“Emily, what are you saying?” William Reed pretended to be a little angry and said, “Not to mention you saved my life, and have been taking care of me so diligently. Just because you call me brother, does that mean I can’t give you wolf pelts and crystal cores? If you refuse, then don’t call me Brother Reed anymore, and I won’t recognize you as my little sister.” Back in the imperial capital, he was quite popular, often mingling among girls. Forcing a naive young girl like this to give in was something he was very good at.

However, sure enough, Emily Harris became nervous and hurriedly said, “Brother Reed, that’s not what I meant.”

“I don’t care, you have to take them whether you want to or not.” William Reed said domineeringly and unreasonably, “Otherwise, I’ll be really angry. Also, I absolutely won’t let you go hunting in the Hengduan Mountains.” Even though these pelts and crystal cores were precious, even in the imperial capital, William Reed owed her his life—how could he be stingy with such things? Besides, this Emily Harris was truly likable and lovable, and William Reed really didn’t want her to take any risks.

“Alright, alright, Brother Reed, don’t be mad. I’ll take them, okay?” Although William Reed had scolded her a bit, Emily Harris actually felt comforted by his words.

Seeing her agree, William Reed smiled and said a few nice things to make her happy.

The two walked very quickly, and after about half the journey, during a short rest, William Reed casually asked, “Who is that one-eyed man? A border guard collecting taxes for the prefecture? How could he not be able to collect taxes and even kill people?”

“Of course not. We already paid the prefecture’s taxes long ago. That one-eyed man is a bandit who rules over hundreds of miles around here, with a strong force under him, bullying our villagers. Every year we have to give him a hundred pelts, or he’ll kill people. He, Scarhead Wolf, and the one-horned tiger on Lianyun Peak are the three scourges of our area. Among them, the one-eyed man and his bandits are the worst. After all, Scarhead Wolf and the one-horned tiger only bother the village when they’re extremely hungry.”

So it was a bandit gang. In this remote place, it was indeed easy for bandits to arise. If it were the old William Reed, he might have been indignant. But after months of hardship, he’d seen so much ugliness that he was no longer surprised. He just sneered, “Sounds like that one-eyed man is pretty fierce? Isn’t there an imperial border patrol in the Hengduan Mountains? Don’t they care?”

“I don’t really know. Anyway, whenever the border patrol comes, the one-eyed man disappears. As soon as the patrol leaves, the one-eyed man comes out to act up again,” Emily Harris said with extreme disgust.

William Reed thought to himself, it seemed the border patrol and the one-eyed man were already colluding. But William Reed also knew that in the empire, you had to collude with the authorities and seek protection to do anything. Otherwise, it was hard to make a living. Even some bandits in the empire had their own protectors. Otherwise, rootless bandits would be wiped out by the imperial army in just a few days.

The two hurried along for half a day, walking dozens of miles before finally reaching the foot of the mountain, outside the small village. This time, Emily Harris was clearly in high spirits, pulling William Reed along and telling him how hospitable the villagers were and what fun things there were.

Suddenly, both of them stopped in their tracks. In the distance, they could see thick smoke rising from the small village, with faint glimpses of fire.

“A fire?” William Reed had just thought of this, but immediately dismissed it. Something was wrong—if it were just a fire, there wouldn’t be so much smoke. Could it be…? A vague sense of foreboding crept over William Reed.

When Emily Harris saw the village on fire, she panicked and tried to rush in. But William Reed grabbed her, his eyes sharp and solemn: “Emily, something might be wrong in the village. Calm yourself first and lead me in through the back roads.”

Hearing this, Emily Harris was initially terrified and flustered. But seeing William Reed’s calm and steady gaze, she gradually composed herself, grabbed William Reed, and hurried toward a side path. “Brother Reed, come with me, this path is hidden. My grandfather’s legs aren’t good—I’m afraid he’s trapped in the fire… Also, we’re downwind here, and I can faintly smell blood!”

With lives at stake, William Reed didn’t hesitate, following her as they crouched and quickly snuck into the village. In no time, they crossed the low fence and entered. Sure enough, a strong stench of blood hit them, the smoke was thick, and the fire was raging.

Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop～

A rapid, chaotic series of hoofbeats echoed through the village, mixed with villagers’ screams and twisted, maniacal laughter. Even a fool could tell what was happening here.

Two short, scruffy horses, each carrying a burly man in a tattered leather coat, leapt out of the smoke. Both the horses and the coats were stained with blood. Especially the gleaming curved blades in their hands, dripping red, their faces excited and ferocious—it was clear they had just killed.

Clang～

William Reed didn’t hesitate to draw his somewhat battered longsword, Iceflame, his gaze sharp as he shielded Emily Harris behind him.

The two burly men, seeing William Reed, Emily Harris, and a dog, were not alarmed but delighted, their eyes flashing with cruelty and madness. One of them shouted, “Brothers, here are two more who slipped through the net—kill them!” and charged forward on horseback.