More than eighty Japanese pirates had been reduced to just over thirty. These thirty-odd men had endured a night of torment and had reached their limits both mentally and physically, while Shao Mingyuan’s guards had merely fed mosquitoes all night.

The disparity in strength was stark. In less than two quarters of an hour, the guards had already begun habitually cleaning the battlefield and tallying their gains.

Yang Houcheng watched wide-eyed as a personal guard expressionlessly removed a money pouch from a corpse and casually stuffed it into his bosom: “Tingquan, they, they’re just pocketing those valuables?”

Shao Mingyuan raised an eyebrow indifferently: “What about it?”

“Don’t they need to turn them in?”

Shao Mingyuan smiled: “Turn them in to whom? The Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of Revenue? The ones risking life and limb are they, not those gentlemen who wield writing brushes.”

Yang Houcheng scratched his head: “That’s not what I meant. I thought you would distribute them uniformly—”

Shao Mingyuan smiled slightly: “In my view, merit-based distribution is the best allocation.”

Yang Houcheng clicked his tongue: “No wonder they say military generals are the wealthiest.”

He seemed to understand how his friend’s substantial family wealth came about.

He had been thinking wrong—how could he have thought Tingquan was the kind of simple, honest person with clean sleeves?

“Do you feel that going to battle is different from what you imagined?” Shao Mingyuan asked with a smile.

Yang Houcheng nodded, then remembering his friend couldn’t see, quickly said: “Yes.”

“There’s nothing strange about it. They protect the country and family, dedicating their hot blood to the nation. They should leave something for their families, and silver is the most practical thing. Let’s go explore the situation on the island.”

The morning sun had risen over the sea. The small island that had seemed sinister and terrifying at night appeared bright and peaceful under the sunlight. Regarding the piles of corpses in the clearing, aside from Yang Houcheng and Xie Shengxiao showing slight discomfort, the others showed no unusual expression. They could even pull out dry rations from their bosoms and hastily take a few bites to fill their stomachs.

Fighting while filling their stomachs had become a habit for these personal guards.

Mingfeng Island wasn’t too large. The guards divided into several small teams and began exploring the entire island.

Shao Mingyuan stood by the flag erected in the clearing, listening to Ye Luo’s report: “General, we found two women in a room, both completely naked and unconscious.”

“Please ask Miss Xie to go take a look.”

“Miss Xie, please.”

Xie Shengxiao nodded slightly and followed Ye Luo.

She had fed mosquitoes all night and only managed to kill two pirates after rushing around—a real loss. Having something to do was better than standing around stupidly.

“Miss Xie, those two women are in this room.” Ye Luo stopped at the doorway.

Xie Shengxiao stepped inside.

The furniture and furnishings in this room didn’t belong to ordinary pirates. A large bed was placed against the wall, clothes were scattered on the floor, and the entire room was filled with a strange odor.

Xie Shengxiao endured the discomfort and pushed open the window before walking toward the large bed.

Two women lay on the bed. The quilt covering them must have been hastily placed by the guards after discovery. Snow-white arms and thighs were exposed outside.

Xie Shengxiao couldn’t help but examine the two women’s complexions. Their hair was disheveled, their palm-sized faces so thin that high cheekbones protruded, eyes tightly closed with pale complexions that looked quite frightening.

Xie Shengxiao’s heart tightened. She quickly reached out to check their breathing and only relaxed when she detected they were still alive.

These two women must have been sold here previously—they were all pitiable people.

With all men outside, to take the two women away, they had to help them dress properly. Xie Shengxiao reached out to pull away the quilt covering the women’s bodies. This sight greatly shocked her.

The snow-white bodies of the two women bore countless bite marks and scratch wounds, blue and red marks that were shocking to behold.

Her gaze moved downward to the women’s lower bodies, then quickly looked away, her face turning iron-blue.

Those beasts—they truly didn’t treat these women as humans!

Xie Shengxiao’s hands trembled as she dressed the two women. The short time of less than a cup of tea seemed more exhausting than spending a night in the forest. Her voice was hoarse: “Ye Luo, I’ve dressed them. Please come help.”

Ye Luo entered, silently bent down to carry one woman, while Xie Shengxiao carried the other. The two walked out one after the other.

“General, the two women have been brought out.”

Shao Mingyuan nodded: “Send two men to take them back to the ship first. You continue leading the team to explore the island.”

“Orders received!”

“Would Miss Xie like to return to the ship together?”

“No, I’ll follow Ye Luo to see if there are other such women.”

“That’s good too. Having Miss Xie along makes things more convenient.”

“I’m going too!” Yang Houcheng said.

Xie Shengxiao was currently at the peak of her disgust toward the pirates. Due to her hatred extending to everything associated, she looked unfavorably upon all men. Hearing this, she glanced at Yang Houcheng and smiled coldly.

Yang Houcheng rolled his eyes.

How troublesome was this woman? When he said he’d take responsibility, she wouldn’t accept it. When he didn’t take responsibility, she gave him cold looks. What exactly did she want?

“There are several more young ladies here!” Suddenly came the shocked shout of a guard from not far away.

Xie Shengxiao hurried over, finding the guard standing at the doorway with a complex expression. She quickly went around him and pushed open the door.

She glanced inside and immediately turned around, her heart pounding wildly.

“What’s wrong?” Yang Houcheng looked in puzzlement.

Xie Shengxiao directly pushed him away, shouting sternly: “Don’t look!”

Yang Houcheng’s expression went blank: “I, I already saw…”

This was terrible—what had he seen!

Several young girls without clothes, their bodies covered in filth—

No, no, if he kept thinking about this, he’d never want to marry for the rest of his life!

“Those beasts!” Yang Houcheng fiercely punched the door frame.

“You wait here, I’ll go in and check.” After quite a while, Xie Shengxiao finally managed to calm down somewhat. She gritted her teeth and stepped inside.

One by one, she checked their breathing. By the end, Xie Shengxiao was unconsciously crying.

She walked out of the room, shaking her head: “All dead.”

The girls in the room had once been treasures cherished by their parents, secretly admired sweethearts of some young men. But now they were all dead, and died so miserably—tortured to death by men!

She wished she could spend every last drop of her hot blood to kill all those pirates!

“Miss Xie, you’re crying?”

“I’m not!” Xie Shengxiao straightened her back and strode past Yang Houcheng.

Yang Houcheng followed, saying in a deep voice: “Don’t worry. These pirates are just like the northern Tartars—sooner or later they’ll be driven out, as long as the men of Great Liang don’t perish!”

After completing this mission, he would go to the battlefield and never again be an idle young master.

Xie Shengxiao smiled: “But seven or eight out of ten of these pirates are Great Liang people.”

Young Lord Yang was choked speechless, frantically thinking: This girl is too unlovable!

At this moment, several guards brought someone over, reporting: “General, there’s a survivor!”

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