Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"What are the two characters?"

"The 'Li' from farewell, and the 'Cheng' from city."

"That's an unusual name."

"Mm."

After that, the two didn't continue discussing the name. Gu Zhangyuan was clearly tired. He lay against Xie Licheng's back, looking half-asleep.

Xie Licheng noticed and stopped talking to him.

With one hand holding the man on his back, he pulled out a blade with the other.

He'd always used short blades before, which were handy for close-quarters fighting.

This time, with someone on his back, he picked a miao dao to avoid accidentally hurting Gu Zhangyuan.

Miao dao came in two lengths: one about five chi (1.6 meters), the other over three chi (roughly 1.2 meters).

The one in Xie Licheng's hand was the five-chi version—like holding a 1.6-meter person.

With a blade that long, he could cut enemies down without getting close.

This time, Xie Licheng's goal was to find the estate's steward. Finding him would prove the Second Master of the Gu Family wanted Gu Zhangyuan dead.

The Second Master and the First Master were blood brothers, so they must have been close.

Without solid evidence, getting the First Master to move against his own brother would be tough.

Even if Gu Zhangyuan said it himself, the First Master probably wouldn't believe it.

So to settle this once and for all, they needed both witnesses and hard evidence.

And that steward who let the bandits in was the key piece of evidence.

Xie Licheng hadn't gone far when he spotted a bandit dragging a woman into the bushes up ahead.

Xie Licheng sneered. He'd scared off the other bandits and killed their two leaders, whose bodies were still lying there unclaimed.

And this guy still had the nerve for that?

Was he really that desperate?

Like a dog in heat on the side of the road.

Disgusting!

With that, Xie Licheng raised his miao dao and strode up behind the man.

The woman happened to see Xie Licheng from her angle.

She wasn't stupid. She knew Xie Licheng was coming to save her, so she didn't blow his cover.

Xie Licheng mouthed, "Close your eyes."

The woman immediately squeezed her eyes shut.

The bandit thought she'd given up and leered as he reached to rip off her clothes.

Then... the blade rose and fell. Xie Licheng strode past, wiping the blood on his pant leg as he went.

After that, Xie Licheng killed two more bandits and saved two old folks and a farmer.

Xie Licheng wasn't exactly a good guy. The main reason he killed and saved people along the way was that he had experience with killing.

After transmigrating, he accidentally loaded a corpse into his portable world, which triggered a weird quest progress bar.

Since then, Xie Licheng could level up not just in the portable world but also in the real world.

He'd already found two ways to level up out here.

The first was hunting, which he'd discovered when he caught that snake for Gu Zhangyuan.

The second was killing, which he'd discovered today while killing bandits to protect Gu Zhangyuan.

So Gu Zhangyuan seemed to bring him good luck.

Hunting gave solid experience, but killing gave even more.

That was exactly why he was so eager to clear out the estate's bandits and why he killed every one he ran into.

Xie Licheng wouldn't kill innocent people to level up, but killing bandits who terrorized the area sat fine with his conscience.

Since killing gave experience, in times like these, taking out more of these scumbags was practically doing the people a favor.

Before Xie Licheng could keep searching, the steward showed up with a group of people.

Since some bandits had disguised themselves as estate farmers before, Gu Zhangyuan tensed up when he saw the steward approaching with a crowd. He whispered urgently, "Be careful."

Xie Licheng smiled. This pretty young master still underestimated him.

Anything he could think of, Xie Licheng could think of too.

Still, knowing the guy cared about him, Xie Licheng felt pretty good.

Xie Licheng looked at the steward. "You the one running this estate?"

The steward was a middle-aged man close to fifty.

He had a meek, unassuming look—like an ordinary guy who was honest, loyal, timid, and kind.

Gu Zhangyuan had seen the man once when he first arrived at the estate.

Hearing Xie Licheng ask who the man was, Gu Zhangyuan poked half his head out from behind Xie Licheng.

Gu Zhangyuan said, "It's him."

The steward glanced at Xie Licheng, then cautiously at Gu Zhangyuan, as if sizing up their relationship or quietly scheming.

He didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward with a fawning, worried look, checking on Gu Zhangyuan.

He said, "Eldest Young Master, are you alright? It's all this servant's fault. I never thought those bandits would be so bold. They—they actually dared to sneak into the estate in the dead of night. They didn't scare you, did they?"

Seeing him still putting on an act, Gu Zhangyuan was so mad he wanted to get down and punch him.

But remembering his twisted ankle, he held back and said, "How dare you! You arranged my quarters, and there's a small door in that courtyard. Are you still going to pretend you didn't know about it?"

The steward hurried over, trying to grab Gu Zhangyuan's pant leg, like he wanted to cry out his innocence and explain something to him. But he was actually clutching a knife, planning to finish the job.

But before he could even get near Gu Zhangyuan's clothes, Xie Licheng, carrying Gu Zhangyuan on his back, spun around, not only hiding Gu Zhangyuan behind him again but also planting a kick right in the steward's chest.

The steward went flying and slammed hard into the ground, the knife in his hand tumbling away.

At the sight, Gu Zhangyuan was both livid and stunned, his whole body trembling with rage.

He spat, "What did he give you that you're still trying to kill me even now?!"

The steward gave a bitter smile, "Eldest Young Master, please don't hold it against me, your humble servant. I had no choice. I've got two sons at home—one's a gambler, the other's gravely ill. To support them, I've got no other way."

As he talked, he suddenly let out a creepy laugh.

Gu Zhangyuan, seeing his smile, nervously clutched at Xie Licheng's clothes.

He warned, "This is bad—the men he brought are all bandits too."

Indeed, the men the steward had brought were all bandits. These bandits were divided into two groups: the first was the dozens led by the Mole Man.

The second group had followed them down the mountain, because the bandit chief, believing the Gu family was wealthy and that the manor held many valuables, had sent another batch to follow, originally intending for them to haul away the goods.

But unexpectedly, before they could even start loading, they discovered that Gu Zhangyuan was still alive. A young master, pampered and spoiled, yet with so many sent to kill him, he proved hard to eliminate!

To be honest, the steward had been genuinely surprised to see Gu Zhangyuan still alive just moments ago.

He had originally planned to play up his own misery and kill Gu Zhangyuan himself.

Unfortunately, the groom protecting Gu Zhangyuan was too formidable—he never let him get close.

Because they weren't part of the same crew, these bandits naturally had no idea how formidable the man standing before them was.

Judging by Xie Licheng's outfit, they figured he was just a regular male slave.

The Gu family's guards and estate protectors wore different clothes from ordinary male slaves.

Their outfits were more luxurious, even more refined than what regular folks wore.

Gu Zhangyuan had given Xie Licheng several nice outfits, but Xie Licheng figured he was just a horse keeper who went hunting in the mountains a lot, so he grabbed the plainest male slave getup.

Seeing that Xie Licheng was just an ordinary male slave, looking a bit scrawny to boot, even with a long blade in his hand, the bandits there didn't take him seriously.

They each drew their weapons and closed in to surround him, looking to cut him down.

A guy's only got two hands and two legs—once they encircled him like this, even if he had some real skill, he could only watch his front, not his back.

But before they could seal the encirclement, Xie Licheng swung his blade and lopped off a bandit's head with a single swing.

Striding over the dead bandit, Xie Licheng saw the others still trying to surround him and said softly to Gu Zhangyuan behind him, "Hold on tight, don't fall off."

At that, Gu Zhangyuan dropped all pretense of dignity.

He looped his arms around Xie Licheng's neck, and so he wouldn't strangle him, he also hooked his legs around Xie Licheng's waist.

Once Xie Licheng was sure he wouldn't fall, he kept his grip on the blade in one hand and whipped out a dagger with the other.

He'd found this dagger on one of the bandits he'd just killed.

He charged forward with Gu Zhangyuan, making Gu gasp silently, and then Gu heard two screams.

The dagger hit the left eye of a bandit who was right next to Xie Licheng, trying to slash at Gu Zhangyuan behind Xie's back.

The miao dao cut through the neck of another bandit, who was a little farther off and had been fighting Xie head-on with a blade.

Counting the one who'd just died, that made two bandits dead and one wounded.

Xie Licheng saw that his level had risen again, and while the bandits were startled by him, he dumped all 9 attribute points from today's level-up into strength.

At this moment, Xie Licheng's strength was 63.

That kind of strength was pretty high for an ordinary person.

He flicked the blood off his blade, then in the next instant flung a dart that hit a bandit in the head from a distance.

Xie Licheng glanced at it and sighed. "Off target."

He had aimed for the eye; as long as he could hit the eye, their vision would be greatly impaired. Even if he didn't kill them instantly, dealing with them afterward would be simple.

He hadn't used these darts in ages; he didn't expect his aim to be this bad.

Luckily, he'd stocked a bunch of small weapons in his portable world.

Since these darts weren't working out, he'd switch to something he was better with.

With that in mind, Xie Licheng pulled out a short blade.

He still preferred this kind of short blade—it worked as a melee weapon or a ranged one.

Plus, with a sharp edge like that, as long as he had enough strength and aim, it did more damage than arrows—and often he could kill in one hit.

Then, as Xie Licheng was about to charge forward with Gu Zhangyuan to take down another bandit, his momentum was so strong and his speed so fast that Gu's legs, wrapped around Xie's waist, suddenly slipped loose.

Worried he might fall, Xie Licheng quickly tossed aside the short blade he'd just drawn and caught him with his free hand.

That moment of catching him gave the other bandits an opening.

Three bandits rushed in at once—some swinging at Xie Licheng, some at Gu Zhangyuan, and one grabbing hold of Gu's clothes.

The situation was critical. With one hand, Xie Licheng dragged Gu from his back to his front, and with the other, he held the blade outward and swept it in a circle around himself.

That sweep sliced through the arms of all three bandits.

Two bandits lost their forearms, and one had half his palm cut off.

In the process, Xie Licheng got a scratch on his face.

His defense was high, so the scratch only cost him a sliver of health.

Exhausted and scared out of his wits, Gu Zhangyuan collapsed weakly in front of Xie Licheng. His vision kept going black, and he was in rough shape.

He instinctively made himself as small as possible, so he wouldn't cause Xie Licheng any more trouble.

Then, before he could curl himself into a small ball, the three bandits surrounding them dropped one by one.

Xie Licheng grabbed him by the hand and hauled him up, then scooped him up and plopped him onto his shoulder.

Gu Zhangyuan, whose head was already spinning, hastily latched onto Xie Licheng's hair as soon as he was seated on his shoulder.

Xie Licheng said, sounding a bit exasperated, "Don't grab my hair."

He didn't want to end up bald.

At that, Gu Zhangyuan pouted and shifted his hands to Xie Licheng's ears.

Xie Licheng: "Don't grab my ears either."

Ears were too delicate and could get ripped off easily; he didn't want to be left with just one ear.

Gu Zhangyuan huffed, "Then what am I supposed to grab?"

Xie Licheng mulled it over for a second, then switched him to his back instead.

This time, to keep him from falling, Xie Licheng used his own clothes to strap him on tight.

Once he had him secured, Xie Licheng gave his butt a pat with his big hand, then glanced at the ones trying to run and asked, "Besides that steward, do we need to keep any of the others alive?"

Gu Zhangyuan, after getting his butt patted, flushed, adding a touch of red to his pale face.

He gritted his teeth and muttered, "Just keep one."

After saying that, he couldn't help but pause—weren't they just at a disadvantage a second ago?

Xie Licheng was just one guy, and he was hauling dead weight like him; they'd almost been surrounded and killed.

And now Xie Licheng was asking him if they should spare the others, like... he'd been the one surrounding them all by himself.

Thinking this, Gu Zhangyuan strained to raise his head, trying to get a look at what was happening.

But the moment his head poked out a bit, Xie Licheng ruthlessly shoved it back down.