Yang Taozhi quickly squatted down in front of the man who was still moving and touched his carotid artery with her finger.

The bandit's face was already deathly pale, probably from blood loss. When he saw Yang Taozhi approaching, his features contorted with fear, and he cried out, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

Yang Taozhi shouted sternly, "Who slaughtered you?"

"So many people..." As if recalling that terrifying scene, the bandit cried out frantically, "So many people! So many people!!"

A sachet on the ground caught Zhao Cheng's attention. He picked it up, looked at it for a while, and then put it in his pocket before walking up to the bandits.

"I'm asking you, where are the women and children you took up the mountain?"

Seeing that the bandit was stammering and not saying anything, Zhao Cheng tilted his head towards Yang Taozhi and said, "This guy is hard of hearing, let's cut him off."

"I'll talk, I'll talk!!"

The bandits quickly begged for mercy, pointing to the house behind them and saying, "There's a hidden panel under the rice jar inside; they're all locked up there!"

Zhao Cheng said to Yang Taozhi, "This person is too scared to speak properly, we can't get anything out of him, saving him is the priority."

Yang Taozhi nodded and knocked the bandit unconscious with a single palm strike.

The bandits weren't lying; the two indeed found a hidden panel under the rice jar. Once they went down, they were immediately met with a stench and then saw pairs of vacant eyes.

The space was small, crowded with about a dozen women and children. The women were barely clothed and most of them had external injuries.

Zhao Cheng asked, "Are you from the village at the foot of the mountain?"

The women remained silent.

Zhao Cheng smiled kindly: "Don't be afraid, the bandits outside are all dead. I'm here to save you."

The women looked at each other, but no one spoke. Then a child said, "Yes, my home is down the mountain, and my father and grandfather are still waiting for me at home!"

Zhao Cheng patted the children's heads, thinking that no one was waiting for them at home anymore. His expression suddenly turned serious, and he said, "I can take you out, but you must be obedient. You are not allowed to run around on your own or make noise. Nod if you understand!"

The children nodded in agreement, and seeing this, the women nodded in agreement as well.

Zhao Cheng gave Yang Taozhi a wink, and Yang Taozhi walked ahead. Just as she raised her hand to pry open the hidden panel, she suddenly heard footsteps coming from above.

Yang Taozhi immediately made a shushing gesture, and heard two footsteps, one heavy and one light, followed by the voices of a man and a woman.

"Xiao Nuo, come in and see if there are any survivors."

"Brother, some of the bandits' blood is still warm; they were killed last night or this morning."

Zhao Cheng peeked out and looked at the man and woman above through the gap, and was momentarily stunned.

It was the same couple who fought Yang Taozhi before!

Hearing how they addressed him, Zhao Cheng felt a little better.

They are siblings!

Hahaha……

Zhao Cheng suppressed a laugh, but Yang Taozhi gave him a disdainful look, as if she could see right through him.

"Was it made by that she-devil this morning?"

The conversation continued.

"Xiao Nuo, that's not a female demon, that's a chivalrous woman."

Zhao Cheng looked at Yang Taozhi in surprise, still trying to suppress his laughter, his body trembling involuntarily.

She-devil...

Heroine?

Sis, someone's got their eye on you!

Zhou Chuan, with his long hair flowing over his shoulders and deep gaze, glanced at the rice jar and said, "That female swordsman's swordsmanship is clean and swift. If it was her, the situation outside wouldn't be as chaotic as it is now. I've checked, and the bandits' fatal wounds are all different; it wasn't done by one person."

"Her swordsmanship is even better than yours, brother."

Zhou Nuo asked doubtfully, "Such a powerful person, yet he accompanied a useless piece of trash to this Lingshan. That trash even claims to be the 73rd generation successor of the Maoshan Sect. When did Wen Tai start taking in even trash?"

Zhou Chuan thought for a moment and said, "The Maoshan Sect is a Jianghu organization founded by Wen Tai, and it has only been ten years since then. How could there be a seventy-third generation successor? Either you misheard, or that person is talking nonsense."

"I'm sure I didn't mishear!" Zhou Nuo frowned slightly, asking suspiciously, "A combination of a master and a piece of trash... what kind of organization are they?"

Zhou Chuan said in a deep voice, "This Lingshan Mountain is very strange. It wouldn't be surprising if any passersby came here."

Zhou Nuo nodded and said, "Brother, do you think our benefactor is on the mountain?"

“I’m not sure if our benefactor is on the mountain, but he’s definitely not in this den of thieves. These petty thieves can’t catch him.”

"So...who are you?!"

After speaking, Zhou Chuan slashed down with his sword. At such close range, the sword energy he unleashed shattered the rice jar.

The starfruit branch burst through the hidden panel and rose up, its thin sword aimed directly at Zhou Chuan's throat.

Zhou Nuo also assumed a fighting stance, and the three of them immediately fought their way outside.

A moment later, Zhao Cheng led the woman and child out and rushed over, shouting, "Can you please not start fighting as soon as we meet? We're here to rescue people, you're not bandits, we're not on the opposing side!"

Zhou Nuo aimed at Zhao Cheng and said, "You look like a bad guy. Are you here to rescue someone?"

"You can't judge a book by its cover... Wait, how could my kind and friendly face make me look like a bad guy?!"

Zhao Cheng squeezed into the crowd of women and children, shouting, "Look for yourself! These are all women and children who were captured by bandits and brought up the mountain!"

Zhou Chuan quickly distanced himself from Yang Taozhi, placed one hand on Zhou Nuo's bow, and whispered, "Don't be impulsive."

Zhao Cheng poked his head out from the crowd and said, "Why is such a young lady so hot-tempered? Listen to your brother and don't be impulsive!"

Zhou Nuo continued to draw his bow and shouted, "Come out!"

Zhao Cheng shouted, "Put down your weapon first!"

"What kind of skill is it for a grown man to hide among women and children?"

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