Ashes to Crown

Chapter 223: Chapter 46: Beguilement (Part 3)

A woman’s voice spoke as she slowly approached, her movement stirring a breeze.

’Why aren’t the men outside on guard at all?’

Their two most trusted brothers had surrounded the entire tent.

’Why wasn’t there even a cough to warn us—’

Ge Laosan and Ding Dachui swayed as if blown over by the breeze, collapsing onto their seats with a THUMP. They stiffly turned their heads to look at the woman standing before them.

The woman wore a gray cloth dress, her hair tied up and wrapped in a headscarf. She wasn’t wearing a wide-brimmed hat or a hanging veil—but her face was covered by a mask.

They could finally see what she looked like, though it was only a pair of eyes.

The woman’s eyes were like autumn waters—Ding Dachui had no idea where that phrase came from; he didn’t even know what ”autumn waters” looked like.

”B-Boss,” Ge Laosan stuttered. Though his voice faltered, his movements were surprisingly nimble as he pulled the stool out from under himself. ”Please, have a seat.”

The woman sat down with a slight sway, half-leaning against the table. She stared at the two men, saying nothing, but her eyes said everything—they were full of meaning, reproach, warning, admonishment, and killing intent.

Admonishment. Ding Dachui shivered. ’That must be my own projection,’ he thought. His mind was already in turmoil.

In front of this woman, they had no power to resist whatsoever—not just because of her gaze, but also her genuine skill.

”Once you’re our boss, you’re our boss for life,” Ding Dachui said, gritting his teeth. ”We were disloyal. Whether you want to kill us or torture us, do as you please.”

Ge Laosan swallowed, wanting to plead or explain, but faced with what seemed to be a pair of gentle eyes, he found himself frozen, unable to utter a single word.

The woman said, ”Where does this logic of ’once you’re our boss, you’re our boss for life’ come from? Whether or not I can be the boss is my business. It has nothing to do with you. You’re right not to want to acknowledge me as your boss.”

Huh? Ding Dachui and Ge Laosan were both stunned. ’What does she mean by that?’ They stared at her, trying to detect any hint of mockery or threat, but there was nothing.

Looking into her eyes, they felt she was absolutely right, and utterly sincere. Forget being on guard, they didn’t even want to think—

”Following me is dangerous. In a single night, you lost half your men,” the woman continued, her fingers tapping lightly on the table. ”From now on, it will only get more dangerous. I’m just using you as my blades. There’s really no path to survival in this.”

’So you’re well aware,’ Ding Dachui thought.

”But then again, you were all dead men walking to begin with,” the woman said, looking at them and shrugging with her hands spread wide.

’Is she insulting us now? How can an insult sound so... pleasant?’ Ding Dachui was surprised he didn’t feel angry. He glanced to the side and saw Ge Laosan was on the verge of nodding in agreement.

”As mountain bandits, you can’t even defeat other bandits. That’s a dead end. As hunters, the government leaves you with no way to survive.”

”You need to face facts. You’re either desperate with nowhere else to go, or you’re lazy and greedy and chose this path to ruin.”

”It’s all death in the end, so why are you starting to get picky now?”

As the woman’s words, which appealed to both reason and emotion, sank in, Ge Laosan could no longer stop himself from nodding along. Ding Dachui let out a bitter laugh. ”You’re right.” He cupped his fist. ”We are willing to be your blades, Boss, ready to die anytime, anywhere.”

The woman nodded, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

”However, once you truly become fine blades, you won’t die,” she said softly. ”The one who wields the blade might die, but the blade itself will not. Then, the blade can find a new master. It might even be held respectfully in its master’s hands, regarded as a divine weapon—a talisman for protection, a ward for the home, a family heirloom. In that case—”

It was unclear if he was mesmerized or simply losing his mind, but Ge Laosan blurted out, ”In that case, we won’t have to die?”

The woman looked at him and shook her head. ”You will still die.” She smiled again. ”We all die. To be alive is to wait for death. The only difference is in the waiting.”

Ge Laosan was once again left speechless.

Ding Dachui’s head cleared. He addressed the woman, ”Leader, I understand everything you’re saying now. You are truly a person of grand undertakings, with great vision and lofty ambitions. I, Ding Dachui, am willing to follow you and experience this process of waiting for death.”

Though he didn’t fully understand, in this life-or-death moment, Ge Laosan hurriedly nodded along. ”Me too.”

The woman looked at them, smiled, nodded, and then sighed softly. ”What great vision and lofty ambitions? To put it bluntly, I’m just trying to run a business and feed myself.”

’People with great vision and lofty ambitions are always so humble,’ Ding Dachui thought. ’Chang Laizi only had one more mountain than me and Ge Laosan, but he got so full of himself he thought he was invincible. And look what happened to him—he’s dead.’

”But don’t you worry. You won’t be the only ones on this journey,” the woman added. ”Our family enterprise might not be that big, but we have a large family.”

’So now it’s ”our family,”’ Ding Dachui thought. ’This woman didn’t become the boss just by wielding a deadly whip. Thinking back on everything she’s said since she walked in... the classic carrot and stick. Who could stand against that?’

”That young lady—” he began after a moment’s thought.

He had just opened his mouth when someone outside let out a powerful sneeze—

As the sneeze echoed, the seated woman shot to her feet. At the same instant, a bright, female voice drifted in from outside.

The voice was tinged with curiosity and amusement. ”Hey, is sneezing a secret signal, too? What a great idea! Ah Le, make a note of that. We should use it in the future.”

That young lady!

Ding Dachui cursed internally. ’The old proverbs are true: don’t speak about people behind their backs. I’ll be damned, talk of the devil and she appears.’