That was a premeditated evening, all the women in the village who had received my promise went into action together.

At dinner time, the women in every household put a bottle of wine on the table. In the wine, there was jasmine root that I had prepared in advance.

When the night grew quiet, we set off together as agreed.

This was a grand gamble. I took my sister with me, and those women carried the hope of returning home.

Dequan Village's location is extremely remote. We all set off separately: firstly, to find the correct direction to leave amidst the winding mountain roads, and secondly, to disperse the villagers who would inevitably pursue us.

The road at night was extremely difficult to walk. It was especially hard for me with my mentally challenged sister. Only at dawn did I barely find the correct direction.

During this time, cries of women, tearing through the night, could occasionally be heard. I knew that these were the women discovered and taken back by the villagers.

They believed in my promise and took an enormous risk to escape with me, but in the end, they did not manage to start their journey home.

As dawn broke, the cries became more frequent. I felt terrible inside but had to ignore them.

Calm hunters always wait for the right moment to strike.

When night fell again, I quietly sneaked back into the village.

There had been a mass escape among the women who were trafficked here, and in response, the village, led by Zhao Tiezhu, was holding a struggle meeting.

I hid at a corner outside the village meeting hall, poured a few bottles of strong liquor, and struck a match.

The fire tongues rose silently. By the time the flames roared to the sky, those arrogant villagers scrambled towards the door in a panic. I stood at the door with a stick, striking each one that came out: one by one, or in pairs.

And I was very measured — not killing anyone but targeting vital spots, causing these lower-brain breeders to lose their lower-brain functions.

As I swung the stick wildly, I was immensely grateful that I was a man and could fight these beasts without being at a disadvantage.

But I was just one person. More and more united villagers overpowered me and captured me. Once I changed back into men's clothes, they all looked at me as a stranger, except Zhao Tiezhu. Covering his crotch, he glared at me with a livid face. I was almost overjoyed to the point of flying.

“You bitch!” Zhao Tiezhu grabbed my neck and slapped me across the face: “I'll kill you! I will definitely kill you!”

I felt my brain buzzing, warm liquid flowing from my mouth and nose, but I bit my teeth, straightened my neck, and glared at him: “Really? Let's see who dies first?”

As my words fell, flames roared up from the back mountain.

Dequan Village's livelihood depended on planting seedlings, and what they feared most was a mountain fire.

That's right; before returning to the village, I had set a fire on the mountain.

At that moment, I saw the fear in everyone's eyes. They no longer had time to deal with me, rushing in panic to take out basins and buckets to save their livelihood.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I used my last bit of strength to go from house to house, freeing the women who had been taken back.

The raging mountain fire, along with the disturbed county firefighters and police, arrived in succession.

“So this is your reason for smashing the police station and setting the mountain on fire?”

In the hospital, I lay on the bed, wrapped in thick bandages, being interrogated by a dark-faced police officer.

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Sigh, you, setting fire to the mountain, you could rot in jail for this!”