Chapter 230

Zhao Chi was a little stunned.

Just now it had been so lively, and now that he had activated Affinity, she was leaving instead?

Was she teasing him?

Gu Qing seemed to sense his thoughts.

She walked lightly back again.

"Just being smitten with me isn't enough, you know. I'm quite greedy — I only need a little more, really just a little more, and the two of us can work hard together."

After saying that, she leaned down and pressed her lips to Zhao Chi's cheek.

Smooch!

"Good night, my lord."

Gu Qing twisted her slim waist and left, satisfied.

She left Zhao Chi with only the warm, soft touch on his cheek.

And a little bit of healing bodily fluid.

Zhao Chi was a bit dazed.

He had just thought tonight would be a sleepless one, but he hadn't expected Gu Qing to run off after getting her fill.

Are all women like this?

Zhao Chi rested for a while, until the system suddenly sent a flurry of urgent alert tones.

Beep!! Beep!! Beep!!

This was an emergency contact signal.

Zhao Chi immediately opened the system and saw it was a voice call from his clan cousin Zhao Huai. He quickly connected.

【Zhao Chi, get out here! Right now! People from District 7 are here. Hurry to the communal house to gather. Keep a low profile on the way! Don't clash with anyone! Come immediately!】

Zhao Chi was about to speak, but Zhao Huai hung up directly.

People from District 7? Isn't that the noble district? What are they doing here?

Zhao Chi had a bad premonition.

He immediately rushed out the door, gave Gu Qing — who was still overjoyed — a few quick instructions, and immediately returned to the Great World.

The scene before his eyes shifted, and in an instant he was back in the cramped little wooden cabin.

"Holy shit…"

The cabin was a mess.

Especially the bed and the cabinet — they had all been flipped over. From the look of it, the place had been invaded by bandits.

Zhao Chi quietly went to the door, listened in silence for a moment. There was no sound outside.

He pushed the door open and found several black-armored soldiers standing at the entrance.

The soldiers' armbands showed they were all from District 7.

The soldiers also spotted Zhao Chi.

"Come out! Go to your clan communal house immediately!"

Zhao Chi said nothing, and had no choice.

He silently walked toward the village interior.

The soldiers beside him all stared at him.

The further he walked into the village, the more District 7 soldiers there were.

When he reached the outside of the communal house, he saw a dozen or so slender, handsome men.

They all wore light golden armor, their faces calm and cold.

These were all nobles.

Zhao Chi didn't dare look too much. He only glanced once, then lowered his head and entered the communal house's great courtyard.

None of the soldiers beside him stopped him.

The courtyard was packed with people — all members of the Zhao clan, over a hundred of them with their families in tow.

Fortunately the courtyard was large enough to hold them all.

Clan Head Zhao Shizhang stood at the center of the courtyard, with the clan's elders and senior relatives gathered around him.

The uncles' generation stood in rows on either side, while those of Zhao Chi's generation and the younger ones were all at the back.

And all around the perimeter of the communal house courtyard stood black-armored soldiers from District 7, surrounding all the Zhao clan members in the middle.

Seven nobles stood before Zhao Shizhang.

They all looked down at the Zhao clan members with expressionless disdain, as if watching stones on the ground.

In contrast, the Zhao clan people —

All had their heads lowered; no one dared look at those seven nobles.

Zhao Chi silently walked to the back and stood among the crowd.

He quietly glanced left and right and found his cousins all nearby.

Everyone was extremely tense. A few of the younger ones had even wet their pants, standing in place trembling nonstop.

Zhao Chi looked at his cousins beside him with an inquiring gaze, but without exception they all gently shook their heads.

After another while, several dozen more people arrived in succession.

At this point Fourth Uncle Zhao Qiye said, "Clan Head, everyone's here."

Clan Head Zhao Shizhang nodded.

Then he said to the noble before him, "Your Highness Zhao Quan, all members of our Zhao clan are assembled. We respectfully await Your Highness's instructions."

The noble Zhao Quan wore a garment of gold thread, and looked to be no more than thirty years old.

He snorted at Zhao Shizhang, who was over eighty years old: "Let me remind you once—don't say 'we also share the surname Zhao' in front of me. Understand?"

Zhao Shizhang lowered his head: "Understood."

Zhao Quan gave a snort, then began to speak:

"I believe you've all heard the rumors lately. These past few days, some rebels have been roaming around River Valley Town.

"We've already confined them to this area, but they vanished.

"I don't know how they disappeared, but I do know someone must have hidden them.

"So we're going to conduct a full sweep of the entire River Valley Town. And I am in charge of the sweep of your Stream Village.

"You still have a chance to turn yourselves in now. If anyone's territory is harboring rebels, step forward right now.

"If no one confesses, I'll have people search one by one. If we find them ourselves, the result will be different.

"What the consequences are, you know in your own hearts.

"If we don't find them this time, and it's later discovered to be connected to you, that would be my dereliction of duty. If my superiors blame me, I can only bring your heads to answer for it. Do you understand?"

"Alright, is anyone stepping forward voluntarily?"

Zhao Quan and several nobles silently surveyed the entire Zhao clan.

No one stepped forward.

Zhao Quan gave a cold snort: "Fine—search them! Move!"

At the command, the surrounding soldiers surged forward.

Faint glows emanated from their hands as they roughly pressed them against the Zhao clansmen's bodies.

A few soldiers, upon seeing women, deliberately pressed their hands onto the women's chests.

This drew screams from several women.

Immediately after came the sounds of slaps and angry curses.

Of course, the slaps were directed at the women, and the curses were also coming from the soldiers.

Zhao Shizhang shouted loudly: "Everyone cooperate properly—don't move at all!"