Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but smile at his words. He pulled his hand back, took out a handkerchief, and began gently wiping Xie Licheng's face.

Xie Licheng's face was truly filthy beyond belief. God knows what he'd been doing these past few days—the smell of blood on him was strong enough to make you gag.

As he wiped, he spoke, "Since Lingzhou is destined to fall into chaos within a month, I can definitely drag things out for that long. I don't need you brainstorming marriage plans for me."

Earlier, he hadn't known Lingzhou would descend into chaos so quickly, which was why he'd panicked when his father tried to marry him off.

Now that he knew Lingzhou was doomed and would erupt within a month, he didn't really give a damn about getting married anymore.

Because compared to his own marriage, he was way more worried about the Gu family's future now.

After saying this, his movements paused slightly, and then he lifted his gorgeous eyes to look straight at Xie Licheng.

"Speaking of which, how did you know that the fiancé my father chose for me is Marquis Jincheng? And how did you know that Marquis Jincheng isn't a good person, with a bunch of women and pretty boys hanging around him? How do you know so much about him? Have you actually met the guy?"

That still didn't add up—Xie Licheng came out of the slave camp. How could someone like him have ever met Marquis Jincheng?

Unless that identity of his was fake too.

Xie Licheng didn't offer much explanation. "Don't worry about how I know. Just as long as the info helps you, that's all that counts."

He frowned and said, "I'm hungry. Can you get someone to fix me something to eat?"

Gu Zhangyuan called out, "Xuan Cui, go to the small kitchen and grab something to eat."

Xuan Cui, who was waiting outside, acknowledged and quickly had some food brought in.

Xie Licheng washed up and sat down to dig in.

Gu Zhangyuan watched him wolfing down his food and couldn't help but ask softly, "Did you run into those bandits again or what?"

In Gu Zhangyuan's eyes, Xie Licheng wasn't the kind of guy to kill people for no reason. The only ones who could push him to kill were those bandits.

Xie Licheng didn't intend to hide it from him. The main reason he came back was because he was worried the authorities might come after the Gu family.

"You sent me to the estate to find that formula. I found something off there."

"What problem?"

"The authorities had the place guarded, but there were bandits hiding inside."

Gu Zhangyuan went pale. It took him a while before he lowered his voice and said, "Are you saying... the officials are in bed with the bandits, and they've got their eyes on that estate too?"

The Gu family's estate was for growing medicinal herbs, so it was worth a lot more than their other properties.

Xie Licheng said, "More like, it's probably the formula they want—or maybe the whole Gu family."

Gu Zhangyuan slammed the table hard. "They wouldn't dare! No... they wouldn't. At least not right now."

Xie Licheng said, "I came back this time to tell you about this. Also, the authorities are out there right now combing the area outside the city looking for me. They must already know I came from the Gu family. I'm worried that killing the bandits' leader might end up bringing trouble to the Gu family."

When Xie Licheng made his move back then, he never thought they'd recognize him.

And he definitely didn't expect that, with Lingzhou not even in full chaos yet, the authorities would actually take the bandits' side.

Xie Licheng felt like the whole thing was way more complicated and tangled than what was written in the book—maybe involving even more people and more secrets.

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "Wait, what? You went up the mountain by yourself and killed their leader?"

Xie Licheng looked a little sheepish. "I didn't just kill their leader—I wiped out their whole hideout too."

The authorities were after him, probably for the Gu family's formula, or maybe for the money and supplies the bandits had stashed.

Hearing that, Gu Zhangyuan was both stunned and speechless. This guy... was seriously way too bold.

Knowing damn well the bandits were working with the authorities, he still went up there and wiped out their base. This was... just him being reckless because he knew he was good enough to get away with it.

Xie Licheng said, "I'm worried they might use this against us, or pull something that hurts the Gu family."

Gu Zhangyuan shook his head. "They won't. At least not until everything falls apart. Back then, to cover for you, I passed off your deeds as the work of the Gu family's guards. Later, worried someone might find out the truth, I said one of the Gu family's guards had run off. When I reported it to the authorities, I used your name."

So basically, the Gu family no longer had that horse slave.

Later on, Xuan Cui, Yuan Qiao, and the others all called him Master Xie.

The original body had been a criminal slave—he didn't even have a name.

But his father did have a name. He'd been a military officer in the previous dynasty, and their family name wasn't Xie.

Even if the authorities really wanted the Gu family's money, they couldn't pin anything on them using a runaway slave.

Sure, the Gu family couldn't just fight the authorities head-on and had to show them some respect.

But for the authorities to swallow the Gu family whole—that wasn't gonna be so easy either.

Otherwise, the Gu family wouldn't have lasted over a hundred years, surviving two dynasty changes without collapsing.

The Gu family wasn't scared of the authorities eyeing them. As long as they paid enough, they could keep living in peace.

What the Gu family feared were those reckless outlaws who'd stop at nothing once the world really went to hell.

Seeing that Gu Zhangyuan had already handled everything, Xie Licheng didn't feel as worried anymore.

He pulled the formula out from his clothes and got ready to leave.

Gu Zhangyuan frowned and asked, "Where are you going now?"

Xie Licheng said, "I'm planning to use the time before everything goes to shit to turn all my money into supplies. Once the chaos really hits, gold and silver won't be worth anything."

After that, he still had to go back up the mountain. He had no clue what the situation was like up there now.

Xie Licheng added, "Your father really doesn't plan to take the Gu family and leave?"

Gu Zhangyuan nodded, a trace of sorrow flashing through his eyes.

His father wouldn't leave, the Gu family wouldn't leave, and naturally, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't leave either.

His father could be quite stubborn at times, always believing that since the older generation had weathered such crises, he too could lead the Gu family through this one.

But the dynasties were different, and the crises they faced were different as well.

Just because the older generation had survived didn't mean they would survive this time either.

If they failed to make it through, all hundred-plus members of the Gu family would suffer the consequences.

Xie Licheng didn't say anything more. He felt he had already done quite a lot for the Gu family.

As for what happens to the Gu family from here on out, that's up to their own luck.

After Xie Licheng left the Gu residence, he planned to figure out a way to get out of the city.

On the wanted poster the authorities put out for Xie Licheng, aside from the height and build matching him, the face was pretty vague.

When those bandits first ran into Xie Licheng, it was at night, and his face was covered in blood, making him look like a total killing machine. They hadn't gotten a clear look at what he actually looked like.

Later, when Xie Licheng went up the mountain, he wore a mask, so even if those bandits recognized who he was, they still didn't know what he actually looked like.

That's exactly why, when the authorities went up the mountain to investigate, they kept grilling the villagers about what Xie Licheng looked like.

Under these circumstances, getting out of the city shouldn't be too hard for Xie Licheng.

Then, just as Xie Licheng reached the city gate and was about to scope things out, he saw a group of foreign merchants being stopped by the guards.

Lingzhou was right next to the capital and pretty prosperous, so it was common to see a lot of foreign merchant caravans doing business here.

Seeing a foreign merchant caravan in Lingzhou at this time wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

However, Xie Licheng noticed that some of these merchants walked in a really awkward way.

They had straight backs, even strides, and walked with their heads high and chests puffed out.

They didn't look like merchants—they looked more like soldiers.

Xie Licheng's eyelids twitched. Why would soldiers be disguised as merchants? And mixed in with a bunch of foreigners?

Lingzhou's garrison was small, probably less than a hundred men, with only about fifty conscript soldiers.

Because it was close to the capital, Lingzhou's security relied mainly on the capital's army.

If Lingzhou were to fall into chaos right now, the most troops available to defend it would be around two hundred.

An army showing up in Lingzhou at this time, deliberately disguised as a foreign merchant caravan, couldn't possibly be any legitimate trading group.

Nor could they be the Marquis of Jincheng's men, since his territory was at the border.

Even if he were to rebel, he'd have to expand gradually from the border toward the central plains.

So at this time, who else could have an army?

Xie Licheng's eyes flickered, and he decided to find a place to get into his portable world first.

Once back in his portable world, he found the novel and started reading it carefully.

It was currently April, with about a month and twenty-some days until the book's description of war breaking out everywhere.

At this point, various factions were just starting to rise. The ones with a bit of strength now were the protagonist's group and their allies.

They had started under the banner of rebellion, recruiting mostly regular folks and mountain bandits.

However, among them was one person—their so-called boss.

He used to be a military commander, but after messing up and refusing to accept punishment, he fled with the men under his command.

The book mentioned that he had taken about thirty-some soldiers with him at the time.

Thinking of those soldiers disguised as merchants just now, could it be that the protagonist's group had gotten to Lingzhou early?

In the book, they had come through burning, killing, and looting. Even if they might have gotten to Lingzhou early, it shouldn't have been so quiet.

Could it be that something went wrong on their end?

Xie Licheng didn't dwell on it too much. Now that he had a rough idea of who they were, he couldn't keep heading out of the city.

Because if it really was the protagonist's group, it looked like Lingzhou would fall into chaos early.

By the time Xie Licheng came out of his portable world, all the people from the merchant caravan had already gotten into the city.

Given how unstable things were around Lingzhou right now, with so many foreign merchants showing up at once, the guards shouldn't have let them in so easily.

But those merchants had paid a good chunk of silver, so the guards had let them through anyway.

The entire court was corrupt now, and as the saying goes, when the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones are just as bad.

With officials buying their positions at the top, things were no better down below.

The entire Great Zhou now was like a building about to topple.

Even if Xie Licheng had extraordinary skills and didn't want the regular folks of Lingzhou to suffer, there was nothing he could do to change things.

Just as Xie Licheng was about to go find that merchant caravan, to his surprise, the government bailiffs came back through the city gate, escorting a group of people.

The scene was so striking that many nearby folks gathered around, all curious about what crimes these people had committed.

Among them, Xie Licheng saw many familiar faces—the very people he had saved just that morning.

Not only were there villagers from the mountain, but also regular folks from the foothills, and even the few who had left earlier were among them.

Xie Licheng was suddenly so angry he laughed. Standing at the very edge of the crowd of onlookers, he watched coldly as the bailiffs, looking all pleased with themselves, announced to the city folks: "They're the bandits causing trouble outside the city! We've already caught them all, so you don't need to worry about going out of the city anymore!"

A young married man quietly asked, "Really? But why are there old men and women among them? Could people like that really have the skill to ride around robbing people?"

A man beside him quickly shook his head at him, "Shh, don't talk nonsense. If the officials say they're bandits, then they're bandits. You're just too young and naive—stop spouting nonsense here."

The young married man frowned, "But..."

Before he could continue, one of the captured men suddenly broke free. He tore off the cloth gagging his mouth and shouted.

"Help! Help! We're not bandits, we're..."

But before he could finish what he wanted to say, a bailiff stepped forward and kicked him hard, while another bailiff stuffed the rest of his words back in his mouth.

Even so, his words still hit like a thunderclap in the surrounding area.

The young married man said, "See, see! You said I was talking nonsense—they're not bandits at all!"

"Oh my, really? They're not bandits? Then... then why did the authorities arrest them?"

"I also think they don't look like bandits. Bandits wouldn't be so skinny they're all skin and bones. Look at them—old and young, with a woman too. The few young able-bodied men among them are all covered in wounds."

"Right, they're so thin, they don't look like..."

...

Probably catching a glimmer of hope from hearing the crowd's murmurs, one of the captured men suddenly lunged forward and knocked over a bailiff.

Xie Licheng recognized him as the farmer who had taken away a young man.

Xie Licheng spotted him in the crowd, but did not see the young man the farmer had taken.

That man knocked down a constable, and the other captives began to follow suit.

Because there were too many captives and too few constables guarding them, the whole scene immediately fell into chaos.

A half-grown youth, with the help of his companions, finally managed to get a word out.

He immediately shouted loudly, "Help! We're not bandits! We were captured by those bandits! When they seized us, these corrupt officials didn't lift a finger for us! Today, we finally got rescued, and now they're falsely accusing us of being bandits and saying we killed an Imperial Official!"

The boy's voice was loud and shrill, as if he was desperately trying to plead their case for justice.

But he was soon disappointed: when the people around heard the truth, they didn't rush to help them.

Because they were also afraid of the authorities, and with the nearby garrison troops arriving, each one drawing their swords.

Under these circumstances, aside from a few brave folks in Lingzhou who dared to speak up, most onlookers couldn't help but back away in fear.

At that moment, the constables snapped out of it.

With the garrison troops' help, they quickly rounded up everyone who had caused the ruckus.

To make an example out of them, one constable drew his blade and moved to cut the boy down.

The constable shouted, "You thieving bandits, you troublemakers! You killed Lord Hu! Lord Hu was an Imperial Official! Anyone who dares to kill an Imperial Official deserves summary execution!"

The boy's face turned pale with terror. He wanted to dodge but could not, for he was pinned down by two garrison soldiers, like a fish on a cutting board, left with nothing but despair, waiting to die.

Xie Licheng didn't want the kid to die, so he pulled out a crossbow bolt.

Then, just as Xie Licheng took aim at the constable's heart, a sudden explosion went off in the street behind him.

The blast was so sudden that it not only made the constable drop his sword, but even the garrison troops couldn't help looking around.

Here we go!

The big show of this world had finally kicked off!

After the first blast came a second, a third, a fourth...

Xie Licheng put away his crossbow bolt and turned to look behind him.

It looked like he'd guessed right—it really was the male lead and his partner.

In this world, only the protagonist—thanks to being a time traveler—had managed to make a cheap knockoff version of gunpowder.

Wherever this gunpowder showed up, it meant the protagonist was there. They basically blew stuff up everywhere they went, leaving the Great Zhou in ruins.

He'd figured as much—if it was the protagonist, things wouldn't stay quiet for long.