The Empress’s Gigolo

Ren Baqian walked back to where he came from. The few trees that previously caught his attention were filled with snakes now, rendering Ren Baqian speechless.

The light from the campfire could not reach this place either. Ren Baqian looked at the surrounding pitch-black forest. He heard a weird cry that was released by an unknown beast. After standing there for a while, he turned around and walked back to the campfire and sat down.

Looking at Ning Caichen, Ren Baqian thought of the huge rock.

However, Ning Caichen was only roughly 1.6 meters tall. Even if Ren Baqian stood on his shoulders, he still couldn’t get up onto the rock. After thinking about it, Ren Baqian dropped this idea. Perhaps he should just stay here.

Right now, the sky had completely darkened. He reckoned the time now should be around 9 p.m. It was no longer safe for him to roam around the forest.

“Ooooooowhooo!” A wolf howl resounded through the air from afar. The forest had become much more sinister at night.

Ren Baqian and Ning Caichen sat beside the campfire in a daze. Feeling bored, Ren Baqian chit-chatted with Ning Caichen. Most of the time, Ning Caichen was talking and Ren Baqian was listening to him.

“Do you believe there are ghosts in this world?” Ren Baqian suddenly asked.

Previously, he had heard Ning Caichen talk about his encounters on his way to Lan City. Most of them were queer in nature. However, Ren Baqian did not know whether they were real or fake.

In any case, he felt what Ning Caichen had said was a bunch of bullsh*t.

Right now, both of them were in the wild guarding a campfire while listening to the howl of wild beasts from afar. As such, Ren Baqian suddenly thought of this question.

A solemn look appeared on Ning Caichen’s face as he replied, “Of course there are ghosts in this world. On the way to Lan City, I walked past a village. There was no one in the village, and every household had their windows and doors tightly closed. As I walked from the front of the village to its back, I noticed not a single door was opened. After the sky darkened, all the villagers suddenly came out of their houses, and the village began to bustle with noise and excitement. There were adults and children. To welcome me, an outsider, they started a bonfire, just like ours now but larger. Then, the villages took out food from their houses for everyone to share. Soon after, all of them gathered around the bonfire to sing and dance. From their clothing, I could tell that they weren’t rich. Their children were even running around naked. However, they still could afford to take food out from their houses to share with everyone.”

When Ning Caichen reached this part of the story, the reflection of the campfire in his eyes seemed to depict what happened that night. There was a look of reminiscence and a smile on his face.

“They were really cordial, and the alcohol they brewed was very strong. I fell asleep after drinking only half a bowl. When I woke up the second morning, I realized I was lying in the center of the village. The village had been cleaned up, and every household was tightly shut again. At that time, I didn’t know what was going on, and I couldn’t find anyone. Eventually, I left that village. After walking for half a day, I arrived at another village. While I was asking for some water from one of the villagers, I casually asked him what was going on with that particular village. Guess what he told me?”

Ning Caichen turned around and asked Ren Baqian.

“Everyone in that village died?” Ren Baqian made a guess.

Combining everything you have told, that should be the case, right?

Ning Caichen nodded his head furiously and replied, “Yes, you’re right. Due to a plague tens of years ago, everyone in that village had died. The village that I went to subsequently was built by the survivors of that village.”

“This is just a story, right?” Ren Baqian had an incredulous look on his face. Ren Baqian had heard of such stories countless times.

“I swear on my life, this is absolutely true,” Ning Caichen swore.

Ren Baqian looked at him and turned his head around. Following which, he picked up a wooden stick and began writing on the ground. Since he was bored, he practiced writing the words that he learnt from this world.

He did not really believe Ning Caichen’s words.

From his experience, he understood that oaths were the most untrustworthy words of assurance. Of course, perhaps the people in this world treated oaths very seriously, but this made no difference to him at all.

“Afterwards, I specially paid a visit to the cemetery beside that village to pay my respect,” Ning Caichen continued.

Ren Baqian did not respond him. He raised his head and looked at the starry night sky.

At this moment, other than the distant beast howls, he could hear the crackle of the campfire.

After a while, Ning Caichen nudged his shoulder.

Ren Baqian turned around and looked at him. Ning Caichen had a solemn face on his face. He said, “Something is staring at us.”

“Where? How do you know?” Ren Baqian was puzzled. He looked around at his surroundings. Very soon, Ren Baqian understood how Ning Caichen knew something was staring at them. That was because he saw them too.

Over ten pairs of green-colored eyes glowed from within the pitch-black forest.

Ren Baqian slowly stood up. He raised his crossbow and asked softly, “What are those things?”

“They are very near, we will know soon.” Ning Caichen followed Ren Baqian’s actions. However, Ren Baqian had a crossbow in his hand, and Ning Caichen’s hands were empty. Ning Caichen quickly withdrew a burning tree branch from the campfire.

Sweat dripped down Ren Baqian’s forehead.

It was utterly terrible to encounter wild beasts in the middle of the night.

The worse thing was there wasn’t only one beast but a group of them.

It was so dark out there, and neither of them dared to roam the place as it was far too dangerous. A snake alone could take both of their lives. Furthermore, both of them definitely couldn’t outrun those beasts.

“Are they scared of fire?” Ren Baqian mumbled to himself. Usually, wild beasts were afraid of fire. Perhaps they would be safer around the campfire.

Furthermore, the campfire was roaring right now. This set Ren Baqian’s mind at ease.

“They are coming out.” By the time Ning Caichen finished his sentence, the few figures in the dark had already revealed themselves.

The first few to step out of the darkness were huge huskies.

Or rather, wild wolves.

However, they really did look like huskies.

Their bodies were larger than huskies’ and they were roughly 1 meter tall, appearing extremely huge.

There was a ruthless look in all of their eyes. Their mouths were slightly opened, revealing their sharp fangs. They appeared as though they had already regarded Ren Baqian and Ning Caichen as their dinner.

“Ning Caichen, if you have any secret weapons, take them out now. Right now, there are only two of us, you can stop acting weak.” When Ren Baqian saw the wolves stepping out of the darkness one by one, a cold shiver went down his spine. His other hand began to reach for his handgun.

With a serious look on his face, Ning Caichen said, “Deputy Ren, can’t you deal with them?”

“What do you think? Can’t you tell I never learned martial arts before?” Ren Baqian said irritably. “I can’t even defeat one of them, our lives depend on you now. If you can’t do anything, we will become their dinner tonight.”

“Alright, I get it.” Ning Caichen nodded his head.

Following which, Ning Caichen straightened his back and raised one of his hands. Then, he opened up his palms and pointed his fingers towards the sky and yelled, “Sword, come!”

An awesome aura exuded from his body.

Upon seeing Ning Caichen finally do something, Ren Baqian felt overjoyed. Ning Caichen was indeed acting weak. With Ning Caichen around, it seemed that he would be safe tonight.

Feeling overjoyed, Ren Baqian even took a second look at Ning Caichen’s posture. He had no choice but to admit that Ning Caichen looked quite cool. He had typical pretty face, his back was straight, his hands were raised while yelling, “Sword, come!”.

Excluding Ning Caichen’s clothes, Ren Baqian would give his posture eight marks of ten.

He would give Ning Caichen full marks after he had killed these wolves.

One minute had passed… Two minutes had passed… More than ten wolves had stepped out from the forest. However, they were in no rush to attack Ren Baqian and Ning Caichen. Ren Baqian wondered if they were afraid of the campfire or they were just in no hurry.

Ning Caichen still maintained that posture.

“What’s the matter?” Ren Baqian was puzzled.

“Great Xia is too far from Dayao, the sword will take some time to fly here…”

Upon hearing these words, Ren Baqian almost spat out a mouthful of blood.