Chapter 25 Leaving the City

  Another day passed, and Fang Yiai arrived early at the Qin residence. As soon as he entered, he saw more than a dozen sturdy men standing outside the living room. Fang Yiai was very curious about what was going on. After entering the living room, Fang Yiai asked Qin Qiong: "Master, I'm here. What did you call me for?"

  "Jun Er, can you see those warriors outside the hall?" Qin Qiong stood up stroking his beard and asked with a smile.

  "Master, as soon as we entered, we saw them!"

  "Hmm, can you feel anything now?"

  Fang Yi furrowed his brow in thought and said seriously: "Master, I sense a murderous aura from them!"

  "Haha, Jun'er, what you said is right. These twelve people are my family generals, they were trained by me from the military as my personal bodyguards. Adding to the other thirty-eight guards, there are fifty in total. It can be said that these fifty people are absolutely not inferior to Your Majesty's hundred riders." Qin Yong patted Fang Yu Ai's shoulder and walked to the front of the leader, saying loudly: "Qin Hu, listen to the order, from today on, Young Master will be handed over to you, did you hear clearly?"

  Qin Hu knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying to Qin Qiong: "Master, please rest assured, as long as we have a breath of life, we will not let Young Master encounter any mishaps!"

  After hearing Qin Qiong's words, Fang Yilove was shocked. Qin Qiong had handed over his guards to him, Fang Yilove. This was a great kindness. Fang Yilove knelt on the ground with moist eyes, "Master, please forgive your disciple for not being able to obey your orders. You've given me your guards, what will you do?"

  "Jun Er, get up! A man shouldn't cry like a child!" Qin Yong pulled House Yi Ai up with one hand and stroked his beard, laughing heartily: "Jun Er, I've thought about this matter long ago. Qin Hu and the others are the bravest warriors, their future belongs to the battlefield. How could I let them die in old age in Chang'an City? Following you is the best choice! And who else would dare to mess with my Qin Manor in Chang'an City? To be blunt, although I'm injured, as long as I'm alive, no one dares to touch a hair on Qin Manor!" At this moment, Qin Yong was incredibly majestic, just like the invincible Golden Armor War God had returned. House Yi Ai felt deeply grateful towards Qin Yong, having such a master was his lifelong pride: "Master, rest assured! I won't disappoint you!"

  "Haha, this time it's my disciple Qin Qiang. A man should take responsibility. By the way, be careful when you leave Chang'an City yourself, let Qin Hu and others follow you." Qin Qiang patted Fang Yu'er's shoulder with a smile.

  "Master, I'm afraid the reason you brought me to the Qin residence today is that you want me to bring Qin Hu and the others along." Fang Yiai suddenly understood this time, it seemed that Qin Qiong couldn't put aside his concerns for safety. Qin Qiong nodded with a smile: "Jun Er, if I didn't have someone follow you, do you think your father would let you leave Chang'an City alone? Remember, the last time Long Sunbiao's incident was a warning!"

  "Eh, Master, you also know about this matter?"

  "Hmph, Zhangsun Wuji is indeed narrow-minded. If Master's body was fine, I would definitely help you get justice back. Remember to be careful on your way out of Chang'an this time. Now go see your master's wife, she has been thinking about you for half a day." Fang Yilove smiled and nodded at Qin Qiong before heading to the backyard. After arriving at the small courtyard, he saw Jia Shi sewing clothes. Seeing Fang Yilove, Jia Shi smiled kindly: "Jun Er, be careful on your way out of Chang'an this time. Your master's body is not well, so he has been idle at home. Everything relies on you now. Remember, don't show off when things happen, got it?"

  "Alright, Shifu's wife, why are you just like my mother, nagging and nagging?" Fang Yiai said with a smile. Jia Shi furrowed her brow and smiled as she scolded: "You little stinker, I'm just worried about you, remember to come back early. If you dare to play outside for too long, I'll have your Shifu send someone to catch you."

  "Hey, don't worry, I'll be back soon!" Fang Yiai felt that he was now too happy, with the care of Lu and Jia, Fang Yiai felt that he was becoming more and more like a spoiled young master, only lacking in raising dogs and birds. After chatting with Fang Yiai for a while, Jia smiled and said: "Alright, it's getting late, you should go home and get ready to leave!"

  "Uh, then I'll leave first." After leaving the Qin Manor, Fang Yiai led twelve guards, including Qin Hu, to escort Linglong out. When Linglong came out, Qin Hu and the others couldn't help but cover their mouths and chuckle. Fang Yiai was speechless - these men were all over thirty years old, yet they still found amusement in teasing a younger person. Linglong wore a man's outfit, looking handsome beyond words. Seeing Qin Hu and the others snickering, she felt embarrassed and lowered her head. After helping Linglong onto the horse, Fang Yiai said to her, "Linglong, don't be embarrassed - Uncle Hu is just envying us!"

  "Hey, Young Master is right, this little brother is really too handsome!" Qin Hu grinned and chuckled, while Qin Bao on the side echoed, "Young Master, Brother Hu is absolutely right! When can I, old Bao, become so handsome?" The group of uncles all burst out laughing, causing Linglong to blush and whisper, "Second Young Master, I'm leaving first!" After saying that, she rode her horse and ran off. Fang Yilove couldn't help but look at these unscrupulous uncles in dismay, wondering how Qin Qiong had trained them, and why they were all so unreliable.

  After leaving the south gate, Qin Hu grabbed the horse and asked Fang Yiai: "Young master, where are we going now?"

  Fang Yi thought for a moment and asked: "Uncle Hu, do you know Mount Emei?"

  "Hmm" Qin Hu pulled out a map from his pocket, looked at it and furrowed his brow, saying, "Young Master, it will take about two days to get from Chang'an to Jianmen. Are you sure we're going to Emei Mountain?"

  "Alright, no more nonsense! Uncle Hu lead the way!"

  Qin Hu smiled and rode his horse ahead, Fang Yi'ai and Linglong followed, and more than a dozen people on horseback left Chang'an, heading for the Sword South Road in Songzhou. After rushing along the road for a while, Fang Yi'ai saw that Linglong was getting tired, so he reined in his horse, looked up at the sky, and asked, "Uncle Hu, where are we now?"

  "Young master, we should be in Liangzhou now. As for the specific location, I'm not quite sure," said Qin Hu. After finishing speaking, he let someone go and ask around. Before long, the person who was sent to ask returned and reported: "Young master, up ahead is Liangzhou's Ma Liu Town. Tonight we can rest at Ma Liu Town."

  "Okay, Uncle Hu, let's stay in Ma Liu Town for one more night today. Come on, go to Ma Liu Town!"

  A group of people found an inn and stopped their horses. When Fang Yu Ai led the group of uncles into the inn, the shop owner was clearly startled, because Qin Hu and his men were all wearing black tight-fitting long gowns, and if you didn't know better, you'd think they were green forest outlaws. Fang Yu Ai looked at the somewhat frightened owner and smiled helplessly: "Owner, don't be afraid, we're just passing guests, these people are my attendants, do you have any rooms available?"

  "Sorry about this, young master. Our humble place has never had such a dignified guest before. I was a bit intimidated earlier. Please wait for a moment, I'll have my staff help tidy up your room." The boss saw that these people were not easy to deal with and served them with extreme courtesy.

  After dinner, Fang Yi Ai originally wanted to go for a walk on the street, but strangely, the boss had sealed the door. Qin Hu frowned and said displeased: "Boss, what are you doing? It's still early, you've closed the door, and our young master wants to go out for a walk!"

  "Sir, don't get angry, I have no choice either," the boss said with a sullen face. Qin Hu didn't care what he was saying, he had never seen such an unreasonable inn, not letting guests leave so early in the day. Qin Hu stood up and wanted to teach this impolite boss a lesson. However, Fang Yiai was very curious and pulled Qin Hu back, saying: "Uncle Hu, don't be rash, I think the boss hasn't finished speaking yet."

  After Qin Hu sat down, Fang Yi'ai said to the boss: "Boss, don't be afraid, my surname is Fang, just call me Second Master. I think you closed the door so early, there must be a reason, can you tell us?"

  "Second Master, Ma Daguang's family is in trouble. I don't want this either. You say that doing business is about opening doors, who would close them early for no reason? And what's more, this is an inn, there's even less reason to close the door." Ma Daguang's face was filled with worry and a hint of fear.

  "Oh, in that case, why did Old Master Ma do this?" Fang Yiai asked quietly after taking a sip of tea. Ma Daguan walked to Fang Yiai's side and said in a low voice, "Second Young Master, I'm not hiding it from you, but our town has been haunted recently!"

  After hearing Ma Daguang's words, Linglong was so scared that she directly buried herself in Fang Yiai's arms. Fang Yiai didn't care about this and wasn't sure if there were any ghosts or not, but he knew that this matter must be very interesting. Qin Hu rubbed his nose and said with a grin: "What ghost or no ghost, I've killed countless people on the battlefield, if there really are ghosts, how could I still be alive?"

  "Oh, my goodness, you'd better lower your voice, you're not afraid, but I am!" Ma Daguang was almost scared silly by Qin Hu's loud voice, and today he actually ran into such a reckless fool.

  Fang Yi Ai saw Ling Long and was startled, shaking slightly. He said with a smile: "Ling Long, don't be afraid, if there are ghosts, I'll help you get rid of them!"

  "Second Master, what nonsense are you talking about? How can you be so disrespectful to the gods?" Linglong was very dissatisfied with Fang Yilai's careless personality. Can ghosts and gods be joked about? Fang Yilai saw this situation and curled his lips, "Huh, Linglong, why is there a black thing on your face?"

  "Ah, Second Master, is it true?"

  "Why did I cheat you, hurry up and go back to the room to clean up!" Fang Yiai was secretly pleased in her heart, this girl really loves beauty, as soon as she heard this, she even forgot to be afraid. After Linglong ran away, Fang Yiai let Ma Daguan sit in Linglong's position and smiled: "Boss Ma, you tell us what's going on!"

  Ma Daguang sighed, he was convinced, today he didn't know what bad luck he had encountered, and he actually met such a group of amazing people. He could only sit in his seat and slowly began to narrate, the inn was very quiet, with only Ma Daguang's voice speaking.