With a single strike, Lin Xiazhi knocked Chen Feicai unconscious, then tossed him aside in disgust.
She released Naidou from her space and carefully called out its name.
“Naidou!”
“Woof~”
Hearing its master’s voice, Naidou sprang to its feet instantly. But the moment it saw the unfamiliar face before it, it immediately lowered its body into an attack stance.
“It’s me, Naidou!”
Lin Xiazhi clapped her hands twice, a gesture they often used when interacting with each other.
“Whine?”
Naidou let out a puzzled sound. The voice was clearly its master’s, but the person looked completely different.
“Sigh.”
Lin Xiazhi felt helpless. She took out a Bonebreaker treat and held it up.
“Even if you don’t recognize me, you should recognize the space and this treat, right? From now on, I can only meet you with this face. You’ll have to get used to it. Just pretend I had full-body plastic surgery, okay?”
“Woof! Woof!”
Naidou suddenly barked twice and lunged at her excitedly, its tail wagging furiously.
“Hahaha!”
Lin Xiazhi laughed and wrapped her arms around the dog.
“It’s so good to have you by my side. We haven’t seen each other in such a long time. I missed you so much.”
“Woof woof!”
Naidou affectionately licked her cheek. It had missed her too.
Suddenly, its nose caught a strong scent of blood.
Its spine stiffened at once.
With a bloodthirsty gleam in its eyes, it locked onto the figure lying not far away and bared its sharp teeth, ready to charge.
“Woof!”
Lin Xiazhi grabbed the collar around its neck and soothed it.
“Be good. You can’t eat him.”
“Awoo~”
Naidou licked its lips reluctantly, then obediently plopped back down on its rear, though its titanium-alloy dog eyes remained fixed on Chen Feicai.
“You have no idea what I went through after coming here…”
Holding Naidou in her arms, Lin Xiazhi poured out all her grievances.
Naidou listened patiently the entire time.
Only after the moon had climbed directly overhead did she finally let go of the dog and hoist the unconscious Chen Feicai onto her shoulder to continue her journey.
“You can walk with me for a while, but once we enter town, I’ll have to put you back in the space. Other people can’t see you. Understand, Naidou?”
“Whine~”
Naidou looked aggrieved and rubbed against her leg.
Lin Xiazhi patted its head fondly.
“Once we leave Maple Leaf Village behind, you can follow me the whole way.”
Naidou silently sighed and sneezed all over her hand.
“…”
Half an hour later, the woman and dog finally arrived at Fanghe Town.
It was almost midnight, yet constables were patrolling outside the town gates.
The security was so strict that Lin Xiazhi almost felt as if an enemy army were stationed less than a hundred miles away.
She wondered whether she could slip inside without trouble.
“Naidou, this is as far as you go.”
Before the dog could respond, she sent it back into the space.
The space was enormous, seemingly without boundaries.
Not only could it store items and grow crops, but it also functioned as a marketplace where precious treasures or money could be exchanged for all kinds of goods and medicine.
The medicines obtained through the space were more than ten times stronger than ordinary ones.
Even a small wound could heal completely within half a day.
Once she settled down properly, perhaps she could return to her old profession and become the greatest miracle doctor under heaven.
Haha!
Pulling her thoughts back to reality, Lin Xiazhi quickly hoisted Chen Feicai onto her back and ran toward the town gate.
She was immediately stopped by two constables.
“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? No one is allowed into town after midnight. Don’t you know that?”
Lin Xiazhi’s heart sank.
She forced a flattering smile onto her face.
“Please show some mercy, Officers. My husband injured his leg suddenly. We must enter town to find a doctor.”
“He’s really injured?”
“Both of his knees are broken.”
One of the constables clearly didn’t believe her.
He walked over, lifted Chen Feicai’s robe, and pressed hard against his knees.
“AHHH! It hurts!”
Chen Feicai had still been unconscious, but the pain woke him up instantly.
A second later, he fainted again.
“They’re really broken.”
The constable withdrew his hand with a look of disgust and waved her through.
“Go on. Just this once.”
Relief flooded Lin Xiazhi’s face.
She bowed repeatedly.
“Thank you, Officer. Thank you so much!”
“Enough already. What bad luck. Get moving!”
“Yes, yes, right away!”
Lin Xiazhi hurried into town.
Soon she discovered that constables were patrolling the streets as well.
To avoid attracting suspicion, she continued carrying Chen Feicai on her back while heading west.
“Number Twenty-Eight…”
“Found it!”
A heavy lock hung from the gate.
Lin Xiazhi dumped Chen Feicai onto the ground, pulled out a hammer, and smashed the lock.
It split apart with surprising ease.
She pushed open the door, dragged Chen Feicai inside, tossed him into a corner, and shut the door behind her.
“He’s as heavy as a dead pig. I’m exhausted!”
Sweating profusely, she rubbed her aching shoulders while searching for candles.
To her surprise, the candles were sitting right on the table.
She lit one with a lighter.
The entire room instantly brightened.
Looking up, she noticed a teapot nearby.
Without hesitation, she grabbed it and drank deeply.
“Ah! That feels so much better.”
After setting down the teapot, she finally took a good look around the house.
It was a simple two-bedroom home with a main hall.
Aside from a table and chairs, the hall was completely empty.
Still, the place was fairly spacious.
It should be worth a decent amount if sold.
Holding a flashlight, she entered the bedroom.
Other than a large wooden chest beside the bed, the room was empty.
There wasn’t even any need to use her x-ray scanning ability.
Opening the chest, she found men’s and women’s clothing inside.
She selected a blue dress and changed into it, then stored the remaining clothes inside her space.
At the bottom lay a black cloth bag.
Thinking of the important business she had tomorrow, she took out a set of men’s clothing and placed it on the bed.
Opening the black bag, she found exactly what she expected.
Inside were a slave contract and a marriage certificate.
There were also two property deeds.
One belonged to Maple Leaf Village.
The other belonged to this house.
Wang Chuntao had handed over her entire fortune to Chen Feicai. She had probably intended to sell everything and follow him to the capital.
Lin Xiazhi snorted.
After tearing up the slave contract, she carefully stored the marriage certificate and property deeds in her space.
Tomorrow she would go to the government office, dissolve the marriage, and ask about current property prices.
As she stepped out of the bedroom, she suddenly felt a strange warmth spreading through her body.
The heat originated in her lower abdomen and rapidly surged upward.
Even if she’d never eaten pork, she’d certainly seen pigs run.
She instantly realized what was happening.
“Damn it, I’ve been drugged!”
There was something wrong with the tea.
Lin Xiazhi rushed back into the main hall and picked up the teapot, which still contained nearly half its contents.
She sniffed it carefully but detected no unusual smell.
Yet tonight she had only drunk…
The heat intensified.
Staring at the culprit lying on the floor, Lin Xiazhi’s anger erupted.
As expected, he was no gentleman.
Putting drugs into tea, he must have been planning to invite Zhao Xiuxiu over and force things to happen between them.
He looked like a refined scholar, but underneath he was nothing more than a sanctimonious hypocrite.
“Hmph. Then I’ll help make your wish come true.”
Carrying the teapot, Lin Xiazhi walked over to Chen Feicai.
She pried open his mouth and poured the remaining tea straight down his throat.
“Serves you right for being such a bastard!”
“Mmm…”
Unable to breathe properly, Chen Feicai slowly regained consciousness.
At the same time, the burning heat swept through Lin Xiazhi’s body even more fiercely.
She trembled involuntarily.
A deep crimson flush instantly spread across her cheeks.
What the hell was this drug?
Why was it so powerful?
“Clang!”
She threw the teapot aside and staggered toward the door.
This couldn’t continue.
She needed to get rid of the heat as quickly as possible.
A male brothel!
She needed to find a male brothel!
After wandering along the streets for some time, she couldn’t find a single pleasure house of that sort.
The entire street was deserted.
Even the patrolling constables had vanished.
The drug’s effects grew increasingly overwhelming.
Not only was her head spinning, but even her vision had begun to blur.
Without realizing it, she wandered into a secluded bamboo grove.
Just then, a tall figure slowly emerged from the moonlit shadows among the bamboo.
Something about his movements seemed odd.
His left leg carried a noticeable limp.