“Xiao Wu! Baldy! Get them!”
Having run out of patience, Wu Tiedao ordered the young man and Baldy to search them by force.
This was exactly the moment Ye Qingyun had been waiting for.
Now she could openly snatch that knife!
Baldy grabbed Wang Tiezhu’s arm, trying to wrench it behind his back and pin him in place.
Unexpectedly, another hand landed lightly on his shoulder, giving it a casual pat.
Thinking it was Wu Tiedao or Xiao Wu, Baldy frowned and turned around.
“What the hell are you—”
Before he could finish speaking, a fist slammed squarely into his face.
With a miserable howl, the burly man was thrown clean over Ye Qingyun’s shoulder and crashed to the ground.
Xiao Wu, who had been about to search Ye Qingyun, suddenly realized his target had disappeared.
Hearing Baldy’s scream beside him, he whipped around in alarm—
Only to find Ye Qingyun’s expressionless face right in front of his own.
The distance between them was almost intimate.
He could even feel the warm breath from her nose.
“Y—”
He managed only a single syllable before Ye Qingyun raised her elbow.
The upward strike looked harmless enough.
In reality, it carried explosive force over a short distance.
It landed precisely beneath his chin, launching the teenager clean off his feet.
Wu Tiedao’s face changed.
There wasn’t even time to think about what had just happened.
Pure combat instinct drove him to thrust his knife toward Ye Qingyun’s back.
To his astonishment, it was as though she had eyes in the back of her head.
The instant he moved, she sensed it.
She sidestepped effortlessly, dodging his sneak attack.
Wu Tiedao was shocked.
His momentum carried him several meters forward before he finally managed to stop himself.
The moment he turned to attack again—
Ye Qingyun’s long leg lashed out.
Her kick landed squarely on the hand holding the knife.
A sharp pain exploded through Wu Tiedao’s wrist.
He gasped, and the knife flew from his hand.
Ye Qingyun caught it in one smooth motion.
The blade spun neatly between her fingers before she reversed her grip and drove it toward Wu Tiedao’s throat.
“Wait!”
At the critical moment, Wu Tiedao shouted desperately.
Ye Qingyun paused.
The tip of the knife had already pierced his skin.
Blood immediately trickled down his neck.
Had he been even half a second slower, the blade would have gone straight through his throat.
Baldy and Xiao Wu stared in horror.
Neither of them had imagined the woman before them could move so fast.
They could clearly see every one of her movements.
Their bodies simply couldn’t react in time.
By the time they did—
Her attack was already upon them.
Ye Qingyun didn’t consider Baldy or Xiao Wu a threat at all.
She kept her eyes on Wu Tiedao beneath her blade, silently signaling for him to spit it out.
With his life hanging by a thread, Wu Tiedao didn’t dare waste a word.
Speaking as quickly as he could, he said,
“We won’t take your money anymore.”
“You two never have to pay us again.”
“It’s better to make friends than enemies.”
“How about we call it even?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Ye Qingyun waved to her master.
Search them first.
Wang Tiezhu rubbed his hands excitedly and walked toward Baldy and Xiao Wu.
The two looked nervously at Wu Tiedao.
“Brother Dao?”
“Let him search.”
Wu Tiedao spoke slowly, terrified Ye Qingyun’s hand might slip and end his life.
Since Wu Tiedao had given the order, Baldy and Xiao Wu had no choice but to let Wang Tiezhu search them from head to toe.
They were experienced street thugs.
There was no way they’d keep money somewhere as obvious as their pockets.
They were convinced the old man wouldn’t find anything valuable.
Seeing the smug looks on their faces, Wang Tiezhu merely chuckled inwardly.
Whenever disciples of the Hehuan Sect entered secret realms, they followed one golden rule—
Even a goose flying overhead should be plucked clean.
Never leave empty-handed.
Did these two punks seriously think they hid things better than the mighty experts of those secret realms?
Sure enough—
To Baldy and Xiao Wu’s utter disbelief, Wang Tiezhu ordered Baldy to take off his pants.
He refused.
Ye Qingyun calmly pressed the knife closer to Wu Tiedao’s neck.
The wound that had nearly stopped bleeding immediately opened again.
Fresh blood streamed down.
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”
Baldy shouted in panic.
“Grandma, just don’t let your hand shake!”
The twenty yuan hidden inside his underwear fell neatly into Wang Tiezhu’s hands.
Next came Xiao Wu.
The cold ruthlessness had completely vanished from the teenager’s face.
Grinding his teeth as though he wanted to devour the master and disciple alive, he silently removed his shoes.
Hidden beneath the insoles were ten ration coupons—
Along with twelve yuan and seventy-eight cents in cash.
“Your turn.”
Ye Qingyun looked at Wu Tiedao.
Her voice was gentle by nature.
She rarely spoke with much emotion, simply stating things plainly.
Yet to Wu Tiedao and the other two…
It sent chills crawling down their spines.
It felt…
Positively eerie.
Every hair on Wu Tiedao’s body stood on end.
Slowly, he reached into the four pockets of his jacket and the two pockets of his trousers.
He emptied them all.
A handful of crumpled small bills landed in Wang Tiezhu’s palm.
“My name is Wu Tiedao.”
“The other two are Baldy and Xiao Wu.”
“May I ask for your names?”
He spoke with remarkable politeness.
In all twenty-eight years of his life, this was the first time he’d tried to rob someone—
Only to end up being robbed himself.
Even if he died today, he wanted to know exactly who had defeated him.
Ye Qingyun looked at her master.
Wang Tiezhu shook the money and coupons in his hand.
Master and disciple then looked together at the three men.
The corners of their mouths slowly curled into identical, unsettling smiles.
What kind of robber…
Told his captives his real name?
Ye Qingyun answered by striking Wu Tiedao on the back of the neck with the knife handle, knocking him unconscious.
Baldy and Xiao Wu realized things had gone horribly wrong and tried to run.
She caught them effortlessly.
One chop each.
Both collapsed unconscious.
Dragging the three men into the roadside woods, she tied their hands together using Baldy’s trousers.
Every movement flowed naturally.
As smooth as water.
As though she had done it hundreds—no, thousands—of times before.
Efficient.
Professional.
Wang Tiezhu didn’t even spare their clothes.
He stripped them clean.
Especially Wu Tiedao’s fashionable bell-bottom jeans.
They looked practically tailor-made for him.
Even the clothes that didn’t fit weren’t wasted.
Take them home, patch them up, and they’d last another three years.
Baldy’s Liberation shoes and Xiao Wu’s sneakers were pretty nice too.
Unfortunately, neither pair fit.
Wang Tiezhu offered them to Ye Qingyun.
She looked at them with disdain and tossed them into the grass.
“What a waste!”
he complained.
Seeing her master eyeing Wu Tiedao’s leather shoes next, Ye Qingyun hurriedly dragged him away.
Less than half a minute later, the master and disciple had disappeared completely down the road.
The woods became so quiet that it was as if nothing had ever happened.
By the time Wu Tiedao and the other two regained consciousness, the sun was already setting.
Still dazed, they felt an unbearable itch all over their bodies.
Instinctively trying to scratch themselves, they discovered their hands were tied together.
And every stitch of clothing was gone.
“Damn it all!”
Baldy roared in grief as he looked at the mosquito bites covering his body.
His furious howl echoed through the mountains, startling flocks of birds into flight.
Xiao Wu maintained his usual cold expression.
He took one deep breath.
Then another.
Trying desperately to stay calm.
But when he spotted his beloved sneakers hanging from a tree branch…
The rebellious teenager, who almost never raised his voice, finally joined Baldy’s chorus.
“AAAAAHHHHH!!”
Wu Tiedao broke free of the bindings around his wrists.
Silently, he stared toward the forest path where the two had disappeared.
His jaw clenched so tightly his gums ached.
He swore to himself—
As long as he lived…
He would kill those two bastards who were even bigger bastards than he was.