Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Xuan Cui had just been resting when Xie Licheng suddenly came to find her.

He told her she could now come and go freely at his farm, and asked her to go take care of Gu Zhangyuan right away.

Yuan Qiao was pretty upset when she heard this, because Xie Licheng only allowed Xuan Cui in and wouldn't let him tag along.

Xuan Cui was still injured, yet he didn't choose Yuan Qiao—he chose Xuan Cui instead, which hurt Yuan Qiao's feelings.

The reason Xie Licheng chose Xuan Cui over Yuan Qiao wasn't that he had anything against Yuan Qiao.

It was just that he knew Xuan Cui better. They'd been colleagues before... well, more like boss and subordinate.

Xuan Cui, as his senior and superior, had been pretty good to Xie Licheng.

And the farm was Xie Licheng's territory—he was pretty territorial. He really didn't want anyone he didn't know well setting foot in his territory. If it weren't for the fact that Gu Zhangyuan needed looking after, honestly, he wouldn't have even wanted Xuan Cui in there either.

Gu Zhangyuan thought about how Xie Licheng hated letting outsiders into his territory, yet just because of something he'd said last night, he'd let Xuan Cui in anyway—and he couldn't help feeling a little warm and fuzzy inside.

He felt like Xie Licheng must really like him, otherwise he wouldn't be so good to him.

With that thought, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help secretly smiling.

Xuan Cui noticed his smile and asked, "Young master, did something good happen?"

Gu Zhangyuan didn't explain what he was smiling about, but instead took the food box from her, looking concerned.

He asked her, "Are you feeling better? You're still hurt, and you still had to come all the way here."

Xuan Cui: "I'm much better now. As long as I don't go work in the fields with the servants, I'm fine."

She really had recovered a lot—as long as she didn't do anything too strenuous, she'd be fine.

Xuan Cui followed Gu Zhangyuan inside, talking as she walked, "Master, I brought you something tasty—Nanny made it for you herself."

Gu Zhangyuan led her into the living room and sat down by the window to eat.

Knowing Xuan Cui wasn't fully healed, he didn't have her wait on him like she usually did.

He motioned for her to sit down and eat with him. Xuan Cui was close to him, so she didn't stand on ceremony.

She sat across from Gu Zhangyuan and used her own bowl to serve herself some food, and then the two of them chatted while they ate.

Back in the Gu household, the rules were strict—Xuan Cui would never have dared to sit and eat with Gu Zhangyuan, let alone chat with him while he ate.

But now, in this new place, with no Gu family elders around, both of them had loosened up a lot.

Xuan Cui asked, "Master, have you and Master Xie... you know... done it yet?"

As she said this, she instinctively glanced at Gu Zhangyuan.

Gu Zhangyuan was wearing Xie Licheng's clothes. He'd only had the top on at first, but then he felt it was too improper to have his legs out, so he found the pants and put them on.

Even so, to the ancients, his current outfit was still pretty... revealing and weird.

Gu Zhangyuan: "Not yet."

"So... tonight, are you staying here, or coming back with me?"

"I'll head back first—I need to get the family's move sorted."

The houses in town were better than the ones in the village, so he wanted to move his family there first.

As for whether he'd come back tonight, he'd decide after seeing what Xie Licheng was up to.

If Xie Licheng left the pocket world in the evening, he wouldn't want to stay alone at the farm—he'd naturally go with everyone to the new place.

If Xie Licheng wasn't going out, then he'd definitely stay with him.

While Gu Zhangyuan was taking his time eating, Xie Licheng had already killed the bandit leader at the temple.

With the leader dead, the temple area connected to the town.

The temple was right next to town, so it'd be really convenient for everyone to come burn incense and pray.

Places like temples were important to people who believed in the gods—they were a kind of spiritual anchor.

Now that they had a temple here, it'd also make everyone feel more at ease.

After killing the leader, Xie Licheng also got a treasure chest.

This time, the chest didn't have seeds or fertilizer—it had a health potion and a mana potion.

Anyone who'd played online games knew health potions were for restoring HP. Even if a player was about to die, one health potion could bring them back.

Mana potions were usually for restoring mana. Since Xie Licheng's stat panel didn't have a mana bar, this one was probably for stamina.

Xie Licheng took out the two potions to check them and found they were exactly what he'd expected.

The only surprise was that these two potions weren't just for him—other people in the pocket world could use them too.

By "other people," he meant Gu Zhangyuan and the rest.

But since they were well protected by Xie Licheng, he'd definitely keep these two potions for himself first.

Take the mana potion, for example—Xie Licheng really needed it right now.

With a mana potion as backup, even if his stamina ran out while he was out, he could use it to recharge.

Xie Licheng thought this haul was pretty good. After unlocking the temple area, he opened the map to check the next region.

The next unlockable area was a bigger region that needed a population of 200 to unlock.

Xie Licheng figured the new area was probably a county town, but since they already had two places to live, he decided there was no rush.

Once the town's population grew, he could unlock it then.

After that, Xie Licheng didn't teleport straight back. Instead, he planned to clear out some beasts on the way back to Peach Blossom Village.

He wanted to see if the beasts on the road would respawn the next day.

If the beasts on the road also refreshed daily like the ones in the mountains, he'd need to get some able-bodied young men to clear them regularly.

If the beasts weren't cleared, they'd breed. Eventually, there'd be more and more beasts on the road, and it'd get dangerous for the old, weak, women, and children passing through.

He'd gone through so much trouble to save these people—he couldn't let a bunch of code ruin them.

Xie Licheng slowly made his way back, taking out three wolves, two wild boars, and two snakes along the way.

As for the rest—wild chickens, rabbits, wild ducks, and such—Xie Licheng didn't bother with them.

These little critters are less dangerous than a kid. Even if folks run into them on the road, they won't get hurt.

Then Xie Licheng walked back to Peach Blossom Village, while Gu Zhangyuan was leading the Gu family servants in preparing to move.

Seeing the Gu family was moving, Xie Licheng, being the son-in-law, had to pitch in.

He had a carry-on backpack and could teleport straight to town.

He emptied out his backpack and helped haul the bulky stuff—beds, cabinets, tables, chairs—over first.

With Xie Licheng's help, the Gu family got the whole move done in just one trip.

The Gu family's new place in town was one of the two houses Gu Zhangyuan had been eyeing.

The new place was a three-courtyard setup, split into a front courtyard, main courtyard, and back courtyard.

The front courtyard housed the male servants and guests, with seven rooms total, kitchen included.

The main courtyard had just four rooms, but each was plenty big, and the biggest one even came with two side rooms.

The biggest room, of course, went to the First Master of the Gu Family.

The other three rooms went to Gu Zhangyuan, Gu Yangxue, and Gu Tinghe, one apiece.

Ever since Xie Licheng gave him a beating, Gu Tinghe had calmed down a lot.

Plus, with the First Master keeping tabs on him, he wasn't even allowed to roam around the house, so there was no chance for him to stir up trouble.

This time, even though a room was set aside for him in the main courtyard, in the end, since Gu Zhangyuan came home every day and Xie Licheng would surely tag along often, the First Master still stuck him in the back courtyard.

The back courtyard was mostly for the young male attendant and the maids. The First Master personally walked Gu Tinghe to the back courtyard, watched the servants lock him in a room, and only then let out a sigh and turned to leave.

Gu Zhangyuan got everyone to sort out the rooms one by one, then briskly headed over to the neighboring house with Yuan Qiao.

He'd originally had his eye on a different house, but to make it easier to run back and forth, he picked the one right next to the Gu family's place.

The neighboring place was a lot smaller, just a little courtyard.

Counting the kitchen and the woodshed, it was five rooms all told.

But since it was so close to the Gu family, a smaller spot was fine.

Anyway, from the look of things with Xie Licheng, they probably wouldn't be in town for long.

Once a better spot came up, he'd definitely follow Xie Licheng.

With that in mind, Gu Zhangyuan stopped fussing over it and got busy with Yuan Qiao and two maids.

While Gu Zhangyuan had the servants cleaning, Xie Licheng was over on the other side signing contracts with the Chen family.

The Chen family—that is, Physician Chen and his whole household.

Chen Youchen had liked the look of the town's medical clinic last time, and now that the Gu family had moved to town, he wanted to follow suit.

The Gu family were Xie Licheng's in-laws, and he treated them right.

If the Gu family was bold enough to move now, the town had to be safe.

The Gu family were good folks, and everyone in Lingzhou City knew the Eldest Young Master of the Gu Family.

He figured that as long as they stuck with the Eldest Young Master, they'd be safe for sure.

So he talked it over with his family and decided to buy the medical clinic in town first.

No matter what happened later, having a place of their own would set their minds at ease.

Gu Zhangyuan had already drawn up the purchase contract ahead of time.

Since all the properties here belonged to Xie Licheng, the contract had to be signed with him, naturally.

So the Chen family shelled out twenty-five taels of silver and got themselves a medical clinic in Peach Blossom Town.

After wrapping up with the Chen family, Xie Licheng went ahead and signed contracts with the Gu family too.

Those contracts covered not just the two houses and two shops he'd promised Gu Zhangyuan, but also a house and two shops the First Master was buying off him.

Gu Zhangyuan's properties came free—the deeds were all in his name.

The First Master had to pay for his, and the house was in the next alley over, bought specifically for Gu Yangxue.

When Gu Yangxue was old enough to marry, he'd find her a husband to take in.

Being in the next alley kept them close to the Gu family, so they could look out for each other.

The house set him back fifteen taels, and the two shops together came to forty-five.

With so few folks in town right now, honestly, even buying shops wouldn't make for much business.

But the First Master figured Xie Licheng was a man of real ability.

As long as Xie Licheng was willing to take people in, with how chaotic things were outside, he'd surely draw in a crowd.

In other words, this town wouldn't be short on people down the line.

To keep good shops from getting snatched up later, he figured it was smarter to grab two now and hold onto them.

As dusk was falling, Xie Licheng planned to head out and see what was going on.

He hadn't stepped out since yesterday, and things outside could shift in an instant, so he figured he'd use the dark as cover to check things out.

Right as he was about to head out, Gu Zhangyuan came in carrying a bowl of sweet soup for him.

They were over at Gu Zhangyuan's little place now, with just a few rooms barely cleaned up.

Xie Licheng had just hung up the bed canopy and was taking a breather at the table.

Gu Zhangyuan, figuring Xie Licheng had been slammed all day, had gone out of his way to simmer him a bowl of sweet soup.

The kitchen here was pretty bare, so the soup only had some pears and a few red dates, which made it look a little skimpy.

Gu Zhangyuan came over and sat down in front of Xie Licheng, handing the sweet soup to him while asking, "Are you going out?"

Xie Licheng took a sip of the sweet soup first and sighed inwardly, thinking how wonderful it was to have a wife.

In the past, no matter how tired or hard he worked, no one had ever prepared sweet soup for him.

Now that he had a wife, looking back, he felt that his past days had truly been bitter.

Xie Licheng: "Mm, let's go out and see how things are outside."

With that, he looked up at Gu Zhangyuan and asked, "Do you want to come out with me for a look?"

Gu Zhangyuan's eyes lit up slightly at that, but then he said, a little uncertainly, "If I tag along, won't I just be a burden?"

He knew exactly what he was capable of, and he was worried he'd just slow Xie Licheng down.

"It's fine. If we do run into danger, I can just send you back in."

Taking Gu Zhangyuan out more often would let him see just how dangerous the outside world was—and how safe and stable the pocket world was by comparison. With that kind of stark contrast, Gu Zhangyuan wouldn't keep wanting to go out all the time.

Besides, Xie Licheng's pocket world was definitely going to keep taking in more people.

And his main reason for taking people in, besides wanting to unlock new areas, was to provide for Gu Zhangyuan.

Only when more and more people came into his pocket world would it get closer to a normal, everyday world, letting Gu Zhangyuan and the others get back to their old peaceful life.

Since it was all for Gu Zhangyuan, the people he brought in should ideally be people Gu Zhangyuan would take a shine to.

And since Gu Zhangyuan had just finished his work, he figured he might as well take him out for a look.

If they happened to meet someone Gu Zhangyuan liked, they could bring them in right then and there.

"Then what should I get ready? Should I change my clothes?"

The clothes he was wearing were pretty elaborate, and he figured they wouldn't be practical for running around with Xie Licheng.

Xie Licheng glanced up at him and said casually, "It's fine. You look good as is."

Gu Zhangyuan felt a little helpless at that. He stood up and turned around in front of Xie Licheng.

"I'm not asking if I look good. I'm asking what'd be more practical for me to wear. So I don't end up holding you back when we go out."

"You won't. Even if you were decked out in hairpins and ornaments, I could still protect you."

With that, Xie Licheng downed the rest of the sweet soup.

Hearing that, Gu Zhangyuan didn't worry as much as before.

But since they weren't going out for fun, he still took out his hairpin and changed into a comfortable pair of shoes before leaving the pocket world with Xie Licheng.

Xie Licheng hadn't asked Gu Zhangyuan to get anything ready, but he'd prepared weapons for himself before coming out.

A miao dao he'd used often before, a gun with a silencer, and two small daggers.

No matter what danger he'd faced before, Xie Licheng had never used a gun.

This time, he deliberately brought the gun along—both to keep his promise to Gu Zhangyuan and because he planned to teach him how to use one.

As they say, with truth in hand, even a young girl could take down a few big men in seconds.

Thinking about how the pocket world would keep gaining more people, there was no way it could stay as peaceful as before. Xie Licheng couldn't be by Gu Zhangyuan's side every second, and Gu Zhangyuan would have to manage the house, shops, fields, and a ton of other stuff, which meant dealing with all kinds of people. If any of those people meant harm to Gu Zhangyuan, Xie Licheng worried he might end up in danger down the line.

As the saying goes, mountains can fall and people can run. Xie Licheng figured that rather than having Gu Zhangyuan rely on him, it was better to teach him how to protect himself. After all, he'd collected quite a few guns in his past life, and now they finally had a use.

The last time Xie Licheng entered the pocket world, he'd been outside the city, so this time they came out there too.

Xie Licheng returned to the courtyard with the secret passage and found signs that someone had been through it—someone must've come out that way.

He didn't rush back into Lingzhou City. Instead, he took Gu Zhangyuan's hand and walked around outside the city first.

There were guards at the city gate, but they weren't Lingzhou City's garrison—they were the rebels on the protagonist's side.

At this point, Dazhou hadn't completely fallen into chaos, so everyone called them rebels.

Xie Licheng held Gu Zhangyuan's hand and stood far off, only able to glance over from a distance.

Gu Zhangyuan could see quite a few rebels cleaning up the corpses scattered around the city gate.

The bodies included both garrison soldiers and rebels, and the scene was pretty brutal.

Xie Licheng said to Gu Zhangyuan, "In a bit, I'll take you into the city to look around."

Gu Zhangyuan said fearfully, "Right now... the city's probably already occupied by the rebels. If we go back now, it'll be really dangerous."

"There's some risk, sure, but not much. As long as you stay close to me, I won't let anything happen to you."

"Really? But... what can we do by going back now?"

The Gu family members who could be saved had all been saved, so Gu Zhangyuan didn't really have a reason to go back.

"Teach you how to kill."

"Huh?!"

Gu Zhangyuan was startled by his words and quickly waved his hands at Xie Licheng.

"I don't want to. I'm scared."

"What's there to be afraid of? With me here, they can't hurt you."

"I—I'm not afraid I can't beat them. I'm afraid of seeing those dead people."

With that, Gu Zhangyuan quickly moved closer and grabbed hold of Xie Licheng's arm.

He only got clingy like that when he was scared, and Xie Licheng had noticed that a long time ago.

Seeing that he was genuinely afraid, Xie Licheng didn't force him to learn these things right away.

"Alright then, we won't learn for now. Let's head back into the city first and see if we can rescue some people?"

Gu Zhangyuan was scared when it came to killing, but when it came to saving people, he wasn't afraid at all.