Chapter Fifty-Six: The City Lord's Mansion

Beneath the great tree, a campfire blazed. Three people and a pig sat in a circle around the flames.

“Brother Gu, you’re truly incredible,” one of the sisters exclaimed.

“Yes, all the dozens of guards we brought with us were slaughtered along the way... And yet, Brother Gu, you managed to deal with all those black-clad assassins so easily,” the other chimed in.

“Brother Gu, my name is Cang Ruoping, and this is my younger sister, Cang Ruoyi.”

The two sisters sat opposite the fire, their eyes fixed on Gu Xiaopang, who wore an old green robe. His features were sharply defined, almost as if carved from stone, his obsidian eyes gleaming with a keen and heroic light. At that moment, he was absorbed in counting the spoils from his first battle since descending the mountain. The sisters chattered on, their voices lively and ceaseless.

“Treasure Pig, those people ended up compensating us with a total of two hundred and sixty lower-grade spirit stones, thirty-one medium-grade spirit stones, and quite a few pills for emotional distress...” Having just finished counting the loot, Gu Xiaopang absentmindedly patted the pig’s head, excitement in his voice.

“Hehe, Brother Gu, you’re so funny!” the younger sister in green laughed. “Is it really worth spending so much time counting such a small amount? You even counted it twice...”

“You’ve never had to run a household, so you don’t know how precious every copper is,” Gu Xiaopang replied. “This is enough to rent an inn room in the city for a month, and there’ll still be plenty left over.”

“By the way, stop calling me Brother Gu all the time,” he added with a wry smile. “It makes me sound old. My name is Gu Changqing—like the evergreen tree.”

“Then we’ll call you Brother Evergreen!” the sisters replied in unison.

Gu Changqing paused, then relented, “Well, that’ll do.”

In the blink of an eye, two hours passed. As dawn broke, a troop of more than a hundred city guards wearing silver armor and mounted on powerful steeds arrived at a gallop.

“Forgive us, young ladies! We’re late,” the captain declared. At once, the entire company dropped to one knee before the sisters. When the captain saw the dozens of black-clad corpses piled beneath the great tree, he shivered involuntarily.

“Hmph.” Ruoping sniffed.

“Brother Evergreen, why don’t you stay with us instead of at an inn?” Ruoyi urged. “Our house is huge, and there are plenty of empty rooms...”

“Master Gu, you’ve saved our lives,” the captain said, clasping his fists respectfully. “I am Sun Chenghu. On behalf of all these men, I thank you!”

Only later, in conversation, did Gu Changqing learn that the Lord of Verdant City, Lord Cang Aotian, had lost his wife many years before, and now doted solely on his two daughters.

When the Lord discovered at dawn that his daughters had not returned and there was no word from his men, he grew uneasy and dispatched this troop to search along the road. Fortunately, both young ladies had escaped unharmed. The thought of returning with only their bodies was one Sun Chenghu dared not entertain.

Verdant City governed more than a dozen towns, its domain stretching for thousands of miles in all directions. Cangyu Town, where Sun Chenghu’s family home had been confiscated by the sect’s disciplinary hall, was but one of these subordinate towns.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the imposing and heavily guarded city lord’s residence. Dismounting at the gates, the sisters each took one of Gu Changqing’s arms and, almost skipping with delight, led him inside.

After the steward was instructed to prepare guest rooms, the servants laid out a lavish banquet: spirit beast meats, frostfruit, snowflake cakes, and more, making for an exceptionally sumptuous spread.

The sisters sat on either side of Gu Changqing, chattering merrily as they filled his bowl again and again.