This was a mountain hollow.
Graves were everywhere. It seemed to be the burial ground for the Liu Family Stockade.
And right now, the area below was filled with sickly green figures.
Yes… they were all Xingzi, visible to the naked eye.
The five large carriages he had seen earlier were stopped in the middle. The roof of the one the Black Widow was riding in had been torn off.
From a great distance, Lu Yuan could see the Black Widow sitting in the carriage, her face pale as she stared at her surroundings.
The remaining household retainers were fighting off the chaotic swarm of Xingzi all around them.
When the Fat Traveler saw this, he let out a great roar, drew his long saber, and charged down.
As he charged, he shouted:
"My lady, do not panic! I have come to save you!"
Soon, the Fat Traveler had joined the fray.
Lu Yuan watched from his hiding spot on the hilltop for a moment before charging down as well.
'This Fat Traveler is clearly an idiot.'
'He has no idea how to curry favor.'
'And he still wants to get promoted?'
'With a brain like that, he'll probably never move up in his life.'
'In a chaotic situation like this, if you just jump in, how is the Black Widow supposed to even see who you are?'
'Shouldn't you get right up in her face?'
'Make her see you?!'
'It's like working overtime like crazy when the boss isn't around, but then slacking off in the bathroom for two hours when he's watching?'
Lu Yuan sprinted straight for the Black Widow.
As for the countless Xingzi all around, was Lu Yuan afraid?
The answer was, not anymore.
Of course, Lu Yuan was still afraid of ghosts.
But Lu Yuan's fear of ghosts was about their appearance and the strange noises they made.
It wasn't that he was afraid of what the ghosts could do to him.
After all, Lu Yuan had the Holy Body, which was impervious to all evil!
Lu Yuan didn't believe these Xingzi could do anything to him.
What Lu Yuan feared was the quiet kind of scare, when he was all alone and suddenly, right in front of him or behind him...
...a Xingzi would appear, just like last night.
It would just stare at you, cackling, making your hair stand on end.
When Lu Yuan saw those things while he was alone, his mind would truly go blank.
But now, the area was filled with the CLANG CLANG of weapons and the furious shouts of the retainers.
In that kind of situation, Lu Yuan wasn't scared.
Especially since these surrounding Xingzi were different from the one last night.
Last night's was too sinister, while these ones, though they might be stronger...
...they didn't look as scary or as sinister.
Soon, Lu Yuan reached the Black Widow. Looking at the woman who was terrified by everything around her, he said loudly:
"My lady, we have to leave now! The men can't hold out much longer."
The Black Widow looked at this stranger, Lu Yuan, then glanced at the situation around them.
Then, she clenched her jaw and pointed at Lu Yuan.
"You drive the carriage, go!"
How could Lu Yuan know how to drive a carriage? He couldn't even ride a horse.
Besides, the horses here were just like the ones on the carriage Lu Yuan had ridden in earlier.
They were scared stiff, not moving an inch.
Lu Yuan took the whip and cracked it twice, but the horses didn't budge.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan gritted his teeth and strode forward. To the Black Widow's utter astonishment...
...he directly hoisted the incredibly tall and voluptuous Black Widow onto his back.
And took off running.
This Black Widow was half a head taller than Lu Yuan, and as a mature woman, she was quite fleshy.
She was much heavier than Lu Yuan.
With Lu Yuan carrying the Black Widow on his back, it was a classic case of a small horse pulling a large cart.
Fortunately, Lu Yuan had the Holy Body. He was far more useful than those retainers who looked tall and strong but were all show and no substance.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Yuan had carried the Black Widow out of the mountain hollow.
He climbed the ridge and continued to sprint away.
The Black Widow, lying on Lu Yuan's back, was stunned by his physical prowess.
After all, from her position on his back, she could clearly feel Lu Yuan's slender frame.
Yet he could run so fast, scaling the ridge in an instant without his face flushing or his breath catching.
However, after coming to her senses, the Black Widow pushed herself up slightly from Lu Yuan's back and asked warily:
"Who are you?!"
'After all, the boy's stamina was hardly that of a normal person.'
'He wasn't even muscular, yet he could carry her so far without even breathing heavily.'
'I hope this isn't some little demon in human form, trying to carry me off to a grave.'
Lu Yuan felt the incredibly soft body lift off his back and knew the Black Widow was getting scared.
Lu Yuan immediately introduced himself:
"My lady, I'm from Shige Village. I was originally on my way to the stockade to ask a Traveler to come back to my village.
But we ran into your situation on the road, and the Traveler insisted on coming to have a look.
I'm not a bad person, my lady. Please, lie back down. It's hard for me to carry you when you're sitting up like that!"
'Lu Yuan didn't dare say he wanted to come himself; that would make his motive seem too strong.'
'So he said he was forced to.'
'Besides...'
'...it was the truth. Lu Yuan hadn't wanted to come at first. It was the Fat Traveler who insisted on it.'
Hearing Lu Yuan's sincere words and feeling the warmth radiating from his body like a furnace...
...and recalling that a chubby-looking Traveler had indeed charged in earlier...
...she relaxed a little.
Her body, which had straightened up on Lu Yuan's back, now quickly settled back down.
"You're a clever boy. If I can make it through this, I'll definitely take you as my own nephew!"
As soon as the Black Widow finished speaking…
...a cold, clear voice sounded in Lu Yuan's mind.
[Congratulations, Host. You have triggered a 5x Active Reward: "Craftsmanship." Reward: three thousand taels of silver.]
Hearing this, Lu Yuan's heart leaped with joy. Another system reward.
And he'd even earned the Black Widow's approval.
Lu Yuan's words became sweeter as he continued to play the part of a simple, honest fool.
"I just couldn't bear to see a great beauty like you in trouble here.
My lady, I can tell you're a wealthy person.
Once I get you out of here safely, just reward me with a few taels of silver and I'll be happy."
Lu Yuan's sweet-talking, calling her a great beauty while painting himself as an honest young man...
...actually made the Black Widow laugh.
Especially since they had already escaped and there were no more Xingzi around.
The Black Widow's mood finally lightened a bit.
Listening to Lu Yuan, she couldn't help but lightly tap him on the head with her fair, delicate hand, its nails painted red, and chide him playfully:
"You silly boy. You think being my nephew isn't worth more than a few taels of silver?!"
Before Lu Yuan could say anything, another system notification sounded.
[Congratulations, Host. Zhao Qiao'Er's Multiplication Factor has increased to 7. Additional Reward: "Celestial Master."]
Huh???
'This thing can level up?'
Lu Yuan turned his head in astonishment.
He saw that incomparably mature and beautiful face looking back at him. Though heavily made-up, it was brimming with feminine charm.
And the Multiplication Factor above the Black Widow's head had changed from the previous purple-glowing [Multiplication Factor: 5]…
...to the current pink-glowing [Multiplication Factor: 7].
Hiss~
'So this thing isn't fixed?'