Apocalypse: Grinding EXP through Hunting

"Well done, Commander Tang Wen!"

"Heard you killed Black Old Ghost?"

"Commander Tang Wen, we’ve got to raise a glass to you later!"

"That old bastard should’ve died ages ago! Well done, brother!"

"..."

The moment he stepped into the General’s Mansion, commanders he knew and those he didn’t all crowded around to greet him.

Tang Wen’s shoulders were thwacked again and again.

Each one of them had a heavy hand, and their excitement was palpable.

Tang Wen instinctively activated his Golden Bell Shield.

SLAP!

The one-armed Commander Zhang slapped him and exclaimed in surprise,

"Whoa! Kid, you’re built solid. Come on, tell your big bro how you killed that old bastard. You’ve finally avenged my arm for me!"

Commander Zhang’s arm had been severed by Black Old Ghost.

Meanwhile, Commander Qian Sanduo led a group to receive Bai You Ruo and her two companions.

After killing Black Old Ghost and rescuing the three women, Tang Wen had sent a Blood Crow back with a message.

The camp had known since early morning that the Miss Bai of Sanlian City had been rescued by him and would be visiting.

Qian Sanduo was a Trade Team Leader for long-distance caravans and had just been to Sanlian City last year.

Coupled with his years of experience as a traveling merchant, he was skilled at dealing with people and was considered the camp’s "diplomatic" commander.

He arranged for their lodging, Maids, and a feast of food and wine. He even had a female physician come to treat the three women’s injuries.

Once everyone else had left, only the three Female Martial Artists remained in the room.

"The people of this Flame Camp, they’re not half bad!"

The three women slumped onto their chairs. As they relaxed, a wave of aches and pains washed over their bodies.

"Miss, their Queen is a Gangwu Powerhouse. Do you think she can help us?"

A Queen-Level Powerhouse still acted as a significant Deterrence among the major powers of the Northwest.

Aside from the City Lord of Ganshan City, who was rumored to be above the Gangwu Realm, a first-rate power’s influence was determined by the number of Gangwu Realm experts it possessed.

Bai You Ruo said nothing, only sighed.

Seeing this, the other two women asked no more questions. They looked at the table laden with food, picked up a wine jug, and poured her a drink.

"Their Queen is in seclusion. For someone in the Gangwu Realm, seclusion can last from dozens of days to several months. We can’t wait that long."

"Miss, I was asking the Guards on the way here. They have three Generals—three Extraordinary-level warriors—and those two Sand Wolves! Right?"

’If the Queen is unavailable, an Extraordinary would also work.’

They had been ambushed on their way to Ganshan City, which meant someone had leaked their movements.

They had only managed to escape this far thanks to the cover of two Extraordinary Guards.

Even if they could return safely to Ganshan City now, it would be unwise for them to make another public appearance.

But the matter was critical, and time was of the essence.

There were things that they simply had to do.

After drowning their sorrows in two jugs of wine, the dozen or so dishes of meat and vegetables on the table were nearly finished.

Bai Ying, trying to lighten the mood, asked with a smile, "Miss, that Young Master Tang Wen is quite the genius, isn’t he! Are you getting any ideas?"

"Pah!"

Whether from the wine or something else, Bai You Ruo’s cheeks flushed red as she shot her a glare. "I think you’re the one who’s in heat, you little wench!"

"Hehe, in that case, maybe I’ll go offer him my pillow." Bai Ying winked, striking a seductive pose.

"Shoo, shoo! The man has a fiancée."

Bai Xue chimed in, "What’s a fiancée to be afraid of? Is she more charming than our Miss? You two have been chatting late into the night these past couple of days. Maybe you’ve already..."

"Bah! I ought to rip that mouth of yours!"

When men drink, the conversation always turns to women.

The reverse was also true; in fact, what women said after a few drinks was often even more explicit than the men.

The three women had endured a long, harrowing, life-or-death ordeal and desperately needed to blow off some steam.

The best way to do that was, first, through the affairs of men and women.

But Flame Camp clearly had no intention of providing that particular service.

The second was drinking!

The three women’s conversation kept circling back to Tang Wen, with Bai Xue and Bai Ying endlessly spinning little stories about their Miss and him:

"The other day, our Miss finished her bath and couldn’t wait to go find Tang Wen."

"So what?" Bai You Ruo shot back, annoyed. "The man just saved our lives. Don’t I need to thank him?"

"Oh yes, a need, a need, our Miss has a *need*... Hey, I meant a need to thank him! Look at you, getting all worked up! Our Miss is getting all worked up!"

"I saw it too! Miss’s clothes were in tatters, especially the huge tear under her ribs. Commander Tang Wen was sitting on the ground, and our Miss was standing. When he looked up... can you guess what he saw?"

The two women burst into wild laughter.

The stories came one after another. Miss Bai the Elder found herself wanting to hear them, yet she couldn’t keep the blush from her face, her heart pounding erratically.

’This is thrilling!’

This, too, was a way of letting off steam.

They downed jug after jug of sweet potato liquor.

Soon, five jugs of wine were empty. The three women helped each other up and collapsed onto the bed in the inner room.

While the three women were drinking their fill,

the General’s Mansion was also abuzz with activity. General Zhou had arranged several banquet tables.

Tang Wen had killed Black Old Ghost and captured three Martial Artists. From them, he had also learned that Black Blade was now crippled.

With this development, the Black Mountain forces had lost a limb, so to speak.

"Come! Let us raise our glasses and toast our very own Commander Tang Wen!" General Zhou stood, holding the first cup of wine.

Tang Wen rose and raised his cup to the crowd.

"To the hero of the hour!"

"If we ever destroy Black Mountain, Commander Tang Wen will deserve the highest honor!"

"That’s right. I never expected Black Mountain Camp to be so weak on the inside."

Everyone’s eyes were filled with admiration. The more they looked at Tang Wen, the more they liked what they saw.

Black Mountain was their old nemesis. Was there anyone present who didn’t share a blood feud with them?

Tang Wen hadn’t just struck a blow against the Black Mountain Battalion; he had also avenged their personal vendettas!

What excited them even more was the captives’ revelation that the Black Mountain Battalion was nowhere near as strong as it once was.

You see, a dark, dog-eat-dog power like Black Mountain Camp, which stopped at no evil, typically had a very poor ability to cultivate new talent.

The powerful would often suppress any promising new talent, or at best, treat them like dogs.

Unless it was their own son, no one wanted to see a new Martial Artist ascend to the Extraordinary level.

After all, the Black Mountain Battalion wasn’t some major power.

Their territory was only so large, and the spoils to be shared were finite.

Every new person who rose through the ranks meant one more person to split the profits with.

Why would the current rulers ever agree to that?

As the Black Mountain King grew older and more feeble, the camp had become darker and more conservative, with no future to speak of.

Then, against all odds, there was Black Blade, Black Old Ghost’s youngest son.

Unlike his brothers, who had wasted their lives away drinking and womanizing,

Black Blade was talented and ambitious.

Even the Black Mountain King had considered grooming him as a successor.

That was why he’d been sent to Five Families City.

Who would have thought he’d run straight into Tang Wen and end up even more thoroughly crippled...

The banquet continued.

As the man of the hour, Tang Wen was toasted by everyone in turn.

He had just returned from a major battle, and it was the perfect time to unwind.

He didn’t refuse a single one, clinking cups and downing them dry.

Cup after cup, he matched everyone drink for drink.

By deep midnight, he was dead drunk.

In the end, a Guard had to take him home in a horse-drawn carriage.

"’Drinking so much wine... I’ll never understand what’s so great about that spicy, choking stuff!

It’s even made from sweet potatoes. How can it be better than just eating the sweet potatoes?’"

Tangtang grumbled, dipping a towel into a basin of water.

She turned her head, and in the blink of an eye, she saw that Peach Blossoms, Xiaoliu, and Cui Lian had already helped her brother out of his outer coat and onto the bed.

Xiaoliu, quick on her feet, ran over and took the towel from her.

"Miss, it’s late. You should get some rest. Leave this to the three of us!"

The young maid puffed out her chest.

Tangtang eyed the three of them and warned, "No funny business. It’s not time for him to take you in yet! He has to become an Extraordinary first."

"We wouldn’t dare, we wouldn’t dare!" Xiaoliu waved her hands in fright.

Cui Lian, who was older, said, "Don’t worry, Miss. There won’t be any trouble."

Tangtang went back to her room. The three maids took turns wiping Tang Wen’s body, over and over again. A full hour passed before they finally left his room.

"’This is torture!’"

After they left, Tang Wen sat up and gulped down a pot of cold tea, barely managing to suppress the lustful fire in his belly.

The next morning, after a bowl of Maize porridge, Tang Wen went directly to the Royal Palace to enter seclusion, leaving Bai You Ruo and the others, who had come looking for him, to find an empty room.