That's a bit of a strange name."

"Yeah."

After that, the two of them didn't keep talking about the name. Gu Zhangyuan was clearly worn out, slumped on Xie Licheng's back and looking drowsy.

Xie Licheng noticed and stopped talking to him.

With one hand holding the guy on his back, he pulled out a blade with the other.

He'd always used short blades before—they were perfect for close-quarters fighting.

But this time, with Gu Zhangyuan on his back, he deliberately picked a miao dao to keep him from getting hurt.

Miao dao came in two sizes: one about five chi long, roughly 1.6 meters, and the other over three chi, around 1.2 meters.

The one Xie Licheng held was the five-chi version—basically like carrying around a 1.6-meter-tall person.

With a blade that long, he could take down an opponent without ever getting close.

This time, Xie Licheng's goal was to find the manor's steward. Getting to him would prove the Second Master of the Gu Family wanted Gu Zhangyuan dead.

The Second Master and the First Master were blood brothers, so they must have been pretty close.

Without solid evidence, it would be nearly impossible to get the First Master to move against his own brother.

Even if Gu Zhangyuan said it himself, the First Master probably wouldn't believe it.

So to settle this once and for all, he needed both witnesses and hard evidence.

And that steward who let the bandits in was now the most important piece of evidence.

Xie Licheng hadn't gone far when he spotted a bandit dragging a woman into the bushes nearby.

Xie Licheng sneered. He'd already scared off the other bandits and killed their two leaders, whose bodies were still lying there unclaimed.

And this guy still had the nerve for this?

Was he really that desperate?

Like a dog in heat on the side of the road.

Disgusting!

With that thought, Xie Licheng raised his miao dao and strode up behind the guy.

From where she was, the woman happened to see Xie Licheng.

She wasn't stupid—she knew Xie Licheng was coming to save her, so she didn't blow his cover.

Xie Licheng mouthed to her, "Close your eyes."

The woman immediately closed her eyes.

The bandit figured she'd given up and leered as he reached to rip her clothes off.

Then... one swift stroke, and Xie Licheng strode past them, wiping the blood off his blade on his pant leg.

After that, Xie Licheng killed two more bandits and saved two old folks and a farmer.

Xie Licheng wasn't a good person by nature. The main reason he killed and saved people along the way was that he had experience with killing.

After transmigrating, he accidentally stored a corpse in his portable world, which triggered a weird quest progress bar.

Since then, Xie Licheng could level up not just in the portable world, but in the real world too.

He'd already figured out two ways to level up in the real world.

The first was hunting—he'd discovered that when he caught the snake for Gu Zhangyuan.

The second was killing—he'd discovered that today while killing bandits to protect Gu Zhangyuan.

Looking at it that way, Gu Zhangyuan seemed to be good luck for him.

Hunting gave solid experience, and killing gave even more.

That was exactly why he was so eager to clear out the bandits in the manor and why he killed every one he ran into along the way.

Xie Licheng would never kill innocent people to level up, but killing bandits who terrorized the area sat fine with his conscience.

Since killing gave experience, in times like these, taking out more of these evil bandits was his way of ridding the people of a scourge.

Before Xie Licheng could keep searching, the steward came looking for him with a group of men.

Since some bandits had disguised themselves as manor farmers before, Gu Zhangyuan tensed up when he saw the steward approaching with a group, and whispered nervously to Xie Licheng, "Be careful."

Xie Licheng smiled. This handsome young master still underestimated him.

Whatever he could think of, Xie Licheng could think of too.

But knowing the guy cared about him, Xie Licheng felt pretty pleased.

Xie Licheng looked at the steward and asked, "So you're the one running this manor?"

The steward was a middle-aged man close to fifty.

He had a meek look about him, like an ordinary guy who was honest, loyal, timid, and kind.

Gu Zhangyuan had seen him once when he first arrived at the manor.

Hearing Xie Licheng ask who the man was, Gu Zhangyuan poked half his head out from behind Xie Licheng.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "It's him."

The steward glanced at Xie Licheng, then cautiously at Gu Zhangyuan, as if sizing up their relationship or quietly scheming something.

He didn't answer Xie Licheng's question. Instead, he stepped forward with a fawning, worried look to check on Gu Zhangyuan.

He said, "Eldest Young Master, are you alright? It's all this servant's fault. This servant never expected those bandits to be so bold—they, they actually dared to sneak into the manor in the dead of night. Did they scare you, Young Master?"

Seeing him still putting on an act, Gu Zhangyuan was so furious he wanted to get down and punch him.

But remembering his twisted ankle, he held back and said, "How dare you! You arranged my lodging, and there's a small door in that courtyard. Are you really going to pretend you don't know anything about it?"

The steward hurried over, trying to grab Gu Zhangyuan's pant leg, as if he wanted to cry out in grievance and explain something to Gu Zhangyuan. But in reality, he had a knife clutched in his hand, intending to finish what he'd been sent to do.

But before he could even get near Gu Zhangyuan's clothes, Xie Licheng turned around with Gu Zhangyuan on his back, not only shielding Gu Zhangyuan behind him again but also kicking the steward square in the chest.

The steward went flying, slammed hard into the ground, and his knife skittered away.

At the sight, Gu Zhangyuan was both furious and stunned, his whole body shaking with rage.

He snarled, "What did he give you? Even now, you're still trying to kill me for him?!"

The steward gave a bitter laugh. "Eldest Young Master, don't hold it against your servant. I had no choice. I've got two sons at home—one's a gambler, the other's gravely ill. To support them, I had no other option."

As he spoke, he suddenly let out a sinister chuckle.

Gu Zhangyuan saw that smile and immediately grabbed Xie Licheng's clothes in a panic.

He urged, "This isn't good—those men he brought are all bandits too."

Sure enough, the men the steward brought were all bandits. These bandits had split into two groups. The first group was the dozens led by the Mole-faced Man.

The second group had trailed them down the mountain. Because the bandit chief figured the Gu family was loaded and the estate was full of valuables, he worried the second and third in command might pocket things for themselves, so he sent another batch to follow, originally meaning for them to haul away the loot.

But unexpectedly, before they could even start loading up, they found that Gu Zhangyuan was still alive.

A young master—a pampered one at that—had survived with all those men sent to kill him. Now that's hard to kill!

Honestly, the steward had been genuinely shocked when he first saw Gu Zhangyuan still alive.

He'd planned to play the sympathy card and kill the man himself.

Unfortunately, the groom protecting Gu Zhangyuan was too much of a problem—he never gave him a chance to get close.

Since they weren't from the same group, these bandits naturally had no clue how formidable the man in front of them was.

Judging by Xie Licheng's clothes, they took him for an ordinary male slave.

The clothes of the Gu family's guards and house guards were different from what ordinary male slaves wore.

Their clothes were fancier, even finer than what common folks wore.

Gu Zhangyuan had given Xie Licheng several nice outfits, but Xie Licheng, figuring he was just a horse keeper who often went hunting in the mountains, picked the plainest male slave clothes.

Seeing Xie Licheng as just an ordinary male slave, looking a bit scrawny, even with a long blade in his hand, the bandits there didn't take him seriously.

They each drew their weapons and moved to surround Xie Licheng to kill him.

A man only had two hands and two legs—if they surrounded him like this, even if he had some skill, he could only cover his front, not his back.

But before they could close the circle, Xie Licheng swung his blade and chopped off a bandit's head.

Stepping over the dead bandit with his long legs, Xie Licheng saw the others still trying to surround him and said quietly to the person behind him, "Hold on tight. Don't fall off."

Hearing that, Gu Zhangyuan threw all dignity out the window.

He wrapped his arms around Xie Licheng's neck, and to keep from choking him, he hooked his legs around Xie Licheng's waist.

Once Xie Licheng was sure he wouldn't slip off, he held the blade in one hand and pulled out a dagger with the other.

That dagger was one he'd swiped off a bandit he'd just killed.

He charged forward with Gu Zhangyuan, making him let out a silent gasp, followed by two screams.

The dagger sank into the left eye of a bandit who'd been close to Xie Licheng, trying to slash at Gu Zhangyuan behind him.

The Miao Dao sliced through the neck of another bandit, a bit farther off, who was fighting him head-on with a blade.

Counting the one he'd just killed, that made two dead and one wounded among the bandits.

Seeing his level go up again, Xie Licheng, while the bandits were stunned, dumped all 9 attribute points from his level-up into strength.

At that moment, Xie Licheng's strength hit 63.

That was pretty high for an ordinary person.

He flicked the blood off his blade, then the next instant hurled a dart that struck a bandit in the head from a distance.

Xie Licheng glanced at it and sighed, "Off target."

He'd aimed for the eye—if he could hit the eye, it would mess up their vision badly. Even if it wasn't a killing blow, dealing with them afterward would be a piece of cake.

He hadn't used these darts in a long time; he didn't expect his aim to be this bad.

Luckily, his pocket world had plenty of small weapons stashed away.

If these darts weren't working, he'd switch to something he was better at.

With that in mind, Xie Licheng pulled out a short blade.

He still preferred this kind of short blade—it could work as a knife or a ranged weapon.

And with its sharp edge, as long as he had enough strength and accuracy, it did more damage than arrows. A lot of times, he could take someone out with a single clean strike.

Then, as Xie Licheng charged with Gu Zhangyuan to cut down another bandit, his momentum was too strong and his pace too fast—Gu Zhangyuan's legs around his waist suddenly slipped loose.

Worried he might fall, Xie Licheng quickly tossed aside the short blade he'd just drawn and caught him with his free hand.

That moment of catching him gave the other bandits a window.

Three bandits rushed in together—one swinging at Xie Licheng, one at Gu Zhangyuan, and another grabbing Gu Zhangyuan's clothes.

The situation was dire. Xie Licheng, with one hand, dragged Gu Zhangyuan from behind to his front, and with the other, swung the blade outward in a circle around his body.

That circle sliced through the arms of those three bandits.

Two bandits lost their forearms, and one had half his palm sliced off.

In the process, Xie Licheng got a cut across his face.

His defense was high, so the wound only cost him a little health.

Exhausted and terrified, Gu Zhangyuan collapsed weakly in front of Xie Licheng, his vision going dark, his whole state a mess.

He instinctively made himself as small as possible, trying not to cause Xie Licheng any more trouble.

Then, before he could curl himself into a ball, the three bandits around them dropped one by one.

Xie Licheng grabbed one of his hands, hauled him up, and then swung him onto his shoulder.

Gu Zhangyuan, already lightheaded, immediately grabbed Xie Licheng's hair the moment he was perched on his shoulder.

Xie Licheng said, sounding resigned, "Don't grab my hair."

He didn't want to end up bald.

Hearing this, Gu Zhangyuan pouted and switched his grip to Xie Licheng's ears.

Xie Licheng said, "Don't grab my ears either."

Ears were too delicate and could get ripped off easily—he didn't want to end up with just one ear.

Gu Zhangyuan grumbled, "Then where am I supposed to hold onto?"

Xie Licheng thought it over and moved him onto his back instead.

This time, to keep him from falling, Xie Licheng tied him to himself with his own clothing.

Once he had him secured, Xie Licheng gave his butt a pat while eyeing the ones trying to run, and asked, "Besides the guy in charge, do you want me to leave any of the others alive?"

Gu Zhangyuan, annoyed at the pat on his butt, got a flush of red on his pale face.

He gritted his teeth and muttered, "Just leave one alive."

After saying that, he froze for a second—hadn't they just been at a disadvantage?

Xie Licheng was just one guy, and he was stuck carrying dead weight like him; they'd almost been surrounded and killed.

Now Xie Licheng was asking him whether to spare the others, like he was the one who had them all surrounded by himself.

With that thought, Gu Zhangyuan struggled to raise his head, trying to see what was going on.

But the second his head poked out a bit, Xie Licheng shoved it right back down.