How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

After an unknown amount of time, Huang Laosi finally stopped and threw her down.

Qingru saw stars and it took her a long time to recover. When she opened her eyes, it seemed that she was in someone's backyard.

The area wasn't large; the backyard was piled with branches and firewood, along with several large water vats. In front stood a two-story building, still brightly lit even though the moon was high in the sky. Occasionally, one could hear women's cursing and men's laughter, along with some ambiguous and suspicious sounds.

Qingru coughed a few times, and seeing that Huang Laosi had disappeared, she gathered her strength to escape.

Qingru coughed a few times, and seeing that Huang Laosi had disappeared, she gathered her strength to escape.

Just then, several figures rushed out of the building and surrounded her. The man in the lead had dark, lean eyes that were slyly looking her over, making her feel goosebumps all over. He was clearly Huang Laosi.

"Wow, this girl is really beautiful. I've never seen anything like her in the city before."

Qingru then realized that the person standing next to Huang Laosi was a woman. In the dead of winter, she was waving a handkerchief in her hand, the thin handkerchief swaying back and forth, and a fragrant breeze drifting in the wind.

Qingru pleaded with the woman before her, "Sister, please save me, I will definitely repay you."

The woman covered her mouth and chuckled, "Those who came are all sisters. Don't talk about saving them. Come on, let's go to my room. Don't stay with these stinky men. If you stay there too long, you'll start to smell bad too."

Qingru had no strength left, so she could only let the woman help her up and walk forward with her strength.

Huang Laosi rubbed his hands excitedly, "Hehe, Third Sister, I'm counting on you for this."

"Alright, alright, look at you, so useless," the third sister scolded, and went upstairs.

Qingru knew that this woman must be in cahoots with Huang Laosi, so she struggled and said, "Let me go! I know Boss Fan. If you arrest me, he will know immediately."

The third sister stiffened for a moment, then immediately snorted coldly, "Who does he think he is? Sister, it's fine if you don't mention him, but if you do, I definitely won't let you off the hook."

Qingru had no idea that her third sister seemed to have a grudge against Boss Fan. She should have kept quiet.

Struggling was useless. In no time, the third sister half-pulled and half-draggled Qingru into the room.

The room was decorated with pink gauze curtains and warm yellow oil lamps; it was clearly not a proper room. Qingru was pushed inside. Her third sister sat in front of the dressing mirror, casually braiding her hair.

Huang Laosi could no longer see anything. As long as Qingru in front of him was alive, Qingru felt extremely uneasy about his gaze. It was as if Huang Laosi wanted to devour her alive right away.

"Oh dear, Third Sister, why does this place smell so strange?" Another fragrant breeze wafted in, and a woman in a light green short jacket swayed as she entered.

As if she couldn't see Qingru on the ground, the woman covered her nose and scolded, "Huang Laosi, did you just crawl out of the latrine? You smell so bad."

Huang Laosi's expression changed, but he still suppressed his anger and said, "Hmph, Taozhi, don't complain about men smelling bad. When have I not made you feel good every time?"

Tao Zhi rolled her eyes and said, "There are plenty of capable men out there, but not all of them are as stinky as you."

She kept saying it smelled bad, and Huang Laosi couldn't stand it anymore. But Taozhi was the most popular courtesan here, and she had a bad temper. He was afraid that if he offended her, he would never be able to get close to her again. So he stubbornly said, "Stinky, stinky, stinky, just wash it off."

"Hmph," Taozhi snorted triumphantly, then looked at Qingru again, "Oh my, this is really beautiful, where did you tie it up?"

The third sister said calmly, "This is the woman that Huang Laosi snatched back himself. Others shouldn't covet her yet. Let him deflower her before he takes on other customers."

Tao Zhi chuckled, "With this sister around, I might have a few days of peace and quiet on my kang (heated brick bed)."

A handsome young man next to Third Sister handed her a water pipe. Third Sister took a deep drag from his hand and said, "Alright, stop watching the show. You won't have any peace and quiet on your kang (heated brick bed)."

Tao Zhi snorted coldly and turned to leave.

A moment later, suspicious noises came from her room again.

Qingru trembled uncontrollably, unable to hide her fear. This was the first time she had faced such danger directly. This was clearly a brothel, and this third sister seemed to be the madam. She had just begged her for help; how foolish of her!

The third sister took a few puffs of her cigarette, observing Qingru through the swirling smoke. Seeing that Qingru was just cowering to the side, too scared to move, the third sister chuckled, "Little sister, don't be afraid, what's your name?"

Despite her gentle tone, Qingru no longer believed her and turned away, refusing to speak.

"Heh, it doesn't matter if you don't tell me. Anyway, once you're here, your original name doesn't matter anymore. Like me, everyone calls me Third Sister, and even I've forgotten what my real name is." Third Sister, supporting the handsome man's hand, slowly stood up, came to Qingru, and lifted her chin, saying, "Sister, accept your fate. We're all pitiful women, so let's not hate each other. Look at Taozhi, I heard she used to be a rich young lady, but look at her now, she's still selling kang beds. We're not some high-class brothel, we just cater to some poor miners. They go down the mine, who knows when they'll be buried there, living for today and not tomorrow. We're just giving these poor men a little bit of care before they die. It doesn't matter who you're a wife for."

Qingru found her third sister's high-sounding words laughable. They were pitiful coal miners with no choice, but were these prostitutes not pitiful and not easy to die? How shameless! To force women into prostitution in such a way was so justifiable!

"How much money do you want to let me go?" Qingru said through gritted teeth. These days, she had been running a brothel in such a remote place for nothing more than money, so wouldn't it be enough for her to give it to her?

"Little sister, you don't think money can solve everything, do you? Oh my, that's hilarious! Let me tell you, money is useless here. You'd better stay put and behave yourself." Although her third sister said it with a smile, Qingru felt a chill run down her spine.

"What's going on? I've finished a whole cigarette, why isn't Huang Laosi here yet?" Third Sister finally realized something was wrong. So much time had passed, he should have finished washing his clothes by now, let alone taking a bath. Why hadn't Huang Laosi come back yet?

"Go and see if he went into any girl's room," the third sister instructed the man.

"No need to look, he's right here."

The door was kicked open, and Seventh Master's tall figure barged in.

"Oh, Seventh Master, what brings you here? Just tell me who you want to serve you, and no one can stop you," Third Sister said obsequiously, her eyes gleaming with a cunning glint.

"No need, are you looking for Old Huang Si?"

The third sister was taken aback. Indeed, there was such a thing. "You saw him? His 'bride' is about to be here. If you want her, I advise you to stay until tonight, otherwise he definitely won't allow it."

"Oh, really? Why don't you ask him if he'll agree?"

As he spoke, Seventh Master threw the bundle in his hand onto the table, and a blood-stained human head rolled out, its wide-open eyes staring intently at Third Sister.

The third sister gasped in surprise, collapsing into her chair in fright.

Qingru was also shocked when she saw this. Huang Laosi was dead just like that?

Third Sister was terrified. "Seventh Master, what... what are you doing?"

"Make an example of her. Hand over that woman behind you to me. Someone has paid to protect her."

"Her?" Third Sister looked at Qingru, her eyes flashing with anger, but she had regained some composure. "I'm afraid that won't work. My Suiyuanlou has its own rules. Once a woman enters my place, no one has ever been able to escape."

The sudden appearance of the heads was so shocking, but in no time, Third Sister regained her usual composure and stood firm.

"Third Sister means she's not releasing them."

"Seventh Master, I know you're a rising star, and no one in the entire Wushan dares to mess with you, but my Third Sister isn't afraid. No matter how powerful you are, don't break the rules of the underworld. You manage your Seventh Mine, and I'll manage my Suiyuan Tower. We'll keep to ourselves. You've already killed Huang Laosi, so you should worry about how to explain things to the people at the Fourth Mine first. Your Seventh Mine has a lot of people, but the Fourth Mine isn't bad either."

Third Sister clearly meant that she wanted Seventh Master to deal with Huang Laosi's funeral arrangements first, and then talk about other things after this matter had calmed down.

"Then what does Third Sister want? I've already promised to rescue them safely, and Third Sister still wants to stop me?" Seventh Master said in an uncompromising tone.

Third Sister's eyes darted around, and she said, "Seventh Master, we're in business, and we believe in making money through harmony. If you, Zhang Qi, want to take someone away from me, there's nothing I can do about it. But there's one thing: Huang Lao Si and the others died in my Suiyuan Tower. You're just going to leave like this. How am I supposed to explain this to people? Do you think I'm your accomplice?"

Seventh Master remained silent. He did intend to leave with his men, but he had to eliminate Huang Laosi himself. If he was going to offend him, he should offend him thoroughly and nip it in the bud.

"So what do you want?"

Seeing that he had asked twice and seemed quite sincere, Third Sister finally said, "I don't want anything. I admire your abilities, Seventh Master. If you agree to two things for me today, I will let you go."

Seventh Master frowned. Although he knew Third Sister was difficult to deal with when he came, her demands were still annoying.

"tell me the story."

"Firstly, you naturally went to level the Fourth Mine yourself, and secondly..." Third Sister smiled shyly, "you'll sleep with me for a night."

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent.

Qingru's eyes widened in surprise, wondering, "What... what kind of request is this?"

Seventh Master said, "I can agree to the first one, but don't even think about the second one. I'll give you the money, and I'll take the person with me."

As Seventh Master spoke, he grabbed Qingru in one hand. Third Sister couldn't stop him in time, "Wait, Zhang Qi, do you think Suiyuan Tower is a place you can come and go as you please? You're underestimating me too much."

The third sister flicked her silk handkerchief, pulled a silver hairpin from her hair, and instantly extended it to seven inches, stabbing it towards the seventh master.

Seventh Master was no slouch either; while holding Qingru in his arms, he could easily parry Third Sister's moves.

The two started fighting.

Qingru felt herself being swayed from side to side in the middle, and her brain was evenly shaken up a bit.

"Zhang Qi, don't underestimate me."

The third sister's shrill voice rang out, and the tip of the silver hairpin pierced through the seventh master's shoulder.

"Ah!" Seventh Master suddenly turned to the side in pain.

He quickly swept his leg away, knocking his third sister to the ground. The third sister spat out a mouthful of blood. "You hurt me, but you'd better not suffer. You offended me for this woman, Zhang Qi. You're not getting your money's worth."

Seventh Master then felt a tingling sensation in his left shoulder, which must be due to poisoning.

With a "rip," Seventh Master tore open the cloth on his shoulder and, sure enough, saw a black spot spreading.

I was careless. I've never heard of Third Sister knowing martial arts or poison before.

"You brat, I used to want to sleep with you, but that's not enough now. I need you to leave one of your hands behind, otherwise you'll die from the poison, and there will be another soul in this building."