Everyone in the world talks about how powerful the Chu was a hundred years ago. The gold in the treasury was piled up like a mountain, and the rice in the five large granaries was enough to supply the Chu army of one million for fifty years. The demon tribe outside the Great Wall was blocked outside the country by the border troops of the Chu State with abundant martial virtues. The world was full of prosperity and peace.

No one would have thought that the great changes would come so suddenly. One day, the old emperor passed away. After the young prince put on a yellow robe and sat on the dragon throne, the first thing he did was to ask the Ministry of Works to build a large house in the palace to specifically raise demon beasts. The young emperor jokingly called it the "leopard house".

Most of the demon beasts raised here were of unique blood species and needed a lot of blood to feed. The young emperor first ordered the death row prisoners in the cell to be sent to the leopard house, which gradually evolved into a torture, and began to send officials who angered the emperor to the leopard house.

The young emperor not only liked to play, but he also had great ambitions to surpass the glory of his ancestors. Then there were stories of three imperial expeditions to the demon tribe outside the Great Wall.

Under the wise command of the young emperor, the first two armies returned empty-handed, but only consumed a lot of food and manpower, while the third northern expedition ended in a disastrous defeat, and many people really died.

Countless high-level cultivators became blood food in the mouths of the monsters in order to cover the young emperor's escape, which was naturally a very painful thing for the human race.

….

With the withdrawal of the monsters, Wuquan County, which had been depressed for a long time, regained some popularity. After all, the people living at the bottom had to work hard to support their families.

At dawn, in front of the door of the Wang family mansion, a famous wealthy businessman in the city, a young man of eighteen or nineteen knocked on the door, making a dull sound.

"Who is it?"

After a while, a servant opened the door a little, looked at the person outside the mansion, and asked lazily, "What's the matter?"

The young man didn't care, and smiled faintly and said his purpose: "I'm here to apply for the position of guard..."

"What cultivation level!?"

The servant was no longer sleepy after hearing this, and looked up and down curiously at the young man. He was tall and straight, but a little thin, with a straight face and bright eyes. He didn't look like a villain with ulterior motives.

"Refined state..."

The young man slowly uttered two words, looking a little uneasy. He didn't know whether the Wang family was willing to hire him at his level.

"Wait."

The servant didn't say much, but turned and ran into the mansion and told the matter to the housekeeper Liu in the mansion.

Steward Liu, whose hair was completely white, walked out of the house with a cane and took the young man to a small courtyard in a corner of the huge house. He pointed to the white flour buns and a bowl of hot porridge on the table and said:

"Sit down and eat..."

The young man was not polite. He sat down by himself, picked up the bun, tore off a piece and put it in his mouth, chewing it carefully, as if he was tasting the most delicious delicacy in the world.

Steward Liu sat opposite the young man, looked at him for a moment, and then asked with a smile, "Name? Place of origin? What did you do before?"

"Song Pingsheng, from Youzhou, Da Chu, worked as an apprentice in a martial arts hall two years ago."

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The young man named Song Pingsheng answered quite straightforwardly, but it was unknown how much truth there was in his words.

Steward Liu didn't care. The first impression of the young man opposite him was still good. The only shortcoming should be that he lacked some youthful spirit and looked a little lifeless.

Thinking of this, Manager Liu, who was about to reach the end of his life, shook his head and sighed. It was not easy to survive in this world, so why bother with so many things.

Recovering his mind, Manager Liu took out a hiring document and ink from his arms and put it on the table, and talked about the rules that Song Pingsheng needed to follow when he was a guard.

"You must remember that you can't go to the backyard of the mansion, otherwise you will be beaten and killed on the spot. You can get two taels of silver every month. Do your own thing and don't gossip..."

Manager Liu chattered for a long time, and Song Pingsheng ate and listened carefully until he swallowed all the food, and then pressed his fingerprints on the document.

"It's rare to see a martial artist who has not yet reached the age of twenty. He lives in a separate courtyard, and others won't say much."

Manager Liu was old and weak after all. After talking for a while, he felt exhausted. When he got up and left with a cane, he left this sentence meaningfully.

It was completely bright. Song Pingsheng, who had just taken a short nap, opened his eyes, turned his head and looked towards the gate. He stood up and opened the door with some doubts.

Two strong men were standing outside, whispering to each other. When they heard the sound of the door opening, they all turned their heads and looked over.

"You two, this is..."

Song Pingsheng narrowed his eyes and looked at the two people outside the yard, and asked politely.

The two men looked similar, so they should be brothers. The man on the left smiled shyly, and then introduced himself, saying: "Brother Song, we are also guards in the mansion. My name is Xiao Da, and this is my younger brother Xiao Er. I am sorry to bother you so early in the morning. I mainly want to ask you for a small favor..."

Song Pingsheng raised his eyebrows and said nothing, his face became a little serious.

Xiao Er's eyes flashed, and before his brother finished speaking, he could not wait to reply: "It's not difficult. I just want you to accompany a child to go shopping and play, and protect him. There will be a reward afterwards."

Song Pingsheng thought for a moment, shook his head and refused, "I'm new here, I'm unfamiliar with the place, if something goes wrong, I can't take the responsibility."

Brother Xiao Da wanted to say something, but after being glared at by his younger brother Xiao Er, he shut up angrily.

"Brother Song, although we two brothers are not upright heroes, we have also been in the border army for a while, and there is still some friendship left as comrades, and we will never harm you.

This matter is indeed good for you, after all, the identity of that child is not simple."

After saying so much, Xiao Er's eyes were full of sincerity, as if everything he did was for Song Pingsheng.

"How did you figure that out?"

Song Pingsheng was a little distracted when he heard that. He was indeed from the border army, but after what he did, he was no longer worthy of wearing the border army armor.

Xiao Er smiled and said, "Anyone who has served in the border army and killed monsters will have a very unique bloody smell on their bodies, which ordinary people cannot smell."

At this point, Song Pingsheng finally nodded and agreed, not for anything else, just because the person who asked him for help was also from the border army.

Song Pingsheng changed into a clean robe, holding the hilt of the knife at his waist, walked along the bluestone paved path to the edge of a bamboo forest, took a deep breath, and whispered, "Come out."

With a rustling sound, two figures, one big and one small, emerged from the not-so-dense bamboo forest.

The big one was naturally Xiao Da, and the small one was a half-grown child.

Xiao Da smiled and pointed at the half-grown child and said, "This is the second young master Wang Yan."

Song Pingsheng smiled bitterly, knowing that he had taken on a hot potato.

"Thank you, Mr. Song..."

Wang Yan did not have any young master's airs, and bowed to Song Pingsheng.

Song Pingsheng nodded slightly, turned his head and glanced at the silly Xiao Da, feeling a little headache, so he had no choice but to urge him, "Brother Xiao, it's getting late, we can go."

"Yes."

Xiao Da came back to his senses belatedly. He slapped his forehead, turned around and led them through the bamboo forest to a remote corner.

There was a small open door here. Xiao Er stood by the door and looked around anxiously. When he saw that they had finally arrived, his expression suddenly relaxed. He lowered his head and took out a bag of silver from his arms and stuffed it into Song Pingsheng's hand, saying with a smile:

"All the expenses for the second young master today are in this bag. The rest will naturally belong to Brother Song. There will be no trouble."

Song Pingsheng remained silent. He put away the money and stepped over the threshold and walked into the dark alley. Wang Yan, who was following him, was a child after all. He couldn't help but ask:

"Sir, you don't seem to like them very much?"

Song Pingsheng didn't answer in a hurry, but rubbed Wang Yan's head, then smiled and said, "It's not easy to be a pure warrior. In order to live a better life, it's not too much to be more calculating."

Wang Yan nodded as if he understood. He just wanted to go out for fun and buy some snacks. Other things were not important.