Eagle’s Beak Mountain was tall and densely forested, with difficult paths that merchants avoided. Towns and villages were almost nonexistent here.

Being a bandit in these mountains wasn’t an easy life.

Ding Dachui had originally been a hunter. After making enemies with the local gentry, he fled and became an outlaw, countless times imagining the day when he would lead his brothers back in triumph, with the gentry clan kneeling before him begging for mercy—

Unfortunately, ten years had passed, and this scene had yet to materialize. Moreover—

“Boss!” Someone beside him excitedly patted his arm, squeezing words through clenched teeth in a low voice, “Wild boar, wild boar—”

Ding Dachui shoved the man down with one hand: “Quiet.”

He held his breath watching as a dark shadow appeared in the dense forest opposite them. The shadow had been leisurely eating grass and bumping into trees when suddenly its foot triggered a trap mechanism. Two wooden spikes shot up from underground, piercing the shadow’s throat—

The wild boar let out a miserable cry that made the entire forest tremble. But the boar didn’t fall; instead, it charged wildly, and by unfortunate coincidence, straight toward Ding Dachui’s position.

The man Ding Dachui had been holding down, nearly jumped up: “Boss, run quickly!”

Ding Dachui released him, and the man ran off like a rabbit. After running a few steps, he looked back and saw that Ding Dachui hadn’t followed.

“Boss!” he shouted, eyes widening as he stared at Ding Dachui.

Ding Dachui remained in place, raising his hunting bow and aiming at the wild boar charging furiously toward him—

Has he gone mad? The man’s voice cracked: “Boss, don’t—”

The wild boar drew closer, a fierce wind carrying the stench of blood and gore. Ding Dachui let out a mighty roar and released two arrows, which pierced cleanly through the boar’s eyes—

Accompanied by the man’s distorted cry, the wild boar collapsed in front of Ding Dachui. The ground shook as it struggled, then after a moment, it twitched and went still.

The man also fell to his knees, breaking into a cold sweat despite the autumn chill.

“Big brother,” he finally regained his senses and staggered over, “you nearly scared me to death.”

Ding Dachui’s expression remained calm as he waved his arm: “Nothing to be afraid of. Wild boars just look frightening.”

What did he mean by “just look frightening”? The man looked at the path the wild boar had taken—it was as if the ground had been plowed, with trees as thick as bowls snapped in half—

“What happened?” “Did you catch something?” “That was quite a commotion—”

Seven or eight people came running from all directions, letting out excited cheers when they caught sight of the wild boar on the ground.

“It’s a wild boar!”

“Impressive!”

“What a great hunter!”

Ding Dachui accepted the first two compliments with equanimity, but upon hearing the third, he became displeased and reprimanded the speaker: “What are you saying? We are mountain bandits!”

He was a bandit, so how had he suddenly become a hunter again?

The speaker sheepishly hurried to praise him as “the most formidable bandit chief!”

But hearing these words, Ding Dachui didn’t rejoice. Instead, his expression grew darker, and he said, “I’m not the chief now. We have a new leader.”

The men’s expressions became complicated.

Someone indignantly said, “Boss, you’ll always be our boss. I only recognize you as our leader. How can a woman be a boss?”

But others turned their heads, avoiding Ding Dachui’s gaze. Their averted eyes fell on the wild boar’s corpse. This boss might be impressive at hunting wild boars, but that boss, even though a woman, could beat Ding Dachui like a dead pig—

Ding Dachui also noticed these avoiding glances. He didn’t get angry or rebuke them; what right did he have to rebuke? He had been bested, and the fact that he still had his life was by the grace of that person.

Thinking about it now, it still seemed unbelievable.

A while ago, a few people had suddenly appeared at their stronghold, claiming they were there to rob them.

Rob them.

Even now, Ding Dachui found it laughable when he thought of that moment.

They were mountain bandits, true, but they barely managed to rob anyone throughout the year.

Eagle’s Beak Mountain was remote with poor roads. Wealthy travelers all took routes near the county town, where there were wide, flat highways, prosperous towns, and powerful garrisons—few people passed through here throughout the year, and those who did were mostly poor locals.

Out of ten robbery attempts, five would yield not even a tattered piece of clothing. With bad luck, they might even end up being entangled with their victims, who would cry and beg to join the bandits just for a meal—

He often wondered who was robbing whom!

Unexpectedly, now someone had come to rob a bandit stronghold.

Even more amusing, among these people was a woman.

That woman wore a wide-brimmed hat with a veil that covered her face, but one could still tell she was a delicate lady—

At the time, they were both angry and amused, wanting to teach these strangers a lesson, but they hadn’t expected—

Six of them had defeated over thirty bandits, and managed to only injure without killing. The injuries weren’t even flesh wounds, but dislocated joints and twisted tendons—

And that delicate woman had merely flicked her whip a few times, and both of Ding Dachui’s arms—capable of hitting targets a hundred paces away—were dislocated. His tendons were also twisted, and the big burly man was left hanging from a treetop like a rag doll.

Recalling that scene, Ding Dachui still felt a surge of shame and fear.

Looking down from the treetop at those few people, especially that woman, was like gazing at a demon from hell.

Was this an official government crackdown? Since when did the government have such terrifying personnel?

But after the entire stronghold was rendered helpless, those people didn’t take their heads to claim a reward from the officials. Instead, they said the stronghold now belonged to them, and that woman even declared that she would be the new leader from now on.

Her veil hung low, with a whip coiled around her waist, glittering with gold thread like a beautiful belt that accentuated her slender waist, which seemed as if it might break with a single twist. In a gentle voice, she said: “This is what you call a robbery.”

In these times, even bandits got robbed, and by a woman no less. What could Ding Dachui and the others do but submit? True to her word, the woman didn’t take their lives. She restored their tendons and bones to normal, thus becoming their new boss.

That wasn’t all.

The other two bandit strongholds in Fallen Eagle Mountain didn’t escape either.

This stretch of mountains resembled an eagle crouching on the earth, with the scattered peaks named after their respective shapes.

Because the mountains were vast with abundant game, Ding Dachui wasn’t the only hunter—no, bandit there. The high peaks and dense forests made for excellent defensive positions and were suitable for ambushes, so other bandits also hid within them.

The three strongholds had often fought each other, each wanting to swallow the others, but because they were evenly matched, they eventually had to divide their territories and mind their own business.

Unexpectedly, all three strongholds had now been robbed and absorbed, merged into one.

“Anyway,” Ding Dachui put aside his complicated feelings, “the brothers are still alive and together. It doesn’t matter who’s boss.”

After speaking, he gestured for everyone to lift the wild boar—”Let’s take it back to the stronghold—and pickle it!”

As the men carried the boar, one of them couldn’t help saying: “I wonder what the boss looks like. She must be very beautiful—”

Before he could finish, Ding Dachui kicked him.

“If you don’t want to die, stop talking nonsense,” Ding Dachui said coldly. “Her being boss has nothing to do with her appearance.”

The man quickly ducked his head, not daring to joke anymore.

The group carried the wild boar forward, but after just a few steps, they heard a sharp bird call from the forest.

The sound startled everyone present. Ding Dachui instantly recalled that when the new boss had arrived, the forest had been filled with the same kind of bird calls—urgent, high-pitched, and sharp, as if squeezing one’s heart.

What was happening?

Immediately after the bird call stopped, the entire forest erupted with bird calls, overwhelming and heart-shaking.

“Something’s wrong,” Ding Dachui shouted. “Drop the boar, hurry back!”

The men abandoned the boar and followed Ding Dachui toward the stronghold. Before they reached it, a figure appeared before them.

It was another woman, but unlike the new boss, she was petite—a girl of only about fifteen or sixteen years.

“Who’s there—” The bird calls transformed into shrill shouts as she yelled loudly, “Who is it—”

The long sword in her hand gleamed as she rushed toward the stronghold.

Ding Dachui stopped in his tracks. The current stronghold was not the same as before.

Around the stronghold, death traps were hidden.

He had witnessed them.

At that time, not all bandits had truly submitted. Neighbor stronghold’s Chang Laizi had attempted a night raid, but as soon as he reached the entrance, it was as if he had run into a massive net. That golden, glittering net was as sharp as blades, instantly cutting Chang Laizi into pieces—

That bloody scene had thoroughly extinguished any rebellious thoughts in everyone’s minds.

This girl wanted to storm the stronghold, and in the next moment she would also—

In the next moment, in Ding Dachui’s vision, the girl sliced through space and entered the stronghold.

Simultaneously, a woman’s figure flew out from the stronghold, the veil under her wide-brimmed hat fluttering in the wind.

Ding Dachui clenched his fist. When the two women met, who would prevail?

But there was no clash of blades, no flying flesh and blood.

“Aunt! Why are you here?”

“I was worried about you.”

“Aunt—I’m so glad you came—she’s so dangerous—wuwuwu—I was so scared.”

Urgent and gentle female voices intertwined, followed only by crying.

The girl had thrown herself into the new boss’s arms, like a lonely bird returning to its nest.