As Wei Shuwan turned around by being grabbed by the shoulder, a strong smell of alcohol hit her in the face, making her quickly turn her face away. But she noticed that the man had a large beard and looked just like the villains she had heard about since childhood.

The bearded man looked at her and laughed: "Who did you say you were looking for?"

"She said she's the third leader's junior sister! And her parents are the third leader's godparents!" The lookout bandit named Xiao Wuzi quickly came over to report.

The bearded man chuckled. "Third Master? How could the Third Master have such a close junior sister! The Third Master was expelled from Medicine King Valley back then because of the betrayal of those fellow disciples! The government had him wanted, but it was our lord who saved him and brought him to Yandang Mountain!"

After saying that, the bearded man leaned closer to Wei Shuwan and said, "If you really are the Third Master's junior sister, we'll tie you up properly today and give the Third Master some revenge!"

Wei Shuwan unconsciously swallowed, never expecting her lie to fail so miserably, being exposed so quickly.

Xiao Wuzi got angry too: "What? You were all swaggering and talking so confidently just now, and you were just bluffing me? You wait...you just wait, tonight I'm going to..."

Xiao Wuzi was itching to come over, but Wei Shuwan shrank back in fright. The bearded man stretched out his thick arm and stopped Xiao Wuzi, saying, "Enough! Such a beautiful young lady isn't going to be given to you so easily."

Xiao Wuzi immediately cowered and stepped aside, cautiously asking, "Then what should we do with her?"

"Sigh—" the bearded man sighed heavily, "When we were drinking just now, the chief was in a heavy mood, probably missing his sister-in-law again. Since this young lady has bumped into us in the middle of the night, and she's as beautiful as a flower, why not offer her to the chief as a gift!"

"Yes, yes, yes." Xiao Wuzi naturally didn't dare to compete with the leader for the person, so he had to completely give up his thoughts and move his sticky gaze away from Wei Shuwan.

Wei Shuwan's heart tightened. They were going to offer her up to their leader, the bandit chief of Yandang Mountain? She might as well be dead!

She mustered her courage and, taking advantage of the moment when the three were whispering to each other, suddenly raised her foot and kicked the bearded man in the kneecap! She had kicked with all her might, and no matter how burly the bearded man was, he immediately staggered two steps and let go in his drunken state.

Wei Shuwan seized the opportunity and ran away!

However, after running only a few steps, she heard the sound of wind breaking behind her, as if someone had suddenly descended behind her. Then, the back of her neck was struck heavily by that person's palm, and everything went dark before her eyes. She could no longer see even the faint glimmer of stars in the sky.

Her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground.

...

The Eighteen Linked Villages, the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness.

Today is the fifteenth of the month, a good day for the mountain bandits to go down the mountain to forage. So tonight, the hall is full, and the bandits are all drunk. Some are completely unconscious, lying on the table or chair.

The man, still conscious, sat high on the tiger-skin chair, one hand supporting his crescent-shaped broadsword and the other holding a bowl of yellow wine. He glanced at his men, who had all collapsed, and realized that no one could continue drinking with him. So he tilted his head back and downed the whole bowl by himself.

He was none other than Yan Sandao, the leader of the eighteen interconnected strongholds of Yandang Mountain.

Just then, someone ran in, and the night wind swept through the hall, causing the rows of village flags to flutter incessantly.

The newcomer was the same bearded man from before. He ran straight to the chief, bent down, and whispered, "Chief, we've had a very fruitful day! We just caught another young woman, extremely beautiful, and we'd like to offer her to you for your enjoyment!"

Yan Sandao glanced at the bearded man, his expression unchanged. Although he was the bandit leader here, he wasn't really interested in treasure or women. He only wanted to follow his lord and accomplish great things, both to repay the life-saving grace from years ago and to fulfill the ambitions of a passionate man.

However, he couldn't very well refuse his subordinates' kind offer, so he casually asked, "Where are they now?"

Seeing that the chief seemed to be willing to take action, the bearded man became happy and hurriedly said, "I've already had them lock the man up in that empty room on the north side of the village. If the chief likes it, I'll have someone carry it to your room right away!"

"No need." Yan Sandao raised his hand, leaning on his crescent-shaped broadsword as he stood up. "I was just thinking of going out to clear my head and get some fresh air. I'll go take a look myself."

"Yes!" The bearded man was overjoyed, thinking he had done another great service, and hurriedly led the way.

The two had barely reached the door when someone came running up to deliver the message: "Boss! Boss! The lord has arrived!"

"The lord has arrived?"

Yan Sandao immediately stopped and looked outside. Sure enough, he saw three figures striding towards the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness. The one in the lead was tall and imposing, dressed in flowing white robes, with a blue-faced, fanged ghost-head mask. Who else could it be but his lord!

Upon recognizing the visitor, Yan Sandao immediately went out to greet him, bowing respectfully from afar, and then asked with a solemn expression, "My lord, you have come here so late at night. Is there anything urgent?"

Li Qingchen stopped in front of him and asked directly, "Have you come down the mountain today?"

"Yes." Yan Sandao looked up at Li Qingchen uneasily, unsure if he had done something wrong.

"Did you encounter a cartload of people from Shengjing in Niujia Village?"

"From Shengjing..." Yan Sandao thought about the carriage they had chased earlier that day, and it was indeed from the capital, so he nodded: "Yes!"

"How are they?"

"He was captured by my subordinates and brought back to the village. He's currently locked up in the stone cell," Yan Sandao said truthfully.

Li Qingchen frowned beneath the mask: "There's a girl inside, about sixteen or seventeen years old. Have you made things difficult for her?"

Hearing this, Yan Sandao roughly understood what was going on. It seemed that the people in the cart were acquainted with their lord, so he quickly explained, "Don't worry, my lord. After we brought them back to the stronghold today, the brothers enjoyed a feast and didn't make things difficult for them."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingchen's brows finally relaxed. Fortunately, his haste had not made him too late, and the thing he feared most had not happened.

"Take me to see it," he commanded in a deep voice.

Yan Sandao replied "Yes" and led the way.

The stone prison in the village wasn't large, with only four rooms in total. It was only used when holding hostages. At this moment, Ziqiao and Miaoxiang were locked in one room, and the four guards from the Wei family were locked in another. They all had some injuries, but most of them were abrasions and none of them were fatal.

Li Qingchen carefully scanned them, clearly not seeing the person he was looking for, and turned to ask Yan Sandao, "Is that all?"

"That's all. Everyone we caught today is here," Yan Sandao said confidently.

Li Qingchen's heart sank again. Everyone from the Wei family who had come with them was here, except for Wei Shuwan. So where could she hide?