Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Gu Zhangyuan smiled softly upon hearing this, then got up to find paper and brush, drawing a map showing the location of Xu Family Village.

Gu Zhangyuan was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and the map he drew was clear and easy to follow. Xie Licheng could use his map to search without worrying about not finding the village.

Early the next morning, Xie Licheng left the pocket world.

When he left, Gu Zhangyuan heard the commotion but didn't open his eyes.

He had gone to bed early the night before but hadn't fallen asleep right away. He had held onto Xie Licheng's arm, talking with him continuously.

Xie Licheng knew more than he did, and being patient with him, was willing to chat with him for a while.

The two of them talked late into the night before finally getting some rest. As a modern person, Xie Licheng was used to staying up late and could still get up early the next morning, but Gu Zhangyuan wasn't as energetic as Xie Licheng.

After leaving, Xie Licheng used the map Gu Zhangyuan had drawn to find Xu Family Village.

The village was in a remote location, a good distance from the prefectural city. Even so, like many surrounding villages, it had been hit by disaster.

Looking at the empty village, Xie Licheng figured Xu Xiahe and his sister were probably long gone.

Even so, he went into the village to look around. He didn't find Xu Xiahe, but he did encounter an old man.

Xie Licheng approached and asked if he wanted to leave with him.

The old man, with his weak legs and failing eyesight, waved him off and said, "Thank you, but I won't go. I've lived here my whole life and I'm used to it. I don't have the strength to go anywhere else at this point."

Xie Licheng said, "That's fine. The place I'm taking you to—you won't even have to walk, and it's a beautiful little village too."

The old man shook his head again. "No, I won't go. My wife and my son both died here. I don't have many days left in me, so just let me stay here and keep them company."

Seeing the old man really didn't want to leave, Xie Licheng gave him some coarse grain flatbreads and then prepared to take his leave.

Just as he was about to leave, something seemed to occur to him, and he asked the old man, "Old man, is there a fellow named Xu Xiahe in your village? He used to serve in the army and nearly passed the military exam?"

"What do you want with him? Who are you?"

"I'm a friend of his. I'm looking for him to help him and his sister out."

Since Xie Licheng had shown him kindness earlier, the old man took him for a good-hearted soul.

Hearing Xie Licheng say he was Xu Xiahe's friend, he raised his head a little and pointed off into the distance.

"Head up the mountain that way. He took the villagers up there to hide. If you don't have anywhere safe to go, you can hide out in the mountains with them."

"Alright, thank you."

With that, Xie Licheng set off toward the mountains.

The mountain near Xu Family Village was actually the same one beside the Gu family farm.

The mountain was huge—the Gu family farm sat on its northwest side, and Xu Family Village was at its easternmost edge.

Xie Licheng had been in these mountains before, but coming from a different direction made everything feel unfamiliar.

He spent a long time climbing, and once he finally got into the mountains, he realized how hard it was to find anyone out there.

Out in those vast mountains, he felt tiny.

Later, as he wandered around, he didn't see a single person—but he did spot plenty of game.

Xie Licheng figured that since he was already up there, he might as well not leave empty-handed. So he decided to spend a few days hunting.

Meanwhile, Xuan Cui had gone back to town and brought Yuan Qiao to the farm.

Once at the farm, Yuan Qiao moved into Fuyuan along with Xuan Cui.

The two got along well, so their rooms ended up right next to each other.

When Yuan Qiao first got to the farm, he was pretty curious about the place. After checking the place out with Xuan Cui, he couldn't help but marvel to himself.

Back when their master first met Xie Licheng, Xie Licheng was nothing but a lowly servant who couldn't even protect himself.

But who would've thought the guy had such luck—he carried a hidden paradise right on him.

The more he learned about Xie Licheng, the more he realized this paradise was both complex and strange.

Everything here seemed to revolve around Xie Licheng. Take the farm, for instance—he could decide who got in and who didn't.

Then there was that cold storage warehouse and those four weird cellars.

The food in that warehouse not only stayed fresh, but it also kept its temperature.

For example, when he and Xuan Cui cooked a dish, it would come out exactly the same a day later as when they put it in. And this was in the middle of a blazing summer—regular food would go bad within half a day. He had no clue how that warehouse worked.

As for those cellars, even though Xie Licheng hadn't locked them, they couldn't get them open no matter what.

Their master said dangerous stuff was stored in there and told them to stay away from that area.

Honestly, since they couldn't open the cellars anyway, going over there wouldn't have mattered. But their master was cautious by nature, so he couldn't help reminding them a few times.

One morning, a light rain fell over Peach Blossom Village, so Xuan Cui and Yuan Qiao went out together to bring in the solar lights.

The pocket world had rain, wind, and snow too.

It had been hot lately, so this rare drizzle brought the temperature down quite a bit.

Yuan Qiao noticed the lychees in the orchard were ripe, and wanting to pick some fresh ones for Gu Zhangyuan, he braved the rain to go pick fruit.

Picking fruit was exhausting if you did it every day, but going out once in a while—not for work, just to pick some fruit—was actually pretty nice and fun.

Yuan Qiao came back with a basket of lychees, washed them by the little pond, and carried the basket back to Xiyuan.

Gu Zhangyuan was doing his accounts at the time and saw him come in from outside. "It's drizzling outside. Don't go catching a cold."

Yuan Qiao said, "No worries, this servant's got a strong constitution. A little rain won't make me sick."

With that, he found a clean plate, peeled a few lychees, and set them on it.

He held the plate out to Gu Zhangyuan and said, "Master, please try these. The lychees here are big and plump. This servant just tried one, and they're delicious."

The Great Zhou had lychees too, but they were delicate and weren't available around Lingzhou. In the past, they'd only get a taste now and then when their master was eating them.

Now, with Xie Licheng's big farm, there was plenty of fruit to eat. Judging by how little Xie Licheng seemed to care about the orchard, he and Xuan Cui could probably share in their master's good fortune too. They'd never run out of fruit from now on.

Gu Zhangyuan set down his brush, and Xuan Cui brought over a basin of water for him to wash his hands. Then he ate a lychee to try it.

The flavor was indeed excellent—plump, juicy, and sweet.

Gu Zhangyuan ate two lychees in a row, then wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and set them aside.

He said, "Eating too many of these will make you break out in heat. You two can finish the rest."

He'd eaten all sorts of fine foods growing up, and no matter how good something tasted, he never overdid it.

Yuan Qiao and Xuan Cui polished off the rest of the lychees, then Yuan Qiao asked, "The young master's been gone a few days now. I wonder if he's found the man yet?"

When Yuan Qiao brought up Xie Licheng, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help feeling a little worried.

Seeing the worry on Gu Zhangyuan's face, Xuan Cui quickly chimed in, "The young master's so capable, nothing bad's gonna happen to him."

Gu Zhangyuan also knew Xie Licheng was tough, so he wasn't worried about him running into bad people. If anyone ran into Xie Licheng, it was the bad guys who'd end up in trouble.

What he was more worried about was how messy things were outside right now. Had Xie Licheng gotten tangled up in something troublesome, which was why he hadn't been able to make it back?

Just then, Xuan Cui, with her sharp ears, caught what sounded like a commotion outside.

Xuan Cui quickly said, "I heard something outside. Let me go see if the young master's back?"

Then Xuan Cui hurried out. She didn't find Xie Licheng at the farmstead, but she spotted some stuff on the ground.

Xuan Cui grabbed an umbrella by the door and headed over there with it.

The stuff had been dropped off by Xie Licheng—mostly flowers, plants, and mushrooms, plus two big bundles of fodder.

The fodder was probably for the horses. Since it was raining, Xuan Cui quickly called Yuan Qiao out, and the two of them hauled it under the eaves.

After that, Gu Zhangyuan came out too. He crouched down in front of the plants and gave them a careful look. He found they were all either precious herbs or rare flowers, so he had Xuan Cui and Yuan Qiao plant them all in the ground.

Xie Licheng's farmstead had eight plots of land, and they were all sitting fallow right now.

Gu Zhangyuan couldn't plant grain on all eight plots himself, and he hated to see them go to waste. Now that he had so many precious herbs, he figured they might as well plant them there.

When Xie Licheng had picked them, he'd made sure to dig them up with the roots intact. So planting them wouldn't be too much of a hassle.

As for the mushrooms, Gu Zhangyuan didn't know much about them, so he told Xuan Cui and the others not to mess with them. He was afraid they might accidentally touch a poisonous one and get themselves knocked out.

While Gu Zhangyuan was busy with Xuan Cui and the others, Xie Licheng came back on the other side with some people. He brought them into Taohua Village—seven people in all, including Xu Xiahe and his younger sister.

Xie Licheng personally took them around the village to pick out houses.

Xu Xiahe still didn't trust Xie Licheng much, because Xie Licheng had wanted to drag them off the moment he saw them.

When Xie Licheng had found him, they'd been holed up in a mountain cave. They weren't at the end of their rope yet, so they hadn't really wanted to go with him.

Xie Licheng had been hunting for Xu Xiahe for so long, and now that he'd finally found him, he sure as hell wasn't going to let him slip away. So he'd forced them all to come along.

At first, the seven of them were pretty on edge, but once they actually got into the village and saw someone they knew, their nerves started to settle.

At first, Xie Licheng had given them a pretty bad impression—bossy, arrogant, and full of himself, not at all like a good guy.

So being dragged by him to this unfamiliar place had made them feel uneasy and on edge.

Luckily, Taohua Village was genuinely beautiful and peaceful, like a scenic paradise hidden away from the world.

Plus, the people living here were more relaxed and free than the folks outside, not at all looking oppressed or locked up, so they naturally loosened up.

Xie Licheng got Xu Xiahe and the others settled in without rushing to give Xu Xiahe any work. He didn't have that many able-bodied men yet, so he wasn't in a hurry to have him help train soldiers.

Xie Licheng planned to wait until the guy slowly warmed up to the place and got a bit more used to him as a stranger, then give him work later.

After all, Xu Xiahe wasn't a bad guy. He still had to make a living with his younger sister, so he wouldn't do anything shady.

This time, all seven people were from the same village, so they were put up in a few houses next to each other.

When Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Ruan heard that new folks had come to the village, and one of them was a little girl, the two of them ran over all excited.

The new little girl was named Xiao Man. She was skinny and small, and younger than them.

Xiao Ruan and Xiao Zhuang went over to play with her. Xiao Man was a little scared of them at first, but after they shared some snacks, they were fast friends within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Xiao Man was luckier than Xiao Ruan and Xiao Zhuang—she still had her mom with her.

Xiao Ruan couldn't help feeling a little envious, wishing she had a mother like that.

Once the rain stopped, the two little ones took Xiao Man around the village to play and show her the place.

Their village raised sheep, cows, rabbits, and wild chickens.

Those sheep, cows, and all that belonged to Xie Licheng.

The villagers raised them for him, and if they had babies, whoever took care of them could keep one of the little ones.

Kids didn't have too many worries, and even if they did, they could forget them for a while when playing.

It had rained that day, so the three kids went to the river to catch frogs and dug for worms in the nearby woods—there was nothing they wouldn't play with.

While the three of them were running around playing, Xu Xiahe was chatting with the villagers of Taohua Village, his younger sister in tow. He wanted to get a better read on the situation here to figure out if they were in any danger.

After asking around a lot, he found out their situation was different from everyone else's.

The others had all been saved by Xie Licheng, having run into him when they were at the end of their rope and begged him to take them along.

But Xu Xiahe and his group were different—they'd been dragged in half against their will.

Xu Xiahe was a sharp guy. He figured Xie Licheng had saved them for some other reason.

He ran through the seven of them in his head: he was a martial artist, his sister was slow.

The remaining five were a kid, a widow, an old widower, a simple-minded young man, and a young guy of only about ten-odd years.

Looking at their group, it seemed like he was the only one who stood out. So... the other guy must be after him, though he wasn't sure exactly why.

Xie Licheng didn't keep Xu Xiahe waiting long. The next day, he showed up with a young, handsome man.

Xu Xiahe recognized that young, handsome man. He knew him—he was the Gu family's eldest young master, who'd once come to their village to gather herbs.

In fact, they had a bit of history. The guy had taken pity on his slow sister and given them an extra ten taels of silver.

Xu Xiahe had a very good impression of Gu Zhangyuan, because thanks to the Gu family and Gu Zhangyuan, the folks living outside Lingzhou City were able to live a lot better than most.

Gu Zhangyuan's character was beyond reproach, so when Xu Xiahe saw him arriving with Xie Licheng, his opinion of Xie Licheng shot way up on the spot.

Xu Xiahe didn't beat around the bush. He asked straight out, "Young Master Xie, what exactly did you save us for?"

Seeing how direct he was, Xie Licheng didn't plan on hiding anything either.

"I heard you used to be a soldier and almost became a military juren?"

"Yes."

"You've seen this place I've got. It looks like a paradise now, but as more people come, running things is going to be a headache."

Xu Xiahe's eyes shifted, vaguely catching Xie Licheng's meaning.

"You want me to help you keep an eye on this village, so that if we save too many people down the line, we don't end up with troublemakers?"

"You're not exactly right, but you've got the gist. I want you to help me train soldiers in the future. When we unlock new areas later, you can lead the troops and take those places for me."

Xu Xiahe had learned a bit about the maps yesterday.

This place was weird, like somewhere immortals would live, not like any town they knew.

This Young Master Xie seemed like a regular guy, but he had powers on par with a top-tier immortal.

And given how many people he'd saved, this immortal didn't seem to have any bad intentions. Following him probably wouldn't do them any harm.

With that thought, Xu Xiahe asked Xie Licheng, "Young Master Xie, are you skilled in Immortal Arts?"

Xie Licheng: "I'm not an immortal, just someone who wields a power regular folks can't grasp."

Xu Xiahe: "May I ask, Young Master Xie, if you can cure my sister's simple-mindedness?"

Xie Licheng shook his head. "I don't have that ability."

Xu Xiahe didn't let on whether he believed him; he just gave a slight nod and changed the subject.

"If you can trust me, I'm willing to serve you faithfully. However... you've seen my sister. She's been slow since she was a kid. If I'm gonna work for you, I hope you can find somewhere for her to stay."

Xie Licheng had already discussed this with Gu Zhangyuan, so when he heard that, he said, "I can send your sister to the Gu household and have a servant look after her. Besides training soldiers for me, you can go see her whenever you want."

Xu Xiahe glanced at Gu Zhangyuan when he heard that. He still didn't know what Xie Licheng and Gu Zhangyuan were to each other, so when he heard his sister could go to the Gu family, he instinctively looked at Gu Zhangyuan.

Gu Zhangyuan smiled and said, "The Gu family's got plenty of servants. I can set up two maids to look after her, make sure nobody messes with her. She'll be treated like a proper young lady of the Gu family."

Xu Xiahe didn't buy what Xie Licheng said, but he fully trusted Gu Zhangyuan.

If his sister could get into the Gu family, even if they'd fallen on hard times, it'd still be better than staying with a rough guy like him.

His sister wasn't getting any younger, and it wasn't easy for a man like him to take care of her.

Besides, he was the only one left in their family. Sometimes when he got busy, he had to lock her up.

If... some scumbag took advantage of him being gone and messed with his sister, he wouldn't even know who to go after.

But it was different with the Gu family. Even at their lowest, they were still a big-name household. Outsiders couldn't get into the Gu estate, and with Gu Zhangyuan running things, nobody would dare mess with his sister.

Xu Xiahe nodded and said, "Alright. If my sister can live in the Gu family as a young lady, I'm willing to work like a mule for Young Master Xie."

Xie Licheng frowned at that, thinking this guy was getting a bit too pushy. He only said his sister could go to the Gu family, not that she'd be treated like a princess.

Seeing Xie Licheng's annoyance and catching on to Xu Xiahe's little scheme, Gu Zhangyuan quickly smiled and said, "That's possible, but I have one condition. I, Gu Zhangyuan, can guarantee she'll never want for food or clothes, and she'll be cared for and respected like a proper young lady of the Gu family. But you... have to serve as a guard for the Gu family for life. Even if you become my husband's right-hand man, you'll always answer to me and do what I say."

Hearing that, Xu Xiahe quickly glanced at Xie Licheng, finally getting what the deal was between them.

So... they were husbands?

To be Gu Zhangyuan's husband, this Xie Licheng must be something special.

Xu Xiahe didn't mull it over long before answering Gu Zhangyuan, "Deal. I'll serve as a guard for the Gu family for life, and I'll follow Young Master Xie's orders too."

Xie Licheng had thought Xu Xiahe was being pushy at first, but now that he was willing to sign a lifelong deal with the Gu family, he figured the guy really did care about his sister.

He was trading his own freedom for life so his sister could live safe and sound.

A brother like that was pretty rare.

In his past life, Xie Licheng had seen plenty of siblings who were tight as kids but slowly drifted apart as they got older. He'd also seen brothers who, just to keep their wives happy, joined in on bullying their own sisters.

Anyway, a brother like Xu Xiahe was definitely a rare find in his book.

That afternoon, they drew up the agreement.

Gu Zhangyuan and Xie Licheng then took the siblings into town.

Xie Licheng didn't need Xu Xiahe to train soldiers just yet, and his sister might still be shy about moving into the Gu place.

So Gu Zhangyuan let them both stay at the Gu estate for now. That way, his sister could get used to the new place quickly, and Xu Xiahe could relax a bit.

When Xie Licheng needed him for training, he could head out without worry, and his sister wouldn't get all worked up or throw a fit at the Gu estate just because he suddenly left.

Gu Zhangyuan and the others headed back to town. Since Gu Zhangyuan had some stuff to take care of, they hung around for a bit.

After all that grinding, Xie Licheng had hit level 130.

He had 18 attribute points now. He put 7 into strength and the other 11 into luck.

After spending them, his strength was 70 and his luck was 59.

Leveling was really slow at this point, but luckily his stats were all solid now, so he didn't need attribute points as badly as he used to.