“You women, I told you not to bother. You’d save yourselves the pain, but you wouldn’t listen.”
The bandit leader spat on the ground, glancing disdainfully at the women soldiers.
Qing Mulang was filled with shame, anger, and anxiety, but she was helpless.
Her long sword was too large, pressed tightly under two other women, completely immobile.
“Hahaha, just look at how tough they acted earlier. Now they’re all caught in one go.”
“Women should stay home raising kids. What’s this nonsense about wielding knives and fighting?”
“Haha, maybe they’re all maidens, no kids yet.”
“Then I’ll give each one a kid!”
“You’re taking them all? What about us?”
“Fine, you can have two!”
The bandits pointed at the women, laughing and making crude remarks without restraint.
No one noticed that Ah Mei, next to Qing Mulang, slipped a dagger from her sleeve.
“One, two, three… forty-two, forty-three… fifty-six, fifty-seven…”
Zheng Fang counted the bandits emerging from the shed, glaring at Monkey. “Monkey, didn’t you say there were only thirty-some bandits at Wild Dog Slope? Now there’s over sixty, and more are coming out!”
“I counted several times. There were only thirty-some!” Monkey said, frustrated. “Where did the rest come from?”
Missing the net was one thing, as it had been buried and covered with dirt, hard for any scout to spot.
But gauging enemy numbers was critical for strategy and a basic scout skill. Even as a seasoned veteran, Monkey wouldn’t have made such a rookie mistake back when he started.
By the time all the bandits came out of the shed, there were over a hundred, far exceeding Monkey’s reported thirty-some.
“I get it. There must be a cellar or something under the shed for hiding people,” Monkey said.
“No kidding. The shed’s so small, without a hidden space, a hundred people couldn’t even stand inside, let alone gamble,” Zheng Fang said, his face dark. “How did you miss that when you scouted?”
“Last time, the bandits were all gambling in the shed. I couldn’t check closely,” Monkey explained. “I thought a flimsy shed with no walls was clear at a glance, so I reported back.”
“Looks like these bandits were well-prepared. We’ve been tricked too!” Zheng Fang said, frowning.
“This is my fault. I’ll apologise to Brother Liang and Master Jin when we get back,” Monkey said, his face red.
“What’s the use of talking about fault now? Get ready to save them!” Zheng Fang said quietly as the bandit leader approached the net. “Take out the archers first. Don’t let them harm the women.”
“Yes! The first one on the left is mine!”
“Second one’s mine!”
“Leave the third to me!”
The nearby veterans raised their crossbows.
Zheng Fang also raised his, but just as he was about to give the order, he saw Ah Mei break free from the net.
Ah Mei moved swiftly, her target clear.
After escaping the net, she lunged at the bandit leader.
“Courting death!” The leader swung his long knife at her.
Ah Mei ducked low, easily dodging the blade, then grabbed his wrist, twisted hard, and pinned him to the ground.
“Back off, or I’ll kill him!” Ah Mei pressed her dagger to the leader’s throat, shouting coldly.
“You damned woman, let the boss go!”
“Let him go!”
The bandits shouted chaotically.
“You wench, let me go if you know what’s good for you!” the leader threatened viciously. “Hurt a hair on my head, and my brothers will skin you alive!”
“Is that so?” Ah Mei’s dagger flashed, slicing off the leader’s left ear.
“Ahh!” The leader’s face contorted in pain, his screams louder than a slaughtered pig.
“Shut up, or I’ll cut your nose off too!” Ah Mei placed the dagger on his nose.
The leader clenched his teeth, silencing his screams.
The soft fear the tough, and the tough fear the reckless.
Ah Mei’s swift action showed she was a fierce one, and the leader was genuinely scared.
“Tell them to back off!” Ah Mei said coldly.
“Back off! All of you, get back!” the leader waved his arms, ordering the bandits to retreat.
The bandits exchanged glances but eventually stepped back.
“Hold off, everyone!” Zheng Fang, seeing Ah Mei had the leader under control, feared provoking the bandits and ordered a pause.
In the net behind Ah Mei, the women took the chance to crawl out through a hole one by one, drawing their crossbows and aiming at the bandits.
“Brothers, we can’t wait anymore. If we do, they’ll all get out,” a bandit in a long robe shouted. “She won’t dare touch the boss. Let’s take them down!”
“Hm?” Ah Mei frowned, pressing her dagger harder, leaving a bloody mark on the leader’s neck.
“Don’t misunderstand, heroine! He’s not one of mine!” the leader, sweating coldly, shouted. “Liu the Seventh, are you trying to get me killed? Get back!”
“Boss, don’t be fooled! She’s bluffing. If you back down now, she won’t let you go!” Liu the Seventh not only didn’t retreat but took two steps forward.
“Bluffing?” Ah Mei sneered, her dagger flashing, slicing off the leader’s nose.
But at that moment, Liu the Seventh flicked his hand, and two streaks of light shot from his sleeve toward Ah Mei’s face.
Ah Mei’s pupils shrank. She yanked the leader in front of her as a shield.
Whoosh! Clang!
One poisoned needle hit the leader’s armour and fell, but the other pierced his neck.
The next second, the leader’s face turned black, his eyes blood-red. He struggled briefly before dying.
The needle was clearly coated with deadly poison.
“They killed the boss! Get them!” Liu the Seventh roared, charging with his machete.
Everything happened too fast, and Liu’s actions were subtle. The bandits, a reckless bunch, didn’t understand what had happened. They only knew their leader was dead and they had the numbers, so they rushed forward in a mob.
The situation Ah Mei had just stabilised turned chaotic in an instant.
Liu the Seventh hid in the crowd, a smirk on his lips.
“Attack!” Zheng Fang’s expression changed as he fired his crossbow.
Whoosh!
The bolt flashed, and before Liu’s smirk faded, an arrow pierced his neck.
He clutched his throat, turning toward the arrow’s source, his eyes filled with fear and unwillingness.
Until his death, he couldn’t fathom how things, all going according to his plan, had come to this.
