After entering the Space, Lin Luoluo followed the incantation Bai Ling had taught her and cast it.
A rune instantly flashed across the foreheads of the bandits before disappearing a moment later.
“It worked?” Lin Luoluo asked.
“It worked,” Bai Ling replied.
“Master, try sensing them.”
Lin Luoluo closed her eyes and tested it with her consciousness. Sure enough, she could now feel a connection. However, it was a one-way connection—only Lin Luoluo had control over them.
“All of you will go live in the mountain forest over there. As for what you are to do, follow Bai Ling’s arrangements. Go.”
“Yes, Master.”
The former bandits immediately headed toward the mountain forest.
“My dear Bai Ling, I’ll leave them to you. I’m going out first to deal with the matters outside.”
“Okay, Master. I’m very well-behaved~”
Bai Ling rubbed its fox head against Lin Luoluo.
After leaving the Space, Lin Da and the others were still busy.
Half an hour later, they finally finished.
Lin Luoluo took out a Fire Talisman from the Space and threw it out. With a loud boom, towering flames shot into the air. Worried that the surrounding forest might catch fire, she immediately cast a Barrier Talisman as well.
After all the corpses had been reduced to ashes, she used a Cleansing Talisman, and the air instantly became fresh again.
Looking at the place that had previously been a sea of blood and corpses, with not even the slightest trace remaining, Lin Da and the others couldn’t help clicking their tongues in amazement.
This world was simply too mystical.
Lin Luoluo could not help but sigh as well. The items produced by the Space were truly useful.
“Let’s go inside and have a look.”
The group entered the stronghold.
Lin Da stayed by Lin Luoluo’s side while the others dispersed to search the area.
“Mmm… Mmm…”
Sounds came from one of the rooms inside the stronghold.
“Who’s there? Come out!”
Lin Da shouted sternly.
For quite a while, there was no movement inside.
Just as they thought they had heard wrong and were about to investigate—
Creak!
The door slowly opened.
More than a dozen bandits walked out trembling and knelt before Lin Luoluo with a thud.
“Hero, please spare our lives! We were all forced to stay here. We’ve never done anything bad.”
“And how will you prove that you’ve never done anything bad?”
Lin Luoluo glanced at them and asked coldly.
“Well… this…”
The bandits looked at one another helplessly, completely at a loss.
How could something like that be proven? When we were kidnapped and brought here, our money, clothes, and household registrations were all taken away.
They finally sighed.
“We have no way to prove it. We’ll accept whatever punishment the Hero decides.”
Among them, a handsome young man with a scholarly air spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly.
He did not want to lower his dignity by begging for a chance to live.
“Master, they really don’t carry the scent of evil people. The ones from before were full of a foul stench.”
Bai Ling spoke at just the right moment.
The corner of Lin Luoluo’s mouth twitched slightly.
Bad people have a smell?
“Of course. You humans can’t smell it, but I am the purest spiritual creature under heaven. No evil can hide from me.”
Wow—my little Bai Ling is amazing.
“Of course.”
Bai Ling proudly lifted its fox head.
Then if you encounter a truly powerful evil being, can you deal with it?
“Well… not for now.”
Bai Ling immediately wilted.
Lin Luoluo silently rolled her eyes.
“For now, I’ll believe you. Tell me everything you know honestly.”
The group of former bandits immediately became overjoyed.
“Hero, there are many women who were recently kidnapped and are being held behind the stronghold. As for the ones before them…”
The young scholar did not finish his sentence.
Everyone understood what he meant.
His face was filled with shame and anger—anger at the beasts who had committed such atrocities and shame at his own inability to stop them.
A simple and honest-looking middle-aged man frowned and thought for a long while before speaking.
“I think there’s probably a secret chamber in the main hall. When I was cleaning before, I discovered that the floor beneath the Chief’s chair was hollow.”
The moment he finished speaking, Lin Luoluo’s eyes lit up.
Looks like this trip won’t be wasted after all. I came up the mountain intending to rob the robbers anyway. Getting rid of the bad guys was just a bonus. Hehe…
“Lin Da, take them and free those women first. I’ll go check the main hall.”
After giving her instructions, she turned and left.
“You, get up and lead the way. Everyone else, stay where you are.”
Lin Da walked over to the scholarly young man and tapped his shoulder with the sheath of his sword, speaking with a stern expression.
The young man jumped in fright.
Suppressing his fear of death, he stood up and walked ahead to lead the way.
After they left, a young boy quietly suggested,
“Shopkeeper, why don’t we run away?”
The middle-aged man shook his head.
“We can’t escape. Let’s just wait. Judging by them, they don’t seem to be vicious people.”
Although the middle-aged man looked honest and simple, he was actually a wealthy merchant and an expert at business.
Many people had been fooled by his appearance. In reality, he was extremely shrewd.
Lin Luoluo arrived at the main hall and knocked on the floor tiles.
Sure enough, they were hollow.
She searched around for a mechanism but could not find one no matter how hard she looked.
Then her eyes landed on a painting hanging on the wall.
She lifted the painting and felt that one of the bricks behind it was loose.
She pressed it down.
Boom!
The floor slowly split apart, revealing a long staircase.
Lin Luoluo took a luminous pearl from the Space and walked down the stairs.
Light shone from the end of the passageway, causing her to quicken her pace and run forward.
“Hehe… Hehe! I’m rich! So many chests!”
Lin Luoluo hugged one chest after another, laughing like a fool.
There were small gold ingots, silver ingots, jewelry, silk fabrics, paintings and calligraphy, antiques, jade artifacts, and treasures of every imaginable kind.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Luoluo waved her hand and swept the entire secret chamber completely clean before leaving.
By the time she came back out, Lin Da and the others were already waiting outside.
“Master, this is everything we found while searching the various rooms,” Lin Da reported.
Lin Luoluo glanced over the pile of goods.
It was quite an impressive haul.
She had never expected this bandit stronghold to be so wealthy. Even after excluding the treasure vault, they had still managed to seize so many valuables.
It seemed these bandits had committed countless crimes and robbed many passing merchants.
“I’ll keep these jade items. The rest of you can divide everything else among yourselves.”
As she spoke, she put several pieces of jade into the Space.
Lin Da and the others knew that their master’s harvest was definitely greater than theirs, so they did not stand on ceremony and happily divided the spoils.
After collecting everything, they headed toward the entrance of the stronghold.
When they reached the gate, they found a huge crowd waiting there.
“Hero, you’ve come out.”
The middle-aged man hurried forward the moment he saw them.
“Why are you all still here?”
Lin Luoluo had assumed that, with no one watching them, they would have already gone down the mountain.
She had not expected them to still be waiting.
“We…”
The middle-aged man hesitated.
Of course they wanted to leave. But some people had nowhere to go, while those who did know where to go had no money for the journey.
“Let’s go down the mountain first. Otherwise, it’ll be dark soon.”
Lin Luoluo slapped her forehead as realization dawned on her.
So they were indirectly asking her for travel money.
Thinking about the silver she had just obtained—money that had barely warmed her hands before she would have to give some away—she felt a pang of heartache.
“The mountain path is difficult to walk. Lin Da, you and I will lead from the front. Everyone else will guard the rear. Watch your footing and move as quickly as possible. Traveling at night isn’t safe.”
“Yes, Master!”
“You men, look after the young ladies.”
She then turned toward those former bandits.
Well… they weren’t bandits anymore. They were simply men.
“Yes, Hero. We promise we won’t hold everyone back. Brothers, let’s all help take care of the young ladies.”
The dozen or so men immediately walked to both sides of the women, accompanying and protecting them.