Officer Ge, who prided himself on having a discerning eye, quickly noticed that the aura these men carried was fierce and commanding. They resembled soldiers who had been on battlefields and taken lives.
In any case, they didn’t look like bandits.
This realization made Officer Ge let out a sigh of relief, feeling as though he had narrowly escaped death.
As long as they weren’t bandits, it was fine.
The handsome young man approached, studying them with curiosity. “Since you weren’t sent by the authorities to suppress the bandits, why are you here?”
The whole situation seemed utterly absurd to him.
He couldn’t understand how these two ordinary people, who brought nothing with them, lacked even basic vigilance, and hadn’t noticed his group approaching until now, could possibly think of taking on bandits. Weren’t they afraid of being killed by the bandits?
Hearing his question, Officer Ge and Skinny Wu felt a wave of deep grievance wash over them.
Did they want to come here? They had been forced to, dragged along by their collars like dead dogs, nearly choked to death multiple times along the way.
If they told the story, it would be nothing but a tale of bitterness and suffering.
“Hurry up and speak!” the burly man with the large blade barked impatiently.
Skinny Wu looked as if he had lost a loved one, wailing, “We didn’t have a choice. It was Boss Li who wanted to suppress the bandits and brought us here.”
Officer Ge nodded in grief, his face full of despair.
Everyone was momentarily stunned.
Boss Li?
Could it be some righteous hero who couldn’t stand the chaos caused by the bandits, a brave soul skilled in martial arts, determined to rid the people of this scourge? And if this hero could even convince a yamen to join them, they must have won over many hearts, right?
If the two men knew what they were thinking, they would have broken down crying.
Boss Li indeed had a way of winning hearts—by beating them into submission. After one good thrashing, anyone would fall in line.
Such a troublesome situation!
After hearing this, the young man turned to the burly man with the blade and said, “Uncle Tu, tie them up first.”
Whether or not they were from Shanping County, it was better to tie them up to avoid interfering with their plans.
Uncle Tu didn’t hesitate and quickly tied the two men up.
The two dared not resist—nor could they even if they wanted to—and obediently let themselves be tied up.
They then overheard the group discussing their plan to infiltrate the mountain, deciding where to sneak in and where to strike. It seemed they had already scouted the bandits’ camp and knew which paths to take to avoid patrols.
Listening to this, the two men’s faces lit up in realization: So they were here to suppress the bandits too!
Once the group finished their discussion and prepared to head up the mountain, Officer Ge suddenly asked, “Excuse me, were you sent by the authorities in the prefecture?”
The young man turned to look at them, smiling slightly. “No.”
“Then… are you from the military?” Officer Ge cautiously guessed. “Did General Xuan send you to suppress the bandits?”
The aura around these men resembled that of soldiers, and the military stationed nearby was led by General Xuan’s Zhennan Army.
For the past decade, General Xuan had frequently dispatched troops to suppress bandits in the region. The people of Shanping County were deeply grateful to him, believing that the county’s peace was largely thanks to the general’s efforts.
The young man’s gaze flickered slightly. “And if I said yes?”
Officer Ge’s expression brightened with joy. “Sir, you don’t need to keep us tied up! We can go up the mountain with you to deal with the bandits. Boss Li is already in the mountains. She’s very powerful—she can help you suppress the bandits!”
“Oh?” The young man looked intrigued. “How powerful is this Boss Li of yours?”
Uncle Tu, standing nearby, frowned. Perhaps he was particularly sensitive, but hearing the name “Boss Li” repeatedly brought to mind Yu Li. Was it the same “Li”? The pronunciation was the same as in Yu Li’s name.
Before Officer Ge could say more, a sudden rumbling sound echoed from the mountain. It sounded like a landslide or something collapsing.
Everyone immediately turned to look toward the mountain.
Unfortunately, the dense forest obscured their view, leaving them unable to see or discern what was happening within.
Without hesitation, the young man commanded, “Let’s go!”
Though unsure what had happened, since they were already there, they had to check it out.
The others decisively followed the young man, quickly heading up the mountain together.
Officer Ge, still bound, leapt to his feet and shouted, “Sir, let us come too!”
This was an opportunity for merit!
If earlier he had worried that Yu Li’s actions would implicate him, now he was desperate to follow along and earn some credit. With the military involved, this operation was surely a guaranteed success.
Uncle Tu glanced at them, then used his large blade to slice through the ropes binding their hands and feet.
The two men pulled the severed ropes from their limbs, and Officer Ge immediately followed without hesitation.
Skinny Wu hesitated briefly before deciding to follow as well. He was too scared to stay behind alone, fearing the mountain bandits might come down and he’d have to face them by himself. It was better to stick with these capable-looking people.
The group moved quickly into the mountain.
As they approached, they began to hear loud commotion from up the slope. The noise was significant, echoing through the night.
This made them think of the “Boss Li” mentioned by Officer Ge and Skinny Wu. Could it be that Boss Li had caused all this chaos? But they couldn’t understand—how could one person create such a disturbance?
By the time they arrived near the bandits’ camp, the uproar had already subsided.
The bandit camp was deathly silent, devoid of voices.
The group felt a twinge of alarm, unsure of the situation. Had “Boss Li” been killed by the bandits? Had the bandits discovered their approach and were now lying in wait to ambush them?
According to their information, there were about forty to fifty bandits in Qingya Mountain. These were hardened outlaws who had gathered here over the years, robbing passing caravans and the local villagers, a ruthless and formidable group.
If “Boss Li” had entered alone and been defeated, it wouldn’t be surprising.
Though the situation was unclear, there was no turning back now that they were here.
The group cautiously approached the bandits’ camp.
The camp was brightly lit, torches burning on all sides. Combined with the bright moonlight, the scene within the camp was perfectly visible.
When they finally saw what was inside, they were dumbfounded.
There was no ambush, no sinister ploy. The bandits hadn’t anticipated their arrival.
Instead, the open space near the entrance was littered with bodies. The air was thick with the stench of blood, as if the entire bandit camp had been massacred.
No one could utter a word.
It wasn’t until a faint, agonized groan broke the silence that they realized these weren’t corpses—they were still alive, though heavily injured and rendered incapable of moving. Many were unconscious.
While Officer Ge and Skinny Wu, unaccustomed to such carnage, were visibly shaken, the others handled the scene with composure.
Even the handsome young man leading the group maintained an unflinching expression as he surveyed the injured bandits.
They were used to far worse on the battlefield—dead bodies, severed limbs, and pools of blood. Compared to that, these bandits, with all their limbs intact, were hardly shocking. Considering the crimes these ruthless bandits had committed, the countless innocent lives they had taken, there was no pity to spare for them.
No one felt sympathy for their fate.
To sympathize with the bandits would be to ignore the plight of the innocent villagers who had perished at their hands.
With that thought in mind, the young man led the group into the bandit camp.
Since the bandits in the mountain all seemed to be lying here, it was evident that the area was now safe, and there was no need to hide anymore.
Uncle Tu, being meticulous, noticed that several buildings in the bandit camp had collapsed. He suddenly realized that the earlier sounds of crashing must have been caused by those houses collapsing.
But he was still confused—why would perfectly good houses suddenly collapse?
As he was pondering this, a loud reprimanding voice rang out, “Who’s there?!”
Uncle Tu’s heart jumped. He quickly moved in front of the young man, holding his blade defensively.
At that moment, the person who had shouted pointed toward a large tree not far away. Everyone looked in that direction and saw someone sitting atop the tree.
That person was perched on the crown of the tree, bathed in the moonlight.
They looked like a mountain spirit basking in the light of the moon, performing some kind of ritual.
The tree was tall and lush, and the distance made it hard to see the person’s face, but it was clear they were female.
The scene was so eerie that Uncle Tu and the others couldn’t help but feel a chill run down their spines.
Could it be that they had encountered some kind of mountain spirit?
Just then, they heard Officer Ge and Skinny Wu exclaim in delight.
“Boss Li!”
The two of them ran toward the tree, stopping at its base and looking up at the figure sitting on top.
The person atop the tree turned their head and looked down at the two of them.
Both men were overjoyed. Skinny Wu called out, “Boss Li, what are you doing up there?”
The person in the tree responded politely, “Enjoying the view.”
Her voice was crisp, soft, and uniquely feminine, with a clean and refreshing tone.
Hearing this voice, Uncle Tu froze on the spot.
The young man walked over, gazing up at the person in the tree with great interest. He asked, “Are you the one who dealt with these bandits?”
The person in the tree replied lazily, “Mhm.”
The young man was thrilled. “Where are you from? How did you take care of them? And what was that crashing sound earlier?”
The person in the tree raised a hand and pointed forward.
Following the direction of her finger, everyone looked ahead and saw the collapsed section of the mountain.
The bandit camp was located in a strategically defensible valley in the mountains. What had once been a steep cliff now seemed to have been sheared off, resulting in a landslide.
Everyone couldn’t help but picture a vivid scene.
It was Mid-Autumn Festival, and the bandits were celebrating noisily in their houses. Some had already drunk too much and gone back to their rooms to sleep.
Suddenly, the mountain began to collapse. The earth shook, and the bandits, thinking it was an earthquake, scrambled out of their houses in panic.
And then, they were caught in one fell swoop.
That must have been how it happened, right?
Otherwise, they really couldn’t figure out how she, alone, had managed to deal with all these bandits.
As they speculated, Uncle Tu, still holding his large blade, stepped forward and called out to the person in the tree, “Li Niang, come down first.”
Huh? Li Niang?
Who was he calling?
The young man’s eyes widened as he stared at the person in the tree.
The person in the tree lazily responded with an “Oh,” and then, to everyone’s astonishment, she jumped straight down from the top of the tree.
“Ah—”
Their cries of alarm were abruptly cut off when they saw her land safely on the ground.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The tree was lush and tall, about three to four zhang (approximately 10–13 meters). A person jumping from such a height would either die or be severely injured, but she landed lightly, like a phantom, as if she weighed nothing at all.
Was she really not a ghost?
Even Skinny Wu and Officer Ge, who had known her for a while, were in a daze, unsure what to believe anymore.
Uncle Tu looked at her as she walked over and quickly noticed her flushed cheeks. While her expression seemed normal, it was the most abnormal thing about her.
His face was full of disbelief. “You’re drunk?”