Although they had agreed to use overwhelming force to crush these bandits, capturing the leader first and executing the stronghold leader would make things easier afterward.
So they had extracted information about the stronghold and its leader from one of the bandits in the watchtower.
Of course, they didn’t spare his life.
And now, following behind Guan Chun, they had not only discovered the treasure room but also the sealed chamber within it.
This saved them the trouble of searching for the treasure later.
Of course, Liyakade was still curious about what was hidden in that sealed chamber.
“Let’s go, Mila.”
“Mm.”
Liyakade, hidden in the shadow of the bookshelf, quietly emerged and called for Mila to follow.
Then she walked toward the bookshelf where Guan Chun had opened the sealed chamber.
Imitating Guan Chun’s actions, she reached up toward the top of the bookshelf.
“Liyakade, big sister…”
However, when they reached the bookshelf, both felt a bit embarrassed.
Liyakade stood on tiptoe and stretched her hand upward, only to find she could reach the third shelf at best.
From the angle they had observed earlier, the mechanism should be on the fifth shelf.
“Hmph…”
“Don’t laugh!”
Mila couldn’t help but laugh.
The already embarrassed Liyakade turned red from Mila’s giggles.
“I can reach it, you know!”
Liyakade jumped up in frustration, her two wing membranes fluttering lightly behind her.
She floated in the air, now even taller than Guan Chun had been standing.
Mila could only reach her calves.
She easily spotted a protrusion on the fifth shelf and gave it a gentle push, reopening the mechanism.
“Hehe… I never knew Liyakade, big sister… had such an adorable side.”
“Heh.”
In response to Mila’s teasing, Liyakade could only reply with a light laugh.
This little episode lightened Mila’s mood.
Earlier, although Mila had been saved by Liyakade, her heart was heavy.
To seek revenge, she had chosen to entrust her entire life to Liyakade.
While Liyakade had saved her, that alone wasn’t enough to judge what kind of person Liyakade truly was.
Added to that, Liyakade’s demon bloodline and the way she had toyed with and brutally slaughtered the first two bandits had left a deep impression on Mila.
Though those bandits’ gruesome deaths were exactly what Mila wanted to see, Liyakade’s enjoyment and indulgence in the act made Mila somewhat afraid.
She had given her life to Liyakade.
If Liyakade was that brutal, then handing over her life might be like throwing herself into another abyss, possibly becoming a toy for Liyakade to torment and play with.
However, the time they spent together on this journey made Mila feel that Liyakade wasn’t as brutal as she seemed.
She seemed quite caring toward her, and now she showed this contrasting cute side, which relieved Mila a lot.
“Speaking of… Liyakade, big sister, if you opened the mechanism like that, won’t Guan Chun hear it?”
“Don’t worry, he definitely didn’t hear it.”
Liyakade pointed at her ears and calmly explained to Mila.
“The sound of this mechanism isn’t loud. We waited a while before reopening it. Besides, my ears are keen. I can hear his footsteps from here. There was no pause or change in his footsteps, which means he didn’t notice us at all.”
“But… we might need to speed up. There’s more than just him down there.”
“What… Then let’s hurry, Liyakade, big sister!”
Mila understood the implication of Liyakade’s words.
If there was more than just Guan Chun down there, and these people were hidden in a sealed chamber, they couldn’t be bandits from the stronghold.
They could only be innocent victims like herself.
With that, the two began descending the spiral staircase behind the bookshelf.
Behind the bookshelf was a spiral staircase leading underground.
In the narrow space, a faint damp smell could be detected.
Torches hung on the walls, providing dim light.
Liyakade and Mila tried to lighten their footsteps as much as possible but didn’t slow down.
They wanted to catch up to Guan Chun quickly without being discovered.
Whatever Guan Chun intended to do to those victims, Liyakade and Mila would not allow it to happen.
On the other side, Guan Chun had already reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the true sealed chamber.
The decoration in this sealed chamber was not crude.
It was much better than the stronghold above.
But on the opposite side of the chamber were cells enclosed by iron bars.
Inside the cells were about five or six women wearing shackles.
They were barely clothed, with collars around their necks.
Chains from the collars were fixed to the walls on one side, keeping them chained in the cells like dogs.
They were disheveled, with dull eyes and varying degrees of bruises and blood marks on their bodies.
From their slightly dirty faces, it was clear that if cleaned up, they might have some charm.
That was precisely why Guan Chun kept them locked up here.
Their hands were shackled, limiting their movement.
When eating, they had to get down on all fours like dogs, which was one of Guan Chun’s twisted hobbies.
“Ah, ah, ah…”
Hearing footsteps, a few of the women’s eyes lit up with excitement.
They crawled to the iron bars, welcoming Guan Chun’s arrival.
“Master! You’re here!”
“Master, please favor me today!”
The women clamored, begging for Guan Chun’s favor.
For a moment, the cell was filled with a cacophony of voices, as noisy as a market.
They might have gone mad, or perhaps not.
They might have just lost all hope of survival, sinking into despair.
Though being favored by Guan Chun meant being roughly toyed with and possibly whipped, being able to serve him allowed them to wash in the more comfortable room nearby and lie down for a while, and also eat a couple of warm meals instead of the slop they had every day.
It wasn’t that no one had thought of escaping.
Someone had tried to run while Guan Chun was exhausted and asleep, but once upstairs, they couldn’t find the way.
When Guan Chun woke up, he brutally killed her in his rage.
Her remains were still buried under the cell floor, and Guan Chun even made the other women dispose of her body.
However, looking at these women’s excited, even fanatical eyes, Guan Chun felt only disgust.
In his eyes, these women were old and ugly, with saggy skin and loose body parts.
Some even had foul odors.
Without using some stimulating methods, he could hardly bring himself to play with them.
But even so, Guan Chun didn’t want the other bandits to find out about these “toys” of his.
Therefore, before leaving the stronghold, he planned to dispose of all these women.
And this was also a good chance to try a more exciting game.
“You, come out.”
Guan Chun selected a young girl he had brought in just a while ago.
This girl’s looks were decent enough to be considered acceptable among these women.
She was also relatively clean, the perfect type to use properly these days.
“Mm, thank you, Master!”
Excitement flashed in the girl’s eyes, apparently thrilled to be chosen by Guan Chun.
Guan Chun then unlocked her shackles and collar, roughly dragging her out.