Chapter 61

Chapter 61

After that, Xie Licheng didn't stay in Lingzhou City any longer. He decided to make use of the time to head south and stock up on some supplies.

The south was relatively stable compared to the north, aside from the floods and famine. In some of the larger towns, you could still buy what you needed.

As for food, their pocket world would never run short. They could farm for themselves, and there was plenty of food in the mountains and rivers.

What they were a little short on now were seasonings, clothes, bedding, and other cold-weather gear.

If he could run into weavers, embroiderers, doctors, or craftsmen, Xie Licheng would bring more of them into his world, and they should be able to become self-sufficient in the future.

The thing was, people with skills like that didn't go around bragging about them, so it was hard for Xie Licheng to track them down.

After stepping out of the pocket world, Xie Licheng walked south along a main road. He didn't know the roads around here well, but if he wanted to go south, he had to head in that direction.

He hadn't gone far when he ran into a group of people from Lingzhou fleeing south.

The south wasn't exactly peaceful right now either, so Xie Licheng warned them.

The only place that was still relatively safe was the mountainous region in the southwest he had mentioned earlier.

The group looked at him, but not many believed what he said.

One young guy said to Xie Licheng, "Nowhere's safe in this world these days. My family and I are heading south 'cause that's where our ancestors are from. As for why everyone else is going south, they probably all have their own reasons."

When he heard the guy was going back to his hometown, Xie Licheng didn't say anything else.

He wasn't exactly a saint himself; he'd only spoken up out of basic decency.

He'd given his warning, so if they ran into trouble later, he wouldn't feel guilty even if he saw it.

The young guy saw Xie Licheng was alone and eagerly invited him to tag along. Xie Licheng thought it over and didn't turn him down. Since he didn't know the roads well, going with them would save him from taking wrong turns.

So for the next few days, Xie Licheng traveled alongside them. Along the way, they ran into plenty of other refugees—some heading south like them, others going north the opposite way.

When Xie Licheng passed through a town, he split off from the group.

He wanted to bring Gu Changyuan out for some air, so it wasn't easy to keep traveling with them.

There still weren't many people in the pocket world, so Gu Changyuan could still come out and roam around with him.

Once the pocket world got more crowded, it'd be a lot harder for Gu Changyuan to get away.

Since they didn't have kids yet, Xie Licheng figured he might as well let Gu Changyuan get out more.

After splitting from the group, Xie Licheng brought Gu Changyuan out.

Gu Changyuan had been dealing with a lot of stuff in Taohua Town these past few days. He happened to be tired and wanted a little break.

Xie Licheng being willing to take him out and about was a good thing for him.

Xie Licheng brought Gu Changyuan out, with a bundle slung over his back. Nothing valuable in it—just a change of clothes for Gu Changyuan and some food that wouldn't spoil easily.

The two of them were supposed to be refugees, so it wouldn't make sense for them to be carrying nothing.

When Gu Changyuan came out, he changed into servant clothes from the Gu household.

He knew his face stood out, so to keep from causing Xie Licheng too much trouble, it was better to dress plain.

Gu Changyuan put on servant's clothes, wrapped his hair in a gray scarf, and smeared some dirt on his face.

The first day they went out together, Gu Changyuan was pretty happy. It'd been ages since he'd been outside, so the rare trip felt fresh and exciting.

But after a day of walking with Xie Licheng, he found it pretty exhausting. Xie Licheng whipped up a little donkey for him, and after that, he rode it while Xie Licheng led the way.

They were still in Lingzhou territory, where things were chaotic just about everywhere. Refugees like them having a donkey made them an easy target for the wrong kind of people.

Xie Licheng didn't care about being targeted at all. In a world this chaotic, he'd never been afraid of anyone. If they came looking for trouble with bad intentions, he could mercifully send them off to be reborn early.

The ones who'd set their sights on Xie Licheng and Gu Changyuan were three shady-looking young guys. They were also heading south as refugees and had spotted the pair the day before.

Yesterday they didn't have a donkey, but today they'd somehow gotten one. Seeing that, the three of them decided they wanted to steal the donkey.

A donkey could be used for riding, and if food ran out, they could kill and eat it.

They talked it over in secret and planned to snatch the donkey at night when there were fewer people around.

That night, a light drizzle started falling.

Xie Licheng took Gu Changyuan to rest in a pavilion. Glancing at the sky outside, he asked, "Do you want to go back?"

If it'd been clear out, having Gu Changyuan with him would've been fine. But now that it was suddenly raining, Gu Changyuan would have a rough time traveling with him.

Gu Changyuan shook his head. "It's fine. It's the middle of summer—a little rain won't make it cold."

Besides, he wasn't that tired. He'd been sitting on the donkey all day and hadn't walked much. It was just that his legs were a little sore, probably chafed from riding the donkey.

Thinking that, Gu Changyuan said to Xie Licheng, "Can you get me some ointment?"

Xie Licheng asked, "What kind of ointment? Did a mosquito get you?"

"No, my legs hurt a bit."

Xie Licheng blinked and quickly figured out where his legs hurt.

He pulled a bottle of spray medicine for external injuries from the farmstead, plus two big band-aids.

Just as Xie Licheng was about to check on Gu Changyuan, he heard the little donkey tied up nearby bray.

Animals have better hearing than people. The donkey Xie Licheng had picked was very gentle. It had carried Gu Changyuan all day without a sound—it only brayed when strangers got close.

Xie Licheng's eyes flickered, and he motioned for Gu Changyuan to wait in the pavilion while he headed toward the donkey.

Gu Changyuan watched him walk off without feeling scared. He was a lot braver than he used to be. Besides, he knew Xie Licheng wouldn't go far, so he didn't feel afraid or anxious.

He picked up the medicine Xie Licheng had taken out and looked at it, wondering how it was supposed to be used.

Then, right then, he heard noise from Xie Licheng's direction and quickly looked over.

It was a dark, rainy night, so he couldn't see clearly.

Just as Gu Changyuan was wondering if he should go check it out, Xie Licheng came dragging someone back.

Xie Licheng dragged the guy into the pavilion and gave him a hard kick.

The guy tumbled to the ground in front of Gu Changyuan, who instinctively stepped back to put some space between them.

The guy Xie Licheng had caught was a young man in his early twenties. He had two accomplices, but when they saw Xie Licheng had caught him, they bailed on him without hesitation.

Xie Licheng kicked the man to the ground and then sat down on a chair in the pavilion.

He asked, "What are you trying to do?"

The man was unwilling to answer, his eyes darting around as if scheming something.

Xie Licheng was someone who yielded to softness, not force. Now that the man was in his grasp and still defiant, it was clear he needed a good lesson.

So he planted his foot on the back of the man's hand, and just as he was about to press down, the man began to beg for mercy.

"Boss, boss, please spare me. I just wanted to steal your donkey. I don't mean you any harm."

"What about your two buddies? They're not coming back for you?"

"They—they were just traveling with me. We met while fleeing the chaos."

Gu Zhangyuan could see the man really meant no harm and had probably just acted on a moment of greed.

With the Great Zhou dynasty in ruins and the people suffering, he didn't want Xie Licheng to kill without cause.

Just as he was about to talk Xie Licheng out of it, the man who had been kneeling suddenly whipped out a dagger and lunged at Gu Zhangyuan like a rabid wolf.

Gu Zhangyuan flinched and instinctively raised his foot to kick him. But before his foot could connect, Xie Licheng sliced the man in two at the waist.

Xie Licheng had actually planned to let him go, but he hadn't expected the man to be so bold and greedy. Perhaps he saw that Gu Zhangyuan was a pretty young man and thought he could take him hostage to use against Xie Licheng.

Even though he knew the man probably hadn't intended to kill Gu Zhangyuan, there was no way Xie Licheng would let him live.

What he hated most was someone trying to threaten him.

With a corpse in the pavilion, Xie Licheng couldn't keep resting there with Gu Zhangyuan.

He grabbed Gu Zhangyuan's hand and led their little donkey away.

He didn't make Gu Zhangyuan ride the donkey this time; instead, he carried Gu Zhangyuan on his back.

They hadn't gone far when they spotted an abandoned relay station on the main road.

Xie Licheng led Gu Zhangyuan inside and found a clean room to stay in.

He lit an oil lamp, shut the doors and windows, and got ready to check Gu Zhangyuan's injuries.

Gu Zhangyuan was too shy to let Xie Licheng apply the medicine for him.

He said to Xie Licheng, "I can do it myself. You've been busy all day, so go lie down and rest."

Xie Licheng didn't push it. He took off his wet outer robe and went to look around the relay station.

He found a well in the backyard and drew a bucket of clean water with a wooden pail.

When he carried the water back to their room, Gu Zhangyuan still hadn't finished tending to his wounds.

Gu Zhangyuan had forgotten he didn't know how to use that kind of medicine.

He'd been too shy earlier and had forgotten to ask Xie Licheng.

Now that Xie Licheng was back, he asked, "Husband, how do you use this medicine?"

Xie Licheng remembered then—it was a spray, and Gu Zhangyuan didn't know how to use it.

He walked over to the bed, sat down, and showed Gu Zhangyuan how to use the bottle.

Once Gu Zhangyuan got the hang of it, he turned his back to Xie Licheng and started applying the medicine himself.

Xie Licheng took a clean cloth, wet it, and brought it over to Gu Zhangyuan.

He said, "Wipe your face with this."

Gu Zhangyuan had just applied the medicine and was now putting on a bandage.

He'd used a bandage once before, so he knew how to put it on.

Hearing that, he quickly finished putting on the bandage and said hesitantly, "If I clean my face and someone sees me, it'll bring you trouble again."

Xie Licheng said casually, "It's not your fault you're beautiful. If they insist on coveting you, I'll send them to their next life."

Gu Zhangyuan pulled his pants back up and said helplessly, "Then wouldn't that make me a femme fatale?"

Xie Licheng shook his head and turned Gu Zhangyuan to face him.

He held Gu Zhangyuan's chin with one hand and slowly wiped his face clean with the other.

"Thinking like that is wrong. You're not dressed provocatively; you're just good-looking. They can't keep it in their pants and come bothering you. As your husband, it's only right that I kill them. It's got nothing to do with you or me. They brought it on themselves, so they died."

Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but smile. "You always come up with such twisted logic."

Xie Licheng smiled too. "What I said isn't twisted—it's sound reasoning."

After wiping Gu Zhangyuan's face clean, Xie Licheng rinsed the cloth and came back to wipe his hands.

Seeing him take care of him like that, Gu Zhangyuan took the cloth and wiped his own hands.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "Let me do it myself. You work hard taking care of me all day, and now you're still tired at night. I'd feel bad for you."

Xie Licheng wanted to say he wasn't tired, but Gu Zhangyuan pulled him down to sit and began taking care of him in return.

Xie Licheng quite enjoyed being taken care of by Gu Zhangyuan—it felt like having a spouse who doted on him.

And indeed, he was doted on. Just wiping his hands made Gu Zhangyuan's heart ache for him.

After Gu Zhangyuan finished wiping his own hands, he washed the cloth and wiped Xie Licheng's face and hands.

He'd never taken care of anyone growing up, so he wasn't very good at it.

But even if he wasn't skilled, Xie Licheng didn't mind.

He clumsily and slowly wiped Xie Licheng's face clean.

When wiping Xie Licheng's hands, he couldn't help but compare them to his own, noticing how much bigger Xie Licheng's were.

After comparing, he laughed and said, "Husband, why are your hands so big?"

They were thick and strong, and they looked very reassuring.

The thought that such a formidable man now belonged to him alone filled his heart with joy.

Gu Zhangyuan picked up Xie Licheng's big hand and pressed it to his cheek.

He asked, "Husband, no matter how powerful or strong you become, will you always be mine alone?"

Xie Licheng nodded. "Of course. I can barely take care of one spouse; I don't have the ability to handle several."

"That's not the answer I want. Say that no matter how powerful or noble you become, you'll always want only me."

Xie Licheng played along, "Alright, alright. No matter how powerful or noble I, Xie Licheng, become, I'll only want Gu Zhangyuan for the rest of my life."

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Gu Zhangyuan climbed into Xie Licheng's arms, as happy as a child.