Chapter 1: Four Women Right from the Start

“Are you men or not?”

“Women delivered right to your door, and none of you want them?”

“Come on! First man to step up gets an extra one!”

“You can have all the fun you want tonight!”

Blackwind Stronghold stood on Mount Tanlang, in the Beiliang Circuit of Great Wei.

The setting sun was red as blood. Mountain winds whipped a black flag bearing a wolf’s head, snapping it high overhead.

Several hundred bandits had gathered beneath it, clad in ragged hemp and armed with blades and spears. Uneasy glances passed among them.

At their head, the second chief, Xu Mazi, brandished a broadsword and shouted at the crowd.

Farther off stood a row of women, their hands bound with rope. They looked less like guests than slaves being disposed of. Some wore fine silk, others rags; they were of every figure and station, but fear and confusion showed on nearly every face.

Quite a few were beautiful. Even so, not a single bandit dared step forward.

They all knew what this was.

Women? Hell, they were being handed a death sentence!

That afternoon, Zhou Xing, chief of Blackwind Stronghold, had led a surprise attack on Dangyang, a city several dozen li away. Beimang had won him over, and he had struck while its army was fighting Great Wei’s defenders.

Zhou Xing had expected the city to fall between two attacks, leaving him to claim the governorship. Instead, the Beimang army had collapsed on the way, and Wei’s defenders had wheeled back. Unwilling to be trapped in a fight, Zhou Xing had plundered what valuables he could, taken a number of women captive, and retreated to the stronghold.

According to his scouts, Dangyang’s furious garrison was preparing to attack the next day. They had sworn to leave nothing alive.

The bandits were no match for the city’s soldiers. To meet the threat, Zhou Xing intended to scrape together a vanguard force to strike at the enemy’s leaders, with the women as rewards to raise morale.

But everyone knew what being in the vanguard really meant: cannon fodder.

Whoever went would die. Only a fool would volunteer.

When no one answered, the flesh on Xu Mazi’s face quivered. He surveyed the crowd until his gaze settled on a young man.

“Gao Yuan, you’re still a virgin, aren’t you? Here’s your chance to have the time of your life!”

Gao Yuan jolted, a bitter look crossing his face.

Damn it! How had he been singled out? The body’s former owner had terrible luck.

That was right. Gao Yuan had come from another world. On Blue Star, he had been an heir to the ancient martial arts of Longguo. After an accidental fall from a cliff, he had opened his eyes to find his soul in this body.

Its original owner had been the illegitimate son of a Wei official, secretly sent to the Beiliang Circuit to conceal his identity. War had caught him there. His servants died, his money was scattered, and he eventually drifted into a bandit gang. A chill had killed him in his sleep a few days ago, giving Gao Yuan the chance to take his place.

He had meant to lie low through the turmoil. Instead, a life-or-death crisis had landed on him almost at once.

Gao Yuan forced a smile. “Second Chief, I’ve been terribly weak these past few days. I’m afraid I couldn’t enjoy such a blessing.”

Xu Mazi came over and laid his blade on Gao Yuan’s shoulder. “Then a little good fortune is just what you need! Go on, pick a few pretty ones. If you’re lucky, you might even leave a child behind.”

The cold edge pressed against him. Gao Yuan sighed inwardly. Refuse again, and Xu Mazi would probably kill him to make an example of him.

Choose, and he might die tomorrow. Refuse, and he would die now.

So be it.

He nodded, and Xu Mazi withdrew the blade.

……

Gao Yuan stepped forward, studying the captives as he walked. Then he saw one woman and froze, as if struck by lightning.

She was perhaps twenty-five or twenty-six. Her torn clothes could not conceal her mature figure; back on Blue Star, a beauty like her would have been rare.

But it was her identity that stunned him. She was Shen Shuting, the original owner’s elder sister-in-law. Judging by her expression, she had recognized him too.

His memories said she should have been living comfortably with the family. What was she doing in Dangyang?

He had planned to regain his strength, escape the stronghold, and return to the Gao family to live well as a young master. Now it seemed something had happened at home.

This was no time to ask. After a moment’s thought, he pointed at Shen Shuting without betraying his feelings. Someone came forward and untied her.

Under the rules, each vanguard recruit could choose three women.

Gao Yuan looked farther down the line. A tall, fair-skinned woman caught his eye. Her clothes were torn, but the fabric was clearly expensive, and the air about her set her apart from the others.

Their eyes met. He saw no fear in hers. She was assessing him, as though he were the one being chosen.

At that moment, a woman beside her shifted half a step forward, shielding her and fixing Gao Yuan with a sharp stare.

He frowned. What was that about?

He examined the newcomer with interest. She wore red and had a striking figure, but her face held a martial bearing rather than the softness common to the other women. Though her hands were bound, her legs remained taut and ready. Gao Yuan could tell she knew martial arts—and was no weak fighter.

From the way she stood, she was protecting the taller woman. That suggested her companion was someone important. But how had they ended up captives here?

While he pondered, Xu Mazi shouted impatiently, “Quit dawdling like a woman! Have you chosen yet?”

Gao Yuan pointed. “Those two!”

A flicker of murderous intent crossed the red-clad woman’s eyes. She tensed her bound hands, apparently ready to resist, but the taller woman stopped her with a look. Their movements were so subtle that even Gao Yuan failed to notice.

The two were untied and brought over to join Shen Shuting beside him.

Xu Mazi then grabbed another captive, a petite girl barely five feet tall, fair-skinned and delicate as a porcelain doll. The bandits regarded her slight build as a disadvantage, preferring a taller, sturdier wife who could work and bear children.

“I said the first man up gets an extra one!” Xu Mazi thrust her toward Gao Yuan. He made a crude, jeering remark about the night ahead, warning Gao not to exhaust himself to death before tomorrow’s charge.