Apocalypse: I'm the Landlady of the Refuge

Ji Wanwan glanced sideways at Wang Youde, "Brother Wang, what do you think? Should we let him off?"

Being called "Brother Wang" sent a shiver down Wang Youde’s spine.

He hurriedly raised his hand to beg for mercy, "My lord, please don’t call me that, just Xiao Dezi will do! As for whether to spare this person, that still depends on your mood!"

"Pfft..." Ji Wanwan couldn’t help laughing, "Xiao Dezi..."

After one look in his eyes, she knew he was a fellow comedian!

"Depends on my mood, huh..." Ji Wanwan stroked her chin, lowering her gaze to the man on the ground and feigning deep thought with a furrowed brow.

The man immediately changed tactics, kowtowing frantically to Ji Wanwan, "My lord, I was blind and didn’t recognize Mount Tai, I bullied your people, I’m guilty! I deserve punishment, but please spare my dog’s life!"

Ji Wanwan’s eyebrows rose, "Your punishment is to run three laps around the base, barking like a dog while you run, and after that, rebuild this building—by yourself, without anyone helping you, understand?"

The man nodded frantically, "I understand, understand, understand!"

Thus, at dusk that day, at dinner time.

"Woof woof woof... woof woof woof woof..."

The clear sound of dog barks spread within the base, drawing sideways glances from many people.

"Geez, has Old Zhao lost his mind?"

"Wow, has he evolved into a zombie dog?"

"Mommy, the doggie has become a spirit!"

"Isn’t it, why isn’t the Guard Team doing anything about it?"

"Does this thing bite? Should we stay away?"

"..."

Upon hearing these discussions, Wang Youde’s mouth corners were visibly twitching with joy.

Ji Wanwan walked beside him, "Happy now?"

Wang Youde subconsciously nodded, but quickly realized what he was doing and tried to cover it up with a head shake, "What does the lord mean?"

Ji Wanwan was helpless in face of this man who was being coy and pretending to be clueless, "Do you feel a bit better seeing Zhao Shenghe so embarrassed?"

Wang Youde’s eyelashes quivered.

To say he wasn’t happy would be a lie, but he wasn’t particularly happy either. After all, he had been bullied for so long, and there were more bullies than just Zhao Shenghe. But seeing Zhao Shenghe make a fool of himself in such an outlandish way, Wang Youde still found it amusing.

He exhaled softly, "Naturally, there is."

Ji Wanwan pursed her lips, "Now reconsider, do you want to take on missions with me?"

Wang Youde opened his mouth, complicated emotions swirling in his eyes.

After a moment, he let out a laugh and gave a firm and confident answer, "I do!"

Ji Wanwan chuckled, her eyes and brows curving with amusement.

...

That night, Zhao Shenghe returned to the dormitory with a disheveled appearance, immediately facing the questioning gaze of his wife.

He recounted his frustrations with difficulty, having had to keep his head low in the base for many days, even fearing to go to the cafeteria to eat.

The next day, a rumor quietly spread throughout the base—

Wang Youde was the lord’s man.

Consequently, wherever Wang Youde went during that time, he received a great deal of attention. Most of those gazes were filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment, yet they feigned respect, trying to cozy up to him.

This drastic change from his previous life was more than Wang Youde could bear.

Fortunately, since he had started going on missions with the lord, his points had soared, and he immediately applied to the base to live alone.

During the same period, Zhou Kai, Xu Siming, Wen Yuheng, and Ji Xing also couldn’t escape hearing those rumors and gossip.

Ji Xing didn’t mind it too much, after all, this was his own sister.

Even though there were many handsome men around his sister, one more Wang Youde didn’t make a difference, and one less Wang Youde wouldn’t matter either.

If it were anyone else, he would have to call her a flirt, but when it came to his sister, he could only say that she had charm, and he was proud of it!

But Xu Siming and Zhou Kai didn’t feel the same way.

Where did this guy come from?

When did he get so close to Wanwan behind their backs?

Damn!

They had been careless again!

As a result, in the past few days, Xu Siming and Zhou Kai noticeably started to cling more.

Especially Xu Siming.

Zhou Kai had always lived a pampered life, lifted on a pedestal by people, and was not adept at lower himself to rely on others, so most of the time he used official business as an excuse to talk more with Ji Wanwan.

On the other hand, Xu Siming was different, having grown up in a warm family, he was more adept in expressing his emotions, always managing to infiltrate into Ji Wanwan’s life like a gentle, unnoticeable spring rain, closing the distance between them.

Besides them, Wen Yuheng had another mindset entirely.

Each time he saw various men surrounding Ji Wanwan, he would feel a stifling sensation inside, unable to define the feeling, but it inexplicably made him feel lost.

Every time he wanted to get closer to Ji Wanwan, he would be reminded of Hu Die, who was always by his side like a shadow.

After the battle against the Baize Union, Hu Die gradually pulled herself out of that despairing determination to die and became willing to contribute to the base’s construction, earning points to survive properly.

Seeing such a transformation in Hu Die, he felt relieved inside.

He had thought that Hu Die would have her own life and slowly get better, but in reality, it seemed as if he was the only person left in Hu Die’s world.

Her eyes, her heart, were all filled with him, she would seek him out after completing her tasks each day, wishing to stay together 24 hours a day, and sometimes, like a diligent housewife, she would manage the household and take care of Xiao Lu.

He was grateful but felt suffocated and oppressed.

This feeling was like being trapped in a soft, invisible net; it wasn’t overtly painful, but it tormented him greatly.

He had tried, both blatantly and subtly, to encourage Hu Die to live her own life, but Hu Die would pretend not to understand and would still show up in front of him the next day.

He understood that Hu Die did get it, her eyes showing the pain and loss that she could not hide, but he didn’t understand why, knowing the pain, she still stubbornly deceived herself.

Xiao Lu told him that he was now the only reason Hu Die kept living, and if one day Hu Die truly gave up on him, it would mean she had also given up on the only reason she had to go on living.

He empathized with Hu Die but didn’t know how to face her, just as he now longed to get closer to Ji Wanwan but felt he was unworthy, swinging indecisively.

Hurting Hu Die was not his intention, but the harm was done, and he couldn’t just neglect her.

Yet, approaching Ji Wanwan with such a burden in his heart was ultimately unfair to Ji Wanwan.

Wen Yuheng’s mind was in turmoil.

Beside him, Hu Die transferred the meat from her bowl into his, obedient and docile, "Brother Wen, if you don’t eat now, the food will get cold."

Wen Yuheng’s eyelashes trembled as he withdrew his thoughts from the fade figure of Ji Wanwan.

Looking at the pile of meat in his bowl, his chest ached, "Miss Butterfly, you need nutrients too, from now on, don’t give all your meat to me."

Hu Die’s eyes dimmed, she lowered her head and remained silent, quietly shoveling rice into her mouth.

It was this kind of feigned ignorance again, Wen Yuheng felt a weight on his heart and sighed silently. He looked up in search of that figure, only to discover that the lady had already vanished...