For these seasoned scumbags at the bandit stronghold, they were always the ones bullying other people. Since when did anyone get to bully them?
Now someone had actually dared to storm their stronghold. It was a grave insult.
The bandits charged toward the smashed gate, full of fury. But instead of the opponent they’d imagined, they found a pretty young woman with beautiful silver hair, dressed all in black.
“Finally. I’ve been waiting forever.”
The stronghold was packed with people, but the girl in front of them didn’t seem to care at all.
She simply stood there with her hands behind her back, one foot planted on top of a man—the very person assigned to keep watch tonight.
“Whoa~ I thought our opponent would be some hulking brute or something. Never expected a little girl.”
“Those breasts, those legs—gulp~ She’s even more tempting than the little beauty we sent to Li Ke last time.”
When the bandits realized the intruder was just a little girl, leers spread across their faces.
They’d only just met, and already they were imagining how they’d “enjoy” the pretty little thing once they caught her.
“Hey, when we catch her, who gets first turn?”
“Obviously the boss goes first!”
“After the boss, it’s the second brother; after him, the third. Fourth brother isn’t here today, so I don’t mean to brag, but I’ll take fourth place.”
“Get lost! In your dreams!”
His men were all grinning lewdly, but the bandit chief hadn’t let his guard down.
The girl saw how many of them there were, yet showed no fear at all. She just stood there as if she owned the place.
In a situation like this, either she was an idiot, or she was completely confident she could protect herself.
Judging by the silver-haired girl’s leisurely, unhurried manner, she clearly wasn’t an idiot. So it had to be the latter.
The thought made the chief even more wary of her.
“Little girl, you dared to barge in here. Do you even know what kind of place this is?”
Bai Ye gave the bandit chief a cold smile.
“Of course. Isn’t this a den for scum?”
At her words, the bandit chief narrowed his eyes. He’d known she was here to cause trouble, but he hadn’t expected this little girl to insult all of them to their faces without the slightest regard for the nearly hundred men standing there.
Could she really be that strong?
The bandit chief felt uneasy. He glanced at the iron gate beside him, dented and twisted as if something heavy had smashed into it.
He’d had that gate specially made. It was a full five cun thick. Anyone who could smash it clearly wasn’t an ordinary opponent.
“You know we’re a bunch of scumbags, and you still dare stand in front of us. You’ve got guts, little girl.”
Bai Ye didn’t respond. She only asked:
“Are you the boss here?”
“That’s right.” He nodded. “My name’s Cai Ni.”
“Hmm~”
Bai Ye looked Cai Ni up and down.
“You served in the Imperial Army?”
“Oh! How did you know?”
Cai Ni froze for a moment. Only a few of his brothers knew he’d served in the army, and he was curious how the girl in front of him had figured it out.
“When I heard the gong and drums earlier, they sounded a little like the army’s call to muster. And now, look at the way you hold your sword. You’re not carrying it on your shoulder or planting it on the ground—you’re holding it properly at your waist, just like an ordinary soldier.”
“I see.”
Cai Ni grew even more wary. This silver-haired girl knew something about the Imperial Army, too. Was she the child of some noble? But why would a noble’s child storm his stronghold? He couldn’t make sense of it.
Still, no matter how baffled he was, Cai Ni kept his expression calm.
“You’ve got a good eye. I did serve as a squad leader in the army for a few days.”
“Hmph! If you served in the army, why didn’t you stay there? Why get into the business of selling people?”
Bai Ye’s voice suddenly turned stern, but Cai Ni didn’t seem to care.
“How much money can you make as a soldier? The Empire conquers all that land and takes all that wealth—do you think any of it goes to people like us? Nothing pays as well as selling people.”
“Tch. You’d do anything for your own gain…”
“Selling one slave or prostitute earns me more than half a year’s pay in the army. If I don’t do it, someone else will. So why shouldn’t I be the one to make the money?”
Bai Ye had nothing to say. There was no point trying to reason with someone like him; besides, she wasn’t much of a speaker herself. She never expected a few words to make him understand that he could still turn back before it was too late.
“Have you ever felt how desperate the people you sell as slaves must be?”
“What?”
Bai Ye’s voice was so quiet that Cai Ni couldn’t make out what she’d said. But the next moment, he knew what she was about to do.
“Today, I’ll let you feel that despair for yourselves. Karmic Flame Cage!”
As Bai Ye spoke, a towering blaze erupted behind her!
The flames seemed to move at someone’s command. They spread at incredible speed, sweeping in a circle around the group and forming a ring of towering fire that trapped everyone inside—including Bai Ye herself.
