CH 3

“Our… eyes have opened… Please spare our lives, oh lady heroine. We have learnt our lesson.”

“That’s right, we won’t dare to do it again. Please spare us…”

The group of men desperately took turns begging Su Jin for mercy, fearing that they might meet their final moments if they got on the wrong side of her.

“Oh? In that case, let’s have a chat. Who are you guys? What do you do for a living? Give me an honest answer, or else…”

As Su Jin gave the order, she picked up a horsewhip and made an example of the ground with a vicious lash. To match the threat, her face revealed an evil grin so heinous that it felt as though the men were in the presence of an authentic demon lord.

With eyes widened in fear, the group of men nodded repetitively like a broken record as a representative gave a reply: “Okay, alright. We will answer. We are a group of… chivalrous warriors from the Jiuxun Mountain, who were passing by in the ordinary course of our travels and coincidentally encountered your esteemed heroine at this place.”

Upon hearing the reply, a scornful expression flashed across Su Jin’s face. With a swing of her leg, the rock at her feet flew and slammed firmly onto the chest of the man who gave that answer.

“Pfft—” blood spurted out from the man’s mouth.

Which idiot would fall for such nonsense? Did he think that she was intellectually challenged?

Su Jin’s mood evidently turned sour as she let out a rebuttal with a leer, “Chivalrous warriors? You guys? From what I see, the term bandits would suit better!”

The group men cowered in fear as their eyes darted across each other, hoping that someone would pick up the baton and continue speaking but to no avail.

Sensing that the conversation had stalled, Su Jin whipped out some lashes without any hesitation. Manly moans of pain followed thereafter, as the location became decorated with fresh marks of bloodstains.

“Ah! Ow! Ouch! Stop beating us. I will speak. I will continue. We are part of a bandit group, with a sizable number of companions back in our base on the mountain.”

One of the bandits confessed as the group of men huddled together while trembling. Even then, they did not stop brainstorming on methods to escape. If they could make it back to their base and group up with their comrades, they would repay this bitch with an insufferable experience.

Su Jin apparently remained unaware of their intentions. With a stern expression on her face, she shifted her gaze to inspect the horses brought by the bandits. After finding one that suited her taste, she mounted the steed.

Bending down slightly from her elevated position, she looked down at the bandits who were communicating silently through eye gestures and gave an unexpected command, “Lead the way…”

The eyes of the bandits popped out in disbelief. Thinking that their ears might have played a trick on them, one of them cautiously reconfirmed with Su Jin, “Heroine, the destination…”

“You heard me well. The destination is your hideout in the mountains! A sightseeing trip!”

This crazy bitch must be tired of living. The number of bandits in the base exceeded a few dozens, yet she planned on going alone? Arriving at a foregone conclusion, the bandits mocked Su Jin internally… Whatever the case, it was a convenient development for them, a one way trip with no return for her!

Without any need for additional urging, the bandits swiftly mounted their horses and eagerly guided Su Jin on the path. Their eyes gleamed with expectations throughout the journey.

……

Not long after her departure from the temple, two separate groups arrived at the Taoist temple in succession, but that would remain as a story which Su Jin would never come to find out.

The first group consisted of a squadron of valiant looking knights, each equipped with proper armor and sword affixed at their waists. They had come to the temple under orders to search for an individual. But after conducting several rounds of searches that yielded no results, they departed swiftly in an orderly manner.

Shortly after the guards had left, another group of people closed in towards the direction of the temple. The second group was made up of a bunch of vicious-looking ruffians who seemed to be trained in martial arts, armed with crude blades in their hands.

Unlike the first group which had clear business at the temple, the second group merely travelled in the direction of the temple by coincidence, after following the traces of their pursuit target. On the way, they periodically hacked away the surrounding weeds and tall grasses in their path, seemingly to be in search of something.

“Bah, old man Ge. We have searched all the way till this location and not even a single sign of the woman mentioned by the young lady had been found. How could someone who had been drugged travel this distance unless she had wings?”

“A rundown temple is located nearby in that direction. Let’s head there and search. I don’t believe a young lass could escape that far by herself.”

“Get going!”

……

There was a small, serene courtyard which boasted of magnificent scenery, created by a flawless balance between the natural landscape and artificial architectures, befitting of the wealth and social standing of the family.

In the front yard of an exquisitely designed attic lies a giant willow tree, swaying in the breeze of the gentle wind, within a well-maintained artificial rockery garden. Beneath the willow tree was a resting area, where a lady in white, fine quality dress could be seen, as she sat elegantly beside a deep jade table.

The lady had delicate features and was surrounded in an air of dignity. Her pair of clear crystal eyes, which usually looked amiable, was now coldly staring down at the servant prostrating in front of her.

“You mean you couldn’t find her?” Upon hearing the contents of the report, she flung the teacup in her hands with clear exasperation in her eyes and followed up in a harsh tone, “How far can a weak lass escape to? Moreover when in a drugged condition? You bunch of incompetent trash!”

The servant shuddered as he lowered his head even further in silence while still prostrating on the ground, afraid of making any sounds.

Everything had gone awry because of that idiot’s fault. After discovering the real identity of the woman, the original owner of this body failed to immediately get rid of that wench. Now she had escaped. What was the point in drugging her if she managed to survive?

She lamented the fact that she had only possessed this body after the incident was over. If it had been her, she would have eliminated the roots of the problem on the spot.

Ever since the day she had awakened in this body, she had continuously been plagued by an inexplicable feeling of unease from deep within, as though something precious had been stolen from her. Looking back at it now, that might have been a divine revelation urging her to get rid of that woman.

As Chen Xinyue thought about her current lavish lifestyle and compared it with that woman dressed in coarse linen clothes, a tinge of ruthlessness flashed across her eyes.

Only a prestigious household like the Chen family could be worthy of being her stepping stone to achieve her ambitions. Thus, she had to protect her current position at all cost.

The unpleasant feeling continued to haunt Chen Xinyue.

The eyes of that woman had too much of a resemblance with her mother. Tightening the grip on the handkerchief in her hand, she reinforced her resolve to hunt the woman down as soon as possible and extinguish any potential complications.

Only the dead could be trusted to keep secrets.

……

After travelling continuously at a speed that nearly overexerted the horses, Su Jin had finally arrived at the foot of the Jiuxun Mountain by sunset.

The bandit den was cleverly hidden at a remote and inconspicuous area where the mountain roads were rough and inaccessible. Taking advantage of the location, the bandits daringly established their base here despite close proximity to the imperial city.

Such audacity!

While Su Jin was sneering within her heart, the bandits behind her were secretly rejoicing. Seeing that their hideout was now right in front of them, they began to outgrow their fear of Su Jin.

What a foolish shrew. Let her get a taste of the might of the entire bandit group!  Salvation was near! !

…… Numerous dreams were shattered…

Su Jin now sat cross-legged on the seat belonging to the highest authority in the hall, feasting delightfully on a roasted chicken with one hand, while occasionally brandishing a horsewhip with the other hand.

Watching the robbers, who had fresh wounds all over their bodies, prostrated on the ground in two orderly rows, she nodded and did a headcount.

Excellent. Everyone accounted for. Discipline and obedience are the makings of a good family!1This was a tough one to localize. In the original, it was written as “一家人嘛，就是要整整齐齐！”, which literally translates to. Since (we) are a family, a family (we) is supposed to be whole (no one missing) and in order (neat). This method of expression is usually used in first person context, where the person saying it regards himself/herself as part of the family. But in this case, it was pretty obvious that the FMC had no intention of regarding herself as part of the family, despite acting like the head of the family (Unsurprising, given that she was originally going to become a matriarch)  

The man with scar-face and his gang had long since become emotionally numb, as they had lost all hopes of escaping. Never in their dreams did they ever imagine that they would lead an apex predator into their hideout.

“You there, bring me the ledgers for the past few years.”

Since when did bandits have the practice of maintaining ledgers? The middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader of the bandits was just about to throw out a retort but stopped as he clutched his wounds.

Su Jin was staring at him with an ingenuine smile.

The man swallowed a mouthful of saliva and hurriedly gave a positive response. He then limped towards Su Jin with a worn out booklet on his hands.

Putting on the best smile he could squeeze out, he presented the booklet to Su Jin, “Lady Heroine, here it is. Everything is recorded here… Please take a look.”

Su Jin slowly strolled up to the man while appraising him. After letting out two sneers, she raised her hand and gave the man a tight slap on the face.

“Who gave you permission to smile?”

The facial expression of the bandit leader distorted instantly. His eyes beamed red with anger and he subconsciously wanted to retaliate.

Su Jin raised her hand for a second time and swung it at his face again, producing another firm resounding slap.

The man shouted in anguish, “You hit me again!”

Su Jin smiled with her eyes as she casually glossed over his complaints, “Oh, I had a sudden craving for the sound of a slap. Can’t I?”

Ending her words there, Su Jin leisurely flipped over the ledger. She ignored the furious gaze from the man. But when she glanced upon the messy handwriting on the book, she threw the booklet back to the man.

“Read it out!”

With a cold and sullen expression on her face, Su Jin contemplated about what to do with these imbeciles as she listened to the report from the bandit leader, who could not mask his anger and stammered frequently.

Soon after her arrival, she had effortlessly defeated the whole group of bandits. It was a cakewalk for her, but also an unsatisfying development. Originally, she was planning to have some fun before collecting her travel funds.

But when she discovered the group of abducted women in the backyard, Su Jin knew that she had to do something about the bandits. She couldn’t let the bunch of able-bodied men, who were perfectly capable of making an honest living but chose to become degenerates, get away with their misconducts.

With that in mind, she threw a kick at the chest of the bandit leader. Her eyes squinted as she scoffed at them, “What a bountiful life you guys have been enjoying for the past few years, managing to accumulate such a substantial amount of wealth with a group of your size. Must have been pretty diligent at your jobs, eh? Imbeciles. Get on your knees!”

The man wobbled as he got back up and quickly knelt down in front of her, not daring to make a single sound. The previous ferocity in his eyes was nowhere to be found.

After finishing her meal, Su Jin wiped her oily hands on the clothes of the bandit in front of her, and strode towards the backyard thereafter.

……

The women in the backyard gathered together while supporting each other. Some were weeping with both palms covering their faces, while the others were emotionless. When they saw their savior who rescued them from the wolf’s den approaching, they quickly went forward to welcome her.

Rather than consoling these women with meaningless words of empathy that could never match the degree of pain and suffering they had gone through, burying their unpleasant memories away in silence would be the better approach.

Without probing into their circumstances, Su Jin bluntly told them, “The bandits are kneeling on their knees in the lobby. I will leave their treatment to your discretion. Whether to kill or to torture them, do as you wish. All records of the ill-gotten wealth in the hideout are contained here. Distribute them amongst yourselves. I will pretend that nothing happened today. Farewell, fellow strangers.”

……