I Sell Bottled Water for Gold in Another World!-Chapter 225: Mei’s Wrath

The first light of day was just beginning to creep over the jagged peaks of Mangshan Mountain as Mei made her return to the caves.

She had spent the entire night on patrol, checking the perimeter to ensure no government troops had found the new hideout’s location.

Her father’s hard training had long ago instilled the practice of vigilance as the only means of survival in these mountainous regions.

Although Mei was only nineteen, she was quite an impressive-looking woman, being tall enough to almost rival the height of most of the young men in her circle.

Her physique was lean and muscular from years of mountain survival training, honed in combat skills from a young age by her adopted father until his passing.

Her long, jet-black hair was braided back from her face, reaching down to her waist. This highlighted a very strong but also a fragile-looking woman.

Her cheekbones were high, her lips full-the kind that would have caused envy among any aristocratic woman-and her eyes were clever, alert as if absorbing every detail.

There was something irresistible about the way her soft facial features clashed with the resolute jut of her jaw—a beauty that was at once ferocious and fragile, like a wildflower pushing its way through mountain rocks.

She wore a clothing that is appropriate for a life of bandits: dark-coloured pants that facilitated her movement, a closely fitted tunic that showed her well-proportioned body without hindering her movement.

But it was not just her appearance or her skill with weapons that made men fear her.

It was that cold, calculating intelligent mind she had inherited from her father, combined with a ruthlessness that had kept their group alive after the government raid destroyed their original hideout.

She was by no means related to the former leader by blood, but he was indeed someone she had referred to as Father since infancy.

So, when she first heard the news of her father’s death, rage consumed her and as anyone would have done it, her first reaction was not to flee but to strike back.

And so, without thinking much she ran for to kill the man who was the sole reason behind the now destroyed secret bandit hideout overnight.

Alex from the Hartwell Family.

But that had been a grave mistake on her part. Whenever she thought about it, the humiliation of being defeated by that detestable man at the shore of that river burned like acid in her chest.

But that was not the worst thing that could happen in her life, after that attack, he declared to the whole city that the son of the old leader of the bandits was not a son at all but a daughter.

Her secret identity, carefully guarded for years by her, had been exposed in a single moment.

Ever since the news became well known in the city, the news also reached the ears of the members of the group, that were somehow able to flee during that massacre.

She had been leading the bandits for nearly four months now, ever since her father’s death during that cursed raid.

It had not been easy initially—the men were unwilling to bow down to a woman. The revelation of her true gender had made everything harder.

That was why it had taken her so long to plan the attack on the Hartwell estate.

Four months of keeping these undisciplined animals in line. Four months of plotting revenge against the man who had destroyed everything she knew.

Alex of the Hartwell family.

The name burned in her mind like poison.

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Mei walked up to the cave entrance with her usual caution, her hand resting lightly on one of her daggers.

The four men she had taken on patrol followed a few paces behind, carrying torches to light their way in the predawn darkness.

"Boss," one of them called out quietly. "Something is wrong."

Mei didn’t need to be told—she had already noticed. The guard post outside the cave entrance was empty. The bearded man who had been assigned to watch duty was not at his position.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. She quickened her pace, entering the cave mouth with her dagger already drawn.

What she found inside made her blood run cold. The worst that she had assumed had come true.

The main chamber was filled with the remnants of thick white smoke that still lingered near the ground like morning fog.

The bonfire had burned down to cold ashes hours ago. And scattered across the cave floor like discarded puppets were the bodies of her men.

All of them.

Unconscious or dead, she could not determine immediately from the entrance but most likely alive, noticing no signs of bloodshed.

"What the hell happened here?" one of her patrol members whispered in shock.

Mei’s face remained expressionless, but her knuckles turned white where she gripped her dagger.

She moved forward quickly but carefully, checking each body with caution.

The scarred man lay sprawled near the fire pit, his mouth hanging open, breathing but unconscious.

The young one was crumpled near the cave wall, also breathing.

The large man was face down near the entrance to the back alcove, unconscious but alive.

And there, near a cluster of rocks outside the cave entrance, was the bearded man who should have been on guard duty.

A massive bruise was forming on the back of his skull where something had struck him with quite a force.

"They are all alive," Mei said coldly, her voice cutting through the shocked silence. "Breathing. Unconscious but not dead... at least for now."

She stood up slowly, her eyes scanning the cave with the eyes of a detective, searching for any signs that could tell what exactly happened here.

That was when she noticed the back alcove—the place where they had been keeping the merchant girl. The ropes that had bound her to the stone pillar lay cut and discarded on the ground.

The prisoner was gone.

Mei’s jaw clenched so tightly that her teeth ground together audibly. Her planned kidnapping had gone down the drain because of these pig teammates—they couldn’t even secure a girl.... a full group of fifteen men but they couldn’t protect a girl.

"Tie them up," she commanded in a voice that was terrifyingly calm, but by now the bandits who had been with her for so long had known that this was just the calm before the storm. "All of them. Hands and feet. I want them bound before they wake."

Her four patrol members immediately jumped to obey, pulling rope from their packs and moving to bind the unconscious men with quick efficiency.

"Should we try to wake them, Boss?" one asked hesitantly.

"Not yet," Mei said coldly. She walked slowly through the cave, examining every detail with her sharp eyes.

Her mind was already working through what must have happened here.

The white smoke residue, the lack of visible injuries beyond the blow to the bearded man’s head, the fact that all her men were unconscious but alive—this was not a typical raid by government troops.

Those would have resulted in bodies, blood, violence.

This was something else entirely. Something precise and calculated most likely a work of one person.

And this residue smoke, maybe some kind of chemical that rendered men unconscious without killing them?

But how would a man have the courage to enter and wreak havoc on her place and the means to have access to such sophisticated chemical? Even she has not heard of such materials.

Unless...

Her eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to her. Unless the man called Alex was involved in this, then nothing was impossible.

After all, she was well aware of the things that man had done to solve the problem of the drought of the Ironhold.

"Boss!" one of her men called out. "They are all secured now. Should we wake them?"

Mei walked back to the main chamber where her unconscious men now lay bound hand and foot. She looked down at them with an expression of absolute contempt.

"Wake them," she commanded. "Use water from the stream."

Two of her patrol members hurried outside to fetch water from the nearby mountain stream. They returned moments later carrying a large wooden bucket filled with ice-cold water.

Mei nodded toward the big man first.

One of her men reached for the bucket and dumped its full contents onto the big man’s face.

SPLASH!

Freezing water slapping his face produced an instantaneous response.

The big man sputtered and coughed, eyes flying open as he gasped for air.

His body jerked violently, trying to sit up, only to realize his hands and feet were bound tightly.

"What.... where...am I?" he spluttered out in confusion, with water streaming down his face.

His eyes slowly focused, the grogginess from the sleeping gas making his thoughts sluggish.

Then he saw Mei standing over him. First, there was confusion, flickering across his face as the memories returned, and with it, so did the realization that he was now doomed.

Dread and terror filled his eyes.

"Boss," he stammered, "let me explain...!

"Silence," Mei said in a quiet tone.

That one word carried so much weight that the large man’s mouth snapped shut immediately.

Mei turned to her patrol members. "Wake up the others first."