Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Twin Demons of the Northern Desert

Xiao Ding was sleeping in the cave with two children when he suddenly heard a noise in his slumber. He hurriedly sat up. It was already deep into the night; the two children, frightened and overwhelmed with grief during the day, were now sleeping soundly.

Gently, Xiao Ding moved aside the large stone at the cave entrance, poked his head out cautiously, and looked around. He spotted a white figure ahead to the right, carrying a woman on his shoulder, moving toward the cliff. Xiao Ding found the figure oddly familiar. As the person drew nearer, under the starlight, Xiao Ding recognized him—it was Shi Jianduan, the chief of Feiyun Fortress.

But who was the woman he was carrying? Shi Jianduan had always coveted the Taoist nuns from the Jade Purity Sect. Could it be that one had fallen into his hands?

While Xiao Ding was pondering this, the woman suddenly spoke, “Shi, you bastard, where are you dragging me off to?”

The woman’s voice sounded vaguely familiar to Xiao Ding, but he couldn’t place it.

“Heh heh, I’m taking you somewhere we can have some fun,” Shi Jianduan replied, his tone lewd.

“If you’re going to do it, do it quickly. Why did you seal my acupuncture points?” the woman said angrily.

“Heh heh, everyone knows you, Madam Luo, are like a tigress. If I don’t seal your points, wouldn’t you eat me alive?” Shi Jianduan said, already arriving at the cliff.

Madam Luo? Xiao Ding suddenly recalled that at the foot of the mountain, Bai Zheteng had always boasted about his team’s “Flower of Shu Prefecture”—Miss Feng, Luo Dafeng, also known as Madam Luo.

Bai Zheteng was now long gone to the underworld, but Luo Dafeng had survived the ordeal.

“Shi, isn’t this all about you wanting me? Unseal my points and I’ll accompany you…” Luo Dafeng pretended to be indifferent.

“Madam Luo, I don’t trust you. We’ll finish our business first, then I’ll unseal you,” Shi Jianduan replied, still grinning lewdly. He set Luo Dafeng down, then headed toward a cave.

After checking it, Shi Jianduan returned, picked up Luo Dafeng, and carried her inside…

Xiao Ding wondered whether he ought to try rescuing Luo Dafeng. But he was probably no match for Shi Jianduan. Dealing with him required cunning, not brute force.

Just then, Xiao Ding heard a woman’s low breaths coming from the cave Shi Jianduan had entered. The night was quiet and the forest still; the cave was not far, so Xiao Ding heard everything clearly.

Good heavens! That quickly? Perhaps there was no need for him to intervene after all.

Still pondering, Xiao Ding was startled by a loud shout: “Shi, you bastard! How are you so fast? You got me all riled up, and now you’re done! With skills like yours, you dare call yourself a flower thief…”

Wait, what? It was over already? Shi Jianduan was truly lacking in stamina!

Xiao Ding couldn’t help but smile wryly; before he’d even decided whether to help, the affair was over—just like a hen brooding over duck eggs, all for nothing!

As he was quietly laughing to himself, Xiao Ding suddenly heard footsteps in the woods, followed by voices.

“Hey, big brother, did you really hear a woman’s voice just now?”

“Don’t worry, my ears are sharp. I never mistake a sound. Just as your nose has never missed a scent.”

“Haha, my nose was born sensitive to women’s fragrance. Wherever there’s a woman, I can smell it…”

“Haha, I admire your nose…”

“Not at all, big brother. Your ears… Eh? I think I smell a woman’s scent nearby…”

By now, the two speakers had reached the cliff. Xiao Ding peeked out from the cave to observe. He saw two middle-aged men, one tall and one short. The tall one was thin, with a horse-like face, covered in pockmarks, a long neck, and was carrying a woman dressed as a Taoist nun—likely a disciple of the Jade Purity Sect.

The short one was chubby, with a round face and a bald head, holding a pair of gleaming mandarin-duck short halberds.

The tall, thin man gently set the Taoist nun down, then sniffed his way toward the cave Shi Jianduan had entered.

“Big brother, there’s definitely a woman in that cave. Perfect, one for each of us…” the thin man said as he walked.

The chubby man followed, laughing, “I trust your judgment, but there might be more than one woman in that cave. I heard a man’s voice earlier…”

The tall, thin man became alert at this, approached the cave entrance but didn’t go in, instead shouting, “Whoever’s inside, come out now, or I’ll set the cave on fire!”

Xiao Ding hid his head behind the big stone at the cave entrance, watching the two men at the cliff, and suddenly recalled the two men Mei Ruoxue had encountered that night.

According to Mei Ruoxue, the men she met were very much like these two. Could they be the same? If so, might they know where Mei Ruoxiang was?

Shi Jianduan, still fuming after being berated by Madam Luo for his lack of endurance, heard the shout outside, quickly put on his trousers, and stepped out.

“Who are you, coming here in the dead of night?” Shi Jianduan waved his old paper fan irritably.

“Haha, pretty boy, so you don’t recognize us, the Twin Devils of the Northern Desert!” the tall, thin man laughed.

“So you’re the infamous… ah, the Twin Devils of the Northern Desert! My apologies!” Shi Jianduan replied, his smile forced and insincere.

The Twin Devils of the Northern Desert were notorious womanizers, infamous for abducting and assaulting women across the martial world. Skilled in martial arts, cunning and elusive, they always managed to escape after their crimes, earning them the nickname “Twin Lust Devils of the Northern Desert.”

Shi Jianduan had slipped and almost said the vulgar name, but quickly corrected himself. The Twin Devils, however, were well aware.

“Enough chatter. Since you know our name, hand over the woman in the cave, and we’ll let you live,” the tall, thin man demanded harshly.

“And if I refuse?” Shi Jianduan, chief of the fortress, though his domain was poor and shabby, still commanded dozens of men and was used to having his way. He had never been threatened like this.

“Then let’s settle it with our hands,” the tall man said, drawing a pair of judge’s pens from his back and lunging at Shi Jianduan.

The chubby man also rushed forward, wielding his mandarin-duck halberds in support.

Shi Jianduan wielded his paper fan using a technique aimed at striking acupuncture points. True fan-wielders used steel-ribbed folding fans. Shi Jianduan once had such a fan, but lost it. As a bandit chief, he never had the money to forge another, and anyway, he didn’t need to fight often—ordinary bamboo fans were lighter and more convenient. He lost interest in crafting weapons, preferring to spend his days with the two concubines he’d brought from the brothel.

The tall man’s judge’s pens also used acupuncture point strikes, so he could predict Shi Jianduan’s moves. With the chubby man’s support, Shi Jianduan was at a disadvantage after barely a dozen moves.

As Shi Jianduan was about to be overwhelmed, he suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

The tall and short men paused, wondering what he was up to.