Apocalypse: Grinding EXP through Hunting

Chapter 273: Chapter 234: A Village Ruled by Women (2)

This was a far cry from what Lin Shi had imagined.

She didn’t give up. First, she observed for a while, then began to craft an image for herself.

She disguised herself as a Female Knight from a Martial Arts Family.

And she gave Zhao Zhe, who tried to get close to her, the cold shoulder.

Even though she often appeared in the same taverns and restaurants as him, she would completely ignore him.

When Zhao Zhe got some crooked ideas, she sensed it in advance and left.

When she learned he had come to Ganshan City, Lin Shi went to Ganshan City as well.

In Ganshan City, she became an apprentice to learn Martial Arts and "coincidentally" ran into Zhao Zhe near the Black Water Gang’s territory.

Zhao Zhe tried to win her over by throwing money, Martial Arts Secret Manuals, and resources at her, but she ignored him.

After that, he became even more obsessed and pursued her relentlessly for two years.

Only then did Lin Shi "finally allow herself to be moved" and state her condition: "We can only be together if we get married."

At this point, Lin Shi seemed a little proud of herself.

She wanted to smile, but she held it back.

She remembered her current predicament.

It was all thanks to Zhao Zhe and this marriage.

The two Extraordinary members from the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall looked surprised. They hadn’t expected the woman before them to be so calculating.

Lin Shi enjoyed this kind of attention, but when her gaze shifted, she saw Shui Yun shaking her head slightly, her eyes filled with disdain.

She looked down on Lin Shi, and Lin Shi, in turn, had a problem with this "young lady."

Lin Shi said, "Not everyone has a good upbringing. For children from ordinary families like us, just surviving takes everything we have! I was eighteen before I rode in a carriage for the first time. But some people are born with dozens, even hundreds of them!"

’She’s complaining about how unfair fate is,’ Tang Wen thought.

’But it all depends on who you compare yourself to.’

’Comparing yourself to those above, it seems like you have a bad lot in life.’

’But looking down, how many starving people would envy your looks and background?’

Understanding her implication, Shui Yun said, "Are you trying to say that compared to me, your lot in life is bad?"

The others remained silent.

Lin Shi, as if she had nothing left to lose, retorted, "Yes! If I were you, I could do better. At the very least, I wouldn’t be any worse."

A mocking expression appeared on Shui Yun’s face.

"You’re not old, but you don’t train diligently."

"After marrying into the Zhao Mansion, you barely trained hard at all, yet you became a Peak Martial Artist and touched the threshold of the Extraordinary realm."

"This shows your Talent in Martial Arts is quite good, better than at least ninety percent of people."

"Back then, if you had just joined any of the five major powers and put the effort you spent seducing men into your Martial Arts Training, you’d probably be an Extraordinary by now!"

"Do you know how stupid you’ve been?!"

Tang Wen smiled.

Lin Shi was speechless.

Shui Yun said, "Enough with this nonsense! Tell us about you, your husband, and the Huang Family."

"Zhao Zhe has always been close with the Huang Family. His visit today was just a routine social call to maintain their relationship."

"How much do you know about the person in the basement?"

Lin Shi thought for a moment, then spoke in a reminiscent tone.

"I don’t know exactly how it started. The secret room in the basement has always been there."

"It existed before I married into the family."

"At first, I didn’t know he was from the Huang Family."

"Zhao Zhe told me to call that person ’Master Feng’ and said he was a master he had recruited."

"Later, as I learned more and was around longer, I realized there was something strange about this person’s identity."

"I built this secret room for myself because someone was living in the basement, and I didn’t feel safe in my own bedroom at all."

The two from the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall exchanged a glance. The Female Extraordinary asked, "He just lived in the basement the whole time?"

"No, of course not. A Sixth-Grade Master like him comes and goes like a ghost. I rarely saw him. Oh, right, he must have some kind of physical defect. I never saw Zhao Zhe arrange any women for him."

The male Extraordinary from the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall nodded. "It’s rumored that when Huang the Seventeenth Lang was escaping back then, his ’roots’ were injured. The kind of injury that’s very... thorough."

’So that’s what happened. It all adds up.’

Lin Shi seemed dazed for a moment, then recounted everything she knew.

"Sirs, Zhao Zhe has confessed."

A Vice Hall Master from the Seven Kills Hall came in to report.

"What did he say?" the two from the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall asked, their faces full of concern.

"It’s basically confirmed that Zhao Zhe and Lin Shi have nothing to do with this incident. It was likely the work of Huang the Seventeenth Lang alone."

Upon hearing this, the two from the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall immediately took their leave.

Tang Wen looked at Lin Shi and sighed. "You really do have a bad lot in life."

Panicked, Lin Shi grabbed his hand. "I have nothing to do with this!"

"Your husband concealed someone he shouldn’t have. He must bear the responsibility for that." Tang Wen pulled his hand back and turned away crisply.

"Keep her confined here for now," Shui Yun ordered.

From then on, Lin Shi was sealed away in this small courtyard where the maids lived.

The Black Water Gang had to take responsibility for this incident.

Zhao Zhe’s Martial Arts were crippled, and he was confined in the courtyard with Lin Shi.

They were not allowed to come and go as they pleased, and their food was dosed with Soft Fragrance Powder.

Once ingested, Soft Fragrance Powder would leave even an Extraordinary completely drained of strength, unable to concentrate, and incapable of mustering their proper combat abilities.

Next, the Black Water Gang dispatched five Sixth-Grade masters and fifteen Extraordinary experts to assist the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall in a massive search for any trace of Huang the Seventeenth Lang.

This was tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack.

But the Black Water Gang couldn’t refuse. They couldn’t produce the Purple Pearl Honey as compensation.

And the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall wasn’t lacking in any other resources.

They even looked down on Fifth Grade Blood Marrow. In short, they demanded manpower to help, insisting that the item must be recovered.

With four Fifth-Grade Powerhouses blocking his door, Shui Qianjun had no choice but to agree.

However, this left the Black Water Gang somewhat short-staffed.

Plus, with the Eldest Young Master’s fall, a power vacuum had formed in the upper echelons.

Tang Wen also had to step up and take on more duties.

’Who would have thought that stealing some Purple Pearl Honey would have such a huge impact?’

The inspections in and out of the city were strict, so he didn’t dare move the honey out of the city.

Even his visits to the featherless Hummingbirds had to be done in secret.

Fortunately, the honey seemed to be much more important than the Hummingbirds.

The Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall was completely focused on searching for traces of Huang Shiqi inside and outside the city, and they hadn’t noticed at all that any Hummingbirds were missing.