Song Jinzhao took the bow and arrows, pressing her body close to the stone wall as she slowly moved forward.
Spotting the wooden platform in the banyan tree, she let out a silent, derisive laugh in her heart.
Two bandits sat cross-legged on the platform, hunched over their roast chicken and gnawing at it, wine jugs set beside them.
Their heads swayed unsteadily—clearly, they had drunk quite a lot.
She raised her bow, aimed at their eyes, and let two arrows fly simultaneously.
The men toppled headfirst from the platform. Song Jinzhao swiftly ran over to finish them off.
The constables stared at the arrows that had pierced through four eyes, feeling nothing but admiration for Song Jinzhao.
It was one thing to have excellent martial skills, but her archery was also so precise.
Firing two arrows at once was impressive enough, but to hit every target without fail... it left these constables feeling utterly ashamed, unsure how to measure up.
Soon, the stronghold's main gate came into view, guarded by two sentries.
As flying arrows pierced the throats of the two men, the constable captain immediately led his team charging inside.
In Duanshan Lang's room, a woman around thirty years old lay completely naked on the bed, her face etched with the look of someone already dead.
Her swollen eyes could no longer shed tears, only strands of bloodshot veins visible within.
Duanshan Lang slapped her face. "Stupid woman, what are you being so delicate about? It's an honor for you to give this lord pleasure."
Staring at the woman, who was as withered as deadwood, he found himself growing less and less interested.
Duanshan Lang pulled up his pants and kicked her off the bed.
"Someone! Go down the mountain and grab a few young ones for me."
The woman lay disheveled on the floor, her vacant eyes shifting dully, her mind filled with nothing but the scenes of violation by the bandits.
Image after image, scene after scene, made her so nauseous she wished for death.
"Boss, it's bad! Constables have broken in from outside!" The door was shoved violently open from the outside.
A bandit with disheveled hair stumbled over the threshold in his panic, falling flat, his nose scraping against the floor and bleeding profusely.
Duanshan Lang's eyes widened with fury. He grabbed his pair of maces and charged out the door.
"Damnable government lackeys! I'll kill them all!"
"Boss, watch out!" the bandit roared.
Duanshan Lang swiftly sidestepped, the four-edged mace in his hand crashing down heavily on the woman's body.
The mace embedded itself in the woman's frail shoulder, shattering her entire right scapula.
Even so, she tightly gripped a short knife in her hand and began slashing wildly, without any technique.
"You dare try to kill me, you dead woman? I'll slaughter you!"
He swung the four-edged mace with force toward her head. In the woman's eyes, there was only hatred, no fear.
Having rushed onto the steps, Song Jinzhao hurled her Lingyun Spear with all her strength.
Sensing the danger, Duanshan Lang quickly retracted his hand, crossing the maces in front of his chest to block.
The spearhead shot past his ear, shearing off a lock of hair before plunging deep into a wolf's head mounted on the wall.
Seeing the newcomer was a woman, Duanshan Lang's face showed astonishment.
Since when did the government recruit female constables?
By now, the stronghold was in complete chaos, the clashing sounds of blades and swords rising and falling all around.
Song Jinzhao's gaze swept over the naked woman, covered in blood at the shoulder, then to the bandit standing bare-chested, his belt hanging loosely around his waist.
It was impossible not to guess what had happened here.
Rage erupted from her chest like a volcano. Grinding her back teeth, she shot toward her opponent like a streak of light.
Duanshan Lang met the attack with both maces. Song Jinzhao leaped sideways, her body spinning as she grasped the spear shaft with one hand and yanked the Lingyun Spear free.
The spearhead was caught between the two four-edged maces, sparks flying.
"Quite strong for a little girl, but this lord is stronger! After I deal with you, I'll have to have my fun!"
He'd never encountered such a fierce girl before. He wondered if she'd be just as fierce in bed.
Song Jinzhao frowned, a cold glint in her eyes sharp as an unsheathed blade. Her killing intent spread overwhelmingly, like the coming of the world's end.
"Spouting nonsense even at death's door. I'll give you all the 'fun' you can handle."
The spearhead forcefully pushed the maces apart, the impact numbing his hands and nearly making him lose his grip.
As the spear tip was about to pierce between his eyebrows, Duanshan Lang dodged swiftly. The door behind him exploded into splinters.
The spear shaft swept horizontally, carrying immense force.
The two weapons clashed, emitting a series of ear-piercing metallic shrieks.
Duanshan Lang stared in horror at the notch now gouged in his four-edged mace, while Song Jinzhao's Lingyun Spear remained completely unscathed, its luster even brighter.
Song Jinzhao pressed her arm down, directing the spearhead to attack his lower body.
Duanshan Lang grabbed the spear shaft and yanked hard, thinking he could disarm her.
Instead, Song Jinzhao used his own force against him, lunging forward while kicking out with her right leg.
The blow seemed to shatter his internal organs. He was sent flying backward, crashing through the window and leaving a large hole.
A constable fighting a bandit nearby saw a dark shadow hurtling toward him and swiftly dodged aside.
Duanshan Lang slammed onto a stone outside, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
He scrambled to his feet, looking disheveled and embarrassed, intent on fleeing.
Who would have thought a woman could possess such strength? If he didn't escape now, he'd surely die here.
Song Jinzhao flew down through the hole in the window. The spearhead pierced his shoulder, lifting him entirely and hurling him back into the room.
The metallic taste in his throat grew stronger.
Blood clogged his windpipe, a drowning sense of suffocation overwhelming his body.
Song Jinzhao stepped her right foot onto Duanshan Lang's hand, twisting and grinding it down. A series of cracks sounded from the back of his hand.
Listening to the agonized screams beside her ear, a mocking smile touched Song Jinzhao's lips. She moved her toe to his knee and pressed down hard.
"Having fun? I can give you even more."
As his knees, elbows, and finger bones were all crushed under Song Jinzhao's feet, Duanshan Lang was in such pain he nearly lost consciousness, his mind growing hazy and confused.
Song Jinzhao picked up a wolf pelt from a long bench and covered the woman with it. She then drew a dagger from her waist and offered it to the woman. "If you want to kill him, do it now."
The woman looked up, meeting Song Jinzhao's dark, profound gaze. Clenching her teeth, she raised a blood-stained arm with great difficulty, grasped the dagger, and began crawling toward Duanshan Lang.
Song Jinzhao grabbed a pot of cold tea and splashed it in his face. Duanshan Lang, nearly unconscious, opened his eyes.
The confusion in his gaze hadn't fully cleared when a world-obliterating pain engulfed his lower body.
The woman, gripping the knife with both hands, hacked off the fleshy lump between his legs.
Then, one stab into his belly, one into his thigh, one into his chest...
She stabbed over fifty times. The hatred in her eyes shifted from resolute to frenzied, until finally, she couldn't stop.
The constables who had finished their fight and stood at the doorway watched as a corpse was transformed into a mutilated heap of flesh. Chunks of flesh and blood, sliced off by the blade, flew out and splattered on the ground, in puddles and specks.
Song Jinzhao never called for her to stop. She stood by, waiting for the woman to vent all the hatred in her heart.
Only when the woman had exhausted every ounce of her strength did she finally collapse to the ground, unconscious.
The constable captain stood beside the heap of flesh and swallowed hard. Thankfully, the head was still intact. If she had kept stabbing, it would have been utterly unrecognizable.
