Hou Dong gnashed his teeth. What was this bastard saying? Since 'we’ve found him'? It was him! Him alone who had found him! He had saved the beauty’s life! These bloody merchants had nothing to do with it!
The merchant smiled noncommittally when he saw Dou Hong’s expression. "Is there something Mister Hou wants to say?" He couldn’t imagine it. These warriors would only get their remuneration at the end of the journey. They wouldn’t dare to make trouble before that. Furthermore, a single beauty wasn’t worth it to risk their pay. Even if it was an exotic beauty like this.
Well, if that Hou Dong did make trouble, then they might be able to agree on some terms. Even though a virgin would be worth more, there was no way for him to prove that the youth was untouched anyway. So why not let this warrior have him once? He could deduct some of their pay and still sell the youth. And with his looks, the boy could still fetch a good sum after being done once. After all, this type of beauty was hard to come by.
Hou Dong gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything. He just turned away and pretended he hadn’t seen anything. He noted this further slight down in his heart though. These bastards! They should better not anger him again or he would pay them back in a way they would never forget!
The merchant nodded with satisfaction when he saw that Hou Dong didn’t dare to retort. This was the way to go! How dare a warrior they had hired to guard their caravan talk down to him? They were the ones paying them! He huffed and turned back to appreciate the beauty that was still resting in Hou Dong’s arms. "Bring him into the house. Since we’re going to sell him, we should make sure that he’s in good condition." He got up and waited for Hou Dong to carry the youth but Hou Dong didn’t get up. The merchant frowned. "Didn’t you hear me, Mister Hou?"
Hou Dong furrowed his brows. "I did. But if you haven’t noticed already, he is severely dehydrated. He needs rest and water more than anything else. It’s better to let him stay here." Furthermore, he was only paid to guard the caravan, not to do any other tasks. This merchant shouldn’t get ahead of himself.
Mister Zai looked at the beauty’s face and the pond and finally nodded with another huff. "Very well then, you make sure that he doesn’t die. Such a beauty is only worth something if he still has at least one breath left to last a night." With that, he turned away and went into the house.
Hou Dong snorted and ignored him. There were much better things to focus on. Ah, would the beauty open his eyes before they left this oasis?
His men came over, crowding around him to take a look at the beauty.
"Ah, Master, that really is a beauty! Did I hear that right? The merchants want to claim him and sell him off?"
Another one snorted in response. "Even if they want to, they can forget about it! It was clearly our Master who found him! Why should we leave him to these old farts?"
"Right, right, why should we? Even if we leave him to them, we should at least have a taste for ourselves first, shouldn’t we?" The first man reached out only to find himself faced with Hou Dong’s glare. "Uh … I guess we won’t have a taste either?" He scratched his head and backed off, hurriedly hiding his hand behind his back and laughing awkwardly. "These merchants, really! So daring! Actually, the one saving him was our Master! Naturally, only our Master deserves to have such a beauty to himself!"
Hou Dong just looked at him. This guy! If he didn’t get anyone into trouble, he wouldn’t be happy, would he? He shook his head and turned back to the beauty in his arms. The youth still hadn’t woken up and Hou Dong couldn’t help but worry. Who knew how long he had been in the desert? Giving him that bit of water and moisturizing his skin might not be enough.
He turned around and waved at one of his men. "Duan Bao, you come here. Take a look at him and see how he’s doing." This time Hou Dong put the beauty down and shifted to the side. He wouldn’t give him to these merchants for even a moment and he would certainly take some precautions if the person who wanted to touch him was Sun Jin, that pervert, but otherwise, he trusted these men with his life.
Since he had already established that he was interested in this beauty and wouldn’t accept anyone else making a move on him, he didn’t feel that there was anything wrong with letting them get close. Especially not now when the beauty’s life might depend on it. Among all his men, Duan Bao was the one who knew the most about medicine. He wasn’t a full-fledged doctor either but it was the best they would get out here in the desert. Everything else would have to wait until they got to their destination.
Duan Bao knelt beside them and carefully picked up the beauty’s arm, feeling for his pulse. Intently focusing for a few minutes, his brows scrunched up.
Hou Dong couldn’t help but get anxious. Did this mean that things were looking bleak? Could it be the beauty wouldn’t even make it? He glanced at the beautiful face again and gulped. Yes, maybe he had gotten a little ahead of himself. He didn’t know if this person was alright. Even if he was, he didn’t know if the beauty would have any interest to get to know him any better. Why was he caring so much anyway? There were many beauties around. Somehow, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this person was special though. He had never seen anyone like him.
Maybe it really was as the merchant had said. Maybe an exotic beauty like that was able to make a man’s heart beat faster. Well, he was also a man. It wasn’t a wonder that he would react like this, was it?
Duan Bao finally put the beauty’s arm down and turned to his Master. "Well, he’s not doing too well. I guess he’s been in the desert for several days without food and maybe even without water. We should move him to the shade for now and keep him cool. He’ll also need some water but we have to make sure it won’t be too much. Otherwise, his body won’t be able to take it in his current condition."
Hou Dong raised his brows. "That’s all?"
Duan Bao shrugged his shoulders. "That’s all. At least that’s all I can think of. I’m not a doctor." He got up and went away while shaking his head. Why did their Master always forget about that? If he wanted somebody who could answer that kind of question, he would need to get a real doctor! Furthermore, he had never been in the desert before. How would he know how to deal with such things?
He did go to search for a big leaf though. Hadn’t he said to keep the beauty cool? Well, somebody would need to arrange for a breeze then. Otherwise, there was no way to keep cool in the desert. Well, here in the oasis, it was a little better but still not ideal. Ah, come to think of it, they probably shouldn’t let him lie on the ground either. The sand should be unbearably hot.
Ah, their Master had really picked the perfect place to find such a person. But, well, it was still good. At the very least, they might not get into trouble again just because their Master got the glorious idea to hunt for some young man in the next city. Just how many families had they pissed off like that already? If the beauty managed to hold his attention, then they would have one less worry. Ah, keeping that person alive was the most important task now!
Duan Bao finally found what he was looking for and plucked a big leaf off one of the palm trees, carrying it back to the side of the pond. His Master was still sitting there foolishly, the beauty already pressed up against his body again.
Duan Bao sighed. "Alright, just move him over to the tree there. It’s not like there’s a lot of shade around even here. And I guess it’s cooler by the side of the pond anyway." He motioned at the tree and handed the leaf to Sun Jin at the same time. "Here, you take this and fan him."
Sun Jin looked at the leaf and then up at Duan Bao. "What?"
Duan Bao shook his hand as if waving the leaf. "Fan! Didn’t I say he had to be kept cool? Do you feel any breeze here? No? Then go ahead and fan!" He harrumphed and walked away to search for some bandages that he kept in the bag tied to his horse’s saddle. He brought them back and handed them to one of the other guys. "Put them in the water and then wring them out. They can be put on his skin to cool it down a bit. We’ll see if it helps."
The other man nodded and went to do as he was told. Meanwhile, Hou Dong had shifted the beauty into the shade below the tree. He still didn’t let him out of his arms though. He could only hope that this would be enough. And then, he would somehow need to show the stupid merchants that there was no way they would get this person. In the worst case, he’d really have to ditch them somewhere in the desert and accept that they wouldn’t get any pay for this mission. Well, he didn’t mind but who knew if his men would be alright with this?
Hou Dong couldn’t help but look at them. He could tell that all of them were dissatisfied with the current mission. None of them wanted to go on. Well, he couldn’t blame them. This wasn’t the kind of mission they were used to doing. Escorting some merchants would normally be beneath them. They had only agreed because of the circumstances. Now that the circumstances had turned out to be different from what they had thought, his men were naturally angry.
He could understand. He had at least found a beauty now. But what had his men to show for? The pay they had been promised wasn’t enough to make up for the hardships they had had to suffer even remotely. So, he couldn’t expect them to just put up with this, could he? Even if they finished the mission and he gave his part of the remuneration to them, it still wouldn’t be enough to make up for much.
Hou Dong sighed and brushed the beauty’s hair to the back. He would definitely take him home. That was his reward for the mission. As for the others, he would figure something out. "Let’s wait until he wakes up. After that, I’ll talk to those merchants again. I definitely won’t let you go home with empty hands."
His men nodded. Even though they had stuck with the merchants after accepting the mission, that didn’t mean they were happy. If not because they were worried about their Master’s reputation, they would’ve made trouble way sooner. Hearing that their Master was finally willing to go and teach those bastards a lesson made them inwardly rub their hands in glee. Those guys deserved that. Nobody could tell them whatever they wanted and expect them to put up with it.
Well, it seemed they still needed to wait for the beauty to wake up.
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