At that moment, Mang Hu and Eagle returned, standing beside Ruo Wen and nodding. Ruo Wen smiled coldly and strode forward.
"Brothers! Today, we’ve been underestimated. They came here with just a few hundred men to demand their people. Are we going to stand for that? Are we going to let them look down on us?" His voice was full of power, and a wave of defiant shouts rose from his men, surging toward Tong Bahe and his group like a crashing tide.
"Tong Bahe, hear me! I don’t need the grain in that storehouse. I won’t starve! I, Ruo Wen, don’t gamble with my real brothers’ lives. I’ve already moved my people out of the area. You can blow up whatever you want, and when it’s done, I’ll come after you!" Ruo Wen stood tall, exuding fierce authority, like an enraged lion, his eyes burning with intensity.
Tong Bahe’s men, trembling with fear, were on the verge of collapsing. The fact that they hadn’t already fled was remarkable.
"Brothers, surround them! Don’t let a single grain of sand escape!" Ruo Wen drew his curved blade from his waist, and his thousands of men responded in unison. It was clear that his earlier calm had been a ruse to buy time and prepare his forces. Now, he was ready to annihilate them.
But Huang Bei Shuang wasn’t afraid. Her eyes shone with the determination of someone ready for a final gamble.
"Ruo Wen, Qing Yun isn’t here, but he’s not at the grain storehouse either. Where do you think he is?" Her voice was unwavering, filled with defiance.
Ruo Wen, sensing something amiss, signaled for his men to step back. "Your goal wasn’t the grain storehouse?" he asked suspiciously.
"The Dead Wind Zone! You chose a clever place to set up camp, didn’t you?" Huang Bei Shuang sneered.
Ruo Wen’s expression grew darker by the second.
"The area of loose sand stretches for ten li, forming crescent-shaped semi-fixed dunes. At first glance, it looks like the ridge is only three or four zhang high, harmless to people or animals." Huang Bei Shuang took a step forward. "Of course, that’s only if the sandbank behind it stays intact. What do you think will happen if we blow it up?"
Her words were laced with both resolve and mockery as she brandished a signal flare, moving it from side to side.
"This place will turn into a sinking pit of quicksand hundreds of zhang deep. We’ll die, and so will you!" Ruo Wen narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you ready to die with me?"
He was astonished at how much she knew about the desert terrain. He had hidden the secrets of the Dead Wind Zone well, and in the three months they had camped here, no one had uncovered their vulnerabilities. Yet, in just a few words, she had revealed it all.
"It doesn’t have to end in death! Just give me Duo Zai and those bandits from the grain storehouse, and we’ll call it even."
Huang Bei Shuang looked him straight in the eye. This was her final gambit—whether they lived or died was no longer in her hands.
Ruo Wen remained silent for a moment, his gaze sharpening as he appeared to make a decision.
"Your name is…?" he asked.
"Huang Bei Shuang!"
"Mang Hu, go find that old hag’s body and throw it over. Also, release those useless prisoners from the grain storehouse. Cheng Xiang, gather all the brothers. We need to prepare to leave this place. Whether they blow it up or not, we can’t stay here any longer." Ruo Wen’s commands were calm and decisive, but his men cautiously watched his expression, fearing that one wrong move could lead to their own demise.
Despite having followed him for years, this was the first time they had been threatened to such an extent, with no upper hand. It seemed laughable to think a mere few hundred people could suppress their group of two thousand seasoned bandits. Yet, a single woman had effortlessly achieved this, leaving them astonished. No one dared to meet Ruo Wen’s gaze, but they all heard the sharp, menacing sound of his sword and knives clinking at his waist.
Everything was still in motion.
Tong Bahe’s men began carrying out bags of supplies. The sight was almost absurd—these men had risked their lives for nothing more than enough food to survive, and now, grabbing at every opportunity, they hauled out as much as they could. At the back of the group, one man carried Duo Zai’s corpse.
"Tong Bahe! Are you ready? As soon as our people are clear, we need to retreat east immediately. Ruo Wen’s camp is further west, so once Qing Yun blows the sandbank, they’ll be forced to run west, away from us. Even if they try to double back, it won’t be easy to catch us," Huang Bei Shuang urged, clutching the signal flare in her hand, ready to ignite it.
She stared at Ruo Wen, and she knew he was staring back at her.
In the moment when the smoke hanging in the air was suddenly scattered by a gust of wind, she lit the flare.
Boom! Boom!
She turned and ran. So did he.
The collapse was swift—devouring everything in its path, so fast that even a moment’s hesitation would mean certain death. On one side, around 400 people; on the other, over 2,000. Neither group could afford to glance back at the other. To look back was to invite death. All they could do was run—Huang Bei Shuang had to run, and so did Ruo Wen.
They ran in opposite directions, as if this were their inevitable fate.
In this world, there are some things you desire deeply but can never attain. These inexplicable feelings can drive you mad, and that madness brings nothing but a hellish conflict.
A beauty’s grace—too burdensome to bear; a hero’s resentment—still burning in his heart!
Huang—Bei—Shuang!
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