Chapter 72

Chapter 72

A woman holding a child got separated from her husband in the chaos. Suddenly, a bandit emerged from the side and tried to rip the child out of her arms.

The woman let out a startled shriek and desperately tried to protect her child.

But the crowd was in turmoil, and a passerby's bag smacked her in the back of the head.

The woman's vision went black, and her whole body began to slump toward the ground.

Seeing this, the bandit let out a smug laugh and snatched her child away.

Before her vision even cleared, the woman was groping around and shouting, "My child, my baby! Don't take my baby!"

A few people nearby heard her and wanted to help.

But more people were pouring out of the city, and there was an unknown army outside the walls. The city gate was now a sea of people.

They couldn't even get close before the crowd swept them away. Forget about helping get the kid back—the woman herself disappeared in an instant.

Xie Licheng hadn't planned on getting involved. There were too many poor souls in this world, and he couldn't possibly save them all.

But wouldn't you know it, the bandit who'd snatched the kid happened to run right past him.

The kid the bandit had grabbed was a little girl, maybe four or five years old.

The girl was wailing and squirming, reaching out to claw at the bandit's face.

Pissed off by her screaming, the bandit raised his hand to knock her out.

But just as he raised his hand, his vision went black and he hit the ground.

Xie Licheng killed the bandit, then reached out to take the kid.

The little girl couldn't tell if he was good or bad, and kept wailing even in his arms.

Xie Licheng sighed and said helplessly, "I'll help you find your mom—can you quit crying?"

The kid clearly didn't believe him, but her crying did die down a little.

The little girl yelled, "Mommy, I want my mommy!"

Xie Licheng nodded. "Okay, I'll help you find your mom."

With that, he carried her up to a higher spot. The view from up there was way better, so it was easier to spot people.

Xie Licheng had seen her mom earlier, so he knew what she looked like. Unlike the others—who were either rushing toward the city gates or scrambling to snatch valuables from the townsfolk—she was neither fleeing nor looting. She was searching frantically through the crowd for something. So Xie Licheng spotted her fast, and soon brought the kid to her.

Holding the kid in one arm, Xie Licheng yanked the woman out of the crowd with the other.

At first, she was scared of him, but once she saw her kid in his arms, looking okay, she stopped struggling much.

If Xie Licheng meant harm, he could've just taken the kid and left—no need to come back for her. So obviously, he was there to help.

Xie Licheng led them out of the crowd and asked, "Where's the rest of your family?"

The woman took the kid and hugged her tight before speaking. "Thanks, young man. My husband got separated from us. I... I wanna wait here a bit—he should be able to find us soon."

Xie Licheng said, "You sure he can find you? How about... you come with me instead?"

She looked at him, a little scared, and shook her head. "I... I'd rather wait here for my husband."

Xie Licheng nodded and got ready to head back to the city gate to check things out.

He didn't think the woman was wrong for deciding that. He was a stranger—after helping them, he'd just told them to come with him.

Honestly, that did make him look a bit like a human trafficker.

Even if Xie Licheng had helped them, they'd only just met, so there was no way they'd fully trust him.

And since they weren't desperate yet—she still had a husband she could rely on—she was even less likely to just follow him.

As Xie Licheng was leaving, he'd barely taken a few steps when the army that had been watching from the sidelines suddenly attacked the city.

Attacking while the people of Wencheng were fleeing meant they planned to kill these civilians too.

This army wasn't planning to take and hold the city—they seemed to want to kill, loot, and then abandon Wencheng altogether.

Xie Licheng didn't know whose army this was. Just as he was wondering if he should go back and check his books, he heard a little girl scream behind him.

Xie Licheng spun around and saw an arrow sticking through the woman's chest.

She instinctively looked down at her chest, and before collapsing, she took a step toward Xie Licheng, as if trying to hand her kid to him. But before she could even lift the kid up, her vision went black and she fell.

Xie Licheng sighed at the sight. He should've just forced them to come with him.

But he wasn't the type to beat himself up over it. He'd offered to take them both—it was the woman herself who wanted to keep waiting for her husband. That wasn't on him.

He walked over, planning to take the kid away. Staying here meant certain death, so it was better to leave with him. But the kid couldn't bear to leave her mom, clinging to her and refusing to let go, crying and begging Xie Licheng to save her.

Xie Licheng frowned. The woman was badly hurt—even if he saved her, she might not make it.

He didn't want to bring too many dead people into his pocket world, because a lot of the people there had already lost family and friends.

Bringing in too many corpses would remind them of their own loved ones, just adding to their grief.

Plus, too many dead bodies could spread disease. The medical care in his pocket world was still too limited. Everyone he'd brought in before had been people he could save—he rarely brought in someone who was doomed to die.

But to not waste time, in the end Xie Licheng still sent them both into his pocket world.

He brought them in to be saved; whether the woman lived or died was up to fate.

When the mother and daughter were brought in, they scared Xiao Ruan, who was playing in the village. The woman was bleeding a lot and looked like she might not make it.

She was a little scared, but seeing the crying little girl beside the woman, and not wanting her to lose her only family, she quickly ran to get an adult for help.

Meanwhile, after sending the mother and daughter in, Xie Licheng found himself face-to-face with a man in armor.

The two clashed briefly, but with too many people around and arrows flying everywhere, they had to stop.

Then Xie Licheng went back to what he was doing, not paying the armored man any mind.

He didn't care about the other guy, but the guy had burned Xie Licheng's face into his memory.

The armored man's attendant caught up to him and asked in a worried whisper, "Young Marquis, you okay?"

The armored man—the one the attendant called Young Marquis—shot him a dark, sinister look at that.

"If I were in trouble, would I still be standing here?"

The attendant was not a regular soldier; he had joined the army alongside the young marquis. Knowing his master's bad temper well, he quickly lowered his head and admitted his fault: "It's my fault, I misspoke. Please don't be mad, young marquis, don't be mad."

The young marquis: "Did you see that man just now?"

The attendant: "Yes, I saw him."

The young marquis: "Get your men and capture him. I want him alive."

The attendant was deeply troubled, but on the surface he accepted the order and left.

That man—he had noticed him long ago.

He was exceptionally skilled and, with his tall stature, stood out in the crowd.

Just now, when the man had clashed with the young marquis, the young marquis, naturally gifted with immense strength, had only fought him to a draw.

If even the young marquis could not subdue him, then even if he led a small squad, it would be difficult to capture him.

Despite his doubts, he obediently led his men to find Xie Licheng.

When they found Xie Licheng, he had just killed a bandit and was rifling through the bandit's belongings.

He pulled out a knife, a money pouch, two rough grain cakes, and a jade pendant that looked quite valuable.

Such fine mutton-fat jade was clearly not something a bandit like this could own. He wondered who the bandit had stolen it from.

Xie Licheng glanced at the two rough grain cakes and casually tossed them to a starving, gaunt refugee.

Then he stood and looked back. The attendant smiled and said, "Hey, buddy, our young marquis wants to see you."

Hearing the words "young marquis," Xie Licheng gave a slight blink.

Young marquis?

The son of the Marquis of Jincheng, or of the Marquis of Shubei?

The Marquis of Jincheng shouldn't have arrived here yet.

So the young marquis in Wencheng now must be from the Marquis of Shubei's household—the one who would later take the capital.

The Marquis of Shubei later proclaimed himself King of Northern Zhou. He had a son with incredible strength, the fierce war god of Northern Zhou.

If it was that young marquis, no wonder Xie Licheng had found his strength so astonishing when they clashed.

Xie Licheng: "He wants me to come, so I should just go?"

The attendant smiled bitterly. "Buddy, please come with us. Otherwise, we won't be able to report to our master."

Xie Licheng looked at him and said, "If you can't report back, I'll just kill you all. Then there's nothing to report."

Probably not expecting such audacity, the attendant's expression stiffened slightly.

He remained silent, and the few soldiers behind him immediately stepped forward to grab Xie Licheng.

But the moment they made a move, they realized how wide the gap between them and Xie Licheng was.

This man... was likely even more powerful than their young marquis. Killing him would be difficult enough, let alone capturing him and bringing him back.

Seeing this, the attendant quickly called his men back. "Stop, stop! Please spare us, young man!"

Xie Licheng had already been holding back; otherwise, those soldiers would have been on the ground long ago.

Hearing this, he smiled, sheathed his sword, and said, "I'll let you go, but leave some money if you want to live."

The attendant felt helpless, but recalling how vicious Xie Licheng had been just now, he reluctantly tossed a pouch to him.

"Young man, we came out to fight. This is all we've got."

Xie Licheng nodded. He didn't want to waste too much energy on them, so he let them go without a fuss.

Watching Xie Licheng leave with a swagger, a soldier next to the attendant said, "Then... how do we report to the young marquis?"

The attendant: "Just tell him we didn't find him."

Anyway, there were so many people here, all in chaos. Their army still needed to rush into the city for grain, and the young marquis couldn't skip that over one man.

Afterward, Xie Licheng spent the rest of the afternoon there. He added nine more people to his pocket world and then found a spot to enter as well.

Once inside, Xie Licheng began organizing the villagers.

The village was nearly full now. Some of the newcomers had money, so they just went to the town to buy houses.

One family of three had plenty of money. Hearing that a county town would be established here in the future, they didn't rush to the town.

They planned to stay in the village and check things out. If this place was truly as good as everyone said, they would move directly to the county town later.

This time, Xie Licheng had returned mainly for that Cao Ba guy.

He had previously been so wrapped up with Gu Zhangyuan that he had forgotten about Cao Ba. While saving people outside, he suddenly remembered and came back to check on the man.

Cao Ba had been locked up by Chen Yaosan. He had harmed Cui Niang and her child, and the child's whereabouts were still unknown. Now that Cao Ba had fallen into Chen Yaosan's hands, he was in for a rough time.

Xie Licheng had said not to let him die, so Chen Yaosan, worried he might escape with all limbs intact, broke both his legs.

Without his legs, the man's strength would be severely weakened, and escape would be impossible.

When Xie Licheng went to find him, the man had been thrown into the sheep pen by Chen Yaosan, looking a total mess.

These sheep also belonged to Xie Licheng, cared for by a girl in the village named Qing Niang. Now that Chen Yaosan had thrown the man there, Qing Niang felt it was really bad luck every time she came by.

Xie Licheng only glanced at him before wrinkling his nose in disgust and saying, "Find someone to wash him. He reeks."

Chen Yaosan chuckled. "Boss, why wash him? We're going to kill him sooner or later anyway. Why not just leave him like this?"

Xie Licheng: "He's wounded. Staying in such a filthy place, he might die."

Hearing this, Chen Yaosan understood. "Got it. I'll find someone to give him a wash right away."

If he died just like that, who would pay for his sins?

There were still many victims here. Better to keep him alive to calm their anger and ease their pain.

After he was cleaned up, Xie Licheng saw that he still had the strength to struggle, so he just broke both of his hands as well.

That way, even if a woman came for revenge, they wouldn't have to worry about her being harmed by him.

Xie Licheng: "Alright, keep a close watch on him. Don't let him die, and don't lose him."

With that, Xie Licheng ignored him from then on.

He did not advocate torture, so most of his killings in the past had been swift, single strikes.

But for some people, a swift death was truly too merciful.

Thinking of the suffering endured by those who had been captured, Xie Licheng did not feel he was being excessive now. He had never felt sympathy for deviants like that.

Only a fellow deviant like himself would pity or sympathize with someone like Master Cao Ba.

After that, Xie Licheng rested for a day at the farmstead before heading out again.

This time, he was gone for several days, during which he kept sending new people to the village.

With so many newcomers coming in, some families had the means to buy houses in the town, and Gu Zhangyuan had been kept busy in town over the past few days.

As the population of the pocket world grew, minor conflicts occasionally arose.

Gu Zhangyuan was a young and handsome male, and his constant comings and goings put him at risk.

The wet nurse arranged for Steward Xu and the new guard to accompany Gu Zhangyuan to handle matters in town.

The town matters involved houses, shops, and farmland.

To keep people from regretting their purchases if better houses appeared in the county town later, Gu Zhangyuan explained the county town situation upfront when he took them house-hunting.

Some families, hoping for county-town houses, decided to rent in town for now, planning to wait for better options. Others found it too much hassle and just bought houses in town outright.

One afternoon, Gu Zhangyuan was as usual taking newcomers to view houses when a plump, well-off woman took a liking to him.

She smiled and asked him, "Which family does this young gentleman belong to? Are you married, by any chance?"

Before Gu Zhangyuan could respond, Steward Xu couldn't help but speak up, "Our young master is proper, virtuous, and as beautiful as a celestial being. Of course, he's been married for ages."

Hearing that Gu Zhangyuan was already married, disappointment flickered in the woman's eyes.

"What a shame."

Their family had been lucky, running into Xie Licheng early on. When Xie Licheng asked if they had somewhere to go, even though they did, their head still chose to follow him.

Yes, you read that right.

When Xie Licheng rescued them, the head of the household immediately saw that he was extraordinary. So when Xie Licheng asked them, as he always did, their head agreed on the spot to go with him.

It was exactly because they agreed so fast that their family came through almost unscathed.

A couple with three kids, an elderly mother, and two loyal servants.

This big family was the second largest in the pocket world, after the Gu family.

Plus, they'd brought plenty of gold and valuables, so they were pretty well-off there.

She'd figured, since her youngest son wasn't married yet and this was a rare chance to meet such a talented, handsome young man, she'd boldly ask for his hand for her son. But she hadn't expected him to already be married.

Seeing her still staring at their young master, Steward Xu cleared his throat and told the plump woman, "Our young master is married to Master Xie—the one who saved everyone."

When the plump woman realized this, she let out a little gasp.

Close call, very close call. Luckily, she'd only admired his looks and hadn't done anything too rude, or she'd have offended their Benefactor.