Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Xie Licheng didn't search for long before he found what he was looking for in the cellar of the courtyard.

See, I told you—that prefect had gone to great lengths to amass wealth, and since this was his only escape route, he wouldn't have failed to stash something valuable here.

Now that he saw the entire cellar full of treasures, Xie Licheng jumped down, collected everything inside, and found a safe spot to return to his personal world.

He had said he would attack Peach Blossom Town during the day. It was already the dead of night now, with dawn not far off, so he might as well go back and rest.

After returning, Xie Licheng made a point of finding a clock and setting an alarm for himself. With the alarm in place, he didn't have to worry about oversleeping, so he slept soundly, totally at ease.

He slept in until eleven, then got up, grabbed a quick bite, and teleported to Peach Blossom Village.

Yesterday, Xie Licheng had told Gu Zhangyuan that today he would lead them to attack Peach Blossom Town. Gu Zhangyuan had gotten up early and picked out a dozen-plus able-bodied young men from the village and the Gu family.

Those dozen or so young men were all quite nervous. After all, they had never fought in a battle their entire lives. Now, suddenly being asked to go out and fight, they were a little nervous.

Fortunately, Xie Licheng had said it wouldn't be difficult, and he was incredibly powerful.

They figured with him leading the charge, nothing bad would happen.

When Xie Licheng showed up, he brought ten weapons with him.

These weapons had all been collected yesterday. Xie Licheng passed out the weapons to the ten guys and was about to head out with them.

Seeing this, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Shouldn't you bring more people? That way, if things go south, we can all watch each other's backs."

Xie Licheng was about to say no need—it was just a tiny town. The highest-level NPC there was only level 12, and Xie Licheng was already 112. Fighting them would be a cakewalk.

But before he could say no, one of the other young guys chimed in, "Gu is right. We should tag along too. Even if we can't be of much help, at least we can see the world a bit."

The others all nodded along. The world outside was already a mess, and who knew what it'd turn into.

They all knew Xie Licheng was a beast and that he was looking out for them.

But they couldn't rely on him for everything, and he couldn't protect them forever.

In times like these, they had to learn to fend for themselves to protect their families later on.

Besides, Xie Licheng had said this trip was totally safe.

Since it was safe, why not go out, see the sights, get some experience, and build some courage? No harm in it.

Xie Licheng also figured they could use a taste of the outside world. Seeing how eager they all were to come along, he nodded.

But what he didn't expect was that when they actually set off, a whole crowd trailed behind him.

The crowd wasn't just young guys—there were women, old folks, and kids too.

Xie Licheng wanted to ask, "What are you all tagging along for?"

Then he noticed Gu Zhangyuan had also grabbed a sword, looking like he wanted to come too.

Xie Licheng couldn't help but feel a little exasperated.

He thought, "Ah, whatever. It's not dangerous this time, and they've been stuck in this tiny village forever. They just want to stretch their legs."

Xie Licheng kicked things off, and the road from Peach Blossom Village to Peach Blossom Town opened up.

The village had a few horses and a few oxen.

To save time, they all took carts to town.

This was their first time leaving the village, and even Xie Licheng had never been down this road.

It was a short cart ride from Peach Blossom Village to Peach Blossom Town.

The road was just a regular village path, with no people around and wild land stretching everywhere.

Since hardly anyone used this road, a lot of wild animals showed up along the way.

These animals had never seen humans before, so they weren't scared. Some even came right up to them.

Gu Zhangyuan, sitting in the cart, couldn't help but mutter, "If all this land were planted, the villagers would never have to worry about food again."

Xie Licheng couldn't help but chuckle at that. The village didn't have many people right now, and most were the elderly, the weak, women, and kids. Even if they got more land, they wouldn't have the manpower to farm it all.

You couldn't rush these things; they had to be taken one step at a time. Once more people came and they settled in, the farmland would naturally grow over time.

They stopped the carts outside Peach Blossom Town, and Xie Licheng didn't let everyone join the fight.

Even though those bandit NPCs were low-level, it wasn't right for the old folks and kids to get into a fight.

If a stray blade or arrow hit them, everyone would end up paying for it.

Xie Licheng gathered the ten guys who were going with him and told them not to be heroes if they were outmatched against those NPCs.

If they couldn't win alone, they could double up, or even go three or four on one.

If they still couldn't win, they should remember to back off and put some distance between them and the NPCs.

The ten guys listened carefully. When Xie Licheng led the way toward the bandits, they followed without hesitation.

Probably because Xie Licheng was their rock, and since the bandits were scattered around town, they took them out pretty easily.

There were 18 bandits total. Xie Licheng took out 12 himself, and the other 6 were handled by the group.

Once the bandits were killed, they just vanished—no bodies, no blood, so no cleanup needed.

Then, to Xie Licheng's surprise, after clearing out all the bandits, he got a treasure chest.

Xie Licheng opened the chest right away, and inside were 5 packs of seeds and 5 packs of fast-acting fertilizer.

Regular seeds could be bought at the village shop.

There were wheat seeds, rice seeds, sorghum seeds, and stuff like that.

The seeds from the chest were different—they were ones you couldn't buy at the village shop.

Xie Licheng read the seed descriptions: all 5 packs were high-yield corn seeds.

Regular corn usually takes 3 to 4 months to mature, yielding about 800 to 1,500 jin per mu.

The corn Xie Licheng got, when paired with the fast fertilizer, only took 12 days to mature and yielded between 1,400 and 2,200 jin per mu.

Xie Licheng felt he had hit the jackpot. Corn was tasty and easy to store, so he could definitely get everyone to plant a whole lot more of it.

Xie Licheng put the things he'd gotten into his backpack and led the group into town in full force.

The town wasn't very large, with two main streets in total.

The main street had quite a few shops, along with some vacant inns and restaurants.

Xie Licheng took everyone on a walk around the town, and they all clearly liked the place.

However, the houses here were meant to be sold, so he couldn't just give them away for free like he had in the village.

So after they finished touring the town, Xie Licheng explained this to everyone.

When they heard they couldn't get free housing, the crowd didn't feel disappointed.

A young man asked, "Are the houses here expensive?"

"They won't be too pricey. The outside world's already in chaos now, and I doubt many of the people I rescue later on will be able to afford houses."

Once this town was taken over, if the permanent population stayed below 20 for a full month, bandits would reappear.

Eventually, Xie Licheng would unlock better, more prosperous places, and many people would want to move to those locations.

That being the case, the village houses had to be free to keep people around, and the town houses had to be cheap to retain residents.

The old doctor's son had come along this time too.

After seeing the small town, he couldn't help falling in love with the place.

He thought that even though it was a small town, the streets were wide, the shops on either side were neat and tidy, and the buildings were built with fine craftsmanship.

Not only that, the town also had a river with clear water, full of fish and shrimp.

He thought the scenery here was even prettier than in Lingzhou City.

When he heard Xie Licheng say the houses here wouldn't be too pricey, he couldn't help pointing at a medical clinic they were passing.

He asked, "Benefactor, how much is this medical clinic? If the price isn't too high, I'd like to talk it over with my family and buy it."

The old doctor's son, Chen Youchen, was thirty-two this year.

The town had two medical clinics and an herbal medicine shop.

The clinic he had his eye on was much bigger than the other one he'd seen earlier.

Plus, it looked a lot like their family's clinic, so he felt a strong connection to it.

Xie Licheng figured that since this was the first town, he couldn't set the housing prices too high.

If no one ended up living here, bandit NPCs would eventually show up again.

Those NPCs were easy to beat, but Xie Licheng didn't have time to lead attacks on a small town every day.

Plus, those NPCs showing up would be a threat to the townspeople.

Xie Licheng told him, "This one's twenty-five taels."

Twenty-five taels wasn't cheap for a town house, but it was a steal for a clinic with a shop in front and a courtyard in back.

A lot of the stuff inside was already there; the family just needed pots and pans, chairs, cabinets, and beds.

When Xie Licheng had rescued their family earlier, he'd brought a lot of their belongings along.

If they bought this place, they could move right in.

Chen Youchen had his eye on that clinic, and Gu Zhangyuan had also taken a liking to two properties. His family was big, and their village house was way too cramped.

Now that Xie Licheng had taken the town, the houses there were definitely better than the ones in the village, so he wanted to move his family there.

He had his eye on two houses, both pretty big, and they were close to each other in the same alley.

Gu Zhangyuan wanted to buy one for the Gu family and one for him and Xie Licheng to live in.

As for why he had to buy the place for himself and Xie Licheng?

First off, Gu Zhangyuan wasn't short on silver; this kind of money was nothing to him.

Second, he'd said that since he wasn't marrying into Xie Licheng's family, he couldn't just live at Xie Licheng's place all the time.

He wanted his own place so that even if he and Xie Licheng fought in the future, he'd still have somewhere to go.

Also, Xie Licheng's place was in the village, and going back and forth was a hassle. Gu Zhangyuan wanted to buy a place in town so they'd have somewhere to stay there in the future.

After that, Xie Licheng led everyone back. He needed to get back and plant those five packs of corn first.

He also needed to find paper and a brush to set the prices for the town houses, so that even if he wasn't in the pocket world, people who wanted to buy houses could go to Gu Zhangyuan.

Gu Zhangyuan was his husband; the two of them were one now and forever.

Plus, Gu Zhangyuan was naturally good at managing household affairs, and he wasn't the type of gē'er who liked being stuck in the back courtyard. Giving him something to do would also keep him from getting bored in the pocket world.

As soon as Xie Licheng got back from town, he led a bunch of Gu family servants to plant the five packs of corn.

Five packs of corn seeds could plant five fields' worth. They all worked together until evening, planting the corn and spreading the growth-accelerating fertilizer.

Since this corn was special—seeds you couldn't buy in the pocket world—Xie Licheng reminded Gu Zhangyuan while planting.

"These five mu of land will be ready in twelve days. During that time, have people keep a close eye on them."

Gu Zhangyuan was stunned. "Twelve days?"

This... that's way too fast.

Xie Licheng still said he wasn't an immortal—how could an ordinary person grow crops in twelve days?

Xie Licheng: "Yeah, let everyone know ahead of time so the crops don't get left in the fields."

Xie Licheng planted them in the dozen or so mu of land he'd given Gu Zhangyuan.

His farm could be used for planting too, but only he and Gu Zhangyuan could get in.

He didn't want to let anyone else in for now, and when the grain on those five mu ripened, harvesting it all by himself would be exhausting.

Besides, he was busy all day and probably wouldn't have time to tend the fields, so he had to leave it to Gu Zhangyuan.

When it was time to head back, Gu Zhangyuan didn't go back to the Gu family.

He still had things to discuss with Xie Licheng, so he just followed him to the farm without hesitation.

By the time they got back, it was already very late, and Xie Licheng asked, "Want me to carry you?"

Gu Zhangyuan wanted to say there was no need to be carried. In the past, when he let Xie Licheng carry him, it was either a crisis or a twisted ankle.

Now that he was perfectly fine, he felt too embarrassed to let Xie Licheng carry him again.

But because his answer was a bit slow, he was still hesitating to speak when the next moment Xie Licheng scooped him up.

Gu Zhangyuan's face burned, but then he thought that no one would come around here anyway, so he blushed and wrapped his arms around Xie Licheng's shoulders.

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "What's going on out there now?"

Xie Licheng carried him forward while saying, "The city's fallen. The prefect and others grabbed a bunch of loot from the city and then tried to escape through a secret tunnel."

"Then... did they get away?"

"I don't know about the others, but I ended up killing the prefect by accident. I'd wanted to ask him who they and the bandits were working for."

But before he could get the answer, the prefect fell into a trap and got himself killed.

Gu Zhangyuan listened while thinking, and he reached out to touch Xie Licheng's neck.

He noticed that Xie Licheng was sensitive to heat. After working in the fields for so long today, the man was now covered in sweat.

He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and reached up to wipe Xie Licheng's neck.

Xie Licheng said, "You don't have to wipe it. I'll just shower when we get back."

Gu Zhangyuan gave a soft huff, and Xie Licheng didn't dare say another word.

At that, Gu Zhangyuan smiled softly. He used the handkerchief to wipe Xie Licheng's neck, then wiped his forehead.

Gu Zhangyuan said quietly, "Why are you sweating so much? It's not even that hot out right now. If you're like this in summer, what are you gonna do then?"

Xie Licheng felt a fire stir in his heart from the way he wiped his sweat, and he said without thinking, "Then I'll have you wipe it for me. Besides, you like wiping my sweat."

At that, Gu Zhangyuan threw the handkerchief at his face.

The soft handkerchief was scented with Gu Zhangyuan's fragrance.

Even when thrown at someone's face, it was more teasing than painful.

Xie Licheng caught the handkerchief, saw it was now covered in his own sweat, and said to Gu Zhangyuan with a disgusted look, "Wait until I wash up, then I'll carry you."

Gu Zhangyuan kicked his legs in protest, insisting on walking on his own.

Although what Xie Licheng said wasn't vulgar, he always felt the guy's words had ulterior motives, like he was deliberately trying to take advantage of him.

Xie Licheng set him down and strode behind him.

His steps were long, so even walking slowly, he could easily keep up with Gu Zhangyuan.

Gu Zhangyuan felt a strange pressure from being followed so closely.

He couldn't help but quicken his pace, trotting ahead like a wolf was chasing him.