Although it was already night, the stronghold remained heavily guarded.

Shen Qingwan waited for a long time before sneaking into the storeroom when the guards were switching shifts.

She didn’t have time to count how much treasure was inside—she only caught a glimpse of the towering piles of riches.

After storing everything into her spatial space, she finally saw the extent of her haul.

Goodness! This time, she had really hit the jackpot! Looking at the hundreds of chests filled with gold, silver, and jewels, she couldn’t help but smile.

Leaving the storeroom, Shen Qingwan proceeded to the grain warehouse.

However, the bandits didn’t seem particularly interested in food, so there wasn’t much grain stored.

Instead, they had hoarded a large quantity of strong liquor.

Shen Qingwan didn’t care what it was—she simply wasn’t going to leave them with anything.

After completely emptying the warehouse, she confirmed the location where the kidnapped women were held.

Then, avoiding that area, she gathered a pile of boulders and dropped them from high above.

The massive stones—each as large as a barrel—fell in the thousands, crashing down with devastating force. Roofs were punctured, and houses collapsed, burying many bandits alive as they slept.

When the deafening noise finally subsided, most of the bandits in the stronghold had been wiped out.

Only the house imprisoning the women remained mostly intact, sustaining only a small hole in its structure. Terrified, the women inside scrambled to escape. However, the remaining bandits were too busy fleeing for their own lives to care about them anymore.

When Li Yang crawled out of the ruins, the entire stronghold had been reduced to rubble.

His ten thousand private soldiers had been reduced to fewer than a hundred survivors.

Thinking about the Third Prince’s terrifying gaze, Li Yang couldn’t help but tremble in fear. He… was finished.

Having completed her task, Shen Qingwan left without hesitation, only muttering to herself: Eliminating evil is everyone’s responsibility.

…

By the time Shen Qingwan reached the borders of Bozhou, five days had passed.

The further west she traveled, the more sparsely populated the land became, with rolling mountains stretching endlessly.

Fortunately, since there were so few people around, she could ride her motorcycle freely, even during the day.

Upon arriving in Bozhou City, she was somewhat surprised.

She had expected it to be lively, but instead, it was less prosperous than the previous three cities.

Supplies were scarce. After resting for most of the day, she found nothing worth replenishing and soon left to continue her journey.

Bozhou was still two days away from Xijiang City.

Even with her motorcycle, the journey would take at least a night and a half.

However, before she even reached the city, she sensed something was wrong.

There were more and more people on the roads.

Left with no choice, Shen Qingwan stored her motorcycle away and continued on foot.

As she moved forward, the refugees she passed all turned their heads to look at her.

Curious about what had happened ahead, she stopped an elderly man to ask.

“Sir, I see so many people coming from that direction. Has something happened in Xijiang City?”

The old man adjusted the bundle on his shoulder before sighing. “Ah, Xijiang City is in chaos. We’re villagers from the nearby area. In the past, the Northwest Army guarded the city, and we lived in peace. But now, the army is out of food. We already gave them all the grain we had, but it’s still not enough. I heard many soldiers have starved to death. We common folk don’t have much either, and as food becomes scarcer, some soldiers have resorted to looting. They’ve stolen all the livestock and the last of the grain from our villages. We have no choice but to leave and find another way to survive.”

Shen Qingwan hadn’t expected the situation to be this dire. But no matter how desperate things were, soldiers shouldn’t be plundering the people.

“Are the soldiers really raiding civilians? Isn’t General Gu doing anything about it?” she asked.

Looking at the old man’s thin, frail frame—practically indistinguishable from a common refugee—Shen Qingwan could tell he had been starving for quite some time.

His voice was weak as he replied, “He can’t control them. With so many starving men, how could he possibly manage? I heard they’ve even started slaughtering their warhorses for food in the military camp. They’re out of options. The imperial court still hasn’t sent any grain. They’re human too, you know. You can’t blame them. If anything, blame an old man like me for not being able to bring them food. We’re already grateful that General Gu has held on this long and refused to abandon Xijiang City.”

The old man’s eyes turned red as he spoke.

Shen Qingwan could see that he didn’t truly blame the soldiers who had taken everything from him.

He and his family were leaving their home behind not out of anger, but simply to survive.

Discreetly, Shen Qingwan pulled out five or six oil-paper-wrapped white flour buns from her sleeve and slipped them into the old man’s hands. His son and other family members quickly noticed and thanked her profusely.

She said nothing in response, merely turning to leave.

Looking at the endless stream of fleeing refugees, Shen Qingwan quickened her pace.

Fortunately, Xijiang City was not far away. She reached it before nightfall

..

As soon as she entered the city, she saw a squad of armored soldiers marching out, carrying sacks of grain and live poultry on their shoulders.

Behind them, a group of crying civilians trailed behind, begging for mercy.

“Please! That was all the food my family had left. Without it, how will we survive?”

“I beg you, please return our grain, my lord! I’m begging you!”

The desperate citizens who tried to stop the soldiers were shoved to the ground and ignored.

Seeing the devastation in the city, Shen Qingwan finally understood why so many people had chosen to abandon their homes.

Most of the shops in town were already closed.

The few still open had nothing to do with food.

Looking at the sorrowful expressions of the people, Shen Qingwan’s mood sank.

After searching for a long time, she finally managed to purchase a horse—at an outrageously high price. Without lingering in the city, she immediately rode out and found a secluded courtyard to rent.

She had originally wanted to rent an entire estate, but this region was too impoverished.

There were no manors outside the city, only farmhouses and small village homes.

In the end, she settled for a remote courtyard, which would serve as a convenient location to handle the grain transfer.

…

When she set out for the Northwest Military Camp, she took a bundle of food from her spatial storage and slung it over her back.

Upon arriving at the camp’s entrance, she was immediately stopped by guards.

She retrieved Beichen Yuan’s personally written letter and handed it over.

Upon seeing the War King’s seal, the guard immediately sent the letter to the command tent while asking Shen Qingwan to wait.

As she stood by the entrance, she observed the soldiers nearby.

Many of them swayed where they stood, their faces sickly and sallow—clearly suffering from malnutrition. The situation at the Northwest Military Camp was indeed dire.

After waiting for nearly half an hour, she was finally led inside.

Compared to the disciplined Zhenbei Army’s camp, this place was in complete disarray.

Likely due to hunger, many soldiers lay slumped together, resting wherever they could.

There was no patrol, no training—just dead silence throughout the camp.