You dog!

The carriage bypassed the bustling main street and headed towards the exit along the sparsely lit riverbank.

On one side of the street is the roaring river, and on the other side are a few closed shops; there are hardly any people to be seen on the bluestone pavement.

Ye Xingge leaned against the outside of the carriage, one hand on his knee, still gathering intelligence along the way:

"These Hu women are worth a fortune even if sold to brothels, but what use are boys to us?"

After chatting for a while, Incense Master Su, though finding the wandering swordsman unfamiliar, could tell he was no saint from his frequent encounters with danger, and her wariness lessened slightly.

"Boys have their charms; three flat ones are not as good as one round one, and there are quite a few powerful people who like this..."

Great Beauty had just dealt with three henchmen and was a little puzzled by the sound:

What is the slang term "three flat ones are not as good as one round one"?

Ye Xingge thought that Great Beauty was indeed a bit too innocent after being disciplined by Heroine Yun. He would have to find an opportunity to teach her a thing or two, otherwise he would have wasted the Great Longevity Peach.

However, he wasn't thinking wildly at the moment; he simply continued to probe for information.

"Really? I'm quite into that too, but I prefer women. Speaking of which, when foreigners enter the country, the government checks their documents. It's fine for wealthy and powerful families, but what about those brothels? Would they dare to accept them so easily?"

"The higher-ups have their ways of handling this..."

"When I came here this time, Hall Master Wang only told me to find Incense Master Su, and didn't say much else. We're going to..."

Incense Master Su did not completely let her guard down, but simply said:

"Go see the head of the gang. You'll find out when you get there. Remember, in this line of work, keep your mouth shut. Don't ask questions about things that aren't your business..."

"Oh..."

Ye Xingge didn't ask any more questions. Just as they were talking, the sound of chains rattling came from inside the carriage.

Whoosh~

Seeing this, Ye Xingge tapped the carriage with the hilt of his knife to signal him to be quiet, and then lifted the curtain to look inside.

But what they saw was a child pushing someone next to him with his shoulder, while the red-haired girl next to him looked unwell, probably from a cold.

Incense Master Su frowned secretly upon seeing this:

"Is this girl sick?"

Ye Xingge raised his hand and touched his forehead:

"You have a fever, it'll be fine in a few days, it won't be a problem."

"Oh..."

Just as the two turned to look, a sound came from the street corner in the distance:

You scoundrel!

The woman's voice concealed anger and murderous intent.

Upon hearing this, the five thugs' expressions changed drastically, and they jumped off the carriage, swords in hand.

Incense Master Su quickly closed the curtain and looked ahead. She saw a figure walking out of the alleyway more than ten feet away.

The figure wore a black and red horse-face skirt, a bright red top, wrist guards, and held a red oil-paper umbrella in her left hand.

Although he was tall and had excellent proportions, his eyes still revealed a hint of youthfulness. At this moment, he exuded murderous intent, his right hand already pressed against the horizontal sword at his waist.

Ye Xingge was quite surprised to see the familiar appearance. To avoid alerting the enemy and losing the clues, he reacted quickly:

"Oh, it's me again, young lady. No guards this time?"

Incense Master Su frowned upon seeing this:

"You know him?"

Ye Xingge got off the carriage with his knife in hand.

"I happened to catch a glimpse of them at noon while looking at the 'Number One Under the Mountain-Viewing Pavilion. They were accompanied by eight or nine guards at the time..."

Dugu Yan had only wanted to confirm if this person was the wandering swordsman from earlier in the day; she truly hadn't expected him to be a scoundrel who trafficked in children. Now, holding an umbrella, she stepped into the rain-soaked street, drew her three-foot-long sword from her waist, and pointed it at the carriage ahead:

"You scoundrel! No wonder you jumped into the river and ran away as soon as you saw me. Release him at once!"

Seeing the woman's extraordinary aura, Incense Master Su sensed something was wrong and interjected:

"Young lady, you can't interfere in matters of the martial world. We're a legitimate business. These Hu women have all voluntarily sold themselves into servitude here. Their contracts are for a maximum of ten years; they can return home after the term expires..."

Dugu Yan would never believe such nonsense. Holding her gleaming sword, she stepped forward, intending to wipe out this group of scoundrels. However, she was afraid that these scoundrels would resort to desperate measures and take the children hostage.

Incense Master Su was afraid that making too much noise would attract powerful figures from the government or the martial arts world, since the goods were not his and he had not paid for them, so he was definitely considering backing out.

Seeing that the young heroine wanted to do something chivalrous, Ye Xingge worried that she might alert the others and cause them to flee. So he raised his hand, signaling Incense Master Su and the others to stand back.

"I saw during the day that you were quite beautiful, but unfortunately there were too many of you to greet you properly. Now that you've come to my door alone, it seems we really are destined to meet..."

As he spoke, he also sized up her appearance and figure.

When Dugu Yan saw that look, she got goosebumps all over, and a murderous glint appeared in her eyes.

Although the details of this wandering swordswoman are unclear, she is highly regarded by the Eight Pillars Hall. Even if she lacks practical experience, there are probably only two people in the world who are more capable than her under the age of twenty!

One was Wu Chenglie's youngest apprentice from the Later Zhou Dynasty, and once the strongest martial artist under the age of twenty.

The other is that Living Taisui who just emerged from the Great Yan, the youngest master of divine weapons in the contemporary era.

This scoundrel, who looked about her age, was clearly not very capable to do such a despicable job.

Dugu Yan remained silent, staring intently for a moment before abruptly taking a step forward. The red oil-paper umbrella remained in place, but her figure shot out through the air along with the blade.

Buzz~

The gleaming blade pierced through the raindrops, emitting a slight hum. Before the thugs behind could even see clearly, it pierced the heart of the straw-hatted scoundrel with the force of a dragon entering its cave!

But the result is obvious.

Ye Xingge was indeed surprised by the young heroine's profound skill, but there was no one of his age in the world more skilled than him.

Seeing the single blade coming at him, Ye Xingge merely shifted his body slightly, using his left hand to deflect the blade with the scabbard wrapped in black cloth, while his right hand took a small step forward and struck the Qi point with a single finger.

Bang!

The two blinked and pressed close together, producing a slight thud.

Dugu Yan thrust out her scalpel, and was already terrified when her opponent made his move. She wanted to quickly create distance, but before she could even understand the hat-hatted scoundrel's actions, her lungs trembled violently, and her energy channels were instantly blocked.

Then the man embraced her, her vision spun in the rain, and a red umbrella appeared before her, not yet fallen.

Whew~

From the perspective of the people behind, it was merely a woman with a single sword throwing her umbrella forward to stab, while the swordsman in the bamboo hat slipped into her arms, pulled her back, and even caught the falling oil-paper umbrella, using it to shield her head.

The once fierce female warrior collapsed into the man's arms, her knife falling from her hand, and was then kicked by the straw-hatted swordsman.

Sa--

The ringless sword was nailed to the carriage, startling Incense Master Su and the others.

Dugu Yan's energy was blocked, and she was stunned for a moment. When she recovered and found herself being held by a man, horror flashed in her eyes. She tried to raise her hands to resist, but unfortunately...

Knock knock~

Ye Xingge put his arm around the exhausted female warrior, then switched the umbrella to his right hand and quickly tapped it on her slightly exaggerated chest muscles, completely sealing her meridians. He then took out a piece of cloth.

Dugu Yan's limbs were weak and limp, her eyes filled with shock and anger:

"You scoundrel, let me go! Father... Waaah!"

My mouth is gagged!

Ye Xingge, looked him up and down, then scanned his figure, a look of surprise in his eyes:

"Her figure and looks could rival even the most beautiful courtesan... Do you have a rope?"

And then.

The thugs hadn't seen it clearly, and seeing this, they quickly found a spare rope in the carriage and threw it to Ye Xingge.

Ye Xingge caught it with his hand and skillfully tied a knot to bind its hands and feet. Because he often helped the yamen catch thieves in the past, his technique can only be described as practice makes perfect.

Incense Master Su was just a minor leader of a dockside gang and couldn't discern the specific techniques used by the two combatants, but their extremely skillful binding methods truly surprised him. He stepped forward to investigate.

"Did Master Li do this often before?"

Ye Xingge frowned, turned around, and looked at someone asking what their job was like.

"Oh..."

Incense Master Su, remembering that these were human traffickers from the Northwest, also felt that her words were superfluous, and then examined Dugu Yan's expensive clothes:

"This person's background is probably not simple. Master Li, what are you planning to do..."

Ye Xingge felt that the silky fabric must have cost at least several dozen strings of cash, and that she might really be a little princess, but business was more important, so he carried her on his shoulders.

"Will you take this person in?"

Incense Master Su clearly somewhat embarrassed:

"This person is probably from within the Within the Pass, and his skills are quite impressive. If he has connections behind him..."

Ye Xingge waved his hand. "If I don't dare to accept her, I'll keep her for myself. This young lady is truly beautiful, with a good figure. She should be able to bear a son. It would be perfect to take her back to the Northwest as a bandit's wife. Incense Master Su, don't let this slip."

Incense Master Su and his henchmen realized that this girl came from an extraordinary background and didn't want to cause any trouble.

But this guy is so audacious, they can't exactly play the hero and rescue the damsel in distress, so all they can do is raise their hands:

"Hurry up and leave. Once you've taken the money, Master Li, get out of here as soon as possible. Let's pretend we never met..."

Ye Xingge didn't say much. He threw the girl in the horse-face skirt into the carriage and pulled out the knife, tucking it into his waistband.

Looking at him closely, he noticed that the girl who had been so aggressive just moments before had paled slightly, but her eyes were still filled with resentment, as if she wanted to tear him to pieces with her gaze. She even uttered a sentence:

"Hmph, you've got quite a temper. Don't worry, we'll deal with you slowly once we get to the village..."

After Ye Xingge, he lowered the curtain.

Incense Master Su and the others dared not linger and quickly drove away from the dimly lit street...