Still groggy from waking up after a night of heavy drinking, Shen Tang's mind wasn't quite working right. So she didn't notice one detail Lin Feng had mentioned earlier: if she was the one who had saved Lin Feng, why were the two of them in a bandit stronghold?
When Shen Tang saw what lay outside the earthen house, she understood.
There were dozens of people outside...
No, well over a hundred!
Men and women, young and old, healthy and disabled.
And some fifty boxes, big and small.
Just from the color and grain of the wood, she could tell they were made of fine materials.
The whole group was crouched in the sandy, pockmarked clearing outside the house, baking in the sun, sweat pouring off them. They didn't dare move, and every face wore the same look of terror, as if stamped from a single mold. Shen Tang recognized the source of their fear.
Wasn't it Gongshu Wu, Zhai Le, "Guiding NPC" Qi Shan, and Chu Yao, who had taken over Qi Shan's shift? A whole gang of villains?
Shen Tang opened her mouth, unsure what to ask.
She managed, "What are you... doing?"
"Wu Lang's awake?" Chu Yao turned around, smiling benevolently. His gaze held a touch of the "fondness" one might show a junior. "Does your head still hurt?"
Shen Tang felt an inexplicable chill.
"No, it doesn't."
Chu Yao's smile was just like usual, but today he seemed especially... especially warm, delighted, happy? She didn't know what to call it. But under his gaze, she inexplicably felt as if someone had tossed her into an ice cellar, the cold wrapped around her and chilling the back of her neck...
Was she imagining it???
"Could you stop smiling like that? It's creeping me out..."
Chu Yao's smile