(Zhao Yuting reference image)
Downstairs.
The women saw Taozi coming down from Liu Yang's room, and expressions of shock immediately broke across their faces.
That was way too fast!
It hadn't even been half an hour!
More importantly, during those thirty minutes, not a single sound had come from upstairs!
This left everyone thoroughly disappointed.
At the same time, they were deeply puzzled by Taozi.
Was this newly arrived female ability user really that tough? Could she withstand Liu Yang's overwhelming power so effortlessly?
And she had made Liu Yang finish that quickly?
Could this girl named Taozi have awakened some insane utility ability-like vibrating ten thousand times a minute-that forced Liu Yang to surrender in under half an hour?
He Yushi asked directly, "Taozi, why did you come down so fast? What secret trick did you use to make Liu Yang wrap things up so quickly?"
Taken aback by He Yushi's question, Taozi looked completely lost. "Fast... fast?"
She was utterly bewildered.
They had just been chatting.
Was a conversation supposed to take hours?
Zhao Lina chimed in, "That's way too fast! Whenever any of us go into Liu Yang's room, it takes at least one or two hours before we can walk out! How did you finish in less than thirty minutes?"
Su Xiao nodded along. "Yeah, yeah, how are you so fast? Did you use some special ability on him?"
Taozi froze again, her mind blanking. "N-No..."
What on earth?
Did people really need to use abilities just to talk?
Their interrogation left Taozi entirely baffled.
Zhang Jingyu sighed envious, "I want to become an ability user so badly! My brother awakened ages ago, so why haven't I yet?
Wuwuwu! Is my talent really that terrible? If I were an ability user, I wouldn't be terrified every time I enter Liu Yang's room! I'd go find him every single day!"
White Fox smirked. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Ordinary ability users can't handle going to Liu Yang every day either! Only someone on the level of an Earth List expert like Taozi could even dream of it."
Listening to their wild speculation, Taozi scratched her head in confusion. "What are you all even talking about? I just went into Liu Yang's room to chat for a bit. Is chatting only allowed for ability users?"
He Yushi blinked, stunned. "Huh? Just chatting? We thought you guys were... you know..."
Zhao Lina let out a long sigh of relief. "Scared me to death! I was wondering what happened to Liu Yang-how could his combat endurance drop from several hours down to thirty minutes? So it was just a conversation!"
Wang Feifei patted her chest as well. "So that's what happened. Seems like ability users aren't that much stronger than us in that department after all."
Chen Dan agreed wholeheartedly. "Exactly! You really scared us. We thought Earth List powerhouses were built totally different!"
Relief spread across everyone's faces.
Thank goodness-the gap between them and an Earth List expert like Taozi wasn't insurmountable after all.
Among them, Zhao Yuting's eyes lit up with sudden excitement.
If Taozi had only been in Liu Yang's room to chat for half an hour, didn't that mean there was still an opening for her tonight?
She had to seize this window of opportunity and get into Liu Yang's room immediately! If she missed it, who knew when another chance like this would present itself?
Such a perfect opportunity was staring her right in the face-she had to grab it. This might literally be the only chance she got in her entire life!
Once missed, it might never come again.
After all, whether Liu Yang was born with a natural charm or just absurdly lucky, he seemed to bring new women back to the villa every single day.
A window like this was a rare commodity!
Reassured, the other women dispersed to attend to their own business.
Zhao Yuting, however, felt compelled as if possessed, quietly stepping toward the staircase.
She thought no one had noticed, but He Yushi caught her in the act.
He Yushi called out loudly, "Huh? Yuting, where are you sneaking off to?"
Zhao Yuting froze mid-step, startled nearly out of her skin.
She had tried to slip away while everyone was distracted, but she never expected to be caught red-handed by that little minx, He Yushi!
Her pretty face instantly flushed bright red, completely overwhelmed by embarrassment.
Stammering awkwardly, she stammered, "I... I just wanted to go upstairs... to... take a look around..."
He Yushi grinned slyly. "You're not trying to sneak into Liu Yang's room, are you?"
The moment those words left her mouth, every gaze in the living room snapped back onto Zhao Yuting.
Originally, learning that Taozi had only chatted with Liu Yang had bored them, sending them back to their routines. But seeing Zhao Yuting trying to sneak upstairs instantly reignited their excitement.
Could it be that even if they didn't get to hear Taozi's battle noises tonight, they'd get to hear Zhao Yuting's instead?
Their eyes gleamed with intense curiosity.
Under the scrutiny of so many eyes, Zhao Yuting felt her cheeks burning hotter than ever.
For a long moment, she couldn't squeeze out a word.
Finally, gritting her teeth in desperation, she blurted out, "Fine, yes! I just want to go to Liu Yang's room and chat with him for a bit!"
Without waiting for a response, she quickened her pace and fled up the stairs.
Zhao Lina giggled. "Wow! After all this time, Yuting finally built up the courage!"
The superstar Su Xiao chimed in, "Yeah! I honestly thought Liu Yang and Zhao Yuting were just pure, platonic friends. Looks like Yuting couldn't hold back anymore!"
Chen Dan added, "It's completely understandable though. A man as capable and attractive as Liu Yang-who wouldn't fall for him?"
The women nodded in agreement. "True, true! You've got a point there."
......
Upstairs, Liu Yang was getting ready to rest in his room when a knock suddenly sounded at his door.
He paused, slightly surprised.
Taozi had just left not long ago. Who could be looking for him now?
Could the other women have seen the high-quality weapon he made for Taozi and come knocking, hoping he would craft custom weapons for them too?
That was fine by him.
In fact, Liu Yang had already been planning to find an opportunity to forge weapons for everyone in the villa.
Even though most of the women hadn't awakened any abilities, carrying an ultra-sharp weapon would allow even an ordinary person to chop through zombies like slicing vegetables.
Handling Level 1 zombies would be a breeze, giving them basic self-defense capabilities.
Of course, against Level 2 zombies or higher, standard physical weapons alone wouldn't cut it.
"Come in," Liu Yang called out toward the door.
Moments later, the door swung open.
Instead of a crowd of eager women rushing in asking for weapons as he had expected, a completely unexpected figure stepped inside.
Surprise flickered across Liu Yang's face as he looked at her. "Yuting? Do you need something?"
Zhao Yuting was among the very first group of people to move into the villa area.
However, Liu Yang had never demanded that she sleep with him in exchange for food and shelter.
One reason was that during his future deduction, Zhao Yuting had stepped up to shield him when danger struck.
The other reason was simply that Liu Yang had never lacked women around him, so he hadn't actively pursued her.
Seeing Zhao Yuting take the initiative to come to his room, Liu Yang was naturally a bit taken aback.