Chapter 136: Information About Fang Wen

Fang Wen’s room was 1801 in the building across the way.

Lin Huang easily obtained the room number and headed toward the building. Although it wasn't official free time, trainees were permitted to move around the residential area during the training period, provided they did not leave the premises.

The residential building lacked an elevator, but climbing to the eighteenth floor didn't cost Lin Huang much effort. Upon reaching the corridor, he saw that the door to Fang Wen’s room was ajar.

"Good, he's in."

Just as Lin Huang was about to step forward, he heard the sounds of a woman coming from inside—no, not just one, but two women’s voices echoing one after another. Lin Huang hadn't expected to stumble upon such an inappropriate scene so early in the morning.

"Who’s there?!" Just as Lin Huang turned to leave, a low shout came from the room.

Fang Wen, wrapped in a white bathrobe, bolted out of the room. Lin Huang looked back with an awkward expression and waved at him. "Um, good morning..."

"Lin Huang?" Fang Wen hadn't expected to see him. Realizing Lin Huang must have come for a reason, he said, "Wait a moment, let me tidy up."

"No need, you carry on. I can come back tomorrow," Lin Huang said, feeling it was inappropriate to disturb someone’s private affairs.

"It’s fine, my business can wait. Your matter is more important. Give me two or three minutes." With that, Fang Wen turned and ducked back inside.

A moment later, two tall, slender women in pajamas jogged out and headed downstairs. Fang Wen soon followed, dressed in a formal suit. He nodded to Lin Huang. "All set. Come in."

As Lin Huang reached the doorway, he was stunned by the size and decor of the room. "Why is your room so big? And so luxurious?!"

"I pulled some strings to have it renovated. If you have such needs, I believe the steward would be willing to arrange it for you as well." Fang Wen knew full well that Lin Huang had stronger backing than he did; the attitude of the scarred man earlier was proof enough of that.

"No thanks, I won't be staying long anyway," Lin Huang replied, shaking his head as he followed Fang Wen inside.

Fang Wen’s room consisted of a bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen—four areas in total—but it occupied the space of at least ten standard rooms, more than ten times the size of Lin Huang’s quarters. Once inside, the air in the living room was still heavy with the lingering scent of the perfume worn by the two women. However, it had been tidied up, and on the surface, there was no sign of mess.

"Sit," Fang Wen said, pointing to the sofa.

Lin Huang hesitated, unsure if the sofa was truly clean.

"Don't worry, I didn't do that kind of thing on the sofa today. Even though I have in the past, I have the cushions cleaned frequently," Fang Wen explained.

Lin Huang shook his head, reached over, and pulled up a stool to sit on. Fang Wen didn't mind. He sat on the sofa and asked with a smile, "So, Brother Lin Huang, what brings you here?"

"Well, I discovered this morning that one of my storage rings was missing. I searched my room for ages but couldn't find it. Then I remembered, it might have slipped into Gongsun Ying’s clothes when I was looting his body yesterday. But when I checked just now, the body was gone. I figured you have extensive connections, so I wanted to ask: how exactly are the bodies handled here? Is there any chance I can get my ring back?"

"It’ll be very difficult to recover it. There wasn't anything too valuable in the ring, was there?" Fang Wen actually believed him.

"Nothing of great value, just some weapons and life crystals. But the ring was a gift from a girl. If I lose it and she finds out when I get out in a few months, it’ll be a bit of a headache." Lin Huang wasn't entirely lying; Leng Yuexin had indeed given him a storage ring.

"A token of love, then..." Fang Wen teased with a grin.

"Any way to get it back?" Lin Huang pressed, wanting to avoid spinning more stories that might reveal flaws.

"I’m afraid not. You don't know the process of handling the bodies." Fang Wen patiently explained the procedure.

"If someone dies in the training camp, the bodies are collected the same day and hauled away by beast-drawn carts to be dumped beneath the cliffs outside the camp. The camp is located in a desolate burial ground. Once tossed over the cliff, the bodies are quickly devoured by monsters. Gongsun Ying’s body was processed last night. Your ring was either swiped by the staff handling the corpses or it ended up in a monster’s stomach. So, finding it is definitely impossible."

"If you really care about the girl who gave you that ring, here’s a tip: as soon as you get out, go buy an identical one—preferably one with the exact same capacity. She’ll never notice the difference." Fang Wen offered his advice.

"That's one way to do it," Lin Huang nodded repeatedly. Fang Wen indeed knew more than others, even the specific location of the camp. From him, Lin Huang had gained the information he wanted most: the body disposal protocol.

"Come to think of it, Gongsun Ying was quite pathetic. He didn't even get a proper burial," Fang Wen sighed. "If he had some backing like us, his body wouldn't have been tossed out like trash."

Lin Huang was stunned by this. "If one has a background, does it make a difference?"

"Of course it does. With the right connections, a body is preserved until relatives or friends come to claim it. After all, death here can be complicated. The camp is afraid of offending powerful people; they keep the bodies so that those claiming them can perform an autopsy if necessary to determine the true cause of death." Fang Wen’s explanation gave Lin Huang a sudden headache.

"What’s wrong? You don't look so good." Fang Wen noticed his reaction.

"I had something cold for breakfast. My stomach is a bit upset, I’d better head back," Lin Huang lied.

"If you can't hold it, you’re welcome to use my bathroom," Fang Wen offered generously.

"No thanks, I’ll take care of it back at my place," Lin Huang quickly excused himself.

Leaving Fang Wen’s room, Lin Huang frowned. According to the first disposal method, he only needed to fake his death and wait to be dumped to escape the camp. But with Hong Zhuang in the picture, if he faked his death, the scarred man would surely keep his body and notify her to collect it. Even if he escaped before she arrived, she would realize he had faked his death, and he would be permanently targeted by the Purple Crow. That was not the outcome he wanted; he wanted to disappear silently without leaving any loose ends.

"What should I do?" Back in his room, Lin Huang squatted on the toilet, racking his brains. He wasn't there for inspiration; he knew he was under surveillance. Since he had claimed to have an upset stomach to Fang Wen, he had to play the part to the end, or the scarred man might grow suspicious of his true intentions.

After sitting for half an hour, he still had no solution. However, he finally remembered he had ten unclaimed tier-breaking rewards.

"Let me claim the ten rewards for the Bronze rank first. If I can get a card that helps with this escape, that would be ideal..." Lin Huang thought with a glimmer of hope.

He wiped, flushed the toilet, stood up, and headed out. He went straight to the Trial Tower, climbed to the sixth floor, and entered an empty gate.

This time, he didn't summon Bai. He took out a bronze combat blade and began to fight the monsters himself. More than an hour later, sensing that his life energy had depleted by over two cycles, he exited the trial space and headed to the seventh floor.

The seventh floor contained Silver-1 rank monsters. This was his first time here. He quickly chose an empty gate and summoned Bai.

"Xiao Hei, cut the life-wheel synchronization between Bai and me for now."

[Synchronization connection severed.]

Without the connection, Lin Huang could no longer draw life energy from Bai, which was exactly what he wanted. He had intentionally drained his energy on the sixth floor to avoid receiving a "baptism of life light" from killing Silver-rank monsters while his energy was full. He had only just broken through to Bronze-3; if he received the baptism now, his energy might run wild, causing his cultivation to fail or, worse, causing his life-wheel to shatter.

"Bai, hold back the other monsters. Only let one or two through at a time," Lin Huang commanded.

He was at Bronze-3 and could handle Silver-1 monsters, but if he were swarmed, he would have to flee. Bai nodded, spreading his four blood-red wings to partition a fifty-meter square area around Lin Huang. With the other two wings, he acted like whips, snagging two monsters and tossing them into the designated square.

"Perfect!" Lin Huang gave Bai a thumbs-up.

He then transformed the ring on his right middle finger into a bronze combat blade and charged at the two monsters.