Chapter 88: Well deserved rest
How many mortals do you think it would take to kill a Rank 1 gu master? The same question for all other Ranks up to Rank 5
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"Ahh, finally the clearing of the bluish rockface..." Lu Tai murmurs softly, struggling to force his weakened and aching legs to keep walking.
'I couldn't take it anymore...' He cries in his heart, seeing that he can finally put down the backpack on his back, which now feels like it weighs a ton.
"Young master, this is one of the camping spots we talked about!" Xu Si says while limping forward, feeling his legs burning from the physical stress he has put on them.
"Haha, this is great. As you said, it's a great place, which is why I wanted to reach it today!" Chen Wei says, walking right behind him without the slightest discomfort in his legs and without any luggage on his back, the same to the three girls following him.
"Yes, right..." Lu Tai has a false subservient smile on his face, but in his heart, he begs the heavens that he could punch Chen Wei in his arrogant face. But he's not stupid enough to let that show.
But even so, he's the most restrained of the three fishermen because Xu Si has cursed all seven generations of Chen Wei's family multiple times, and as for Lu Riu, he has said such vile things about Chen Wei's wives that if Chen Wei found out, Lu Riu would simply run and throw himself into the snake's nest for a less painful death.
The reason for all this is that Chen Wei is the cause of the exhausted and pathetic situation they find themselves in. As he made them walk to this place, which should have been a day's journey, in just a few hours, which were the hardest hours of their lives.
And the worst part wasn't how quickly they had to make the journey or the weight of the backpacks on their backs, which yes were both significant challenges. But the worst was that during the entire journey, they were not allowed to rest for even a second.
Although that doesn't mean they didn't stop along the way, as the Gu master's wives needed to rest, especially the pregnant one. But even at those moments, he did not allow them to rest.
"We need to have people on guard at all times, and you three will do that for now..." Lu Tai still hears Chen Wei's voice saying those words with a serious face.
And so it was, because during each stop, instead of being able to rest as they normally would when traveling alone, they had to stand "on guard," which Lu Tai believes was just a way for the Gu master to amuse himself by watching their suffering.
Especially since during this time, Chen Wei didn't even allow them to put their backpacks on the ground to make their lives easier. As according to him, the equipment could get damaged if placed on the ground, so the three of them had to keep them on their backs at all times, which made Lu Tai almost cough up blood when he heard it.
"Well, no point wasting more time. You can go and set up our entire camp while my wives and I rest from the journey!" Chen Wei says as he approaches the blue rockface over the clearing with a beautiful blue pear tree surrounded by white flowers.
"Yes, young master!" The three fishermen shout in unison, feigning enthusiasm and trying not to show any of their inner discontent in their voices.
Thus, forcing their bodies that only wanted to collapse on the ground and sleep all day, they begin to diligently set up the camp while trying to suppress the burning pain they feel in all their muscles with each movement.
"Is there a reason you're not letting these poor souls rest?" Yu Lian asks, trying to set her pity aside and look at it logically.
"Well, one reason is to get things done faster, as you can see..." Chen Wei says, not paying much attention to her, as he is more focused on watching the camp construction to ensure they are not doing anything suspicious.
"...but obviously, my main reason is to leave them as exhausted as possible," Chen Wei points to Xu Si, who is struggling to kneel down without collapsing face-first to the ground.
"Exhausted men will not have the strength to fight or resist, right?" Feng Hua says with a serious look and a straight posture like a lady of severe disposition.
"With how exhausted I've left them, they won't have the will to resist," Chen Wei says calmly.
"They might act out of desperation, right? Because of the exhaustion and fear of going to the snake's nest..." Yu Lian says, still having doubts about Chen Wei's methods and also fearing going to the snake's nest.
"They are so exhausted that their minds' priority for a long time will be just to sleep and rest as much as possible..." Wang Mei says softly while leaning her head on Chen Wei's shoulder.
"...add to that the innate psychological fear mortals have of Gu masters, plus the example of one of them having their eye destroyed by Chen Wei, it wouldn't make sense for them to do anything for now." Wang Mei says simply, as if the misfortune and suffering of the three fishermen mattered little.
"You're less sweet than you look..." Yu Lian murmurs, feeling surprised as she hears her words, not having imagined that the girl with a delicate, gentle, and innocent appearance would have such a heartless and rational perspective on the suffering of the three mortals.
"Hmm? I don't see how this would be too cruel... it's just the natural order of things, right?" Wang Mei blinks her eyes repeatedly, asking with a false innocence on her face.
Of course, she knows what Chen Wei does is cruel, but why should she care? She doesn't know these mortals. How can she know if they are good people? And as far as she knows, Chen Wei's actions are to protect her and their baby, so she won't go against those actions out of pity for mere mortals.
"I guess you're right..." Yu Lian says while reconsidering her perspective on how innocent and kind the cute-looking girl really is.
In fact, it would be obvious to imagine, given the context of Wang Mei's two lives, in which in both she was born into aristocratic families that always instilled in her either the superiority of nobility or Gu masters, so her lack of empathy for any mortal peasants is nothing unusual.
In fact, Yu Lian's opinion is the uncommon one, but it is also explained by her life experiences, especially in her previous world where magic was seen as a power given by the gods, with the magic being given by pacifist gods rarely used to cause harm.
This is particularly true for Wood Mages like her, who followed the magic of the goddess of nature, as priests of the goddess, were forbidden from taking lives using their powers.
"They seem to have finished almost everything, only the campfire is left..." Feng Hua, who had been mostly silent, speaks again, seeing the fishermen finishing their tasks.
"...do you plan to let them cook?" She questions Chen Wei, making it clear in her tone the reason for the question.
"Ahh, of course not... you can go to the main tent, and I will cook while keeping an eye on them," Chen Wei stands up and starts walking towards the center of the camp, to Wang Mei's dismay, who now sighs, unable to continue resting her head on him.
But even though she's a bit annoyed, she understands his actions because letting the three fishermen, who probably hate and fear Chen Wei, cook their food is just asking to be poisoned without a doubt.
"Does he... really plan for the four of us to sleep in the same tent?" Yu Lian asks uncertainly as she looks at the tent he told them to go to, which has enough space for about five people inside.
"If you want to sleep outside or with the fishermen, I don't think he'll stop you, but I don't recommend it..." Feng Hua says, not even bothering to look back as she heads towards the tent. "and he probably won't do anything since his wife is with us..."
'...or that he didn't do anything when we were alone and naked in the forest.' She thinks this last part but refuses to say it out loud, wanting to forget that moment of shame.
"He really better not try anything..." Wang Mei murmurs angrily because of the situation as a whole, but there's nothing she can do.
"Hmm..." Yu Lian nods and starts following the two while glancing sideways at Chen Wei, who is starting to grill some fish.
"Is his cooking good?" Yu Lian asks, trying to break the awkward silence between the three.
"Well... he didn't cook for me since we had servants for that. In fact, I didn't even know he knew how to cook." Wang Mei responds to her with a thoughtful look on her face.
"I imagine this is experience from his other world, right?" Feng Hua, who was not interested in the topic of food, tries to change it to something that might provide valuable information to her.
"...Did he tell you about his life in his former world?" She asked, trying to sound casual and without ulterior motives.
"No, actually, apart from the fact that he's from another world, he didn't tell me much..." Wang Mei said, not completely lying but still omitting a lot of the truth.
"Hmm, this tent is much better than I expected!" Yu Lian said excitedly as she entered the tent, cutting off Feng Hua, who wanted to continue asking questions.
"Ahh, the sensation of a bed... I didn't think I would miss it so much after spending so little time without one," Wang Mei said while trying to lie down on the big "bed" that occupied the entire tent.
Yu Lian quickly extended a hand to help Wang Mei. "Do you need help?"
"Thank you!" Wang Mei took Yu Lian's hand and lay down on the bed with her help.
"How far along are you?" Yu Lian asked with curiosity.
"A little over five months," Wang Mei said with a genuine smile on her face that always appeared when she talked about her pregnancy.
"Don't you two have only been married just since the beginning of this year?" Feng Hua asked with doubt, as usually, couples take longer to have their first child than just one month.
Hearing the question, Wang Mei averted her gaze from Feng Hua while blushing a little. "Yes... you know, ahh, having children was... ahh, a p-priority of our marriage for our families..."
"What's the baby's name? Is it a boy or a girl?" Yu Lian asked to change the subject, seeing Wang Mei blush more and more while stammering and stumbling over her words trying to explain her situation, which didn't require a genius to see she was lying.
"It's a boy... Chen Wei has already named him Chen Yuan," Wang Mei said, placing her hand on her belly with a loving smile on her face.
"Chen Yuan... means origin of Chen, right?" Feng Hua commented while sitting in the corner of the tent, listening to the conversation.
"Yes... Chen Wei wanted it to signify that he will be the origin and pillar of the Chen family in the future...in the clan" Wang Mei said with an increasingly low voice until she fell silent, thinking with melancholy how ironic that name had become after the death of the entire He An clan.
"...." Yu Lian, sensing the tense atmosphere, remained silent while looking at her own belly with deep thoughts in her head.
In fact, she even envied Wang Mei a little at this moment because she had always wanted children, but in her first life as a priestess of the goddess of nature to use wood magic, she had to take a vow of purity that prevented her from lying in bed with any man, thus making it impossible for her to have children.
And even in this life, she still couldn't change her mind much and break the vows she made to her goddess, which would be something that goes completely against her world view, and even if she did that and broke the vows for this reason, what options does she have now?
She is in a forest after her entire clan was massacred, and the only man she has nearby is the assassin, who is also a married man with children, and as for the other three mortal fishermen of middle age, she wouldn't even consider them as options in the first place.
"Is this your first child counting in both worlds?" Feng Hua asked, not caring much about the melancholic silence.
Hearing this question, Wang Mei quickly tried to respond to clear any wrong thoughts. "What? Of course! How could I-"
"Hey, not wanting to interrupt your bonding here..." Chen Wei interrupted Wang Mei's words while opening the tent and entering with a plate of grilled fish in hand. "...but I've finished the food and I know you three must be needing it."
Wang Mei quickly approached Chen Wei with her eyes shining before grabbing a fish to eat since, being a pregnant woman who had to walk all day, at this point, she was very hungry.
"Hmm, actually, it's quite good!" Wang Mei was surprised by the excellent taste of his cooking while not sure if it was just the hunger and pregnancy hormones talking. "...it would be so good if we had watermelon and some kind of butter to go with it!"
"..."
The three looked at her speechlessly hearing this suggestion coming from her.
"Hmm, it's quite good after spending an entire day walking," Yu Lian said while carefully eating the fish, which was not as good as Wang Mei made it seem but wasn't bad either.
"Ahh, at least it's better than starving..." Feng Hua murmured, as the food seemed quite bad for her delicate palate, having grown up in wealth in both her lives, always having the best cooks. In fact, she suspected Wang Mei would feel the same if not for her pregnant state.
"Well... have you thought about how to arrange for the four of us to sleep here comfortably? You know, this is not a very big tent," Yu Lian expressed her concerns while eating the fish with small bites.
"No need, I'll keep guard at the tent entrance for possible wild animals or humans..." Chen Wei said simply while eating the fish, feeling proud of how good it turned out.
"Are you sure? It can be very tiring for you to stay awake all night," Wang Mei said, worried, while hugging him from behind and resting her head on his back.
"It's necessary for me to be prepared to fight if any danger comes..." Chen Wei calmly looked at the star-filled night sky while feeling Wang Mei's soft and smooth hands around his waist.
"Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I stayed up all night, only this time it's not for fun, unfortunately," Chen Wei sighed, remembering when he spent nights irresponsibly playing video games in his youth on Earth.
"Yes... I know, but you don't need to say that for them to hear!" Wang Mei said, blushing and burying her head in his back due to misinterpreting what he meant by "fun" and staying up all night, which brought her back to why she got pregnant so quickly.
"Ahh, it's going to be a long night..." Chen Wei murmured, not bothering to correct her, while he observed the campsite bathed in the moonlight that permeated the darkness.
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