The bandits didn't really have martial arts skills and they were merely using brute forces when robbing. They quickly attacked Yao Ying's party without mercy. Despite being weak, Yao Ying and Lin Jian were still able to retaliate and they had the advantage of using their inner qi to help them fight.

It made their condition wasn't too bad and in turn, it made the bandits feel annoyed because their mission went awry. They thought that they would be able to swiftly kill all of them while they were sleeping.

The bandit leader could see that one by one, his subordinate started to lose and they were killed mercilessly. On the other hand, their target didn't have any casualties --- except for those two people that they killed because they fell asleep while guarding the camp. It seemed like they picked the wrong target this time.

The loss was too big if he didn't find out a way soon. He seemed to recall that there were supposed to be a few women in this camp. Where were they hiding? He sneaked away from the battle and tried to find out the women's hiding place stealthily. He saw a big boulder and he slightly smirked. That was the only place they could hide.

'Find you all!' The bandits' leader thought to himself happily. It seemed like luck was still on his side.

The big burly man quickly went behind the boulder and the closest to him was a woman who was wearing a veil. At first, the women stayed vigilance. However, after a few moments, the fight hadn't ended yet and they started to feel worried. They kept looking at each of their own man and didn't really pay attention to their surroundings.

Thus, the bandits' leader easily captured Xiao Fang. The latter yelped in surprise, making the other women look at their direction. "No!" Yao Ling yelled, trying to pull Xiao Fang back. However, the leader was strong and Yao Ling couldn't help Xiao Fang. Instead, she ended up falling down with a loud bang because her body crashed to the boulder.

The man quickly yelled at Yao Ying's party, "Hold it right there!" He used Xiao Fang as a hostage.

However, no one stopped or paid attention to him. They were too busy fighting and thought the women should be fine with their arrangement, however, they miscalculated. When the man yelled once again, Yao Ying and Lin Jian turned around in surprise.

They saw the man put the sword on Xiao Fang's neck and they gasped in surprise. Yao Ying and Lin Jian cursed inwardly but it was already too late.

"Throw your sword away or I'll take this woman's life!" The bandits' leader said in a smug voice, knowing that the victory was his.

Yao Ying and Lin Jian gritted his teeth. They looked around there were only five bandits left --- other than the leader and they were heavily injured so they wouldn't be able to do anything. They only groaned in pain and rolled around on the ground. There was no sign of them standing up despite knowing their leader had a hostage.

Yao Ying's party had no choice but threw their swords away. Yao Ying made an eye contact with Yao Ling who was sprawled on the ground. His eyes squinted in anger because he knew it must have been the leader's doing. He dared to touch his wife! He would make sure that he would pay him back!

Yao Ying gave her a signal and Yao Ling understood what he meant. She quickly stood up and tried to calm herself down. She was too agitated just now and also... made a grave mistake.

Yao Ying already warned her to be vigilance, but she forgot about it.

"What more do you want?" Lin Jian asked the bandits' leader. The interaction between Yao Ying wasn't missed by him and he quickly distracted the bandits' leader. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the bandits' leader get Xiao Fang as a hostage and it made him realize that his feelings towards Xiao Fang wasn't simple...

The bandits' leader laughed joyfully when he knew that he got the advantage. It seemed like this woman was quite important in this party. The bandits' leader looked at his surroundings and saw that there was no way he could gain anything from here, because he was the only one who wasn't hurt.

He quickly said, "Let me go! After I'm arrived at a safe distance, I will let this woman go!" He saw how weak his comrades were and he knew that they would only become his burden. He needed to run away by himself and only by doing it that way, he could make a new gang. Why should he bother with useless subordinates? His survival was the most important thing.

Oh yes, he planned to throw away his own men --- just for his own safety.

Yao Ying's party really looked down at this type of men --- sly, no loyalty, and cruel. The subordinates looked at their boss in surprise and asked, "Boss... what about us?"

The leader just looked at them coldly and said, "I don't need useless men. Just sacrifice yourself for me and I will take care of your family."

However, they weren't stupid and all of them knew that was a lie. He dared to leave his own subordinates to death for his own safety, how could he still remember about their family ah~? It was simply ridiculous!

The bandits' leader didn't realize that he was feeling a bit agitated because deep within, he knew that he was betraying their trust. However, he was a coward and thought that he had no other choice. He forgot that the sword was already touching Xiao Fang's skin, because of his movement, it pierced a little bit of her skin and the wound started to bleed.

Xiao Fang hissed in pain, but she tried not to make a sound. She didn't want the others to be worried about her.

Lin Jian quickly said and threatened him, "If you dare to hurt her again, I will never let you go and I will search for you everywhere just to eradicate you!"

The bandits' leader was taken aback by Lin Jian's fierce gaze and he quickly adjusted his sword, so it wouldn't hurt Xiao Fang. He didn't want more troubles to come on his way. He tried to ease the tension by laughing and saying, "Huh?! This woman is wearing a veil, so she must be an ugly woman. Why should you care about her?! Never thought that you have such a low taste."

The bandits' leader's mockery made Lin Jian become angry, but he tried to maintain his composure. He indeed didn't know how Xiao Fang looked like and he even guessed that there was probably a deep scar on her face, however, he didn't care about superficial things like that. Xiao Fang was Xiao Fang. The things that made him feel attracted were her personality and innocence, so what the bandits' leader said... didn't affect him the slightest.

Lin Jian didn't refute what the leader said, because it was better for him to think Xiao Fang as an ugly woman --- it would be safer for her. When Lin Jian took a glance at what Yao Ling was doing, he quickly diverted his eyes away and distracted the leader once again.

The other bandits could actually see what Yao Ling did behind the leader's back and if they wanted to, they could warn their own leader. However, they didn't. Their heart turned cold because they knew the boss decided to abandon them and even if they helped him, what did they get? The boss wouldn't even save them, so all of them kept quiet. They might as well just perish together here...

Yao Ling found a big stone and with the help of Xiao Yu, she slowly went behind the man and hit the stone to the back of the leader's head with all her strength. The leader could only feel then pain and he yelped in surprise. He loosened his hold at Xiao Fang and the sword almost fell out of his hand. Despite his dizziness, he was able to catch the sword once again.

However... the sword was directed at Xiao Fang's face and...