After leaving Tianyang Prefecture, Lin Luoluo continued south.
They traveled during the day and distributed grain to any disaster victims they encountered at night. Seeing that every member of their group carried a sword and looked difficult to provoke, the refugees did not dare target them. As a result, the journey remained peaceful.
That changed when they passed through a remote section of the official road. Dense forests surrounded them on all sides, and the area was eerily quiet.
The carriages came to a stop.
“Something’s wrong. Lin Da, protect the Master and the others,” Lin Zhong instructed in a low voice.
Without wasting any words, Lin Da immediately led his men closer to Lin Luoluo’s carriage, positioning themselves with their backs against it and standing guard.
The bandits did not keep them waiting long. They rushed out in a swarm and quickly surrounded the convoy.
“Wanwan, Zirui, are you afraid?” Lin Luoluo asked, looking at them. She hoped they would grow stronger through this journey.
“Big Sister, we’re not afraid.”
The two little ones answered in unison.
“Miss, Chun Tao isn’t afraid either.”
Along the way, they had already seen many things, and with their constant martial arts training, they were no longer frightened by a group of bandits.
“All of you stay inside the carriage and protect yourselves. I’ll go outside and take a look.”
After saying that, Lin Luoluo climbed out before anyone could stop her.
“Miss!”
“Big Sister!”
They wanted to stop her, but it was already too late, so they could only remain inside the carriage.
Outside, blades flashed as swords clashed.
After getting out of the carriage, Lin Luoluo guarded the area around it, preventing the bandits from approaching while allowing Lin Da and the others to protect the other children as well as Divine Doctor Zhou and the rest.
After dealing with the nearby bandits, Lin Luoluo noticed that Lin Zhong was struggling against the bandit leader, so she stepped forward and helped subdue him.
Before long, all the surviving bandits had been tied up.
“Tell me where your bandit stronghold is.”
Lin Luoluo placed her sword against the bandit leader’s neck.
The bandit leader turned his head aside and refused to answer.
“Master, should we hand them over to the authorities?” Lin Zhong suggested.
Lin Luoluo had been about to nod when she accidentally caught a smug look flashing through the bandit leader’s eyes. She immediately changed her mind.
“Lin Da, take them farther away.”
As she spoke, she made a throat-slitting gesture.
Lin Da and several others escorted the captives a short distance away from the convoy and prepared to carry out the order.
The bandit leader could no longer remain calm.
“Hero, spare our lives! As long as you let us go, I’m willing to hand over the entire stronghold!”
Damn it. I’ve spent my whole life robbing others, yet today I’ve run into people tougher than us.
Once they reach the mountain, I’ll make sure none of them leave alive.
“Get up and lead the way.”
Seeing Lin Luoluo nod, Lin Da yanked the bandit leader to his feet and signaled the others to keep watch over the remaining prisoners.
Lin Luoluo, Lin Da, and several others followed him up the mountain.
The mountain path twisted and turned endlessly, and after nearly an hour of walking, they finally saw the gates of the stronghold.
“Hurry and report to the Chief! The Second Chief has been captured and is bringing people here!”
A shifty-eyed man standing on the watchtower shouted to someone below.
The man did not dare delay and immediately ran into the stronghold.
Meanwhile, inside the main hall, a tall man with a long scar across his face was wearing a ferocious expression as he prepared to force himself upon a woman.
“Report!”
“What is it?”
Having his good time interrupted by his subordinate made the man extremely displeased.
“Chief, the Second Chief has been captured and is bringing several people toward the stronghold.”
“What?”
Shock filled the man’s face.
He shoved the woman aside and signaled for someone to take her away.
Ever since occupying this mountain, he had delivered a thousand taels of gold to the local magistrate every year. As a result, the authorities ignored their activities, and they had never encountered an opponent among the merchants who passed by. He had never expected to kick an iron plate today.
The man’s eyes narrowed, gleaming with danger.
“Come. Gather all the brothers and let’s go take a look.”
They had barely stopped in front of the stronghold when the gates opened with a loud boom.
The Chief saw that the person leading the group was merely a fair-skinned young girl disguised as a man, and he sneered disdainfully.
“Well now, little beauty, have you come to become this chief’s wife of the stronghold? Hahaha…”
“You’re courting death.”
Seeing him insult his master, Lin Da flashed in front of him in an instant and slit his throat with a single sword strike.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Just like that, the Chief was dead.
The ordinary bandits stood frozen for a moment, unable to react.
One of the minor leaders who usually followed the Chief was the first to recover.
“He killed the Chief! Everyone, attack! Capture him!”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Even more bandits poured out from the stronghold, surrounding them completely.
Taking advantage of their distraction, the Second Chief used a hidden blade to cut through his ropes and lunged at Lin Luoluo.
It was as though Lin Luoluo had eyes in the back of her head.
She dodged his attack with a quick sidestep, spun around, and kicked him to the ground.
Lin Liu swung his sword and slit the man’s throat.
The ordinary bandits subconsciously swallowed hard, already thinking about retreating.
“No one is allowed to retreat! Think about all the wealth inside the stronghold! It’s enough for us to live comfortably for the rest of our lives!”
The minor leader tempted them with the riches stored in the fortress.
Sure enough, people would die for wealth just as birds would die for food.
After hearing his words, the bandits who feared neither life nor death charged forward one after another without hesitation.
Although Lin Da and the others possessed excellent martial arts, they simply could not withstand the overwhelming numbers.
They fought until they were utterly exhausted, yet there was still a sea of bandits stretching before them.
Lin Luoluo suddenly felt sick.
She bent over and vomited repeatedly before drinking a mouthful of Spiritual Spring Water, which finally made her feel a little better.
After all, she had been an ordinary young woman from the peaceful twenty-first century. What was happening today was an enormous shock to her. She still could not bring herself to take a life herself.
However, seeing Lin Da and the others kill people as casually as chopping watermelons, combined with the corpses covering the ground, was simply more than she could endure.
In truth, compared with many other girls, her ability to adapt was already quite strong.
Searching through the Space, Lin Luoluo found a Immobilization Talisman. She drew a portion of the Space’s spiritual energy to activate it and threw the talisman toward the bandits.
In an instant, the entire scene froze.
Lin Da and the others wanted nothing more than to collapse on the spot and catch their breath, but with the ground covered in blood, they simply could not bring themselves to sit down.
Seeing that the talisman had worked, Lin Luoluo finally let out a sigh of relief.
She took out Spiritual Spring Water and let everyone drink it. She herself drank quite a bit before finally recovering.
“Master, what should we do with these people? Kill them all?”
Lin Luoluo frowned, feeling completely at a loss.
There were simply too many of them, and she could not bring herself to do it. Even though they were not good people, she was troubled by the situation.
“Master, you can bring them into the Space. When the Space upgrades again in the future, you’ll need people to help build it.”
At that moment, Bai Ling’s voice sounded like heavenly music.
“But what if they harbor evil intentions?”
“That’s easy. I’ll teach you an incantation. After bringing them into the Space, imprint the incantation onto their foreheads to form a master-servant contract. They will then become absolutely loyal to you. If they ever dare betray you, all it will take is a single thought from you for their heads to be separated from their bodies.”
“Baby Bai Ling, you’re amazing.”
Lin Luoluo walked toward the bandits and waved her hand.
In an instant, they all vanished without a trace.
She herself also entered the Space.
Lin Da and the others stared at the disappearing people in complete shock.
They already knew their master was extraordinary, but making living people disappear—and an entire crowd of them at that—was far beyond anything they could calmly accept.
“B-Boss… I’m not seeing things, am I?”
Lin Liu rubbed his eyes.
“Sixth Brother, you’re not seeing things. We all saw it.”
Lin Qi, Lin Ba, Lin Jiu, and Lin Shi all nodded.
Lin Da nodded as well.
“Before Master comes out, let’s gather all these bodies together first.”
“Yes, Boss,” Lin Liu replied.
…
“Yes, Boss,” Lin Shi answered.