Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Xie Licheng set the oil lamp down on the nightstand first. Seeing that the light in the bedroom was still a bit dim, he dug out a solar-powered lamp. He hung it on the wall nearby, then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

Gu Zhangyuan felt weird talking like this, so he reached for a piece of clothing to drape over Xie Licheng. But just as he was reaching for the clothes, Xie Licheng suddenly scooped him up into his arms.

Xie Licheng settled Gu Zhangyuan on his lap, one arm around him, the other lifting his chin.

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "What are you doing?"

Xie Licheng said, "Don't move. Let me see if you're hurt."

With his chin lifted, Gu Zhangyuan's slender, fragile neck was exposed. He said, a little awkwardly, "I'm fine, it doesn't hurt."

He really didn't hurt—he was just startled when he got yanked onto the bed earlier. For a second, he thought... Xie Licheng was about to lose it.

Xie Licheng didn't buy it. He held Gu Zhangyuan's chin up and looked him over carefully.

Gu Zhangyuan really wasn't hurt, but he was so delicate that his skin turned red at the slightest touch. The spots where Xie Licheng had touched him were flushed red, making it look like he'd been roughed up.

Xie Licheng stared with a heavy gaze, then, unable to stop himself, leaned in and kissed his neck. He thought his wife was gorgeous—even his neck was a turn-on.

Gu Zhangyuan tensed up on his lap and quickly grabbed at Xie Licheng's hair to stop him.

Xie Licheng only kissed him once. Seeing Gu Zhangyuan's strong reaction, he couldn't help teasing, "I only kissed you once and you're already pushing me away. How are we supposed to make babies later?"

Gu Zhangyuan touched his own neck, then pressed a hand to his burning cheeks.

He didn't answer, figuring that if he did, he'd just get teased more.

After touching his cheeks, he looked up at Xie Licheng, puzzled, and asked, "Aren't you embarrassed?"

Xie Licheng: "What's there to be embarrassed about?"

Enjoying romance with his own wife—wasn't that just natural?

This was nothing.

Gu Zhangyuan leaned closer, noticing Xie Licheng had gotten even darker recently. Even if he blushed, you couldn't tell.

Gu Zhangyuan reached out and touched Xie Licheng's cheek.

Xie Licheng asked, "What's up?"

Gu Zhangyuan said, "I wanted to see if your cheeks are warm."

Xie Licheng noticed how Gu Zhangyuan touched his face with just two fingers, all prim and proper.

Xie Licheng chuckled and pressed Gu Zhangyuan's hand firmly against his face.

He said, "How can you feel anything touching me like that?"

With his hand pressed there, Gu Zhangyuan felt heat spread from his face to his hands and his whole body.

He'd seen shameless people before, but never anyone as shameless and rough as Xie Licheng.

Of course, even as he silently criticized him, when Xie Licheng let go, he didn't pull his hand back right away.

He'd always liked Xie Licheng—that's why he'd wanted to take him into his household before. So touching Xie Licheng felt good to him too.

When you dislike someone, you can't even stand to touch them—just seeing them makes you sick.

But when you like someone, you can't help wanting to get closer, to touch them, to feel them.

Gu Zhangyuan ran his hand over Xie Licheng's cheek, then traced his brows and the bridge of his nose. He didn't dare touch Xie Licheng's lips, afraid he'd bite him again.

He still thought Xie Licheng was, at heart, a fierce and rough person. Even when showing affection for Gu Zhangyuan, he did it in that aggressive way.

Luckily, though he was fierce, he was really good to Gu Zhangyuan.

He would rein in his wildness for Gu Zhangyuan's sake. He was always patient with Gu Zhangyuan and would never really bully or hurt him.

Feeling Gu Zhangyuan's cool fingertips wandering across his face, Xie Licheng felt a restless heat stir inside him.

Gu Zhangyuan didn't dare touch his lips, so Xie Licheng went looking for his hand himself.

He brought Gu Zhangyuan's hand to his lips and kissed it. When Gu Zhangyuan let out a soft little whimper but didn't pull his hand away, Xie Licheng knew he could push further.

So he didn't hold back. He kissed Gu Zhangyuan's palm, then started trailing kisses up his slender wrist, inch by inch...

Gu Zhangyuan had never experienced anything like this. He was completely stunned, frozen.

Seeing this, Xie Licheng asked in a husky voice, "Eldest Young Master, would you like your servant to serve you tonight?"

Gu Zhangyuan stared at him blankly, looking into his intense, deep eyes. For a second, he almost drowned in them.

He quickly shook his head, trying to snap out of it.

Now that the man had filled out, he was getting more and more handsome.

Especially his eyes—dangerous and utterly captivating.

Close call, close call. He'd almost fallen for it.

He said, "No. I brought you chicken soup. Eat that first."

With that, Gu Zhangyuan got off Xie Licheng's lap and hurried over to get the chicken soup.

Seeing this, Xie Licheng stopped teasing him. He grabbed a robe from the bed and casually draped it over his shoulders.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "I simmered this myself. Try it and see how it tastes."

Xie Licheng took the bowl and took a big gulp. He nodded in approval. "Mm, not bad. Pretty fresh."

Xie Licheng was hungry, so he finished the whole bowl of soup.

After finishing, he felt it wasn't very filling, so he decided to head to the kitchen to see what was around.

Gu Zhangyuan happened to have something to discuss with him, so he followed close behind.

Xie Licheng asked as they walked, "Did something happen in Peach Blossom Village again?"

Gu Zhangyuan nodded and walked up beside Xie Licheng, shoulder to shoulder.

"The houses in the village haven't been assigned yet. A lot of people are just crashing anywhere. I wanted to ask you—can the houses here be rented or bought later?"

"Is your family looking to buy a house?"

"Yeah, my dad thinks buying is more reassuring than borrowing."

Xie Licheng walked into the kitchen and found a box of cookies. He munched on them while he talked, "I'm not planning to sell the houses in Peach Blossom Village, 'cause a lot more people are gonna come later. Those folks might not have the money to buy houses. If we sell all the houses here, they'll have nowhere to stay when they get here."

Peach Blossom Village used to be the newbie village. Xie Licheng planned to let newcomers stay for free, to help them get through the hardest early period.

As for houses in the town or city, those could be rented or sold.

Houses in the town and city would definitely be better than the ones in the village.

The living environment and the level of activity would also be livelier than in the village.

People aim high, just like water flows downhill.

Everyone would want to move to better, bigger places. Once other maps unlock, a lot of people might not want to stay in the village.

By then, the skilled ones would go to the town, and the more capable would head to the city.

The ones left in the village would be the old, the weak, women, and kids.

If houses in the village could be bought and sold, rich folks would probably buy them without even living there, and they wouldn't let the poor stay for free.

So where would the newcomers live?

It's fine in summer, but when winter hits, would they just freeze to death?

Xie Licheng went through all that trouble to rescue them one by one, not to find new ways to let them die.

If he wanted them dead, he wouldn't have saved them at all.

Besides, to unlock maps, Xie Licheng needed a certain number of people.

To make sure the weak could survive, the cost of living in Peach Blossom Village had to be as low as possible.

"What about the town? You said it needs to be taken over—does that mean we gotta fight?"

"I'm not sure yet. Let me go check it out. Wait here for me."

Xie Licheng could use the teleport function, so he teleported straight to Peach Blossom Town.

At the town entrance, he saw a few identical-looking bandits standing guard.

They were built differently from normal people, about two meters tall, and looked pretty intimidating.

Xie Licheng knew they were bandits because the IDs above their heads said "Bandit" in bright red—a hostile name.

When Xie Licheng got close, he drew their attention and aggro.

But when he left their attack range, they acted like they hadn't seen him at all.

Xie Licheng could check the bandit count on the map—there were 18 in total.

Their levels ranged from 5 to 12, which meant Xie Licheng could clear the place on his own without bringing anyone else.

However, since attacking required daylight and a party of 10, he'd still need to put together a group to take the town.

Xie Licheng came back from the town and said to Gu Zhangyuan, "Don't rush the housing thing. Find a place to stay for now. If your family wants to buy a house, wait till we get to the town."

Gu Zhangyuan smiled and asked, "So we can head to the town soon?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. I'll take you all to attack Peach Blossom Town."

"Attack? Is it gonna be hard?"

"Nah, it'll be easy. Don't worry."

With that, Xie Licheng led Gu Zhangyuan into the storage warehouse.

He looked for food inside while Gu Zhangyuan ate next to him.

Gu Zhangyuan had a cookie, then a piece of dark chocolate.

These were things Xie Licheng had brought from his own world.

Since he'd never tried them before, Gu Zhangyuan thought they tasted pretty good.

Xie Licheng looked at him and asked, "You wanna stay here tonight?"

Gu Zhangyuan shook his head. He'd come saying he was delivering soup and hadn't told his family he wouldn't be back.

Besides, no one else could get in here, so Gu Zhangyuan decided to head back tonight so his family wouldn't worry.

"I didn't say I wouldn't come back when I left. If I suddenly stayed, they'd worry about me."

Xie Licheng nodded. He had to go out tonight anyway, so he couldn't keep him company.

Xie Licheng said, "I'll walk you home."

His farm was pretty big, and Peach Blossom Village was fairly large too.

It was already dark out, and he wasn't worried about Gu Zhangyuan running into bad people, just wild animals or something.

As they left the farm, Xie Licheng grabbed two boxes of cookies for Gu Zhangyuan to take.

They walked out together and saw Yuan Qiao still waiting at the intersection for Gu Zhangyuan.

Seeing him reminded Xie Licheng of Xuan Cui, so he asked Gu Zhangyuan, who was next to him.

"By the way, how's Xuan Cui doing now?"

"She's doing much better. Yesterday she wanted to come thank you, but I figured she couldn't get in here, so I didn't let her."

"Tell her she doesn't need to thank me. I saved her for your sake."

Yuan Qiao, walking behind them, couldn't help but cover his mouth to hold back a laugh.

He wanted to laugh but was worried that if the young master heard, he wouldn't bring him along next time.

He struggled to hold back his laughter, and just then, he spotted something moving up ahead.

Yuan Qiao quickly spoke up, "Young master, be careful—there's something up ahead."

Gu Zhangyuan looked ahead and, by the moonlight, saw a bright green snake.

Gu Zhangyuan was scared of snakes. The moment he realized it was a snake, possibly a venomous bamboo viper, he instinctively jumped onto Xie Licheng.

Xie Licheng was used to his timidness and caught him with one hand as he jumped.

He lifted Gu Zhangyuan off the ground. With a venomous snake like that, keeping his feet off the ground would make him feel safer.

Xie Licheng held him with one arm while pulling out a dagger with the other. "Don't be afraid, it's just a small snake. Watch me kill it now, and later I'll make you a soup with it."

As he spoke, the dagger in his hand moved as if guided by a tracker, striking precisely and severing the snake in one clean cut.

Xie Licheng said, "Alright, it's dead. Want me to put you down?"

Gu Zhangyuan immediately shook his head. What if there were more snakes along the way?

Tonight's moonlight wasn't bright enough either, and there was still a long way to go before reaching his home. He wasn't about to get off and walk back on his own.

Seeing this, Xie Licheng had no choice but to keep holding him, carrying him all the way back.

Fortunately, it was already nighttime, and no one in the village was out and about, so they didn't have to worry about being seen.

After delivering him to the doorstep of his home, Xie Licheng was about to leave.

Gu Zhangyuan thought about how Xie Licheng had protected him again, and at that moment, he suddenly didn't want him to go.

Yuan Qiao saw that her master had grabbed Xie Licheng's sleeve and quickly pretended not to notice, entering the courtyard before them.

Once Yuan Qiao's figure had disappeared, Gu Zhangyuan asked, "You're still going out tonight?"

"Yes, I found that prefect of Lingzhou. He's plundered a lot of valuables from the Gu family, and he's also robbed many of the city's ordinary people. I plan to pay him a visit while it's dark and take back those valuables he's stolen."

"Be careful then. He's not a good man, and he's in league with those bandits. I always feel like there's someone bigger behind him."

Xie Licheng nodded, then lowered his gaze to look at the hand still clutching his sleeve.

Xie Licheng, who wasn't well-versed in romance, suddenly had his eyes light up. He then leaned in and gently kissed the corner of his mouth.

After the kiss, Xie Licheng pressed the two boxes of cookies he'd brought into Gu Zhangyuan's hands, and the next second, he vanished right before Gu Zhangyuan's eyes.

Gu Zhangyuan thought Xie Licheng was sometimes quite clever, but at other times, he seemed pretty clueless.