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The remaining soldiers were watching the two groups of people who had left, and by noon that day, two more teams had departed from the military camp. Liu Guanfeng had been staying in this valley for a week, and during this time, over fifty private troops had gradually left.
Seeing that everything had become formalized, Liu Guanfeng was also preparing to leave. He planned to first go to Rain City to assess the situation and then head to Guardian City to find Qifeng Ge.
Liu Guanfeng arrived at Deputy General Du's door and gently knocked. "Come in."
Liu Guanfeng pushed the door open. "Uncle Du."
Deputy General Du, who was sitting in a chair, immediately stood up upon seeing Liu Guanfeng enter. "Xiaofeng, you're here. What brings you?"
"Uncle Du, I plan to leave here tomorrow."
"Are you in such a hurry? With your mount, you should be able to return quickly."
"Uncle Du, I have some matters to attend to on my way back, so I need to leave a few days early."
"Alright then, I won't keep you. We'll meet again in the West Lion Empire."
"Yes, I'll go back now and prepare for tomorrow."
The next morning, after having breakfast, Liu Guanfeng bid farewell to Deputy General Du and left the private troop camp with Bao Rui, Copper Bull, Iron Bull, Dai, Du Zhenyang, and the Five Boys.
The six young men summoned their mounts simultaneously. Bao Rui approached Liu Guanfeng. "Third Brother, where should we go now?"
"Let's first check out those graveyards. I have a feeling that the person who tends to the graves is someone I know well."
The six of them rode straight towards the graveyard. From a distance, Liu Guanfeng could already see a patch of graves by the edge of the forest, with dozens of graves of various sizes scattered throughout.
Liu Guanfeng looked at these graves and thought to himself: Whose family graveyard could this be? It seems like this graveyard didn't exist when I came here over a year ago. Who could that familiar figure be?
Soon, the group of young men rode their mounts beside the graveyard. Liu Guanfeng noticed that although there were tomb mounds in this graveyard, the gravestones varied greatly; some were simple stones with a few words inscribed on them, while others had wooden markers standing in front of them with carvings on top.
Liu Guanfeng frowned, wondering what was going on. Since this was a family burial site, why did the tombstones look like this?
He walked over to the nearest grave and glanced at the tombstone, which read: Liu Family Servants' Tomb. Liu Guanfeng's confusion deepened; why was there a tombstone but no indication of who was buried inside? Not even a name.
Next to it, another tombstone also read Liu Family Servants' Tomb, while some others were inscribed with: Tomb of the Liu Guardians and Tomb of the Liu Maidens.
Now, Liu Guanfeng found himself surrounded by similar tombstones closest to the road. As he walked further in, he suddenly spotted a familiar name: Butler Liu Fu's Grave.
The name Liu Fu was not unfamiliar to Liu Guanfeng; in fact, it was very familiar. Liu Fu had been the butler of his family. Who had buried him here? Next to Liu Fu's grave was another tombstone that read: Grave of Butler Liu Fu's Son, Liu Xiaogou.
Liu Xiaogou was also someone Liu Guanfeng knew well. He was about the same age as Liu Guanfeng's older brother but could not practice martial arts, so he had always followed his father, Butler Liu Fu, around to help out. He was quite smooth in his dealings but had always taken good care of Liu Guanfeng.
After seeing these two names, Liu Guanfeng stood before Liu Fu's grave, questioning what was happening and why his family members were buried here.
At that moment, Copper Bull ran over from the side. "Third Brother, I found the tombstone of Nangong Yun, Captain of the Guards over there."
Soon after, Bao Rui and Iron Bull along with a few other youths gathered around Liu Guanfeng. They too had discovered names of some former guards and butlers from their family. Bao Rui tugged at Liu Guanfeng's sleeve.
"Third Brother, who built this burial site for the Liu Family? These must be those who died in that battle a year ago. I didn't expect someone would help bury their bodies."
Looking at those familiar names, tears began to flow uncontrollably from Liu Guanfeng's eyes. "Who did this? I can't believe that even in our family's downfall, someone would help us. I must thank this person properly."
"Third Brother, do you think it could be that figure we saw that day?"
Bao Rui's words immediately reminded Liu Guanfeng. "You all go look for him and see if you can find that person."
After about a minute, Iron Bull's voice came from the distance among the trees. "Third Brother, come quick! There's a tent here!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Guanfeng rushed toward Iron Bull's voice. In just a short distance of a few dozen meters, he noticed many tombstones engraved with names he recognized well. Moreover, there were even more graves in the woods—at least a hundred—each one meticulously cleaned.
Soon enough, Liu Guanfeng arrived at the tent Iron Bull mentioned. Calling it a tent was an exaggeration; it was merely a makeshift small room that could barely fit one person, and part of it had already collapsed.
Liu Guanfeng walked towards the small tent, unable to fathom who would make such a great sacrifice for their fallen family.
He gently approached, slowly lifting the single cloth door curtain outside. Inside the small tent lay a person, but due to the dim light, Liu Guanfeng could not see who it was.
Liu Guanfeng crouched down and patted the person's leg. The person inside showed no reaction. Liu Guanfeng shook them again, but still received no response.
In a moment of panic, Liu Guanfeng waved his hand to push aside the curtain, and with a "whoosh," the entire small tent vanished. It was then that Liu Guanfeng saw the person lying inside, and his heart nearly shattered at the sight.
The person's hair was unkempt from not being washed for a long time, their skin was sallow, and they were nothing but skin and bones from hunger. Yet, when Liu Guanfeng looked at this person, they still wore a faint smile.
This person was very familiar to Liu Guanfeng, and he had always felt indebted to them. This person was Li Xiaohan. As Liu Guanfeng gazed at Li Xiaohan lying on the ground, tears streamed down his face like a floodgate bursting open.
Liu Guanfeng quickly lifted Li Xiaohan into his arms and checked for a pulse; she was not dead—perhaps just faint from hunger.
He pinched Li Xiaohan's cheek hard, and she let out a pained cry before slowly opening her eyes. When she saw herself in Liu Guanfeng's embrace, a sweeter smile spread across her face as she murmured, "Why is it that I can only feel your embrace in my dreams? If this is real, how wonderful it would be. I hope this dream never ends."
At that moment, Liu Guanfeng's tears fell onto Li Xiaohan's face. "Xiaohan, this is not a dream; it's really me who has returned. I want to take you away and never part from you again."
Hearing Liu Guanfeng's words, Li Xiaohan suddenly widened her eyes. "Is it really you who has come back? Liu Guanfeng, you have returned?"
Liu Guanfeng nodded again. "Yes, it's me who has come back. We will never be apart again, okay?" After saying this, he held Li Xiaohan tightly in his arms. It would be a lie if Liu Guanfeng said he wasn't moved by a girl who cared for him so deeply. He had always known how much Li Xiaohan liked him, but due to his special circumstances, he lacked the courage to accept her love. He had hoped that time would dull her feelings, but now he finally understood just how deep Li Xiaohan's love for him truly was.
At this moment, Li Xiaohan could only cry and say nothing more; she leaned against Liu Guanfeng's shoulder, nodding her head vigorously as tears poured from her eyes like a fountain.
Seeing the two embrace and cry without saying a word, Bao Rui exchanged glances with Copper Bull and quietly moved away to a distance. Fortunately, Iron Bull was not too dazed at that moment; otherwise, the good atmosphere would have been ruined.
After crying for a while until they were exhausted, they sat down on the ground with Li Xiaohan nestled beside Liu Guanfeng, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Xiaohan, how have you been over the past year? What are these graves about? Why are you living here? What about your family?"
Upon hearing Liu Guanfeng mention her family, tears flowed from Li Xiaohan's eyes once more. "You see these graves; they belong to your family's servants. When I learned about the troubles your family faced, I went looking for you but heard that you had been rescued by someone powerful. So I gathered some people to bury your family's deceased servants here. When I returned home, my father forbade me from having any ties with your family again and said your family was involved with rebels. I didn't listen to him, so my father kicked me out of the house. Since then, I've been living here. Sometimes my mother secretly brings me food and silver; sometimes Wang Jiao comes to see me. I've lived here for over a year now, waiting for you to come."
Liu Guanfeng looked at Li Xiaohan without saying a word. Although Li Xiaohan spoke lightly, Liu Guanfeng knew that she was trying to ease his heart.
At that moment, Liu Guanfeng couldn't think of anything to say except to hold Li Xiaohan tightly. The two of them remained in each other's embrace for a long time.
Suddenly, Li Xiaohan seemed to remember something. She sat up abruptly, turning her back to Liu Guanfeng and covering her face with her hands. Liu Guanfeng patted her shoulder from behind and asked, "Xiaohan, what's wrong?"
Li Xiaohan covered her face and said, "Am I really ugly right now? I haven't washed up in a long time."
Hearing Li Xiaohan's words, Liu Guanfeng shook his head with tears in his eyes. "No, you will always be the most beautiful girl in my heart. I want to spend my life with you."
Li Xiaohan turned around in surprise to look at Liu Guanfeng, wanting to see if he was lying. When she saw the tears on his face and the determination in his eyes, she smiled slightly and lay back down in his arms.
As the sky gradually darkened, Liu Guanfeng pulled Li Xiaohan closer. They had unknowingly sat together for almost an entire day without even having lunch. "Xiaohan, let's go into the city. We can find an inn where you can wash up, and then we can have a nice meal. After that, we can sleep well and continue our journey tomorrow morning."
"Continue our journey? Where are we going?" Li Xiaohan looked at Liu Guanfeng in surprise.
"We're going to the West Lion Empire. No one there can bully us, and we have a home there. Xiaohan, would you like to come with me?"
Li Xiaohan nodded vigorously. "I want to! Of course I want to! I just hope you never leave me for the rest of your life."
Liu Guanfeng looked at Li Xiaohan with unwavering determination. "Don't worry, I promise I will never leave you."
After saying this, Liu Guanfeng helped Li Xiaohan up and called for Little Black and XP. He let Li Xiaohan sit on XP while he climbed onto Little Black's back. Since they hadn't held any formal ceremony yet, they needed to be mindful of appearances even though they belonged to each other in their hearts. Looking towards Rain City, he said to Bao Rui and the others behind him, "Let's go. Our destination is Rain City."
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