At the city gate, he thought of keeping this stunningly beautiful woman by his side, doing whatever he pleased. But now, he dared not harbor such thoughts at all.

How could this be a beautiful fairy? How could she be an innocent little lamb? This was clearly a Hell Rakshasa.

Qian Baoshan was filled with fear.

At this moment, facing such a Hell Rakshasa alone, especially with a gleaming dagger in her hand, was beyond his endurance. He was eager to pull a companion over to face this together with him.

Yet, the companion, who had been knocked unconscious, lay there like a ragged bag no matter how he pulled, and did not wake up.

Xia Wenjin approached.

Qian Baoshan, though a vicious thug, now trembled like a frightened quail.

He looked at Xia Wenjin with fear-stricken eyes and stammered, "What, what do you want? I, I know I was wrong, please spare my life. I... I can give you silver!"

Xia Wenjin spoke calmly, "Since when did you start doing this kind of business? How many people have you harmed? Confess truthfully, and maybe I’ll show some mercy."

Although Qian Baoshan was frightened, he knew clearly that if he really confessed everything, he would indeed have no chance of recovering.

His eyes darted around, his face looking pitiful, pleading, "Heroine, female fairy, those three are the only ones I captured. There were no others besides them. Female fairy, believe me! I was just momentarily possessed. I dare not do it again. Spare my life, I’ll give you silver, five hundred taels, no, a thousand taels."

Xia Wenjin looked at him disdainfully and snorted, "Who do you think you’re fooling? A lowly city gate guard squad leader like you, how much could your annual pay be? Offering a thousand taels of silver? Clearly, it’s ill-gotten gain, and you’ve earned a lot of it. You’d better not play tricks with me, confess honestly, I promise not to harm you, I keep my word. Don’t think you can deceive me, my patience is limited. If you don’t speak, I will cut your flesh from your body piece by piece. Ever heard of death by a thousand cuts? I’m quite adept at it."

With that, Xia Wenjin stepped forward again. The dagger in her hand spun into a flower between her fingers.

Such a sharp dagger, her fingers so delicate, like freshly peeled green onions. Even a slight touch might cause injury. Yet, the dazzling white dagger spun around her fingertips, her nimble fingers showing no signs of damage whatsoever.

It was evident how effortlessly and skillfully the young girl controlled the dagger.

Qian Baoshan forced a smile uglier than crying, speaking weakly, "Female fairy, please see clearly, there really are only those three, no more... ah..."

Before he finished his sentence, a flash of white light, and the dagger that was spinning on the girl’s fingertips drew a streak of light. Then, the numbness from the pain on his face intensified, something warm was flowing out?

He reached to touch, his hand came back wet. Bringing it to his eyes, it was blood!

And the dagger had already returned to the girl’s hand, the blade tip lifting a piece of skin an inch long.

Xia Wenjin’s voice remained light and leisurely, "I told you, my patience is limited. You can choose not to speak, and I’ll slice your flesh off inch by inch, wonder how many cuts you can endure?"

Both in pain and frightened, Qian Baoshan truly felt the fear of death this time; he even forgot to scream.

Initially, he held on to a sliver of hope.

After all, he was a squad leader of the city gate guards, an official to some extent. Murder is a capital crime, killing an official makes the crime even more severe.

This young girl was only trying to scare him, surely she wouldn’t dare go through with it, as she couldn’t bear such consequences. Even if she possessed skills, a murder charge would bring endless trouble, and who isn’t afraid of trouble?

But now he knew, the girl before him not only dared to go through with it.

Moreover, her gaze was dismissive of everything, clearly not valuing his life at all.

The pain, coupled with the newly realized fear, left Qian Baoshan unable to control himself, the smell of stench came, he lost control!

Xia Wenjin rolled her eyes in disgust, she genuinely had run out of patience by now. Her hand moved forward, placing the dagger against Qian Baoshan’s throat.

Cool, icy cold.

A slight prickling pain.

That was the sharp blade of the dagger slicing the skin on his throat.

Xia Wenjin said impatiently, "If you don’t speak now, don’t bother speaking at all, I’ll take action right away."

"Wait... wait..." Qian Baoshan stammered in fright, "If I... if I speak, will you really... really not... not harm me further?"

Xia Wenjin looked down at him, her gaze cold, "I keep my word."

Qian Baoshan didn’t believe it.

But he had no choice, he could only gamble.

He knew that if he spoke, his end would be miserable.

If he didn’t speak, this female demon would take his life right now.

The choice between immediate death and the hope of living, of course, opted for the latter.

Just as Qian Baoshan was about to speak, Xia Wenjin smiled coldly, "Don’t think you can fool me! Since I specifically caught your attention at the city gate, I’m not clueless about your dealings. I keep my word! But should you try to conceal anything, I wouldn’t mind slicing a few more chunks of flesh from your body."

Qian Baoshan, originally thinking of concealing a thing or two: "..."

This time, Qian Baoshan dared not play tricks, he confessed all his deeds, one by one, without daring to hide anything.

If by any chance the concealed matter was precisely what the female demon in front of him knew, wouldn’t he be courting death?

During this time, Qian Baoshan’s misdeeds were limited. The people he harmed were within ten.

Besides the three inside the house, the other seven had been sold, two of whom were men.

Those two men had been sold to rich men in the Capital City who favored Long Yang.

The rich men had silver, and the two men he selected were rather handsome, just those two sold for seven hundred taels.

The other five women had all been sold to brothels.

Listening to him recount his evil deeds one by one, how he found the targets, plotted, found accomplices. Because the silver came easily, and they hadn’t faced punishment, their courage grew. To ensure secrecy, the three even dug a large basement specifically to imprison people.

Once tired of them, they’d sell, trading for silver; once they found a target, they’d move, without a second thought.

Xia Wenjin’s expression grew colder and colder, such scum didn’t deserve to live in this world.

Xia Wenjin had him detail, to which brothel were they sold? With whom were the deals made?