Urban Seduction: Housewives Club

"You seem to know quite a bit, even about innate-level martial artists," Shui Ying said, looking at Ye Fei with a hint of confusion. "So, you must be a martial artist too. But why can't I sense any true energy fluctuations from you?"

"My situation is a bit unique," Ye Fei replied vaguely. He didn't want to hide anything from this increasingly likable beauty, but his circumstances were far too complex to explain in a few words. Moreover, revealing his true strength might come as a shock to her, so he quickly changed the subject. "Let's talk about why you haven't tried to escape."

Shui Ying didn't think much of it and assumed Ye Fei practiced external martial arts. She inwardly felt a bit sorry for him because without the nourishment of inner strength, no matter how formidable external martial arts might be, they were still considered inferior. However, being kind-hearted, she didn't want to disappoint Ye Fei and let the topic drop with a wry smile.

"My junior sister is a very meticulous person. If you can see through something at a glance, she would have thought of it too. So, after I was locked up, she electrified those iron bars. Not even an innate-level master could get past them, let alone a great master."

"Great master?" Ye Fei asked, puzzled. He had never heard this term before and felt a bit relieved that he hadn't recklessly touched those bars. Otherwise, he might have ended up as a pile of charcoal by now.

Shui Ying didn't find Ye Fei's ignorance strange and explained, "Legend has it that when a martial artist reaches the pinnacle of martial arts and breaks through the innate level, they enter an extremely mystical realm known as the great master level.

Of course, this is just a legend. No one has ever seen what a true great master looks like. There was another legend back in the day that the leader of the Martial Alliance was actually a great master, but that was never verified. Even so, because of this person, although the Martial Alliance was made up of small and insignificant sects, no one dared to provoke it easily."

The former leader of the Martial Alliance was that formidable! Ye Fei couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. He wondered how he would compare to such a person.

From Shui Ying's words, he also learned that there were many hidden martial arts sects, and the Martial Alliance, which he had previously thought was the central hub of all martial artists, was actually filled with rather insignificant ones.

As Ye Fei and Shui Ying were having a pleasant chat, in the main hall of a large residence above them, a super beauty with looks and figure on par with Shui Ying's was throwing a tantrum. She was berating a woman who appeared to be in her fifties, "Who told you to lock that boy up with my senior sister?"

The beauty throwing the tantrum was none other than the current leader of Shuiyue Palace, Shui Rou. Despite her gentle-sounding name, she was clearly not a soft-spoken person. If Ye Fei had seen her, he would have immediately thought of Tang Rou from the past, although Tang Rou had changed quite a bit since then. The other woman was no minor character either; she was an elder of Shuiyue Palace.

The elder, realizing her mistake, stammered, "I thought, Your Majesty, that you wanted the boy locked up. What should we do now?"

"What should we do? I'm asking you!" Shui Rou snapped irritably.

"How about we take the boy out again?" the elder suggested.

"Sure, why don't you go do that?" Shui Rou retorted with a cold laugh. "By now, that boy must have already recognized my senior sister. Do you really think she would let us take him out again? I wasn't her match eighteen years ago, and these eighteen years she must have been practicing the skills from the manual. I'm not about to send you to your death!"

"But Miss didn't say she had the manual at all, did she?" the elder was puzzled. She didn't understand why Shui Rou was so convinced that Shui Ying had the Shuiyue Manual. It was a legendary item, and even the former leader might not have seen it.

"Alright, you can leave now," Shui Rou said, suddenly losing interest in the conversation. She waved her hand at the elder, but inside she was sighing. In fact, she had long believed that Shui Ying didn't have the so-called Shuiyue Manual. Her insistence was just a way to justify her actions.

The truth was, her rebellion against her master's decision on her deathbed and her subsequent imprisonment of Shui Ying were all because she couldn't accept the decision. Right after imprisoning Shui Ying, she had regretted it, but she was afraid that Shui Ying, who had always acted like an older sister to her, would blame her. So, despite her regrets, she didn't dare to set her free.

As time went on, her regret grew heavier, but because she had kept Shui Ying locked up for so long, she feared even more that Shui Ying would blame her, leading to the current situation.

This time, Shui Rou's intention in capturing Ye Fei was not to threaten Shui Ying but to use Ye Fei as leverage to force Shui Ying to promise not to blame her, and then she would release her and give up the position of palace leader. However, the muddled elder had ruined her entire plan.
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Now, her senior sister would probably misunderstand her even more, making her even more hesitant to see Shui Ying.

If Shui Ying knew that her eighteen years of imprisonment were all because of her younger sister's childishness, she wouldn't know whether to cry or laugh.

But at this moment, she had no idea about any of this.

After telling Ye Fei some things about the hidden martial arts sects, she suddenly looked very tired, and her breathing became a bit rapid.

"Sis, what's wrong?" Ye Fei, who had been listening to Shui Ying's explanation while also admiring her beauty, was the first to notice the change in her expression.

"Nothing," Shui Ying said after frowning slightly and taking a moment to regulate her breathing. "Just an old injury acting up. It's an old problem. You go out first. I'll suppress it with my inner strength, and I'll be fine."

Although Shui Ying spoke lightly, Ye Fei was still very worried.

"What old injury? Is it serious?" His anxious expression was evident on his face.

Seeing Ye Fei so concerned about her, Shui Ying, who had been heartbroken by her younger sister for over a decade, felt an unusual warmth in her heart. She gave Ye Fei a gentle smile she had never shown before and said, "Really, it's nothing. Just some internal injuries from years ago. After so many years of regulating my energy, they're no longer a big issue."