The Living Yama, Lin An

The gate was locked from the inside, but Lin Xuan didn't need to open it; he simply vaulted over, encountering no obstacles throughout the entire process.

The structure behind the gate consisted of nothing more than a latch, which could be opened directly once removed.

After Lin An entered, the two of them gripped their bows and blades and headed toward the bandit den.

These bandit quarters were thatched huts with latches on the inside that were difficult to open, and the windows were tightly shut. It was unwise to force their way in to kill, lest they alert a large group of bandits at once.

If they all woke up, the situation would become truly difficult to handle.

"Sigh~ I have a great idea!" A mischievous smirk suddenly appeared on Lin An's face.

"What kind of idea do you have?" Lin Xuan couldn't help but ask, puzzled.

The corners of Lin An's mouth tilted as she whispered smugly to Lin Xuan, "Why don't we just burn their houses down from the outside? We can ignite them from all directions and then guard the doorways. Their doors all face the same way anyway.

If they want to get out, they have to go through the doors. This way, we won't even alert them to grab their weapons; they'll just think it's an accidental fire, and we can kill them one by one as they emerge!"

After hearing this, Lin Xuan sighed, "They say the living cannot see the King of Hell, but I see a living King of Hell right before my eyes."

"You're the one who's the King of Hell." Lin An reached out, grabbed a torch from the sentry post, and set the thatched huts on fire one by one from the base.

The fire grew larger just as expected. Since it started from the bottom where oxygen and fuel were abundant, the flames reached a foot high before anyone even woke up.

It wasn't until the flames reached a foot and a half, accompanied by scorching heat waves and the smell of smoke, that some of the bandits were roused. They snapped awake from their dreams, scrambled off their beds, rushed to the doors, pulled the latches, and bolted outside.

The scene instantly descended into chaos; the sounds of children crying, the crashing of collapsing structures, the roar of the fire, and the whistling wind all erupted at once.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Something's wrong, the place is burning!"

"Quick, put out the fire!"

But what awaited them outside the doors was not safety, but sharp blades and cold steel.

In no time at all, five or six bandits had died under the blades of the two, each one losing their life the moment they stepped outside.

A moment later, over a dozen bandits had been wiped out. Under this strategy, the pair encountered almost no decent resistance.

However, besides the bandits, there were other people in the stronghold. The bandits had abducted several village women to wash their clothes, cook their meals, and bear their children.

Lin Xuan spoke sternly to these women, "Raise your hands above your heads, and I will not kill you."

The son of Xiao Chongyang, already fourteen years old, saw the two holding blades and having already slaughtered a pile of bandits. He suppressed the murderous intent in his eyes, feigned innocence, clutched his mother's arm, and whispered pitifully, "Mother, I'm scared."

In reality, he was already harboring resentment in his heart.

Seeing the boy completely ignore his words, Lin Xuan sneered inwardly, Disobedient... playing the victim...

This boy must not be left alive!

Lin Xuan naturally did not know the boy's identity, but since he wouldn't listen, he feared a sneak attack and decided to kill him with a single strike.

"Young hero, hold your hand! My son is innocent!"

Lin Xuan turned a deaf ear and plunged his blade directly into the boy's chest.

Words are cheap; he dared not gamble on whether the boy had the means to ambush him. Everything was predicated on his own survival.

Even if he were truly innocent, knowing of this vendetta, he might eventually harbor resentment and seek revenge, so it was better to prevent trouble before it happened.

At this moment, four golden characters appeared on the boy's body: [Eidetic Memory].

Lin Xuan instantly plundered the talent.

"My son!" The woman let out a shrill scream, glaring viciously at Lin Xuan.

"You, you deserve to die! Give me back my son's life!"

She tried to grab a blade from the ground, but Lin An had been watching her; she kicked the blade away and then stepped on the woman's hand, causing her to howl in pain.

"Boss, should I kill her?" Lin An turned and asked.

Lin Xuan was slightly taken aback when he heard Lin An call him boss.

"Kill her." He gave only a very brief command.

Lin An complied.

Afterward, she noticed a cloth bag on the person, which felt heavy when she picked it up; it contained about forty taels of silver.

There were six women abducted to the stronghold. They held their hands high, and two young children were placed at their feet, crying. Having witnessed the fate of Xiao Chongyang's wife, they dared not disobey Lin Xuan and could only let the children cry.

Regarding these innocent victims, Lin Xuan felt only a sense of helplessness, as how to deal with them was a problem.

They were originally decent women abducted by bandits and had suffered untold hardships and torture. As long as they weren't like the one just now, truly treating the bandits and their offspring as family, their lives could be spared.

"Were you all abducted by them? Do your homes lie nearby?" Lin Xuan asked them.

"Yes, this humble woman is from the nearby Li Family Village. I had been married to my husband for two years before being abducted by these villains half a year ago to wash, cook, and sleep with them." As she spoke, the tears in her eyes grew brighter until two trails of sorrow streamed down her cheeks.

"The bandits of Wolf Cave Mountain have all been wiped out. I will give you each some travel money; wait until dawn and return to your respective homes."

The women's lips trembled, wanting to say something but unable to speak, looking at one another.

Lin Xuan looked at them, "If no one objects, then that's it. I'll distribute the money—one tael of silver each."

At this moment, one woman stepped forward and took the initiative to cry out to Lin Xuan:

"Young hero, I do not wish to return. To go back is to have the neighbors point at my spine and call me unclean, unchaste. My husband's family will never tolerate me, and my parents will despise me for losing face for the clan. Either way, it is a dead end."

The other women also wept and nodded one after another, their eyes filled with despair. They understood the current social climate all too well; everyone preached that starvation was a minor matter, but the loss of chastity was a catastrophe.

Their husbands' families and their own parents alike would rather they had simply died.

For them, returning home was not salvation, but a different kind of torture.

Lin Xuan frowned. He truly had not considered this point, but from his perspective, these women had done nothing wrong; they merely wanted to survive.

"How about this: tomorrow morning, head toward North Mountain Road and keep walking straight. Ask anyone you meet for the 'Qin Sheng' household. The military households under his jurisdiction are currently in need of wives."

"Since you have nowhere else to go, marrying into a military household is not a bad option. You won't have to return to be judged by others, and you will be able to survive."

What Lin Xuan said was the truth; the vast majority of military households could not afford wives, and no ordinary civilian family was willing to marry their daughters into them.

In the early days, the government would provide money and personnel to assign wives to military households, but things were different now. With no budget, they simply could not afford the cost.

Thus, the current wives of military men were all from impoverished backgrounds or were the daughters of criminals implicated by their families' offenses.

The women looked at each other in dismay; in their eyes, those two words represented poverty and hardship.