Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Xie Licheng didn't have to search for long before he found what he was looking for in the cellar of the courtyard.

He knew it. That prefect had gone to great lengths to amass wealth, and since this was his only escape route, he was bound to have stashed something good here.

Now, seeing the entire cellar full of valuables, Xie Licheng jumped down, collected everything inside, and found a safe spot to return to his personal world.

He'd said he was going to attack Peach Blossom Town in the daytime. It was already past midnight now, with not much time left before dawn, so he figured he'd go back and rest.

After returning, Xie Licheng found a clock and set an alarm for himself. With the alarm in place, he didn't have to worry about oversleeping, so he fell asleep with complete peace of mind.

He slept until 11 a.m., then got up, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and teleported to Peach Blossom Village.

Yesterday, Xie Licheng had told Gu Zhangyuan that today he would lead them to attack Peach Blossom Town. Gu Zhangyuan had gotten up early and selected more than a dozen able-bodied young adults from the village and the Gu family.

Those dozen or so able-bodied young adults were all pretty nervous—after all, they'd never fought in a battle before. Now, suddenly being asked to go out and fight, they couldn't help feeling a bit anxious.

Fortunately, though, Xie Licheng had said it wouldn't be hard, and he was incredibly powerful.

They figured that with Xie Licheng leading them, nothing bad would happen.

When Xie Licheng arrived, he brought along ten weapons.

These weapons had all been collected yesterday. Xie Licheng handed them out to the ten men, and he was ready to set out with them.

Seeing this, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but ask, sounding worried, "Do you want to bring more people? That way, if there's any danger, everyone can look out for each other."

Xie Licheng was about to say no—Peach Blossom Town was small. The highest-level NPC there was only 12, and Xie Licheng was already level 112. Fighting them would be like child's play.

But before he could refuse, one of the other able-bodied young adults spoke up: "Young Master Gu is right. We should go along too. Even if we can't help much, at least we can see the world."

The others nodded in agreement. The world outside was already in chaos, and who knew what it would become.

They all knew Xie Licheng was incredibly strong, and they knew he was protecting them.

But they couldn't rely on him for everything—Xie Licheng couldn't protect them forever.

In a world like this, they had to learn to protect themselves before they could protect their families.

Besides, Xie Licheng had also said there was no danger in this trip.

Since there was no danger, why not tag along, see the world, gain some experience, and build up their courage? There was no downside.

Xie Licheng also felt that they really should get out and experience things. Seeing how eager they all were to follow, he nodded.

But what he didn't expect was that when they actually set out after his nod, a large crowd trailed behind him, spread out loosely.

Among this large crowd were not only men, but also women, old folks, and children.

Xie Licheng wanted to say, "What are all of you tagging along for?"

Then he noticed that Gu Zhangyuan had also picked up a sword—it looked like he wanted to join as well.

Xie Licheng suddenly felt a bit exasperated.

He thought, "Fine, fine. There's no danger this time anyway. I guess everyone's been cooped up in this little village for too long and wants to get out and move around."

Xie Licheng started the attack, and the road from Peach Blossom Village to Peach Blossom Town opened up.

The village had a few horses and some oxen.

To save time on the journey, everyone took horse-drawn carts to the town.

This was their first time leaving the village, and even Xie Licheng had never been on this road before.

From Peach Blossom Village to Peach Blossom Town, it was a short ride—about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

The road was just an ordinary village path, with no signs of human habitation and nothing but wild land on both sides.

Because few people had traveled this road, they spotted quite a few wild beasts along the way.

These beasts had never encountered humans before, so they weren't particularly afraid. Some even came close.

Sitting in the cart, Gu Zhangyuan muttered quietly, "If all this land were used for farming, the villagers wouldn't have to worry about food anymore."

Xie Licheng couldn't help but smile at that. The village didn't have many people right now, and most of them were mostly old folks, women, and children. Even if they were given more farmland, they wouldn't have the strength to work it all.

These things couldn't be rushed—they needed to be done one step at a time. Once more people arrived and settled in, the farmland would naturally expand over time.

Their carts stopped outside Peach Blossom Town, and Xie Licheng didn't let everyone join the fight.

Even though those bandit NPCs were low-level, it still wasn't appropriate to send the elderly and children to fight.

If a stray blade caused an injury, they'd all end up paying for it.

Xie Licheng organized the ten men who were going up with him and told them that if they were outmatched, they absolutely shouldn't play hero and fight those NPCs alone.

If they couldn't win one-on-one, they could try two against one, or three or four on one.

If they still couldn't win even then, they should remember to quickly back off from the NPCs.

The ten men listened very attentively. When Xie Licheng took the lead and walked toward the bandits, they followed right behind him.

Probably because Xie Licheng was their source of confidence, and since the bandits in the town weren't all gathered in one place, taking them down together was relatively easy.

There were 18 bandits in total. Xie Licheng killed 12 of them himself, and the other 6 were taken down by the rest.

After the bandits were killed, they disappeared—no corpses, no bloodstains, so there was no mess to clean up.

Then, to Xie Licheng's surprise, after clearing out all the bandits, he received a treasure chest.

Xie Licheng opened the chest directly. Inside were 5 packs of seeds and 5 packs of growth-boosting fertilizer.

Ordinary seeds could be bought from the village shop.

Those included wheat seeds, rice seeds, sorghum seeds, and the like.

The seeds from the treasure chest were different—they were seeds that weren't available at the village shop.

Xie Licheng checked the seed descriptions. All 5 packs were high-yielding corn seeds.

Ordinary corn typically took 3 to 4 months to mature, with yields of about 800 to 1,500 jin per mu (roughly 400–750 kg per acre).

The corn Xie Licheng had obtained, when used with the growth-boosting fertilizer, only needed 12 days to mature, with yields between 1,400 and 2,200 jin per mu.

Xie Licheng felt he'd hit the jackpot. Corn was delicious and easy to store, so he could definitely get everyone to plant a lot more of it.

Xie Licheng packed away the things he'd picked up and led the whole crew into town.

The town wasn't all that big—just two main streets.

The main street was lined with shops, plus a few empty inns and restaurants.

Xie Licheng walked everyone around the town, and it was obvious they all loved it.

But these houses were for sale, so he couldn't just hand them out for free like he did in the village.

So once they'd finished their tour, Xie Licheng laid it all out for everyone.

Hearing they wouldn't get free housing, nobody seemed disappointed.

A young guy asked, "Are the houses here pricey?"

"They won't be too bad. The world outside's already gone to hell, and I doubt many of the folks I rescue later will be able to afford a place."

Once this town was taken, if the permanent population dropped below 20 for a full month, bandits would spawn again.

Down the road, Xie Licheng would definitely unlock nicer, more prosperous spots, and plenty of people would want to move there.

So in the village, houses had to be free to keep people around, and in town, they had to be cheap for the same reason.

The old doctor's son had tagged along this time too.

After checking out the little town, he couldn't help but fall for it.

He thought that even though it was a small town, the streets were wide, the shops were neat, and the buildings were beautifully made.

Plus, there was a river running through town, crystal clear and packed with fish and shrimp.

He thought the scenery here was even prettier than back in Lingzhou City.

When he heard Xie Licheng say the houses wouldn't be too pricey, he couldn't help pointing at a clinic they were passing.

He asked, "Benefactor, how much for this clinic? If it's not too steep, I'd like to talk it over with my family and buy it."

The old doctor's son was Chen Youchen, thirty-two this year.

The town had two clinics and an herbal medicine shop.

The clinic he'd set his sights on was way bigger than the other one he'd seen.

And since it looked a lot like their family's clinic, it felt instantly familiar.

Xie Licheng figured that since this was the first town, the prices couldn't be too high.

If nobody moved in, bandit NPCs would eventually show up again.

Those NPCs were easy to take down, but Xie Licheng didn't have time to be raiding a small town every day.

Plus, those NPCs showing up would put the townsfolk at risk.

Xie Licheng told him, "This one's twenty-five taels."

Twenty-five taels wasn't cheap for a town house, but for a clinic with a shop up front and a courtyard out back, it was a steal.

A lot of the stuff inside was already there—they'd just need pots, pans, bowls, chairs, cabinets, beds, and whatnot.

When Xie Licheng rescued their family earlier, he'd packed up a lot of their belongings.

If they bought it, they could move in right away.

Chen Youchen had his eye on that clinic, and Gu Zhangyuan had also taken a shine to two properties. His family was big, and they were pretty cramped in the village house.

Now that Xie Licheng had taken the town, the houses there were definitely better than the village ones, so he wanted to move his family over.

He'd found two places, both pretty big, close together in the same alley.

Gu Zhangyuan wanted to buy one for the Gu family and another for him and Xie Licheng to live in.

As for why he needed to buy the place for himself and Xie Licheng?

First off, Gu Zhangyuan wasn't strapped for cash—this was pocket change to him.

Second, he'd said that since he wasn't marrying into Xie Licheng's family, he couldn't just live at Xie Licheng's place all the time.

He wanted his own place so that if he and Xie Licheng ever fought, he'd still have somewhere to go.

Besides, Xie Licheng's place was in the village, and going back and forth was a pain. Gu Zhangyuan wanted to buy a place in town so they'd have somewhere to stay there later.

After that, Xie Licheng led everyone back. He needed to get home and plant those five packs of corn first.

He also needed to get some paper and a brush to write down the town's housing prices, so that even if he wasn't in the pocket world, people could go to Gu Zhangyuan to buy.

Gu Zhangyuan was his husband—they were a team, one unit.

Plus, Gu Zhangyuan was a natural at managing the household, and he wasn't the type to stay cooped up in the back rooms. Giving him something to do would also keep him from getting bored in the pocket world.

The moment Xie Licheng got back from town, he rounded up a bunch of the Gu family's servants and planted the five packs of corn.

Five packs of corn seeds meant five fields. They worked until evening, planting the corn and spreading the growth-boosting fertilizer.

Since these corn seeds were special and couldn't be bought in the pocket world, Xie Licheng gave Gu Zhangyuan some specific instructions while planting.

"These five acres will be ready in twelve days. Keep an eye on them during that time."

Gu Zhangyuan was stunned. "Twelve days?"

This... this was way too fast.

Xie Licheng still said he wasn't some immortal, but how could a normal person grow crops in twelve days?

Xie Licheng said, "Yeah, let everyone know ahead of time so the crops don't get left in the fields."

Xie Licheng planted them in the dozen or so acres he'd given Gu Zhangyuan.

His farm could be used for planting too, but only he and Gu Zhangyuan could get in.

He didn't want anyone else in there for now, and when those five acres were ready, harvesting it all alone would be a pain.

Besides, he was busy all day and probably wouldn't have time to tend the fields, so he had to hand them over to Gu Zhangyuan.

When it was time to head back, Gu Zhangyuan didn't go home to the Gu residence.

He still had stuff to talk over with Xie Licheng, so he just followed him to the farm without a second thought.

It was already late when they got back, so Xie Licheng asked, "Want me to carry you?"

Gu Zhangyuan wanted to say there was no need to be carried. In the past, when he had Xie Licheng carry him, it was either during a crisis or because he'd sprained his ankle.

Now that he was perfectly fine, he'd be too embarrassed to have Xie Licheng carry him again.

But because he was a little slow to respond, he was still hesitating to speak when, the next moment, he was scooped up into Xie Licheng's arms.

Gu Zhangyuan's face grew warm, but then he thought about how no one would come around here anyway, so he simply blushed and looped his arms around Xie Licheng's shoulders.

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "How's it looking outside now?"

Xie Licheng carried him forward as he spoke, "The city's fallen. The prefect and his men grabbed a bunch of loot from the city and then tried to escape through a secret passage."

"Then... did they get away?"

"I'm not sure about the others, but I ended up killing the prefect by accident. I was gonna question him about who exactly they and those bandits were working for."

But before he could get an answer, the guy fell into a trap and died.

Gu Zhangyuan mulled it over as he reached out and touched Xie Licheng's neck.

He noticed Xie Licheng ran hot. After all that time working in the fields today, the guy was drenched in sweat.

He pulled out a handkerchief from his own clothes and leaned in to wipe Xie Licheng's neck.

Xie Licheng said, "No need to wipe. I'll just rinse off when we get back."

Gu Zhangyuan let out a soft hum, and Xie Licheng didn't dare say anything else.

Seeing that, Gu Zhangyuan smiled softly. He wiped Xie Licheng's neck with the handkerchief, then moved on to his forehead.

Gu Zhangyuan said softly, "Why're you sweating so much? It's not even hot out right now. If you're like this in the summer, what're you gonna do?"

Xie Licheng felt a stir in his chest from the wiping, and blurted out without thinking, "Then you can wipe my sweat for me. You like doing it anyway."

Hearing this, Gu Zhangyuan immediately chucked the handkerchief at his face.

The soft handkerchief was covered in Gu Zhangyuan's fragrance.

Even thrown at his face, it was a light, teasing touch.

Xie Licheng caught the handkerchief, and seeing it was now stained with his sweat, he said to Gu Zhangyuan with a look of disgust, "Wait till I shower when we get back, then I'll carry you."

At that, Gu Zhangyuan kicked his legs a couple times, insisting on getting down to walk on his own.

What Xie Licheng said wasn't exactly crude, but he always felt there was something sly behind his words, a hint of him deliberately trying to take advantage.

Xie Licheng set him down and followed with long strides.

His stride was long, so even at a slow walk, he kept pace with Gu Zhangyuan easily.

Having him so close behind gave Gu Zhangyuan an inexplicable sense of pressure.

He couldn't help speeding up, trotting ahead like a wolf was chasing him.