Thanks to Escort Master Fang!

Many people in the escort team wore expressions of having narrowly escaped disaster,

They had almost died at the hands of the monsters,

Fortunately, Fang Chen had arrived in time to save them, allowing them to escape calamity!

As time slowly passed, the monsters in midair grew fewer and fewer,

Seeing that their losses were too heavy, the adult monsters lost their desire to continue fighting,

They let out a sharp, ear-piercing cry,

Then, in the blink of an eye, the monsters scattered back into the forest.

Only after seeing this did everyone finally relax.

Old Master Liu shouted, "Take a headcount and see how many are dead or injured!"

Under Old Master Liu's orders, someone quickly helped count the members of the team.

After some time,

Old Master Liu walked over and said to Fang Chen:

"Three dead and seventeen injured. This result is already quite good. Fortunately, you were here. Otherwise... it's hard to imagine how many people would have died!"

Fang Chen replied, "It was what I should have done."

Old Master Liu shook his head and said, "When we return, I'll tell the Head Escort about your contribution. You should receive some extra silver by then."

"Your strength is truly astonishing. I really did misjudge you before."

"I may have said some unpleasant things. I hope you won't take them to heart."

Fang Chen was somewhat surprised by Old Master Liu's words,

He had not expected that such an authoritative old master would actually take the initiative to admit that he had misjudged someone!

Fang Chen smiled and said, "Everything you said was for my own good. How could I have found it unpleasant?"

Old Master Liu smiled. "Good. As long as you were willing to listen, that's all that matters."

With that, Old Master Liu patted Fang Chen on the shoulder, then left to comfort those who had been frightened.

At that moment, a group of people gathered around. They were all people Fang Chen had saved in the battle just now,

They said gratefully, "Escort Master Fang, if not for you, I might have died in the monsters' mouths. I'm truly grateful!"

"Escort Master Fang, we used to think you had no real ability and had only gotten in through connections. We even said some unpleasant things behind your back. Thinking about it now, we truly feel ashamed."

"Everyone has seen Escort Master Fang's strength. He's no ordinary expert in the Skin and Muscle Realm!"

Fang Chen responded to each of their words without putting on any airs, causing everyone to admire him even more.

After resting for some time, the darkness quietly faded, and the sky began to glow with the pale white of dawn.

Everyone did not rest for long, instead taking advantage of the daylight to continue their journey,

They tried to return to Baihe County before nightfall.

The wheels rumbled along, and fortunately, nothing else went wrong along the way.

Occasionally, bandits would come down from the mountains, but no conflicts broke out, because Old Master Liu would pay them a road toll every time.

Perhaps this was an unspoken agreement that had been established between the escort agency and the bandits over the years.

As long as the road toll was paid, they would not make things difficult for you.

After all, the bandits did not want to lose their lives for nothing. This sort of steady stream of income was best.

As time slowly passed, the escort agency's team finally returned to Baihe County.

The Head Escort had sent people ahead to meet them.

Soon, Fang Chen and the others returned to the Tian Yuan Escort Agency.

The Head Escort came to greet them at the entrance and asked Old Master Liu, "Did everything go smoothly along the way?"

Old Master Liu said, "We encountered many Red-eyed Bats. There were several adult ones, and I almost couldn't hold them off."

"Fortunately, Fang Chen was there. Otherwise, the number of dead and injured would have been extremely high."

"We really struck gold this time. With this level of strength, he's definitely among the best in the Skin and Muscle Realm."

The Head Escort looked at Old Master Liu in surprise, seemingly wondering whether he was telling the truth.

Based on his understanding of Old Master Liu, the man generally did not praise others so highly, much less a newly arrived escort master.

Moreover, before they had set out, Old Master Liu's attitude toward Fang Chen had clearly been cold. He had even looked down on Fang Chen for entering through connections.

How had Old Master Liu's attitude changed so drastically after making one escort run?

Seeing that the Head Escort still had not responded, Old Master Liu smiled and said,

"Don't look at me like that. Quite a few people in the team were saved by Fang Chen. If you don't believe me, you can ask them."

As soon as he said this, the people in the team also turned toward the Head Escort and began speaking one after another,

"That's right, Head Escort. Thanks to Escort Master Fang, we lost far fewer people!"

"Head Escort, when Escort Master Fang faced those juvenile monsters, he cut them down like chopping vegetables. The sight was truly astonishing!"

"..."

Listening to everyone's words, Liu Tianyuan had no choice but to believe them,

Yet he was still rather surprised, and deeply curious about Fang Chen's strength.

I'll find a chance to ask him properly later.

He looked at everyone and said, "This time, everyone encountered monsters, and it was extremely dangerous. I've decided that every one of you will receive extra silver."

"Those who were injured will receive more, and I'll also send enough silver to the families of those who died."

At these words, the people below cheered repeatedly.

If not for the silver, who would be willing to risk their lives making escort runs?

Liu Tianyuan's words had struck straight at everyone's hearts.

After giving a few more instructions, Liu Tianyuan said to Fang Chen and Old Master Liu, "Let's go inside and talk."

Soon, Fang Chen arrived at the room where they had met last time.

After the few of them sat down, Liu Tianyuan smiled at Fang Chen and said, "Escort Master Fang, I didn't expect you to be so capable that even Old Master Liu would praise you."

Old Master Liu smiled from the side. "If you had been there at the time, you would have been surprised by this boy's strength too."

Liu Tianyuan nodded and said with a smile:

"Escort Master Fang, considering your great contribution this time, I'll add another hundred taels of silver to your original reward of one hundred taels."

"That makes a total of two hundred taels of silver. What do you think?"

Fang Chen's heart leaped with joy. He cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Head Escort!"

Liu Tianyuan laughed heartily. The more he looked at Fang Chen, the more he liked him.

He had originally thought Fang Chen was a good match,

But now that Fang Chen had displayed extraordinary strength, Liu Tianyuan felt even more strongly that Fang Chen was a perfect match for his daughter.

Having made up his mind, Liu Tianyuan decided to persuade Liu Yan again, lest she miss out on such a fine son-in-law.

At that moment, Old Master Liu suddenly asked Fang Chen:

"Fang Chen, I noticed that you used a long saber when killing the monsters. Could it be that you practice saber techniques?"

Liu Tianyuan raised his brows, looking somewhat surprised. "That can't be right. Escort Master Fang is from the Tiger Subduing Martial Arts School, so he should practice fist techniques."

Fang Chen smiled faintly from the side,

"I only relied on brute force. When killing those juvenile monsters, I merely hacked and chopped. It was nothing worth mentioning."

Old Master Liu thought it over carefully and found that this did indeed seem to be the case, so he nodded.

In truth, Fang Chen had not used the Whirlwind Blade Technique, because he did not want to casually expose this trump card.

There was no need to show off in front of others by displaying it recklessly.

If word got out that it was Zhao San's blade technique, there might well be trouble later.

The few of them chatted casually for a few more sentences before going their separate ways.

It was already late, so Fang Chen did not return to the martial arts school. Instead, he went straight home.

Liu Tianyuan sat alone in the room,

After thinking it over, he decided to call Liu Yan over for a talk,

Hoping that she would change her mind.