A quarter of an hour later, five men who had followed Yu Li out of the city were squatting on the ground with their hands on their heads, their faces covered in dirt and bruises.
Yu Li stood in front of them, holding a vine in her hand.
The vine had been casually pulled from the roadside shrubs. Though not dried and brittle, it still inflicted sharp pain when whipped against the body, leaving a red and swollen welt with each strike.
Yu Li controlled her strength within a specific range, ensuring the blows caused bone-deep pain but did not harm muscles or bones.
Such pain was unbearable for ordinary people.
In the eyes of the five men, Yu Li was like a terrifying demon from hell, making them tremble with fear, dreading that the vine might lash out at them.
This woman’s whipping hurt so much!
The pain made them roll on the ground, but even if they rolled away, she would whip them back, making escape impossible.
One man had tried to run as soon as he realized something was wrong. However, a stone flew from behind, struck his leg, and made it feel as if it had been broken, leaving him unable to get up.
The rest were scared out of their wits.
Yu Li asked, “Why were you following me?”
None of the five men dared to speak.
Yu Li lashed out directly, swinging the vine at the tall man on the far left. The sound of the whip cutting through the air echoed.
“Speak!”
The tall man screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground, while the others trembled uncontrollably.
A short, thin man hurriedly stammered, “W-we saw you often buying things in the city and figured you must have made a lot of money…”
“Yes, we just wanted to get some silver from you to use,” he admitted.
After a round of stern questioning, Yu Li confirmed that these men simply intended to rob her of her silver.
They were idle ruffians from the county town, doing no productive work and wandering aimlessly around. Their usual targets were ordinary people who had no way to resist—villagers who came to town to shop or lone workers returning home with their wages.
Ever since Yu Li had started working at the butcher shop, she would go shopping after receiving her pay every day.
Her frequent purchases naturally caught the attention of these loafers roaming the streets. Seeing her thin and frail appearance as that of a weak woman, they naturally marked her as a target.
Thus, they followed her out of the city today, planning to rob her in the outskirts.
After confirming multiple times that their intention was merely to rob her silver and not under anyone’s orders, Yu Li still did not let them off.
Daring to steal the hard-earned silver she worked for was unforgivable!
These men were habitual offenders. Operating in groups, they specifically targeted common folk. The victims rarely dared to report them to the authorities, resigning themselves to their losses. As for the officials, they usually did not intervene, at most assigning a few more patrol officers within the town. Anything that happened outside the city was beyond their jurisdiction.
Yu Li whipped them again, drawing agonized screams and instilling deep fear.
This woman was terrifying. The vine in her hand was like an inescapable net; no matter how they ran or rolled, they couldn’t escape its range. The stinging pain on their bodies was unbearable, even for grown men.
Yu Li, after another round of whipping, asked, “Did you just now have other intentions toward me?”
The five robbers were of varying heights and builds, some fat, some thin, all with shifty eyes—clearly not decent people.
Of course, what she disliked most was the look in their eyes earlier.
If a normal young woman had encountered these five, there would have been no way to escape. What might have happened would be unimaginable. If they had let their evil impulses take over and resolved to go all out, they might have ruined a girl’s entire life.
“No… no…”
The men shrank back, crying as they spoke.
They truly regretted it. They shouldn’t have tried to rob her, nor should they have harbored wicked thoughts just because she looked somewhat attractive. Now they realized she wasn’t some weak woman but a female demon with a vine in her hand, whipping them mercilessly. Their regret was overwhelming.
Yu Li listened to their sobbing expressionlessly and continued whipping, once again reducing them to cries of anguish. She asked, “Have you ever bullied other women before? Done anything bad to them?”
The men: “…”
“Speak!”
“Yes… yes, we have, but we only took small advantages, we didn’t actually… AHHHHH—”
Their screams echoed far and wide. It was noon, and though autumn had arrived, the lingering heat of the season was still intense. Few people were traveling at this time, so naturally, no one heard their cries.
Yu Li didn’t care and continued whipping. She lashed them until they wept bitterly, full of regret and swearing oaths never to do such things again, never to rob, and to truly reform themselves. They promised they would never bully women again—not even spare them an extra glance…
Finally, Yu Li stopped and looked at the sobbing men.
Tapping her toes, she said, “I don’t believe you. I think it’s better to remove your third leg so you won’t commit crimes again.” As if recalling something, she added considerately, “It just so happens I’ve been learning how to castrate pigs recently. I’ll make sure to do a clean job for you.”
The men: “….” Castrate? Pigs? You, a young woman, learning to castrate pigs?
Wait—no, she’s planning to treat us like pigs and castrate us!
No, no, no!
In an instant, they clenched their legs tightly and stared at her in terror.
“We were wrong!” They burst into tears, crying and repenting. “Please, you must forgive us! Don’t castrate us… We swear we’ll reform ourselves, listen to you, do whatever you say. If you tell us to go east, we won’t dare go west. Just please, no…”
If a man is castrated, can he even be called a man anymore?
After a long time, Yu Li finally showed mercy. “Fine, I’ll hold off on the castration for now.”
The men: “…”
Hold off for now? Does that mean there’s still a chance of being castrated in the future? The threat hasn’t gone away!
“Tell me your names, home addresses, and who lives in your households,” Yu Li commanded. “I’ll be paying a visit tomorrow.”
To prevent them from lying about their addresses, she separated them and made each one report their family information. If any discrepancies arose, she would go through with the castration.
The men, who had initially considered giving false addresses, were forced to cooperate honestly out of fear that the others’ answers wouldn’t match.
After giving their information, they looked utterly defeated, as if mourning a great loss. The thought of her possibly visiting their homes tomorrow filled them with even deeper despair.
Yu Li wrote down their names and addresses one by one. Among them, the tallest was named Gao Sheng, the short and skinny one was Skinny Wu, and there were others like Wang Sanlang and Li Silang. Their names were quite easy to remember.
Yu Li then said, “Take out all your money.”
The men: “…”
Unable to fight back and having been thoroughly beaten again, they didn’t dare to resist. Obediently, they took out all the money they had on them.
Yu Li looked at it and showed a disdainful expression.
The total amounted to just fifty-three copper coins—not even a single day’s wages for her.
Seeing her look of disgust, Gao Sheng quickly explained, “W-we spent it all…”
As idle loafers like them, they never had money in hand for long. Whatever they got, they spent. When they ran out, they would steal or rob again or take up jobs like debt collection. It was quick, easy money, far simpler than doing honest work.
Yu Li didn’t care. She took all fifty-three copper coins and told them, “Starting tomorrow, you’re to find honest jobs. You’ll pay me one tael of silver per month as tribute. If you don’t, I’ll castrate you.”
Faced with their horrified expressions, she sneered coldly. “Don’t even think about running. You may escape as a monk, but you can’t escape the temple. If you run and I catch you, you won’t want to imagine what’ll happen.”
The men: “…”
After this, Yu Li said, “Alright, get lost!”
The men stood there in a daze for a moment before realizing they could leave. Trembling, they got up, helping each other as they limped away.
Their whole bodies burned with pain, their legs weak from the beating. They couldn’t walk fast, but the thought of the terrifying female demon staring at them from behind kept them from stopping.
—
Back at home, Yu Li ate dinner and washed the sweet fruits she had bought in town before taking them to her room.
Fu Wenxiao noticed the fruit she had brought and, after thinking for a moment, couldn’t help finding it amusing.
Was she treating him like a child to be coaxed?
“They’re all very sweet,” Yu Li told him. “Not a bit sour. I picked them carefully, and they were quite expensive.”
If she had the time to go into the mountains, she would have preferred to find sweet fruits herself rather than spend money on them.
Fu Wenxiao, oddly enough, understood her expression. He picked up a piece of fruit and put it in his mouth.
It was indeed very sweet. Clearly, her fruit-picking skills had been honed.
After all, after spending more than half a month in the mountains eating wild fruits, she must have gained some experience.
Yu Li grabbed a handful of fruit to eat as well. She never had the mindset of sparing something she bought for others. Whether it was for someone else or herself, she always ate alongside them—and usually ate more than the other person.
As she ate, she recounted how she had been followed on her way back and how she had dealt with the robbers.
Fu Wenxiao’s brows furrowed at first, but when he heard how she handled the ruffians, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Seeing her look at him after finishing her story, he nodded slightly. “You did the right thing. In situations like this, you can’t show mercy.”
Yu Li nodded in agreement and said matter-of-factly, “I think so too! If I didn’t castrate their third legs, they might get more perverse and do God-knows-what in the future, harming public safety. Honestly, I was tempted to just castrate them on the spot.”
Fu Wenxiao: “….”
His expression grew somewhat strained.
And yet she asked him, “Isn’t that right?”
Fu Wenxiao: “…Yes.”
Yu Li sighed, still feeling a bit regretful.
For scum like this, who bully young women, castrating their tools of the trade would be best. However, if that drove them to become even more perverse, it would still harm women in the end, and that would be unacceptable.
The ideal solution would be a one-time fix, but killing them was out of the question.
—
The next day, after finishing her work, Yu Li set off for her “home visits.”
Perhaps her threats from the previous day had been too terrifying, as Gao Sheng and the others obediently stayed at home, waiting for her to come by.
Yu Li didn’t mind the time spent and visited each one, confirming their situations and ordering them to find legitimate jobs within three days.