Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Gu Zhangyuan chuckled at his words, withdrawing his hand to pull out a handkerchief, then began gently wiping Xie Licheng's face.

Xie Licheng's face was truly filthy beyond belief. God knows what he had been up to these past few days—the smell of blood on him was so strong it was almost unbearable.

While wiping, he spoke: "Since Lingzhou is destined to fall into chaos within a month, I can certainly buy that much time. There's no need for you to help me plan my marriage."

Previously, he hadn't known Lingzhou would descend into chaos so quickly, which was why he'd been so anxious upon hearing his father wanted to marry him off.

Now that he knew Lingzhou would inevitably descend into chaos within a month, he no longer cared much about the whole marriage thing.

Because compared to his marriage, he was now more worried about the future of the Gu family.

After finishing that sentence, his movements paused slightly, then he raised his lovely eyes to meet Xie Licheng's gaze.

"Speaking of which, how did you know the fiancé my father chose for me is Marquis Jincheng? And how do you know Marquis Jincheng isn't a good man, with a bunch of women and men around him? How are you so familiar with him—have you met him in person or something?"

That didn't add up either. Xie Licheng had come from the slave camp—how could someone of his standing have met Marquis Jincheng?

Unless that identity of his was fake too.

Xie Licheng didn't offer much explanation. "Never mind how I know. As long as the info helps you, that's all that matters."

He frowned. "I'm hungry. Can you have someone get me something to eat?"

Gu Zhangyuan called out, "Xuan Cui, go to the small kitchen and grab some food."

Xuan Cui, who'd been waiting outside, acknowledged and quickly had some dishes brought in.

Xie Licheng washed his hands, then sat down and ate like a starving man.

Watching him wolf down his food, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but ask softly, "Did you run into those bandits again or what?"

In Gu Zhangyuan's eyes, Xie Licheng wasn't the type to kill just anyone. The only ones who could make him kill would be those bandits.

Xie Licheng didn't plan on hiding it from him. His main reason for coming back was that he was worried the authorities might cause trouble for the Gu family.

"You sent me to the estate to find that prescription. I found a problem there."

"What problem?"

"The authorities have the estate under guard, but there are bandits hiding inside."

Gu Zhangyuan's face went pale at this. It took him a while before he lowered his voice and said, "Are you saying... the authorities are working with the bandits, and they've got their eyes on that estate too?"

The Gu family's estate was used for growing medicinal herbs, making it worth a lot more than their other estates.

Xie Licheng: "More precisely, they're probably after that prescription—or maybe the whole Gu family."

Gu Zhangyuan slammed his hand on the table. "They wouldn't dare—no, they don't have the guts. At least not right now."

Xie Licheng: "I came back to tell you about this. Also, the authorities are searching for me all over outside the city right now. They must already know I'm from the Gu family. I'm worried that killing the bandits' leader might bring trouble to the Gu family."

When Xie Licheng acted back then, he hadn't expected them to recognize him.

Nor had he expected that with Lingzhou not yet in full chaos, the authorities would actually take the bandits' side.

Xie Licheng felt the situation was far more complicated and murky than what was written in the book—maybe involving even more people and more things.

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "What? You went up the mountain alone and killed their leader?"

Xie Licheng felt a little guilty. "Not only did I kill their leader, I wiped out their hideout too."

The authorities were looking for him, probably for the Gu family's prescription, or maybe for the money and grain the bandits had stashed away.

Hearing this, Gu Zhangyuan was both shocked and exasperated. This guy... was truly arrogant to the extreme.

Knowing full well the bandits were in cahoots with the authorities, he still dared to go up the mountain and wipe out their hideout. That was... using his skills to do whatever he wanted.

Xie Licheng: "I'm worried they might use this against us, or do something to hurt the Gu family."

Gu Zhangyuan shook his head. "No, they won't—at least not until the chaos breaks out. Earlier, to cover for you, I gave the credit for your deeds to the Gu family's estate guards. Later, worried someone might find out, I spread the word that one of the estate guards had run off, and when I reported it to the authorities, I used your identity."

In other words, the Gu family no longer had that horse slave.

Later, Xuan Cui, Yuan Qiao, and the others all called him Master Xie.

The original owner had been a criminal slave with no name.

But his father had a name—he'd been a military officer of the previous dynasty, and their family name wasn't Xie.

Even if the authorities really wanted the Gu family's wealth, they couldn't convict the Gu family using a runaway slave.

The Gu family really wasn't in a position to fight the authorities and had to show them some respect.

But it wouldn't be that easy for the authorities to swallow the Gu family whole either.

Otherwise, the Gu family wouldn't have lasted over a century, surviving two dynasty changes without falling.

The Gu family wasn't afraid of the authorities eyeing them—as long as they paid enough money, they could stay safe and sound.

What the Gu family feared were those reckless outlaws who'd stop at nothing once the world fell into complete chaos.

Seeing that Gu Zhangyuan had already handled everything, Xie Licheng wasn't as worried as before.

He took out the prescription from his clothes and got ready to leave.

Seeing this, Gu Zhangyuan frowned and asked, "Where are you off to now?"

Xie Licheng: "I plan to trade all my money for goods before everything falls apart. Once real chaos hits, gold and silver won't be worth anything."

After that, he still needed to go up the mountain—he had no idea what the situation was like there now.

Xie Licheng added, "Your father really doesn't plan on taking the Gu family and leaving?"

Gu Zhangyuan nodded, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes.

If his father wouldn't leave, the Gu family wouldn't leave, and of course Gu Zhangyuan couldn't leave either.

His father could be pretty stubborn at times, always believing that since the older generation had made it through such storms, he could lead the Gu family through this crisis too.

But times were different, and the crises they faced were different too.

Just because the older generation survived didn't mean they'd survive this time too.

If they didn't make it through, all hundred-plus members of the Gu family would suffer the consequences.

Xie Licheng said nothing more. He felt he'd already done a lot for the Gu family.

As for what happens to the Gu family next, that's up to their own luck.

After Xie Licheng left the Gu residence, he planned to figure out a way to get out of the city.

On the official wanted poster for Xie Licheng, aside from his height and build matching, his facial features were pretty vague.

When those bandits first saw Xie Licheng, it was at night. At the time, Xie Licheng's face was covered in blood, and he looked like a total killing machine, so they hadn't gotten a clear look at his face.

Later, when Xie Licheng went up the mountain with his face covered, even if the bandits recognized who he was, they still didn't know what he actually looked like.

That's exactly why, when the authorities went up the mountain to investigate, they kept grilling the villagers about what Xie Licheng looked like.

With that in mind, Xie Licheng shouldn't have too much trouble getting out of the city.

Then, just as Xie Licheng reached the city gate and was about to scope out the situation, he saw a group of foreign merchants being stopped by the guards.

Lingzhou was right next to the capital and pretty prosperous, so foreign merchant caravans coming to do business there was a common sight.

So seeing a foreign merchant caravan in Lingzhou at this time wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

But Xie Licheng noticed that some of these merchants walked in a really stiff, awkward way.

Their backs were ramrod straight, their steps were perfectly in sync, and they walked with their heads held high and chests puffed out.

They didn't look like merchants... more like soldiers, actually.

Xie Licheng's eyelids twitched. Why would soldiers be disguised as merchants? And mixed in with a bunch of foreigners?

Lingzhou's garrison was small—probably fewer than a hundred men, with only about fifty conscripted soldiers.

Since it was close to the capital, Lingzhou's security depended mainly on the capital's military.

If Lingzhou were to descend into chaos right now, the most they could scrape together for defense would be about two hundred men.

An army showing up in Lingzhou at this time, deliberately disguised as a foreign merchant caravan, couldn't possibly be a legitimate trading group.

And it couldn't be Marquis of Jincheng's men either, since his territory was at the border.

Even if he were planning to rebel, he'd have to expand gradually from the border toward the central plains.

So at this point, who else could have military forces at their disposal?

Xie Licheng's eyes flickered. He decided to find a spot to duck into his pocket world first.

He went back into his pocket world, grabbed that novel, and started reading through it carefully.

It was currently April, and according to the book, there was still a month and twenty-some days before the flames of war would break out.

At this point, various factions were just starting to rise, and the ones with any real strength were the protagonist's group.

They'd risen under the banner of rebellion, recruiting mostly ordinary folks and mountain bandits.

But there was one among them—their so-called leader.

That guy had once been a military general, but after screwing up and refusing to accept punishment, he'd fled with the men under his command.

The book mentioned he'd taken about thirty-plus soldiers with him at the time.

Thinking about those soldiers disguised as merchants just now... could it be that the protagonist's group had arrived in Lingzhou early?

In the book, they'd come through burning, killing, and looting along the way. Even if they'd arrived in Lingzhou ahead of schedule, it shouldn't have been this quiet.

Could something have gone wrong on their end?

Xie Licheng didn't dwell on it too much. Now that he'd roughly confirmed their identity, he couldn't keep heading out of the city.

Because if it really was the protagonist's group, it looked like Lingzhou would descend into chaos ahead of schedule.

By the time Xie Licheng came out of his pocket world, everyone from the caravan had already entered the city.

Normally, given how unstable things were around Lingzhou, the guards shouldn't have let so many foreign merchants in all at once.

But those merchants had paid a hefty amount of silver, so the guards had let them through anyway.

The entire court was corrupt now, and as they say, when the beam above is crooked, the ones below are even worse.

Up top, buying official positions was common practice, so naturally those below weren't much better.

The entire Dazhou dynasty was now like a building on the verge of collapse.

Even if Xie Licheng had incredible skills and didn't want the ordinary folks of Lingzhou to suffer, he couldn't change the current situation.

Just as Xie Licheng was about to go find that merchant caravan, to his surprise, the government bailiffs came back through the city gate, escorting a group of people.

The scene was so striking that a bunch of nearby commoners gathered around, all curious about what crimes these people had committed.

Xie Licheng saw a lot of familiar faces among them—the very people he'd rescued just that morning.

Not only were the villagers from the mountain there, but also the ordinary folks from the foothills, and even the few who'd left earlier.

Xie Licheng let out a bitter laugh. Standing at the edge of the crowd, he watched coldly as the bailiffs, looking smug, announced to the city folk: "These are the bandits who've been causing trouble outside the city! We've caught them all, so you don't need to worry about leaving the city anymore!"

A young husband quietly asked, "Really? But why are there old men and women among them? Could people like that really ride horses and rob folks everywhere?"

The man beside him quickly shook his head. "Shh, don't talk nonsense. If the officials say they are, then they are. You're just too inexperienced—don't go spouting nonsense here."

The young husband frowned. "But..."

Before he could continue, one of the captured men suddenly broke free from his restraints. He ripped off the cloth binding his mouth and shouted.

"Help! Help! We're not bandits! We're..."

But before he could finish, a bailiff stepped forward and kicked him hard, while another bailiff stuffed the rest of his words back into his mouth.

Even so, his words still hit the crowd like a thunderclap.

The young husband said, "See, see! You said I was talking nonsense, but they're not bandits at all!"

"Oh my, really? They're not bandits? Then... then why did the authorities arrest them?"

"I don't think they look like bandits either. What bandit would be this skinny, just skin and bones? Look at them—old and young, and even a woman. The few young and strong ones are all covered in wounds."

"Right, they're so thin, they don't look like..."

...

Perhaps sensing hope from the crowd's discussion, one of the captured men suddenly lunged forward and knocked down a bailiff.

Xie Licheng recognized him—he was the farmer who had taken away a young man.

Xie Licheng spotted him in the crowd, but didn't see the young man he'd taken.

The man knocked over a guard, and the others who'd been caught started doing the same.

With too many captives and too few guards on watch, the whole scene instantly descended into chaos.

A teenage boy, with the help of his companions, finally managed to speak.

He hollered at the top of his lungs, "Help! Help! We're not bandits—we're folks the bandits grabbed! When those bandits took us, these crooked officials didn't lift a finger for us! Today, someone finally saved us, and now they're framing us as bandits and saying we killed an Imperial Official!"

The boy's voice was loud and piercing, like he was giving everything he had to plead their case.

But he was let down fast. When the people around learned the truth, they didn't rush to help them.

Because they were scared of the authorities too, and on top of that, the garrison soldiers nearby moved in, pulling out their swords one by one.

Under such circumstances, except for a few brave locals in Lingzhou who dared to speak up, most onlookers couldn't help but back away in fear, scattering every which way.

At that moment, the guards finally came to their senses.

With the help of the garrison soldiers, they quickly rounded up everyone who'd caused the ruckus.

To make an example of them, one guard pulled his sword and went to chop the kid down.

The guard shouted, "You pack of bandits and troublemakers! You're the ones who killed Lord Hu—an Imperial Official! Anyone who dares to murder an Imperial Official should be executed on the spot!"

The boy went white as a sheet at that. He tried to dodge in terror but couldn't, because two soldiers had him pinned down. He was like a fish on a cutting board, just waiting to die in total despair.

Xie Licheng didn't want him to die, so he pulled out a crossbow bolt.

Then, just as Xie Licheng took aim at the guard's heart, a sudden explosion rang out from the street behind him.

The blast was so sudden that not only did the guard drop his sword, even the soldiers couldn't help looking around in a panic.

Here it comes!

The grand drama of this world had finally begun!

After the first explosion came a second, a third, a fourth...

Xie Licheng withdrew his crossbow bolt and turned to look in the direction behind him.

It seemed he had guessed right—it really was the male lead and his group.

In this world, only the male lead, relying on being a transmigrator, had managed to create a low-grade version of gunpowder.

Wherever this gunpowder went, it signaled the male lead's presence. They had been blowing things up all along their path, leaving the entire Dazhou in ruins.

He'd figured as much—if it was the male lead, things were never gonna stay quiet for long.