Chapter 21: 20. Ambushed on the Way

20. Ambushed on the Way

Leaving the Core Area, he returned to the Cheap Area.

Chen An did not rush home; instead, he went to the Market and bought a horse and a carriage.

The move was over twenty li long, and his little darling wife, seven months pregnant, could not walk such a long distance; a carriage was a necessity.

When Chen An drove the carriage back home, his wife and concubine were sitting in front of the house chatting, just like yesterday.

As soon as they saw their husband return, they immediately stood up to welcome him.

"Husband, why did you suddenly buy a carriage?"

Song Huaying asked, both puzzled and curious.

Chen An flicked her forehead and teased with a smile: "Silly Ying, if I didn't buy a carriage, would I let you walk while heavily pregnant to move house tomorrow?"

"Husband, I'm not silly at all, I'm just a little clumsy."

Song Huaying pouted her rosy lips and acted spoiled.

Chen An smiled, patted her head, and said: "Yes, yes, yes, my Ying isn't silly, just clumsy."

"It's true, I am proficient in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, how could I be silly."

Song Huaying enjoyed her husband patting her head; she felt very warm and comfortable, with a sense of being cherished.

【You gently stroke your wife Song Huaying, making her feel a surge of sweetness; marital affection +1.】

"Husband, drink some water."

Gu Xinyue did not know when she had returned inside to pour a cup of water; her voice was as cold as ever, yet carried a touch of tenderness.

Chen An smiled, took the cup, and drank it all in one gulp.

Hmm, it was well water just drawn up; it was refreshing to drink, quite satisfying.

"Yue is so sensible."

After finishing the water, Chen An handed the cup back and also reached out to gently pat Gu Xinyue's head with a tender expression.

Gu Xinyue looked like she was enjoying it.

【You gently stroke your wife Gu Xinyue, making her feel exceptionally pleased; marital affection +1.】

After a simple dinner.

Under Chen An's lead, the three of them began to tidy up the house and pack the things to be moved tomorrow.

The main force was Chen An and Gu Xinyue.

The pregnant Song Huaying was only responsible for tidying up small items or occasionally pouring tea and water for the two of them.

More than an hour later.

The entire house had been cleaned up neatly.

"It's getting late, go take a bath and get some rest early; we have to get up early tomorrow."

Chen An clapped the dust off his hands and said.

Hearing their husband say this, both the wife and concubine very sensibly went to the kitchen to boil water.

After the water was boiled.

Chen An fetched a water ladle and a cotton cloth, carefully giving Song Huaying a shower-style bath.

After all, his little darling wife was already over seven months pregnant, so it was not very suitable to soak in a wooden tub.

【You gently help your wife Song Huaying clean her body, letting her feel full of love; marital affection +1.】

After helping his little darling wife clean up, Chen An escorted her all the way to the room to sleep and rest.

Then he returned to the bathroom and, with great tacit understanding, sat into the wooden tub filled with warm water with Gu Xinyue, starting the long-awaited mandarin duck bath.

A stick of incense later.

【You have an in-depth exchange with your wife Gu Xinyue; Divine Sense strength +1.】

"Yue, the carriage I bought today is very luxurious and comfortable inside; do you want to go in and take a look?"

Chen An stroked Gu Xinyue's hair and asked.

Gu Xinyue nodded: "I want to see."

As long as it was something her husband wanted to do, she would never say no.

Before long, the two of them put on their clothes, came out of the bathroom, and walked into the carriage parked in the courtyard.

The naive Gu Xinyue still innocently thought they were really going out to look at the carriage, but only after entering did she realize she had been completely tricked by her husband.

【Divine Sense strength +1】

【Divine Sense strength +1】

【...】

【Divine Sense strength +1】

Time passed quickly; with a blink of an eye, a rooster from some unknown household outside started acting crazy before dawn, stretching its neck and crowing incessantly.

Chen An was woken up.

He glanced at the sky outside the carriage; the sun had only just poked its head out, and there was still quite a while until daybreak.

So, having nothing better to do, he shook Gu Xinyue awake, thinking of continuing to improve his Divine Sense strength, Golden Finger proficiency, and the affection between husband and wife.

【Divine Sense strength +1】

【Divine Sense strength +1】

【...】

【Golden Finger proficiency +1】

【...】

【Affection +1】

【Affection +1】

【……】

After the sky gradually brightened, a light drizzle began to fall outside.

The husband and wife emerged from the carriage and began to move the luggage they had packed last night onto the carriage one by one.

Not long after, Song Huaying woke up.

Gu Xinyue went with her to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Chen An went into the bathroom to find a cotton cloth, wiped up the water that had spilled everywhere in the carriage, and then sat on it, his thoughts stirring to open the data panel.

【Name: Chen An】

【Cultivation: Qi Refining Fourth Layer】

【Alchemy: First-tier Intermediate (457/500)】

【Divine Sense: First-tier Intermediate (110/500)】

【Golden Finger: Proficient (133/500)】

【Spouse: Song Huaying, Gu Xinyue】

【Offspring: Gestating (7 months)】

……

【Name: Song Huaying】

【Attribute: Repays a drop of kindness with a gushing spring】

【Affection: 2 stars (389/500)】

【Alchemy Experience provided: 437】

【Golden Finger proficiency provided: 77】

……

【Name: Gu Xinyue】

【Attribute: Pure and chaste, loyal and unwavering】

【Affection: 1 star (58/100)】

【Divine Sense strength provided: 110】

【Golden Finger proficiency provided: 45】

……

After the three of them finished breakfast, they each checked to see if they had forgotten to pack anything.

After checking once, they found nothing left behind.

So they just found a place to sit down and chatted happily together.

Time quickly reached noon.

After the three of them finished lunch and rested for a while, seeing that it was about time, they boarded the carriage and set off for Manager Zhang's office area.

After successfully meeting up with Manager Zhang, the group of four drove the carriage toward the Core Area.

Chen An and Manager Zhang sat at the front of the carriage driving the horses.

The two wives lay in the carriage sleeping and resting.

The journey was very calm and peaceful.

It wasn't until the carriage passed through a forest that an accident occurred.

"Swish... swish... swish!"

Only to hear several sounds of branches and leaves rubbing together, and in the previously quiet and deserted forest, several masked men holding large machetes suddenly killed their way out.

Chen An recognized those iconic large machetes at a glance; they were people from the Black Iron Villa!

And Manager Zhang, as a member of the Bamboo Leaf Gang, also recognized the large machetes of the Black Iron Villa.

The moment the other party appeared, he immediately drew the sword at his waist and leaped down from the carriage.

"Speak, how exactly did you people from the Black Iron Villa sneak in!"

Manager Zhang's voice was thunderous, and his Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivation erupted without reservation, wanting to use this to intimidate the other party.

However, the other party's expression remained unchanged, and they even looked a bit amused.

The leading male cultivator stepped forward and said with a mocking look: "So what if you are at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer? Do you think I am not?"

As the words fell, his aura suddenly erupted, and his cultivation was actually half a step stronger than Manager Zhang's.

Manager Zhang's eyes widened instantly, his face full of disbelief, never expecting that the other party was also a Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator, and even stronger than him!

What on earth is going on?

Why would a Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator lead a team to come and kill me?

Did I offend some big shot?

Manager Zhang was thinking hard, but he couldn't figure it out in a short time, so he could only look at the other party with a much softer attitude and ask: "Fellow Daoist, may I ask if there is some misunderstanding here?"

The other party ignored him and said directly to the group of accomplices behind him: "Leave this Qi Refining Seventh Layer swordsman to me to deal with. You guys, hurry up and take down that Alchemist, and press him back to the Black Iron Villa to be dealt with by that useless piece of trash."

"Yes!"

Those masked men responded and immediately walked toward Chen An holding their large machetes, without saying a word of nonsense.

Only at this moment did Manager Zhang realize that these people from the Black Iron Villa were coming for Chen An, and he was just caught in the crossfire, so he immediately developed thoughts of retreating.

He wanted to befriend Chen An, but he didn't want to lose his life for him.

On the other side, watching the group of men in black closing in on him, Chen An instantly remembered the stubble-faced male cultivator he had severely taught a lesson to in the Market yesterday.

Judging from what that Qi Refining Seventh Layer masked man just said, he roughly understood that he was being retaliated against by that stubble-faced male cultivator, and he had underestimated the status of that man's father in the Black Iron Villa.

"Husband, what happened?"

Song Huaying had originally been lying inside the carriage asleep, but after being woken up by the commotion outside and discovering that the carriage had stopped, she couldn't help but groggily lift the carriage curtain and lean her body out with a puzzled look on her face to ask.

A masked man saw Song Huaying, who was sticking out a large belly, and his eyes suddenly lit up, a trace of an extremely perverted gaze appearing in them as he said:

"Be careful with that pregnant woman, don't cause her to miscarry; I want to take her back to Black Iron Villa to properly enj..."

"... Pfft!"

Before the masked man could finish his sentence, a bright red blood hole suddenly appeared between his eyebrows.

PS: Setting out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation votes!