A few burly men didn’t expect Shen Qingwan to dare come out alone.

They had to admit, she had guts.

“Little lady, we were originally going to spare your life, but since you’re seeking death yourself, don’t blame us for what happens next,” one of them sneered, pulling out a large knife.

Behind him, three of his lackeys noticed Shen Qingwan’s good looks and immediately had wicked thoughts.

“Dog Bro, this little lady looks quite nice. Why don’t we have some fun with her first?”

Shen Qingwan’s eyes flashed with killing intent. “You’re courting death.”

Before the man could react, she suddenly lunged at them. He had assumed she had come to throw her life away, so he hadn’t taken her seriously. But in the next second, Shen Qingwan’s fist smashed into his face. His vision went black, and before he could respond, he collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

Being able to knock out a grown man with a single punch—there was no doubt Shen Qingwan was formidable.

“Dog Bro!”

One of the men barely had time to call out before Shen Qingwan kicked him hard. He fell to the ground with a crash. Before he could get up, a dagger suddenly appeared in Shen Qingwan’s hand and plunged straight into his back.

The remaining two men were terrified.

The woman looked delicate and fragile, yet she killed without hesitation.

Overwhelmed with fear, they scrambled backward and fell to their knees, begging for mercy.

“Heroine, spare us! We know we were wrong! We only just joined this group, and we’ve only stolen things—we haven’t killed anyone! Please, please let us live!”

Before Shen Qingwan could respond, cries of fighting and screams for help rang out from the village.

Her expression darkened.

This wasn’t just a simple robbery—bandits had raided the village.

She pressed her dagger to the man’s neck and demanded, “Who are you people? How many of you are there? Who’s your leader?”

The man trembled violently and quickly spilled everything. “We’re from Li Family Village in Dashizhen. Our village was also looted, and we had no choice but to join them. The leader is a man named Biao, from a nearby town. He gathered a group of vagrants to cause chaos. He now has over five hundred followers. We attack in groups of a hundred, so there should be about a hundred bandits in this village right now.”

Shen Qingwan’s heart sank.

A hundred bandits was no small threat. With so many of them swarming into the village, the villagers had little chance of fighting back.

There was no time to hesitate.

She swiftly ended the two men before her, then finished off Dog Bro with another stab.

Rushing back inside, she grabbed two children, stuffed them into the mule cart, and hurried toward the old house.

“Ahh! Help! Let me go, you beasts!”

Li Qiujue’s desperate screams echoed through the courtyard.

Inside the house, Old Man Lu and Old Lady Lu jolted awake.

Lu Wenguang, hearing the commotion, quickly got up.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw strangers rummaging through their courtyard, while several others wielding gleaming knives advanced toward their house.

The door to Lu Wenzhi’s room was the first to be kicked open.

Before he could react, a man punched him in the head, knocking him out cold.

Li Qiujue, dressed only in her undergarments, screamed in terror.

She was young and considered quite beautiful in the village.

The burly men, seeing her fair skin, lost all reason and lunged at her.

“What are you doing?! Get out of my house!” Lu Wenguang grabbed a hoe and charged at them, fighting desperately.

Although he didn’t know martial arts, he was strong and muscular.

The bandits, despite their numbers, were still just ordinary men.

For a moment, they couldn’t overpower him.

Old Man Lu and Old Lady Lu, hearing their daughter-in-law’s screams, hurried to grab an axe and a wooden pole.

“Father, help me!”

Lu Jiaojiao’s terrified screams came from inside her room.

Hearing his daughter’s voice, Old Man Lu lost all reason. Gripping the axe tightly, he rushed forward.

“You beasts! I’ll fight you to the death!”

Old Lady Lu also charged at them with her wooden pole, but she was no match for the bandits.

One of them raised his large knife, ready to strike her down—

Bang!

A loud gunshot rang out. The man’s head exploded into a bloody hole. His knife slipped from his hands, and he collapsed.

Everyone turned toward the entrance.

A woman stood there, holding a black, heavy firearm.

She jumped down from the mule cart, her two little charges trembling in fear inside. Earlier, she had given them concealed weapons laced with anesthetic, just in case.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots echoed through the courtyard.

Every bandit was taken down.

Hearing the gunfire, the ones inside the house stumbled out to check—only to be met with more bullets. Shen Qingwan swiftly eliminated them.

There was no time to waste.

She handed a large knife to Lu Wenguang. “Second brother, Xiaoyu and Xiaochen are in the cart. Stay here and protect the family. I’m going to help the villagers.”

Without waiting for a response, she sprinted toward the village entrance.

With a hundred bandits raiding the village, they couldn’t have all attacked at once—many houses were still unaware of the attack.

As she ran toward the large locust tree at the entrance, she took down a few more bandits who had yet to enter the village.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

She rang the enormous alarm bell three times—the village’s signal for emergencies.

Dogs barked throughout the village.

Fearing that some villagers were still asleep, she struck the bell a few more times before dashing toward the houses where cries for help echoed.

Lives were at stake. Shen Qingwan didn’t hesitate to use her firearm, swiftly executing any bandit she encountered.

“Help! Wuwu! Damao, Ermao, run!”

Shen Qingwan’s steps faltered.

That was Aunt Zhang’s voice.

She rushed into the house. Aunt Zhang was clutching a bandit’s leg, desperately stopping him from harming her two children.

Damao and Ermao were sobbing, running toward the door—straight into Shen Qingwan.

She didn’t stop them.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots ended the bandit who had been about to strike Aunt Zhang down.

In the courtyard, Zhao Dazhuang was shielding his wife, Yang Daxing, struggling against two bandits.

He couldn’t spare a glance at his mother or children.

His father, Lu Gensheng, lay bleeding on the ground, already wounded.

Shen Qingwan finished off the last two bandits.

Zhao Dazhuang turned toward her, his face pale with fear.

“Sister-in-law…” His voice trembled. It was his first time experiencing such horror.

“Leave your mother to guard the house. Take up a weapon and follow me—we need to save the others.”

She tossed him a large knife.

He hesitated for a second, then nodded and followed her.

Thanks to Shen Qingwan’s quick thinking in ringing the alarm, the village men had already armed themselves and rushed out.

Dahe Village only had about thirty households, but more than three hundred people lived there.

Even excluding the elderly, women, and children, there were still over a hundred strong laborers.

With weapons in hand, the villagers were ready to fight back.