The next day.
After feeding Miss Xu her food for the day.
Gu Cheng left home and headed for a famous rich neighborhood in the southern part of the city to visit Shopkeeper Song.
Shopkeeper Song was a plump little old man in his sixties.
Upon learning Gu Cheng had arrived, he immediately came out in person to welcome him into his home, his attitude incredibly warm.
As an exceptionally talented businessman,
Shopkeeper Song was naturally smooth and silver-tongued, able to charm anyone.
First, he expressed his deep gratitude for Gu Cheng's righteous deed of slaying two tiger demons on Hundred Herbs Mountain.
Then he launched into a torrent of flattery, praising the young man's strength and talent to the skies,
making him out to be Changle County's savior, the demons' executioner, and the Demon Suppression Bureau's rising star.
Even Gu Cheng, a seasoned soul who had lived two lives, felt embarrassed by the old man's over-the-top praise.
After a pleasant conversation, the two quickly settled all the details of the protection job.
Since the flower thief only came out at night,
Gu Cheng's task was to stand guard in the rear courtyard of the Song residence for ten days after nightfall.
As payment, Shopkeeper Song would help gather the last few medicinal ingredients and hand them all over to Gu Cheng ten days later.
Once they had settled the serious business,
Shopkeeper Song told the servants to treat Gu Cheng well, then took his leave to get back to his business.
"Shopkeeper Song sure is a busy man..."
Gu Cheng watched the little old man's retreating figure and muttered to himself.
It was easy enough to guess what the man was thinking. With a storm brewing, he simply wanted to find himself a reliable backer.
Compared with those wandering martial artists of unknown backgrounds,
Shopkeeper Song clearly considered Gu Cheng, a promising young man "in the system," more trustworthy.
Just then, a middle-aged man dressed like a steward hurried over.
He bowed to Gu Cheng and lowered his voice.
"Lord Gu, Madam Song requests your presence. She'd like to speak with you in the rear courtyard."
At that, Gu Cheng couldn't help frowning.
What was Madam Song playing at?
Her husband had barely left, and now she was asking me to meet her?
Gu Cheng felt suspicious, but since she was someone he'd need to protect closely over the next ten days, he followed the steward to the rear courtyard.
Shopkeeper Song was rolling in money, so naturally his residence was extravagantly luxurious.
The rear courtyard alone was several times larger than the little courtyard at Gu Cheng's home.
Following the steward along the rear courtyard's flagstone path, Gu Cheng admired the scenery, yet a powerful sense of déjà vu suddenly welled up inside him.
It was as if he'd been to the rear courtyard of the Song residence more than once before.
Just as the young man was puzzling over this,
the steward had already led him to Madam Song's quarters and pushed open the door.
Gu Cheng followed close behind and looked inside.
A captivating beauty in palace-style robes sat at a wooden table, leisurely enjoying morning tea as two maids attended her.
The beautiful woman looked to be in her thirties. Her skin was exceptionally well cared for, and her figure was full and shapely, like a ripe peach that seemed ready to drip with juice at the lightest squeeze.
"Talk about an old ox eating young grass..."
Gu Cheng secretly sized up Madam Song and grumbled to himself.
Forget about them looking like a married couple.
Put Shopkeeper Song, that little old man, beside her, and they could easily pass for father and daughter.
"Steward Li, you may leave. I'd like to speak with Lord Gu alone."
Madam Song set down her teacup and spoke softly.
"Yes, ma'am."
The middle-aged steward inclined his head.
He sneaked Gu Cheng a very peculiar look before leaving the room with the two maids.
As he left, he even made a point of gently closing the door.
The room instantly grew dim.
A man and a woman alone together—the atmosphere turned suggestive and hazy.
"???"
Gu Cheng turned to look at the tightly shut door, his mind going blank.
When he turned back,
a soft, fragrant body clung tightly to him like an octopus.
"You heartless thing! It's been so many days—why did it take you so long to come see your big sister?"
Madam Song complained coquettishly, immediately ramming into him with her ample bosom.
Feeling that warm, yielding softness, Gu Cheng shuddered as though jolted by electricity and hurriedly pushed her away.
"Madam Song, you..."
"Madam Song?!"
The beautiful woman's expression changed, hurt and self-mockery plain on her face.
"Heh. Just last month, you were still calling me 'dear big sister.' Now I'm Madam Song to you?"
"!!!"
Gu Cheng felt as though he'd been struck by lightning. A sealed memory surged back into his mind like a tide.
Holy crap!
This beautiful woman in palace-style robes was clearly one of his predecessor's old flames!
The reason his predecessor had been so passionate about training in lightness skills was so he could climb over walls and sneak off to meet these old flames!
Shopkeeper Song really was a genius.
To keep his beloved wife from falling prey to the flower thief, he'd ended up hiring Gu Cheng, the "homewrecker," as her guard?
Wasn't that basically inviting a wolf into the house?
Gu Cheng's mind churned, his expression a spectacular mess.
"Fine, since you've gone to the trouble of coming here today, I won't hold it against you..."
Madam Song's lovely eyes roamed over the young man's handsome figure. Her thighs pressed together unconsciously, and a ravenous heat flashed in her gaze.
"Dear little brother~ It's only been a few days, but you seem to have gotten even sturdier?"
"Come on~ Let big sister give you a little checkup..."
As she spoke, the beautiful woman licked her lips and reached for the sash at Gu Cheng's waist.
But she grabbed nothing.
"Madam Song, I have other urgent business to attend to. Please excuse me."
With a nimble sidestep, Gu Cheng swiftly put some distance between them and cupped his hands toward her.
Then, without paying any heed to the beautiful woman's aggrieved expression, he hurriedly turned and left.
Give me a break!
He liked mature older women with curvy figures and gentle personalities.
But he had absolutely no interest in someone else's wife.
It wasn't as if his surname were Cao!
Besides, Shopkeeper Song had gone out of his way to hire him as a guard and help him get the medicinal herbs he needed.
If he still betrayed that trust, he'd have no morals at all!
"Alas, this is terrible for my reputation."
"I'm still a pure-love warrior, after all. I hate homewreckers more than anything..."
Gu Cheng stood in the courtyard of the rear compound and let out a faint sigh before striding away.
In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.
Changle County had been relatively peaceful these past few days.
Ever since Blood Claw was killed by Gu Cheng, the wolf demons that had been rampaging outside the city had all vanished without a trace.
Lin Qingyan had led a patrol outside for several days, but hadn't found a single wolf hair.
It was hard to tell whether those beasts had truly been scared out of their wits,
or were secretly building up their strength, preparing to make a big move!
Meanwhile, inside the county town,
the elusive flower thief continued to run rampant, making headlines every few days.
And strangely enough, the creep had extremely particular tastes.
He seemed interested only in wealthy women, leaving the rich families in the southern part of the city on edge day and night.
Besides that, the martial artists in town were causing trouble too, often breaking into fights in the streets for all sorts of ridiculous reasons.
Because of this, the Demon Suppression Bureau had no choice but to step up its patrols around the city.
Gu Cheng's life had been unusually routine these past few days.
During the day, he led Xiao Yun on patrol through the streets, then found a comfortable spot to catch a quick nap.
At night, he went to keep watch in the Song family's rear courtyard.
Madam Song still hadn't given up. Every night, she dressed herself up to look alluring.
Autumn was deepening, and the weather was turning cold, yet her clothes grew thinner by the day, as if she were deliberately showing off her charms.
Whenever she saw Gu Cheng, she made all sorts of suggestive hints and flirted with him.
She never even locked her door when she went to bed, putting on a tantalizing display as if she were ripe for the picking.
Yet no matter how this ripe beauty tried to seduce him,
Gu Cheng remained unmoved, as calm as if he'd seen through the mortal world, regarding beautiful women and rouge as nothing more than roadside dirt.
This left Madam Song both furious and anxious, her teeth clenched.
She even took a reckless gamble and came up with a shameless, audacious scheme...
Before you continue