At that moment, Sun Juanfang was also carefully watching the movements of the bandits. When they were about to get close, she used her ability to create the sound of a twig snapping underfoot.
At the same time, she quickly stowed the bandits' horses into her spatial storage.
In the stillness of the night, the sound of snapping twigs was immediately picked up by two night watchmen.
The older of the two quickly sensed something was wrong and immediately blew the bamboo whistle hanging at his waist.
The other constables inside the abandoned temple rushed out at once when they heard the alarm. Under the moonlight, the two groups had a rather "cordial" meeting.
At this moment, the leader of the group, Boss Zheng, was flustered. He had originally thought they could quietly sneak up on the group. Who would have thought his men would be so careless?
"Brothers, we're just passing by, really, just passing through to take a short rest. We didn't know anyone was here. We'll leave now."
As soon as he finished speaking, Boss Zheng prepared to retreat with his men.
But when he turned around, he saw that they had already been surrounded by the constables holding large sabers.
"What is the meaning of this? We haven't committed any crimes—you have no right to arrest us!"
Despite his words, Boss Zheng tried to remain calm, locking eyes with the dark gaze of Lord Wu, doing his best to conceal his nervousness.
"Friends of the underworld, although I am getting on in years, Boss Zheng, I still had the 'pleasure' of seeing your wanted poster."
Realizing they'd been exposed, Boss Zheng decided to go all out in a desperate fight.
Unfortunately, just as he and his men made a move, a large net fell over them, firmly trapping their bodies.
It turned out that Lord Wu had already signaled his men the moment he recognized the leader, instructing them to prepare the ambush.
Boss Zheng tried to cut the net with his knife, but before he could make much progress, a blade was already resting against his neck.
The battle was quickly decided. Without losing a single man, Lord Wu and his team captured the entire group—thanks in part to the covert help of Sun Juanfang, who chose to hide her contributions and not claim any credit.
Helping the constables was also helping herself. In her previous life, this same group had caused heavy casualties among the constables. Over half had died, and among the prisoners, over a dozen were killed, with countless injured.
The original host had even been slashed while trying to protect her husband. Though it wasn't a deep wound, the injury became infected due to the Qian family's neglect.
Afterward, because the bandits had stolen the constables' provisions and money, the prisoners' food rations were also cut—from three coarse buns a day to just one.
The shortage, combined with the original host saving her portion for her husband, eventually led to her tragic death by the roadside.
This time, to prevent that from happening, Sun Juanfang took the initiative to aid the constables during the night raid.
What she didn't expect was how capable Lord Wu turned out to be—able to capture the bandits without shedding blood. Clearly, he was no ordinary man.
By then, the ruckus had woken everyone. Seeing the captured bandits, some of the more timid folks couldn't help but tremble with fear.
These pampered nobles had never witnessed such a scene before.
The constables, watching their delicate, frightened reactions, sneered in disdain.
Men who lived by the blade had little respect for these pampered sons living off the glory of their ancestors.
Those being mocked flushed red but dared not speak up—Sun Juanfang's so-called "husband" included.
It was really hard to understand why the original host had been so determined to protect this weakling. Clearly, her feudal mindset about "obeying your husband" had poisoned her too deeply.
Afterward, Lord Wu had the captured bandits sent overnight to the nearest county yamen—just to avoid any potential mishaps.
Of course, the court rewarded Lord Wu for capturing the wanted criminals with a generous sum of silver.
More importantly, catching the notorious bandits was a major accomplishment. Lord Wu reckoned this feat might spare him from having to escort convicts to the Northern Wastes ever again.
Though escorting convicts had some perks, it also came with high risk—his mentor and many fellow officers had died doing this job. At his age, Lord Wu was naturally wary.
The next day, the prisoners noticed the constables were handing out coarse wheat buns instead of the usual steamed cornbread—they were softer and easier to swallow.
This small improvement was thanks to Lord Wu being in high spirits after the successful operation. He handed out the better food only twice; afterward, it was back to dry cornbread.
Meanwhile, Sun Juanfang was in her space, directing Xiao Tian to walk and feed the horses she had stashed away.
Yes, ever since obtaining a small spiritual vein in the cultivation world, she had tricked Xiao Tian into managing her space for her.
And honestly, it was way better than doing everything herself with spiritual energy—she now had the ultimate laborer.
Xiao Tian: I'm exhausted too. Who would've thought that a mighty nine-tailed fox would end up a housekeeper and farmer? The world truly has changed...
The next few days were relatively uneventful. After constant travel, Sun Juanfang's skin had darkened to a wheat color, which fortunately made her less noticeable to some prying eyes.
Of course, those who had harbored lewd thoughts about her before? She gave each of them a special "headache package." If their minds weren't clean, maybe the headaches would keep their thoughts in line.
On the road to exile, young women and girls were often targeted. After nearly half a year on the road, even the constables—cooped up for so long—had their share of lechers.
Some women, unable to endure the hardship, chose to offer themselves to the constables in exchange for better food—like Madam Liu from the Qian family.
Madam Liu had always been wanton. With her background in brothels, she didn't think giving her body in exchange for comfort was a big deal.
Qian Mingwu, who had effectively been cuckolded by his concubine, was furious—but he didn't have the guts to do anything about it.
During this time, Sun Juanfang also seized the opportunity while the constables were out on errands. She gave them silver to bring back a straw raincoat (蓑衣).
Though it was sunny at the time, the constables didn't find it suspicious—women tended to be more meticulous, after all.
Other prisoners gossiped behind her back, saying she had money to burn, wasting it on something that wasn't even food. Only a few followed her lead and bought raincoats too.
But Sun Juanfang had a reason—she wanted to avoid the deadly disaster that would soon befall Ting-jie.
Though she had plenty of straw raincoats stashed in her space from the apocalypse world, she couldn't exactly pull one out in front of everyone.
As for her own death? That danger had already passed three days after the bandit ambush.
Judging by the timing, the massive thunderstorm—one of the original host's greatest lifelong nightmares—was about to arrive in just a few days.