You've already caught the embroidered ball, and you still say it's not my husband?

This is the end.

Huangfeng Village has been destroyed, and Bailian Village has surrendered. This bandit suppression operation has been a complete success!

The whole process... was incredibly easy, requiring absolutely no effort!

Later, as long as Captain Ling Yunting takes Huang Laosan's head and the receipt Zhao Guang obtained after escorting Shen Jinglian and the others back to the yamen to report back to the Demon Suppression Division, the credit for suppressing the bandits will belong to him.

In the Demon Suppression Division, everything depends on merit. You can earn merit points by completing various demon-slaying and monster-eliminating tasks!

Merit points are similar to silver in the secular world; they can be exchanged for various cultivation resources such as pills, magical artifacts, and cultivation techniques at the bureau.

At the same time, the promotion of Demon Suppression Guards to Demon Suppression Captains, and Demon Suppression Captains to Demon Suppression Commanders... requires not only strict requirements on their own strength, but also a large number of merit points!

Ling Yunting is a very arrogant and ambitious person.

He was never satisfied with being a mere demon-suppressing captain; he was greedy for merit and desperately wanted to climb the ranks!

With a few more years of hard work, once his cultivation reaches the fourth rank and he accumulates more merit points... becoming a captain will not be a dream!

"hehe."

Thinking of this, Ling Yunting's smile widened even more.

"My lord, what should we do with these treasures?" Zhao Guang asked, pointing to three large chests filled with gold and silver jewels on the stockade platform.

This is the treasure that Shen Jinglian and the others painstakingly looted in Huangfeng Village. It filled three large boxes and amounted to more than five thousand taels!

However, now that they have surrendered and become prisoners, these treasures can only serve as a stepping stone for others.

"These are all stolen goods..." Ling Yunting laughed, looking at the three large boxes. "This captain will take two and a half boxes back to confiscate, and leave half a box for you, Zhao Guang, to report back to the yamen!"

Ling Yunting immediately demanded two and a half boxes of treasure, claiming he wanted to take them back to the Demon Suppression Division for "confiscation".

Zhao Guang was taken aback.

He is a straightforward person, but not stupid.

Ling Yunting made it sound nice that he would confiscate the two and a half boxes of treasure, but on the way back he divided them up with the other Demon Guards, or perhaps he only kept a small portion to hand over. Who could know?

It's just a high-sounding excuse!

Although Zhao Guang felt contempt, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and accept it because of his low status.

"Yes, sir, I will follow your instructions!"

Ling Yunting waved his hand, and several Demon Guards immediately stepped forward and rummaged through the treasure chest, leaving only a small portion of it.

Ling Yunting smiled slightly, reached out and touched the treasure chest, and with a thought, stored the two and a half chests of treasure into his magic storage ring.

The women of White Lotus Peak felt terrible and heartbroken when they saw this scene!

In their view, it was clearly their king who defeated Huang Laosan and wiped out Huangfeng Village, and they had put in a lot of effort to collect all the treasures... but Lingyun Pavilion profited from it and divided it all up right in front of them!

Shen Jinglian was so angry that her eyes widened and her body trembled slightly!

She still clearly remembered Lu Xuan's instructions to her before he left not long ago: "Then I'll trouble Miss Shen to return all the treasure I've acquired to the people of Huangshi Town..."

She promised Lu Xuan!

But now...

"Lu Xuan, please forgive me... I can't do it anymore."

She felt heartache, anger, and self-blame, and she couldn't bring herself to reveal anything about Lu Xuan, for fear of implicating him. She could only watch helplessly as Ling Yunting took away most of the treasure!

My heart is bleeding!

Yet there was nothing that could be done...

"My lord, the matter is settled. I will now notify the brothers down the mountain to come up and escort these female bandits back to the yamen..." Zhao Guang said respectfully, bowing.

The bandit suppression was over, the treasure had been divided, and now it was time to escort the prisoners back to the yamen to report back.

But before he could finish speaking, Ling Yunting interrupted him.

"Wait!"

Lingyunting seemed to still have things to do.

"My lord, is there anything else you need?" Zhao Guang asked.

"hehe."

Ling Yunting's lips curled into a half-smile as he looked at Shen Jinglian. "This woman was forced to surrender, and with your pathetic skills, Zhao Guang, do you think you can handle her? She might even escape on the way back..."

"So, this captain will do you a favor and teach her a lesson... Afterwards, I'll sever her tendons, guaranteeing this woman will be completely submissive, and even if she has any rebellious thoughts, she'll lose the ability to resist!"

Ling Yunting spoke grandly about wanting to "discipline" Shen Jinglian and even threatened to sever Shen Jinglian's tendons in her hands and feet!

What does "training" mean?

The lustful glint in his eyes and his lewd smile spoke volumes!

Ling Yunting was not only arrogant, greedy for credit and money, but also lecherous!

He frequently visited brothels, spending lavishly and spending nights with the most beautiful courtesans.

Shen Jinglian, with her elegant and beautiful appearance, was in no way inferior to those so-called courtesans!

Coupled with her stubborn and wild temperament, she possessed qualities far beyond what the ordinary courtesans of brothels could possess...

The moment Ling Yunting saw Shen Jinglian on Huangshi Mountain, a burning desire began to ignite within him... This woman was just his type!

Right now, his word is law, and the lives of Shen Jinglian and the others are entirely in his hands!

Why would he let go of such readily available beauty?

He was determined to tame and subdue this little wildcat in front of him!

Upon hearing this, the women of White Lotus Peak were filled with fear and anger.

They all obediently surrendered, yet the other side still wanted to humiliate their king!

"You bastard, you beast, you lecher!"

"I'm going to kill you!"

Enraged, Hong'er picked up the blade from the ground and charged toward Lingyun Pavilion with a death-defying resolve.

snort!

Ling Yunting's face showed a sneer. In the face of an absolute difference in strength, Hong'er's behavior was no different from throwing an egg against a rock. He could easily smash Hong'er's head!

Bang!

A figure swiftly blocked Ling Yunting's path, striking Hong'er on the forehead with an incredibly fast palm strike. Hong'er's head buzzed, and she instantly fainted.

It was Zhao Guang who stopped Hong'er!

"Being injured is better than dying..."

He silently recited a phrase to himself, then respectfully turned to Ling Yunting and said, "My lord, in my humble opinion, since they have already willingly surrendered, there is no need to force them any further..."

Ling Yunting narrowed his eyes slightly. He could see that Zhao Guang's actions, seemingly to protect him as a captain, were actually to prevent Hong'er from dying!

And he even pleaded for the female bandits, urging him to stop?

"Zhao Guang, you little constable...you've got some nerve!" Ling Yunting sneered. "Or is it...that you, Zhao Guang, as the constable of Qingyang County, are having an affair with those female bandits from Bailian Village?"

Ling Yunting revealed Zhao the constable's identity and then labeled him as "colluding with bandits."

Zhao Guang panicked, cold sweat breaking out on his brow. He hurriedly explained, "No, no... I just felt..."

"Get out! You have no right to speak here!" Ling Yunting had no patience. He stepped forward and shoved Zhao Guang aside. "If you dare to obstruct this captain from enforcing the law again, you, Zhao Guang, are a traitor!"

Although Chief Constable Zhao Guang was relatively upright and had a bottom line, he dared not act rashly again after being labeled with such a serious charge.

At this moment, he finally understood why Ling Yunting had instructed him to arrange for the constables to wait at the foot of the mountain before he went up the mountain.

This wasn't simply because the Demon Suppression Captain found the constables useless and an eyesore; more importantly, the other party didn't want too many people to see his bad side...

"How despicable! How is this any different from the behavior of beasts?"

Zhao Guang felt guilty, but he was powerless to change anything, so he could only turn his head away, unable to bear to look.

No one dared to ruin Lingyunting's plans anymore!

Ha ha.

He licked his lips and walked towards Shen Jinglian with a lewd grin.

After eating so much domestic poultry in brothels, a little wild game is sure to be a refreshing change!

He grew increasingly impatient, pointing to a small hut beside the stockade, and said with a grin, "Hehehe! This little house is not bad! This captain is going to give you a good lesson in this place!"

"Would you rather be sensible and go in voluntarily, or suffer some more physical pain while I, the captain, escort you in?"

Whether Shen Jinglian acted voluntarily or resisted, Ling Yunting didn't care, because no one could save Shen Jinglian anyway!

He's got his hands on that little wildcat!

Suddenly, he frowned.

Shen Jinglian smiled bitterly, grabbed the sword on the ground, and instead of fighting him, she held the sword to her neck!

Shen Jinglian is going to... commit suicide!

I'd rather die than suffer humiliation!

Two lines of clear tears slid down her cheeks.

She was not afraid of death.

At this moment, she thought of many things...

She was born into a butcher's family. Their life wasn't wealthy, but it was better than most families; they had no worries about food or clothing.

But everything changed after the butcher father became addicted to gambling.

Nine out of ten gamblers lose. In less than a month, the butcher father lost all of his family's savings and lost all interest in working hard slaughtering pigs. He spent all his time thinking about gambling and sold everything he could.

A once happy family became destitute and burdened with gambling debts, and the mother died of anger.

In the end, to raise money for gambling, her gambling-addicted father sold her, who was only thirteen years old at the time, to a brothel in the county. It is said that he sold her for three taels of silver.

On the way back to the brothel in the carriage, Shen Jinglian excused herself to use the restroom and, taking advantage of the guards' inattention, jumped off a cliff...

Perhaps out of divine mercy, she did not die, and like many protagonists in martial arts novels, she turned misfortune into blessing, finding a copy of the White Lotus Sword Technique on a stone wall at the bottom of a cliff, and officially began to practice it.

Two years later, she had mastered her skills and became the bandit leader of Bailian Village on Bailian Peak. Most of the female bandits in Bailian Village were also people with tragic fates...

Nowadays!

She met a young man dressed like a quack doctor.

Unlike the others, the man was not weak and incompetent. He dared to stand up for her and beat up the wicked young master of the Huang family... After saving her, he did not ask for anything in return.

At that moment, she only thought he was a pushover.

Later, when they went up Yellowstone Mountain, she hugged the man and rested her face against his back, which was so warm and strong...

It brought her a sense of peace she hadn't felt in a long time!

On Huangshi Mountain, facing Huang Laosan and his gang of thugs, she foolishly stood in front of the man, trying to protect him.

Little did she know, the man's cultivation was far superior to hers, and he easily subdued all the bandits of Huangfeng Village...

Shen Jinglian thought about everything that had happened with Lu Xuan today—the sweetness, the regret, the reluctance to part…

"Damn it, we'll only meet again in the next life. I hope that when we meet again in the next life, you won't still be married..."

She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face, and with a sudden burst of strength in her wrist, she tried to slit her own throat!

Huh?

She suddenly froze.

For some reason, the sword in her hand became unresponsive; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't budge it at all!

The sword seemed to be frozen in mid-air, completely out of her control!

???

What's going on?

How could she possibly commit suicide then?

While Shen Jinglian was completely bewildered, a young figure riding a donkey appeared on Huangshi Mountain—it was Lu Xuan, who had returned!

"Miss Shen, life is precious, and you're so young... You mustn't do anything foolish!"