Chapter 12

A short while later, Gu Yang, accompanied by the two women, had already reached the edge of the swamp. On an open ground, he set them down.

He looked at the two women with a suspicious gaze, "Can you really come up with thirty thousand taels? If you dare to deceive me, I'll send you back to the village."

Zhixing hurriedly said, "How could this servant dare to deceive our benefactor?"

Beside her, Su Qingzhi, under the moonlight, took her first look at the man who had saved her from Guoshanfeng.

He was dressed as a hunter, with calloused hands and a face marked by the sun and wind.

But he was far from an ordinary hunter!

Because his gaze, when he looked at her, showed no trace of emotion.

Su Qingzhi was not unfamiliar with men who were indifferent to her beauty, like Zheng Renjie just now.

But such men were either from prominent families, accustomed to beauty, and had lofty ambitions, with strong wills that could not be swayed by beauty.

Or they were experienced and cunning old foxes.

Logically, a hunter from the mountains should not have such a demeanor.

Moreover, this man had the ability to kill Guoshanfeng, which was no small feat.

More importantly, he knew that the people who stormed the bandit camp were from the Liu family...

Su Qingzhi found it hard to read this man, her thoughts swirling, and she asked, "Why do you know they are from the Liu family?"

Gu Yang, seeing that she was completely clueless and even questioning him, said impatiently, "They will soon catch up. You don't have much time left."

Su Qingzhi, annoyed by his lack of courtesy, thought to herself, "When have I ever been treated like this by a man?"

Even in the Liu family, they treated her with respect, never daring to be the slightest bit rude.

Later, when she was captured by the bandits, Guoshanfeng, despite his rudeness, had always been proper and respectful in front of her, never daring to be the slightest bit disrespectful.

Thinking back, when this man learned that the Liu family had arrived, he had immediately left her without hesitation.

It was only when Zhixing said she could give him thirty thousand taels that he turned back.

Greedy and crude!

Su Qingzhi labeled this man with these two tags in her mind.

"Miss."

Zhixing, knowing her mistress's temperament, grabbed her sleeve and whispered, "If we are caught by the Liu family, we are finished..."

Su Qingzhi, thinking of her parents' great vengeance, suppressed her anger, turned around, and took out a stack of paper from her clothes, handing it to Zhixing.

Zhixing then presented it to Gu Yang, "Benefactor, here are the thirty thousand taels in silver bills."

Gu Yang took the silver bills, still warm from Su Qingzhi's body, and opened them. There were about seven or eight bills from the Sutong Bank, ranging from ten thousand to a few thousand taels each, totaling exactly thirty thousand taels.

He tried to open the system and select the recharge option.

There was no response.

He looked at Su Qingzhi and said, "You're not trying to fool me with a stack of fake silver bills, are you?"

Seeing that he didn't recognize the Sutong Bank's silver bills, Su Qingzhi disdainfully refused to speak to him.

Zhixing quickly explained, "Benefactor, please rest assured. The Sutong Bank is the largest bank in the Great Zhou Dynasty, with branches in every county. These silver bills were personally handed to Miss by the master, and they are definitely genuine."

Gu Yang, hearing this, could only believe her for now and put the silver bills away.

"These thirty thousand taels can be yours, but you must take us to Ping County."

At this point, Su Qingzhi spoke.

This was an unfamiliar place.

Gu Yang asked, "Where is Ping County? How far is it?"

Zhixing explained for her mistress, "Benefactor, Bazhou is to the east of Jiangzhou, and Ping County is to the west. It's about a thousand miles away. By water, it would take about half a month."

It was quite a distance, but for thirty thousand taels, it was a good deal.

Gu Yang agreed, "Alright, I can protect you as long as it's within my capabilities."

He didn't make any promises, knowing that if he encountered a situation beyond his control, he would have to apologize.

Thirty thousand taels were not enough to risk his life.

Su Qingzhi warned, "Don't even think about abandoning us halfway and running off with the silver bills. These are special silver bills from the Su family. They require my signature to be exchanged. When we reach Ping County, I will go with you to the Sutong Bank to withdraw the silver."

In other words, these silver bills were like a savings account?

Although Gu Yang found it troublesome, he had no choice.

Money was never easy to earn in any world.

Thirty thousand taels was not a small amount.

A few days ago, when he was just a hunter, it took him two years to save up ten taels.

How many years would it take to save up thirty thousand taels?

Thinking about this, he felt more at ease.

...

Gu Yang first went to meet Zhang Xiaohai.

"Master, you're back, huh?"

Zhang Xiaohai, hiding in the same spot, turned his head at the sound and recognized Gu Yang. Just as he was about to rejoice, he noticed the two women following behind him. In the darkness, he couldn't see their faces clearly.

But there were only two women in the bandit camp.

Zhang Xiaohai naturally guessed their identities and was somewhat shocked.

So, Guoshanfeng was really killed by Master?

Gu Yang didn't waste words, "We need to leave immediately."

The four of them left the swamp under the cover of night.

He remembered the man-eating monster behind the swamp and dared not go in that direction.

With three burdens, he wasn't confident about evading the eyes of the Liu and Zheng families.

Zhang Xiaohai, for one, had no martial arts training.

The young maid Zhixing had some training but hadn't reached the rank.

The young lady, ranked thirteenth on the Red Beauty List, was as weak as a chicken.

The Liu family definitely had a Seventh Rank martial artist, and it was unknown if they had a Sixth Rank.

Zheng Renjie from the Zheng family was at least a Sixth Rank.

With his current strength, Gu Yang would only be able to run if he encountered either group, let alone protect them.

Less than an hour into their journey, Su Qingzhi suddenly cried out in pain, almost falling to the ground. She had twisted her ankle and, supported by Zhixing, refused to walk any further.

When Gu Yang took on this task, he had guessed that the journey would not be smooth. A pampered young lady like her had probably never experienced hardship.

It was early spring, and the mountains were unusually cold. The mountain paths were difficult to navigate, and it was night.

Gu Yang could only find a nearby cave for them to rest, planning to continue the next day.

He didn't expect to shake off the Liu and Zheng families so easily.

They had found Wangjiagou, proving that their group had someone skilled in tracking. They would likely catch up by the next day.

Running was useless. The only way to solve this problem was to eliminate those two groups.

He might as well use this time to enhance his strength.

Gu Yang sat at the entrance of the cave and opened the Life Simulator.

[Do you want to use the Life Simulator? One use costs 500 gold.]

"Yes."