Ch. 32
Chapter 32: If You Really Want to Ride with Me... It’ll Cost Extra
Chen Guan nodded and did not refuse.
He also knew that this old man had taken upon himself all the responsibility and all the weight left behind by those fallen companions.
For this escort, only by staking his life to see it through could he possibly face those dead brothers with a clear conscience.
After a brief stir and some murmured thought among the group, Liu Shuo—who had previously objected at every turn—unexpectedly gritted his teeth and stepped forward as well.
Right after him, a middle-aged man named Zhang Yuan, along with two other silent men who had barely spoken all this time, also stepped out from the crowd.
These three seldom spoke within the group, yet their strength was not to be underestimated. All of them were at the early stage of the Profound Passage Realm.
“Good. Then the five of you it is,” Chen Guan decided on the spot.
He then swept his gaze around the group and instructed in a deep voice, “Each of you gather your things. In half a ke, we split into two teams and depart!”
“Yes!”
Everyone cupped their fists in unison. On their bodies rose an air of tragic determination, as though the wind howled and the waters of the Yi River ran cold, mixed with a helpless resignation toward the uncertain road ahead.
That complicated atmosphere naturally divided the group into two separate camps.
A short while later, with Li Fei at the head, the twelve men assigned to the first team stood beside the official road with their horses and the two wagons piled high with pelts, all of them watching the road ahead beneath the cover of night.
Chen Guan had also finished his own preparations.
Leading his old, docile white horse to the fork in the road, he leapt lightly and mounted in one clean motion.
At that very moment, Luo Li came running over with a bulging bundle strapped to her back. She lifted one leg toward Chen Guan’s stirrup, clearly intending to climb up onto his horse.
Chen Guan reacted quickly and pressed a hand down on that long, slender leg of hers. Frowning, he asked,
“What exactly are you doing?”
“I...”
Luo Li’s little face flushed instantly red. She was clearly embarrassed, but she covered it up almost at once and forced herself back into that cool, proud posture, chin lifted as she spoke with complete confidence.
“Obviously I’m riding the same horse as you! Don’t tell me you expected me to ride one by myself?”
Chen Guan looked at her with obvious disdain.
“And why can’t you ride one by yourself?”
“Huh?” Luo Li was dumbfounded on the spot.
“We’re about to push into the Ten Directions Marsh!”
“There aren’t even proper roads inside that place. It’s full of monsters that eat people. In a cursed place where I could die at any moment, you actually want me to ride a horse by myself?!”
“You’ve got people protecting you. What are you afraid of?” Chen Guan curled his lip, unmoved.
The eyes of everyone around them landed on the pair, all thinking the same thing—that this fellow truly had no sense for romance whatsoever.
Here was a beautiful young girl practically throwing herself into his arms, the kind of good fortune countless men would dream of, and he was still putting up obstacle after obstacle.
Luo Li frowned at him.
That place was terrifying enough even by name alone, and yet he still wanted her to ride alone. What if something hidden in the grass came out and snatched her away?
Seeing the tears beginning to gather in her eyes, Chen Guan let out a sigh and softened his tone a little.
“All right, all right. The Ten Directions Marsh is dangerous, that’s true. But if you stay with me, I guarantee you won’t die. However—”
Chen Guan tilted his head, gave her a look, and added irritably,
“I’m an Escort Master. I take money and do the job. What I sell is skill and experience.”
“You’re an unmarried young lady. If people hear that you rode the same horse as me, it would affect my reputation.”
He paused, then abruptly changed the subject.
“If you really insist on riding with me... then it’ll cost extra.”
...What?
The people around them froze. One after another, they stared at Chen Guan with their eyes wide.
Th-this was really the same supreme expert who had hacked through demon apes like splitting watermelons?
The expression on Luo Li’s face also stiffened.
This fellow... really was the sort who cared more about money than his own life!
At a time like this, he still managed to start raising the price on the spot!
With a cold face, though her voice carried a trace of girlish frustration, Luo Li snapped,
“Fine, fine, fine! I’ll add another two taels of silver. Is that enough?”
Chen Guan grinned, flashing a row of white teeth.
“Good!”
【On-the-Spot Price Hike Successful】
【Mission Escort Point Reward Increased: 10%】
【Escort Mission: Escort Luo Li to the Grand Preceptor’s Manor in Shangjing City of Great Zhou.】
【Current Mission Reward: Escort Points +242】
The older escort masters all seemed to have a black line slide down their foreheads.
“This brat is way too black-hearted!”
“He’s actually raising the price at a time like this? If word gets out, how is he ever supposed to take another job?”
Though this sort of conduct was not explicitly forbidden within the escort trade, escort masters generally valued their status and reputation. Very few would smash their own signboard in this manner.
Of course, that did not apply to truly top-tier escort masters with overwhelming strength and deep experience.
People like that would still have employers fighting to hire them, no matter how high their price went.
Though the others grumbled inwardly, none of them dared say anything aloud.
Luo Li shot him a fierce glare, then lifted one leg into the stirrup and used the leverage to spring lightly up, landing right in front of Chen Guan.
The moment she felt that blazing masculine heat behind her, she could not help but blush.
But then she thought it over again. She was already out in the world now. Since she counted as one of the sons and daughters of the jianghu, why should she cling to such minor proprieties?
Thinking that way, the shyness in her heart gradually subsided.
So she really can take things in stride.
Chen Guan muttered that inwardly.
This little girl’s cleverness and courage far exceeded that of her peers.
Ordinary girls could never have endured such close contact. Even in a desperate situation, their sense of modesty would likely have stopped them from taking this step.
But Luo Li was clearly different. She knew how to weigh what mattered. If she could keep herself alive, then there would still be a tomorrow.
Of course, Chen Guan was not really trying to raise the price for no reason.
The truth was... that on this stretch of road, their team would almost certainly face no danger at all.
His gaze swept across the other team and finally landed on Li Fei. Among the twelve men on that side, Li Fei now had the greatest seniority and had been temporarily named Chief Escort.
“You move out first.”
“Understood!”
Li Fei cupped his fists solemnly. Then he lifted one hand in a sharp signal and clamped his legs hard around the horse’s flanks.
The black horse beneath him let out a high, ringing neigh and led the others, along with the two heavy wagons, straight down the ancient road below the gorge, which lay covered in shadow.
...
Thud, thud, thud...
The heavy hoofbeats grew fainter and fainter until, very soon, they vanished into the end of the gorge.
Chen Guan turned his head and calmly swept his eyes across the five men behind him—Luo Tong, Liu Shuo, and the others.
At this moment, each of them gripped his weapon tightly, their eyes sharp as hawks as they swept over the pitch-black forest around them.
Luo Li bore the tracking mark of the Grudge-Bearing Demon Apes on her body. That meant they were constantly exposed beneath the eyes of those demon apes.
No one knew whether, in the very next instant, those beasts might suddenly burst out from the darkness.
The only thing they could do was maintain the highest state of vigilance at all times.
“You five follow behind. Remember this—under no circumstances is anyone allowed to fall behind. And keep your horses as quiet as possible.”
Chen Guan’s voice rang out in the silent night.
“The most important rule of all: without my permission, under no circumstances is anyone to attack on their own.”
“Yes!”
The five men cupped their fists and answered in one voice.
The painful lesson from last time was still vivid in their minds.
It was precisely because Li Fei had attacked the demon ape without permission that the whole convoy had fallen into peril. They would never make the same mistake again.
Luo Li also understood very clearly how dangerous this journey would be. She gripped the saddle before her tightly, held her breath, and sat so still she scarcely dared move.
Chen Guan pressed his legs lightly against the horse’s belly. The white horse beneath him broke into a steady run, following the direction Li Fei’s group had taken, neither fast nor slow.