Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Xie Licheng first placed the oil lamp on the headboard. Seeing that the light in the bedroom was still a bit dim, he hunted down a solar lamp. He hung it on the wall nearby, then walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

Gu Zhangyuan felt weird talking like this, so he reached for some clothes for Xie Licheng to throw on. But the moment he reached for the clothes, Xie Licheng scooped him up.

Xie Licheng settled Gu Zhangyuan on his lap, one arm around him, the other tipping up his chin.

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "What are you doing?"

Xie Licheng said, "Don't move. Let me see if you're hurt."

With his chin tilted up, Gu Zhangyuan's slender, fragile neck was exposed. He said, a little awkwardly, "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt."

He really didn't hurt—he'd just been startled when he was yanked onto the bed. For a second, he'd thought... Xie Licheng was about to go full beast mode.

But Xie Licheng didn't buy it. He held his chin up and looked him over carefully.

Gu Zhangyuan really wasn't hurt, but he was so delicate that his skin turned red at the slightest touch. The spot where Xie Licheng had grabbed him was flushed red, making it look like he'd been through some terrible abuse.

Xie Licheng stared at it with dark eyes, and before he could stop himself, he leaned in and kissed it. He thought his wife was gorgeous—even his neck was a total turn-on.

Gu Zhangyuan's body went rigid on his lap, and he immediately grabbed at Xie Licheng's hair, trying to stop him.

Xie Licheng only kissed him once. Seeing Gu Zhangyuan react so strongly, he couldn't help teasing him. "I only kissed you once and you're already stopping me. How are we supposed to have kids later?"

Gu Zhangyuan touched his neck, then pressed his hand against his burning cheeks.

He didn't answer, figuring that if he did, he'd just get teased more.

After touching his cheeks, he looked up at Xie Licheng, puzzled, and asked, "Aren't you embarrassed?"

Xie Licheng: "Embarrassed about what?"

Isn't it natural to enjoy romantic moments with your own wife?

This was nothing.

Gu Zhangyuan leaned in, noticing that Xie Licheng had gotten even darker lately. Even if he blushed, he wouldn't be able to see it.

Gu Zhangyuan reached out and touched Xie Licheng's cheek.

Xie Licheng asked, "What's wrong?"

Gu Zhangyuan replied, "I wanted to see if your cheeks were warm."

Xie Licheng noticed how Gu Zhangyuan touched his face—carefully, with just two fingers, all refined and restrained.

Xie Licheng chuckled softly and pressed Gu Zhangyuan's hand against his face.

He said, "Can you even feel anything touching me like that?"

With his hand pressed there, Gu Zhangyuan felt heat rush to his face, his hands, his whole body.

He'd seen shameless people before, but never anyone as shameless and rough as Xie Licheng.

Of course, even as he silently criticized him, when Xie Licheng let go of his hand, he didn't pull it back right away.

He'd always liked Xie Licheng—that was why he'd wanted to take him into his household before. So touching Xie Licheng genuinely pleased him.

When you hate someone, you can't even stand to touch them—just seeing them makes you sick.

But when you like someone, you can't help wanting to get closer, to touch, to caress.

Gu Zhangyuan ran his hand over Xie Licheng's cheek, then traced his brows and the bridge of his nose.

He didn't dare touch Xie Licheng's lips, afraid he might bite him again.

He still believed Xie Licheng was, at heart, a fierce and rough person. Even when showing affection for Gu Zhangyuan, he did it in that aggressive way.

Luckily, though he was fierce, he treated Gu Zhangyuan very well.

He would rein in his wildness for Gu Zhangyuan's sake. When it came to anything involving Gu Zhangyuan, he was always patient, and he would never truly bully or hurt him.

Feeling Gu Zhangyuan's cool fingertips wandering across his face, Xie Licheng felt a restless heat stir inside him.

Since Gu Zhangyuan didn't dare touch his mouth, Xie Licheng went looking for his hand himself.

He brought Gu Zhangyuan's hand to his lips and kissed it. Seeing Gu Zhangyuan let out a delicate little whimper but not pull his hand away, Xie Licheng knew he could push further.

So he didn't hold back. He kissed Gu Zhangyuan's palm, then trailed up his slender wrist, kissing his way up inch by inch...

Gu Zhangyuan had never experienced anything like this. He was completely stunned.

Seeing this, Xie Licheng asked in a husky voice, "Eldest Young Master, would your humble servant like to serve you tonight?"

Gu Zhangyuan stared at him blankly, gazing into his fervent, deep eyes. For a moment, he nearly drowned in them.

He quickly shook his head, forcing himself to snap out of it.

As this man filled out, he was getting more and more handsome.

Especially his eyes—they looked dangerous and utterly captivating.

Close call. So close. He'd almost fallen for it.

He said, "No. I brought you chicken soup. Eat that first."

With that, Gu Zhangyuan climbed off Xie Licheng's lap and hurried over to get the chicken soup.

Seeing this, Xie Licheng stopped teasing him. He grabbed a robe from the bed and casually draped it over his shoulders.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "I made this myself. Try it and see if it tastes good."

Xie Licheng took the bowl and took a big gulp, then nodded in approval. "Mm, not bad. Pretty fresh."

Xie Licheng was genuinely hungry now, so he finished the whole bowl of soup.

After drinking it, he felt it wasn't very filling and decided to check the kitchen.

Gu Zhangyuan happened to have something to discuss with him, so he followed close behind.

Xie Licheng asked as they walked, "Did something happen in Peach Blossom Village again?"

Gu Zhangyuan nodded and walked up to Xie Licheng's side, shoulder to shoulder.

"The houses in the village haven't been assigned yet. A lot of people are just staying wherever they can. I wanted to ask you—will the houses here be for rent or for sale in the future?"

"Your family wants to buy a house?"

"Yes, my dad thinks buying is more reassuring than borrowing."

Xie Licheng walked into the kitchen and found a box of cookies. He munched on one while saying, "I don't plan to sell the houses in Peach Blossom Village, because a lot more people are gonna come later. Those folks might not have the money to buy a place. If we sell all the houses here, they'll have nowhere to go when they show up."

Peach Blossom Village used to be the Newbie Village. Xie Licheng planned to let them stay for free, to help them get through the toughest early days.

As for houses in the town or city, those could be rented or sold.

Houses in the town and city were definitely better than the ones in the village.

The living environment and how bustling it was would definitely beat the village.

People aim high, just like water flows downhill.

Everyone would want to move to bigger and better places. Once other areas on the map got unlocked, a lot of people might not wanna stick around the village.

By then, the capable ones would head to the town, and the even more capable ones would head to the city.

The ones left in the village would be the elderly, the weak, women, and kids.

If the village houses could also be bought and sold, rich folks would probably buy houses and never live in them, and they sure wouldn't let the poor stay for free.

So where would the newcomers stay?

It's fine now in summer, but come winter, would they just freeze to death?

Xie Licheng had gone through all that trouble to rescue them one by one, not to find new ways to kill them off.

If he wanted them dead, he just wouldn't have saved them at all.

Besides, Xie Licheng needed a certain population to unlock maps.

He wanted to make sure even the weaker ones could survive, so the cost of living in Peach Blossom Village had to stay as low as possible.

"So what's the deal with the town? You said earlier it needs to be captured—does that mean we gotta fight?"

"I'm not sure yet. Tell you what—I'll go check it out now, you wait here for me."

Xie Licheng could use the teleport feature, so he zipped straight to Peach Blossom Town.

At the town entrance, he saw a few bandits standing guard, all looking exactly the same.

Their builds were off compared to normal people, standing around two meters tall, and they looked pretty intimidating.

Xie Licheng knew they were bandits because the ID tags above their heads said "Bandit," and they were bright red—a glaring crimson tag.

When Xie Licheng got close, he drew their attention and aggro.

But once he stepped out of their attack range, they acted like they couldn't see him at all.

Xie Licheng could check the bandit count on the map—there were 18 in total.

Their levels ranged from 5 to 12, so Xie Licheng didn't need backup; he could clear the place solo.

However, since attacking this place required daylight and a party of at least 10, it looked like he'd need to organize a group to take the town.

Xie Licheng came back from the town and said to Gu Zhangyuan, "Don't stress about the housing thing. Just find a place to crash for now. If your family wants to buy a house, hold off until we get to the town."

Hearing that, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but smile and ask, "So we can head to the town soon?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. I'll take you all to take Peach Blossom Town."

"Take it? Will it be a tough fight?"

"Nah, it'll be easy. Don't worry."

As he said this, Xie Licheng led Gu Zhangyuan into the fresh storage shed.

He hunted for food inside while Gu Zhangyuan snacked alongside him.

Gu Zhangyuan had a cookie, then a piece of dark chocolate.

These were all things Xie Licheng had brought from his own world.

Since he'd never had them before, Gu Zhangyuan thought they tasted pretty good.

Xie Licheng looked at him and asked, "Wanna sleep here tonight?"

Gu Zhangyuan shook his head. He'd come over saying he was bringing soup to Xie Licheng and hadn't told his family he wouldn't be back.

Besides, since no one else could get in here, Gu Zhangyuan decided to head back tonight so his family wouldn't worry if they couldn't find him.

"I didn't say I wouldn't come back when I left. If I suddenly stayed out, they'd get worried."

Xie Licheng nodded. He had to go out tonight anyway, so he couldn't stay home with him.

Xie Licheng said, "Then I'll walk you back."

His farm was quite large, and Peach Blossom Village was fairly big overall.

It was already dark outside now. He wasn't worried about Gu Zhangyuan running into bad people on the way, just concerned about wild animals or something.

When Xie Licheng walked out with Gu Zhangyuan, he grabbed two boxes of cookies for him to take along.

The two of them came out of the farm together and found Yuan Qiao still waiting at the intersection for Gu Zhangyuan.

Seeing him reminded Xie Licheng of Xuan Cui, so he asked Gu Zhangyuan beside him.

"Oh, right, how is Xuan Cui doing now?"

"She's much better. Yesterday she wanted to come thank you, but since I knew she couldn't get in here, I didn't let her come."

"Tell her she doesn't need to thank me. I saved her for your sake."

Yuan Qiao, following behind them, couldn't help but quietly cover his mouth.

He wanted to laugh, but he was afraid that if the young master heard him, he wouldn't bring him along anymore.

He was struggling hard to hold in his laughter, and just then, his sharp eyes caught something moving not far ahead of them.

Yuan Qiao quickly spoke up, "Young master, be careful—there's something ahead."

Gu Zhangyuan looked forward and, by the moonlight, saw a bright green snake.

Gu Zhangyuan was afraid of snakes. The moment he realized it was a snake, and possibly a venomous bamboo viper, he instinctively threw himself onto Xie Licheng.

Xie Licheng was long used to his timidity and caught him with one hand as he lunged over.

He lifted Gu Zhangyuan off the ground. When encountering such a venomous snake, keeping one's feet off the ground gave a greater sense of safety.

Xie Licheng held him with one hand while pulling out a dagger with the other. "Don't be afraid, it's just a small snake. Watch me kill it now, and later I'll stew it into soup for you."

As he spoke, the dagger in his hand moved with pinpoint accuracy, slicing the snake in one clean stroke.

Xie Licheng said, "Alright, it's dead now. Should I put you down?"

Gu Zhangyuan immediately shook his head, thinking, what if there were more snakes along the way? The moonlight wasn't bright enough tonight, and there was still a long way to walk before reaching his home. He didn't want to be put down and walk back by himself.

At that, Xie Licheng had no choice but to keep carrying him, holding him all the way back to Gu Zhangyuan's doorstep.

Fortunately, it was already night, and no one in the village was out and about, so they didn't have to worry about being seen.

After carrying him to the front of his house, Xie Licheng was about to leave.

Gu Zhangyuan, reminded that Xie Licheng had protected him again, suddenly didn't want him to go.

Yuan Qiao noticed her master grabbing Xie Licheng's sleeve and quickly pretended she hadn't seen a thing, entering the courtyard ahead of them.

Once Yuan Qiao was out of sight, Gu Zhangyuan asked, "Are you going out tonight?"

"Yes, I found that Prefect of Lingzhou. He's taken a lot of valuables from the Gu family and robbed many townspeople too. I plan to pay him a visit under the cover of darkness and snatch back the goods he's grabbed."

"Be careful then. He's not a good person, and he's colluding with those bandits. I have a feeling there's more power behind him."

Xie Licheng nodded, then lowered his gaze to look at Gu Zhangyuan's hand still clutching his sleeve.

Though he wasn't well-versed in romance, his eyes suddenly lit up. He leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on the corner of Gu Zhangyuan's mouth.

After the kiss, Xie Licheng shoved the two boxes of biscuits he'd brought out into Gu Zhangyuan's hands, and the next second, he vanished right before Gu Zhangyuan's eyes.

Gu Zhangyuan thought that Xie Licheng was sometimes quite clever, but at other times, he seemed rather foolish as well.