The cool night breeze accompanied Chu Chengji’s words as he stepped onto the deck with the captured river bandit, then leaped onto a nearby wooden boat.

The bandit sat trembling on the boat as Chu Chengji stood at the bow, sword in hand, commanding, “Row.”

Gritting his teeth, the bandit realized that if they reached the river bandits’ lair, he might not be the one who ends up dead.

So, he reluctantly took up the oar and started rowing.

Seeing Chu Chengji approaching alone, the river bandits ahead hesitated, unsure whether to call him foolhardy or courageous.

It took them a moment before they ordered, “Shoot! Shoot quickly!”

Arrows flew towards Chu Chengji, but his sword wove a tight net, deflecting them all.

As he reached the shore, the bandits swarmed towards him like locusts. With each swing of his sword, blood splattered, and bodies fell like grass under a scythe.

As the pile of corpses grew, the remaining bandits dared not approach.

Trembling, they were nearly unable to hold their weapons.

“He… He’s not human…” one bandit said in fear and astonishment.

Never had they encountered someone who took lives so effortlessly, as if cutting grass.

Standing amidst the dead, Chu Chengji’s face was spattered with blood, yet he still exuded a sense of elegance.

He turned slightly and looked at the bandit who had led the way. “Where is the dungeon?”

If the bandit harbored any ill intentions towards Chu Chengji before, the sight of the corpses changed his mind.

Trembling, he pointed in a direction, “That… that way…”

Without hesitation, Chu Chengji walked towards the direction indicated by the bandit.

The bandits blocking the path didn’t dare to attack him, nor did they dare to let him go freely.

With each step Chu Chengji took forward, they retreated in fear.

Suppressing his rage, Chu Chengji unleashed a fierce sword technique, cutting down more than ten bandits surrounding him.

Then, he commanded, “Get lost!”

As one bandit’s throat was slit, his head hung backward, blood spurting from the severed neck.

Witnessing this gruesome scene, even the hardened river bandits couldn’t help but feel nauseous.

The remaining dozen or so lackeys didn’t dare to approach him any further.

But there were still some eager to die.

Upon hearing that Chu Chengji had come alone, Wu Xiao saw it as the perfect opportunity to capture him.

He immediately persuaded several leaders to lead Panlong Gorge’s elites and surround him.

Standing before the group of skilled fighters, Wu Xiao grinned wickedly, “Cheng, seems like you’re tired of living!”

The lackeys held torches high, casting a fiery glow on Chu Chengji’s half face while the other half was bathed in the cool light of the moon.

A few droplets of blood adorned his cheek, adding to his eerie allure.

He looked at Wu Xiao as though he were gazing at a lifeless object, “I should have killed you long ago.”

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have encountered all this trouble.

“Those who talk tough at death’s door, I’ve heard plenty,” Wu Xiao replied, feeling confident of his impending victory.

He gestured to the water bandits behind him, “Attack!”

A dozen highly skilled water bandits surged forward.

Chu Chengji repelled two water bandits who attacked him head-on with his sword, then swiftly slashed the throats of two others.

He stepped on the chest of one water bandit, causing him to collapse and cough up blood.

With a swift motion of his sword, he created another flash of blood.

After a fierce battle, Chu Chengji sustained only a few minor wounds, but the dozen or so water bandits lying on the ground were dead to the bone.

Wu Xiao hadn’t expected Chu Chengji to be so formidable.

Panic surged in his heart, and he lost his previous composure.

He pushed his lackeys forward, his tone harsh, “Attack! Whoever kills him will be richly rewarded!”

However, he himself kept retreating into the crowd, attempting to use the lackeys to hold off Chu Chengji while he bought himself time to escape.

But these lackeys had witnessed Chu Chengji slice through those ten or so experts like cutting melons.

At this moment, they couldn’t hold their knives steady, their legs trembling, shouting “Kill,” yet none dared to confront Chu Chengji.

With every step Chu Chengji took forward, several lackeys turned pale and stumbled backward.

Wu Xiao’s only thought now was to threaten Chu Chengji with Qin Zheng.

He didn’t care about the situation behind him anymore; he just desperately tried to push through the crowd.

Chu Chengji watched as Wu Xiao fled, his eyes cold.

He lifted a crossbow from the ground and aimed at him.

The hint of warmth that had lingered in his eyes disappeared completely at this moment.

As soon as Wu Xiao turned around, he saw the arrow gleaming with a cold light in Chu Chengji’s hand.

His sweat stood on end, and almost instinctively, he grabbed a lackey and used him as a shield.

The lackey was hit by the arrow and convulsed in death, spattering Wu Xiao with blood.

Seeing the gruesome scene of the lackey’s demise, Wu Xiao’s expression turned even more terrified.

He desperately tried to push through the crowd, shouting, “Get out of the way! Move aside! Get the hell out of my way!”

It was as if that cold arrow was already aimed at the back of his head.

Wu Xiao had never been so frightened in his life.

Finally breaking through the crowd, he ran out as if possessed, but he couldn’t help but glance back anxiously.

In his widening pupils, he saw a cold, gleaming arrow hurtling toward him.

“Ah—”

Wu Xiao screamed in agony, clutching his eye as blood seeped through his fingers.

The arrow had pierced through his left eye, and the veins on his neck bulged from the intense pain, as if they were about to burst at any moment.

With his remaining right eye blurred from the pain, Wu Xiao vaguely saw Chu Chengji striding towards him.

Against the backdrop of the fire in the courtyard, Chu Chengji’s entire face was shrouded in darkness.

His long hair and clothes billowed in the night wind, giving him an otherworldly appearance.

Trembling violently, Wu Xiao paid no attention to the blood gushing from his left eye.

He scrambled to his feet, knocking his head against the ground, the sound echoing loudly.

His forehead cracked open, blood streaming down incessantly. “Hero Cheng, spare me! I was blinded by greed. Spare me this time, and I will be your loyal servant forever. I’ll be your dog…”

Chu Chengji remained indifferent.

Drawing his sword, he swung it, severing Wu Xiao’s neck halfway.

Blood splattered on the grass by the roadside.

Wu Xiao attempted to get up, but his body refused to cooperate. He convulsed, blood gushing out even more, quickly turning the ground into a pool of blood.

His gaze remained fixed in one direction, his pupils dilated.

With a flick of his wrist, Chu Chengji shook the blood off his sword and continued towards the dungeon.

Several bodies of water bandits lay on the road ahead, their wounds indicating that they were killed by multiple assailants, not just one.

Chu Chengji’s brows furrowed slightly, and his pace quickened as he reached the entrance of the dungeon. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open and entered…

---

Qin Zheng and Lin Zhao had been imprisoned in the dungeon for half a day.

Lin Zhao’s hands and feet were shackled with heavy iron chains, while Qin Zheng, lacking martial skills, was left unbound by the water bandits.

Two water bandits had been guarding them the whole time, occasionally bringing them food.

However, Qin Zheng, fearing they might be poisoned, dared not touch a single bite of the food or even drink the water.

Lin Zhao, even more cautious than Qin Zheng, remained silent throughout, enduring her discomfort.

Despite her extreme weakness from blood loss, she didn’t want Qin Zheng to worry about her.

Seeing that they didn’t touch the food brought to them, the water bandits stopped bothering them.

With no straw bedding, the dungeon was cold and damp. Qin Zheng, worried about Lin Zhao’s well-being, huddled close to her to keep her warm.

Lin Zhao, weakened by blood loss, leaned against Qin Zheng’s shoulder and asked softly, “Sister Zheng, when do you think we’ll be rescued?”

Qin Zheng reassured her, “Very soon. When we were abducted, the people from the village had already returned. They might be close to Panlong Gou by now.”

Lin Zhao nodded slightly and said, “When we go back, I want to eat the lotus root dumplings you make, Sister Zheng.”

Qin Zheng’s heart felt heavy, but she gently touched Lin Zhao’s hair and said, “Okay, when we go back, we’ll make dumplings.”

A loud noise from outside startled Lin Zhao, momentarily bringing her back to full consciousness.

The two exchanged a glance, unsure of what was happening outside.

Not long after, an old woman arrived with two sets of dresses for Qin Zheng and Lin Zhao to change into.

With Lin Zhao’s hands and feet shackled, she couldn’t change clothes herself.

The water bandits guarding them temporarily loosened Lin Zhao’s shackles, but the cell door remained closed, and the clothes were passed through the wooden gaps.

These two water bandits hadn’t witnessed Lin Zhao’s prowess in killing.

Seeing her, a frail-looking woman with a sickly appearance and pale lips, they didn’t perceive her as much of a threat and relaxed their guard.

After Qin Zheng and Lin Zhao changed into the new clothes and the old woman took their original ones away, only one water bandit remained to guard them.

As he was putting shackles on Lin Zhao through the cell door, Lin Zhao didn’t miss this opportunity to escape.

She used the iron chain to choke the water bandit’s neck, while Qin Zheng seized the opportunity to grab the key from the water bandit’s waist and unlock the cell door.

With Lin Zhao injured and unable to exert much force with her right arm, and weakened from blood loss, she managed to render the water bandit unconscious.

Qin Zheng was about to help Lin Zhao out of the cell when suddenly footsteps were heard outside.

Another water bandit was returning.

Both Qin Zheng and Lin Zhao were startled.

Lin Zhao was injured and weak, and they couldn’t guarantee that they could subdue the water bandit immediately.

If he shouted and attracted more water bandits, all their efforts would be in vain.

Qin Zheng steadied herself and gestured for Lin Zhao to keep quiet, then quickly picked up a stool from the cell and hid behind the door.

The returning water bandit, having gone out for a moment, didn’t expect to find his companion lying on the ground upon his return, with only the woman in red standing at the cell door, while the other woman was nowhere to be seen.

He was shocked and turned to scan the room.

Before he could react, Qin Zheng raised the stool and struck him on the head.

The blow knocked the water bandit unconscious.

Qin Zheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily, her experience paid off, and she didn’t miss.

After dragging the water bandit into the cell, Qin Zheng took off their outer robes and helped herself and Lin Zhao change into them.

She then draped their outer robes over the two water bandits before locking the cell door.

Lin Zhao, impressed by Qin Zheng’s resourcefulness, exclaimed, “Sister Zheng, you’re so clever.”

Qin Zheng wiped some ash on her hands and face.

Lin Zhao’s complexion was naturally dark, so she didn’t need to disguise herself.

Hearing Lin Zhao’s praise, Qin Zheng sighed and said, “It’s not about being clever, it’s about being familiar with the situation.”

From escaping the Eastern Palace all the way to now, she had experienced too many such situations.

Qin Zheng helped Lin Zhao towards the exit of the dungeon.

As she opened the door, she saw several bodies outside, but there were still a dozen or so water bandits standing.

She instinctively stood in front of Lin Zhao.

One of the water bandits, dressed in coarse clothes, looked at her with a complex expression.

He appeared to be around twenty years old, slender to the point of frailty, with delicate features that didn’t seem feminine.

His pale face was as white as snow, and his narrow, deep-set phoenix eyes were tinged with red at the corners, inexplicably piercing.

Qin Zheng subconsciously avoided his gaze, filled with intense emotions.

Just as she was wondering if he recognized her, he suddenly smiled faintly, his lips pale, and called her name in a strained voice, “Zheng.”