This isn’t really an extra chapter of “Youyao”; it’s just that someone in the group asked about this background setting, so I fleshed out this story that only existed in my mind.

The head of the Wei Zhen Escort Agency is surnamed Yang, and everyone calls him Head Escort Yang.

Head Escort Yang is young and vigorous, with extraordinary skills. Unfortunately, he’s too good-looking, like a big girl, and can’t command the scene. Out of ten escort trips, eight were robbed.

Although Head Escort Yang could easily defeat the bandits single-handedly, having to fight them every time was quite annoying. What was even more frustrating was that with his looks, he had a 100% chance of being rescued by a hero during a damsel-in-distress situation.

So this time, when he was robbed again, a passing unemployed drifter named Shen Huaishan rushed over to save him.

After being rescued, Head Escort Yang cut down a lone bandit and sent him tumbling off a cliff, then turned around and started fighting Shen Huaishan.

Shen Huaishan, caught off guard, drew his sword to block and asked, “What are you doing?”

Head Escort Yang, his blade flashing like snow, replied, “Teaching you a lesson: don’t meddle in other people’s business!”

The two fought from day to night, and Shen Huaishan found it quite amusing.

Finally, Head Escort Yang realized that his opponent was holding back and, with a cold expression, stopped his attacks, saying, “I’m thirsty. How about we compete in drinking instead?”

Shen Huaishan replied, “I don’t have money for wine.”

Head Escort Yang rolled his eyes and silently paid. Only then did Shen Huaishan understand that this was a subtle way of offering an apology, which he accepted with a chuckle.

By the time they finished their drinking contest, no one remembered who won or lost. After sobering up, Shen Huaishan joined the Wei Zhen Escort Agency.

But Shen Huaishan had a fatal flaw: he had no sense of direction.

Head Escort Yang thought this was a small problem that could be fixed with more practice. However, the more Shen Huaishan got lost, the worse it became. On one occasion, he was two months late delivering an escort, and the employer thought he was dead. The agency members were burning paper money for him when he reappeared, explaining he had been circling around in the mountains.

After that incident, Head Escort Yang never let Shen Huaishan act alone again, always keeping him by his side. When they encountered bandits, he would push Shen Huaishan forward to make an appearance, avoiding the risk of not being intimidating enough himself.

Over time, the martial world started to think that Head Escort Yang looked like Shen Huaishan. As for Shen Huaishan’s name, no one remembered it.

Although Head Escort Yang never said anything, he kept this matter in his heart.

One time, while drinking, he asked, “Before you joined us, what were you planning to do?”

Shen Huaishan replied, “Planning? I had no plans. I had just finished my training and was traveling around for fun.”

Head Escort Yang remained silent for a while before slowly saying, “You’re so young, the world is vast, and you should go out and make a name for yourself.”

Shen Huaishan laughed and said, “What good is a reputation? I’m happy being an unknown nobody.”

Head Escort Yang frowned and scolded him, “A man should have ambition! With your skills, do you plan to be my second-in-command for life?”

Shen Huaishan, still smiling, replied, “Yes, that way, if I get lost, you can at least find me.”

Head Escort Yang: “…”

Everyone in the Wei Zhen Escort Agency knew that the big boss was beautiful but quick-tempered, while the second boss was skilled but unreliable. Though the two argued every day, sometimes even coming to blows, their relationship was solid.

Ten years passed, and the agency grew more powerful, its business expanding. However, the disputes between the two bosses increased.

Head Escort Yang hadn’t personally escorted a trip in a long time. He was focused on business, determined to secure the position of the top escort agency in the country, and planned to open more branches every year. Shen Huaishan, however, remained his laid-back self, only serious when it came to slacking off.

There were some newly appointed leaders in the agency who resented this second boss who seemed to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor. They secretly framed Shen Huaishan, pinning several gang conflicts and deaths on him.

Although Head Escort Yang resolved the situation, it inevitably sowed seeds of mistrust in his heart.

Head Escort Yang said, “Can’t you be more responsible and stop causing trouble for me?”

Shen Huaishan didn’t defend himself and let Head Escort Yang scold him for half a day. When Head Escort Yang became parched from all the yelling, he began looking around for water.

Shen Huaishan silently poured him a cup of tea and handed it over, asking, “Have you ever thought about taking a break, slowing down a bit?”

Head Escort Yang replied, “What do you mean by that?!”

Shen Huaishan said, “So many kids have joined us over the years, I’m afraid we don’t have the capacity to protect them all. If we get into conflicts with other forces, and they end up losing their lives for nothing…”

Head Escort Yang sneered, “If you’re so soft-hearted, you might as well stop following me and retire early.”

He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. But Head Escort Yang had never said a soft word in his life, and he looked at Shen Huaishan, wanting to say more but stopping himself.

Shen Huaishan, however, finally lost his patience. He slammed the teacup down and excused himself, returning to his room.

The two bosses fell out.

Although Shen Huaishan didn’t care about fame, he prided himself on being strong and didn’t respect Head Escort Yang, who was becoming more and more like a merchant. Seeing that Yang wouldn’t listen to reason, Shen Huaishan became increasingly indifferent and stopped giving him face.

The leaders in the agency were all cunning and observant. Seeing that the two bosses were at odds, they quietly took sides. Naturally, more people sided with the big boss, while fewer supported the second boss.

Shen Huaishan found himself quietly isolated.

He often thought of what Head Escort Yang had said about retiring early and felt exhausted. He wrote several resignation letters but tore them up himself—now that Head Escort Yang was surrounded by wolves, Shen Huaishan feared that if he left, Yang would fall into a trap.

Sometimes, the court would entrust funds to the martial world for transport when it wasn’t convenient to handle openly. That year, the Wei Zhen Escort Agency took on a special job, and the people behind it specifically requested that Head Escort Yang personally escort the goods.

It was a great opportunity to earn merit. Head Escort Yang scanned his men and finally settled his gaze on Shen Huaishan, saying, “You come with me.”

Head Escort Yang wanted to show goodwill, but his subordinates were intent on driving a wedge between them.

Halfway through the escort, on a rainy night, two boxes of goods went missing while Shen Huaishan was on watch.

That night, Shen Huaishan detected a strange scent and, just as he grew alert, he involuntarily fell asleep. When he woke up, he found several empty wine jars scattered around him.

In front of everyone, Head Escort Yang flew into a rage: “Shen Huaishan, don’t think I won’t punish you!”

Shen Huaishan stood at the center of attention, unable to explain himself, and gave up trying. He looked at Head Escort Yang tiredly and said softly, “Take care of yourself.”

With that, he removed the sword from his waist and turned to leave.

Head Escort Yang blurted out, “Where are you going?”

Shen Huaishan walked into the rain and said, “The world is vast. I’m going to make a name for myself.”

Head Escort Yang choked up. It wasn’t until Shen Huaishan was almost out of sight that he weakly called out, “This is the mountains; you’ll get lost—”

Shen Huaishan paused, smiled, and asked, “If I get lost, will you come to find me?”

Head Escort Yang didn’t answer.

Shen Huaishan didn’t stop again and kept walking.

As expected, he got lost. But with no place to go, it didn’t matter where he ended up. He let himself wander, turning this way and that, straying further and further from his path.

After wandering in the mountains for seven days, eating wild fruit and game, he finally crossed over a mountain ridge and came across a field.

Shen Huaishan knocked on a farmhouse door to ask for water. He overheard two farmers chatting: “Hey, there was a big landslide in the mountains the other day. They say many people died.”

“Yes, a caravan passed by yesterday, with white cloth hanging on the wagons…”

Shen Huaishan felt a chill in his heart, and a sense of foreboding rose within him.

He begged the farmers to take him to the landslide site. From a distance, he saw the horse Head Escort Yang

had ridden, now stripped of its saddle, pacing on the open ground.

Shen Huaishan ran over madly and just happened to see a pair of legs sticking out from the rubble. He dug through the dirt and stones with his hands, but it wasn’t the familiar face he expected.

So he kept digging and digging, even when the farmers gathered around and advised him, “The dead are buried deep down. You can’t dig them out!”

Shen Huaishan didn’t listen. He set up a temporary shelter nearby and spent every day digging.

A month passed before he finally uncovered a half-decomposed body.

It turned out that no matter how good-looking a person was, they all looked the same once buried.

Shen Huaishan stared blankly for half a day, then borrowed a cart, loaded the body onto it, and slowly began to leave the mountains.

Shen Huaishan’s sense of direction was legendary. Though he had entered the mountains from the fields, he exited by a wine shop.

The wine shop owner recognized his tattered escort outfit and said, “Ah, your agency rested here after coming down from the mountains that day. When I served them wine, I mentioned that the rain was getting heavier, and that there had been two landslides on the west side this year, likely another to come… Then one of them suddenly jumped up and ran back into the mountains… I mean, who rushes toward a landslide?… Hey, brother, what’s wrong with you?”

The Wei Zhen Escort Agency remained renowned, but Head Escort Yang was gone, as was the unremarkable Shen Huaishan.

Years later, there was a clueless driver who always got lost and once gave Xie Liang a ride. 

As dawn approached, the forest gradually brightened, and the two figures could no longer hide as they fled. The pursuers were exhausted and panting, while Shen Huaishan had sustained several injuries, causing his pace to slow down until he finally came to a stop.

Xie Liang struggled to get off Shen Huaishan’s back. His waist wound had soaked half of his body in blood, and he swayed unsteadily as he said, “Senior, this way, neither of us will escape. I have to pay for my life as a debt; you don’t have to risk yours…”

Shen Huaishan replied, “My life should have been repaid long ago.”

Xie Liang asked in confusion, “Repaid to whom?”

Shen Huaishan responded, “To a pretty boy.”

Shen Huaishan continued, “He was good-looking, but not as skilled as I was—just a little better at finding his way. He asked me to follow him, and I was content to stay by his side as an unknown nobody. But I kept arguing with him, and during one escort mission, we had a falling out and went our separate ways.”

As death loomed, Shen Huaishan became more talkative, speaking intermittently: “As it turned out, I remembered the wrong direction and was lost for three days before finding my way. It was only then that I learned he encountered a landslide while searching for me.”

Xie Liang seemed to understand, but then the sound of footsteps grew louder as the pursuers finally surrounded them, their eyes glinting with vengeful bloodlust. Their ammunition had run out, and they drew their swords, the blades gleaming with a poisonous green hue.

Shen Huaishan placed a palm on Xie Liang’s back, transferring a burst of energy into him, and softly said, “I can’t help but wonder, if I had chosen the right path back then, even if I couldn’t save him in time, at least…”

The lead pursuer shouted and charged with his blade raised.

Shen Huaishan continued, “At least I could have told him one thing.”

Shen Huaishan pushed Xie Liang, causing him to stumble a few steps, and suddenly, Xie Liang realized they had unknowingly reached the foot of the mountain.

Shen Huaishan turned his back and calmly said, “Go find the wolf. Once you find it, ride it and escape.”

The pursuers surged forward, their poisoned blades aiming for Shen Huaishan. Xie Liang quickly drew his sword and threw it to Shen Huaishan, shouting, “Senior!”

Shen Huaishan caught the sword and commanded, “Get out of here.”