Seeing the fat man kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, the assistant stepped forward to ask Zhao Rong’s opinion. "Big Brother Zhao Rong," he said, "how should we deal with this spineless opportunist who sways with the wind?"

Lili glared fiercely at the fat man before turning to Zhao Rong. "Big Brother Zhao Rong," she said, "with a guy this vile, we can only fight violence with violence—an eye for an eye, blood for blood. Let’s just kill him on the spot and be done with it."

Yu Lan agreed. "That fat man was swinging a huge Guan Gong saber, clearly intending to rush over and chop us all to death. We should take that blade and use it on him. Let him have a taste of its power."

Xuelian was even more direct. She popped open a large can of pepper spray, blasted it in the fat man’s face, and said, "We can’t be soft-hearted with scum like him. Otherwise, it’s like letting a tiger back into the mountains. We’d just be letting him go on to hurt more good people."

Hearing the suggestions from his assistant and the women, Zhao Rong made his decision. He would first tie the fat man to a large nearby rock. After they fought their way out of Bada Hutong and captured their boss, they would come back for him, take him to the police station, and see him brought to justice.

After dealing with the fat man, Zhao Rong and his party continued toward the sixth gate. Subduing the fifth gate’s guardian had been far too easy compared to the previous ones, leading the assistant to conclude that the final three gates would be a breeze.

With a relaxed expression, the assistant said to Zhao Rong and the three women, "Big Brother Zhao Rong, I think the last three gates will get progressively easier for us."

Lili disagreed. "Big Brother Zhao Rong, that fat man may have been easy to deal with, but we absolutely cannot let our guard down now."

Yu Lan agreed with Lili. She reminded Zhao Rong, "Big Brother Zhao Rong, be careful. The enemy might be trying to lure us into a trap. They could have placed that useless fat man here first as bait, so that when we get to the sixth gate, a true powerhouse suddenly appears. That would catch us completely off guard, and we wouldn’t be able to react in time."

A nervous Xuelian also took out her large can of pepper spray. Following closely behind Zhao Rong, she said, "Big Brother Zhao Rong, if you sense anything is wrong, just give me a shout. I’ll rush up with this pepper spray and let them have it."

Just as Zhao Rong’s group was on high alert, a graceful woman in ancient attire suddenly appeared ahead of them. She was young and strikingly beautiful, with a classical charm. What caught the group completely off guard was when she turned and smiled at them.

Men are visual creatures. The moment Zhao Rong and his assistant laid eyes on the beauty in ancient attire, they were completely mesmerized.

The assistant started drooling. "Damn, I never expected to find a woman this gorgeous in Bada Hutong! If I could just go over there, pin her down, and do it with her right on the spot... that would be incredible..."

Zhao Rong couldn’t help but lick his lips, letting his guard down. "Damn," he said, "a woman this beautiful can’t be a bad person, right?"

Just as Zhao Rong and his assistant were spellbound, the three women stepped forward to warn them. "Big Brother Zhao Rong! Assistant! Don’t be fooled by this vixen in front of you. Let me tell you two something: the prettier the woman, the more tricks she has up her sleeve. The prettier the woman, the less you can trust her. The prettier the woman, the more likely she’s a black widow."

Lili stepped in front of Zhao Rong, blocking his view. "Big Brother Zhao Rong, think about it. Who are the people we’ve seen in Bada Hutong? Migrant workers from the labor market and butchers from the slaughterhouse. Then, all of a sudden, this beauty appears. What sort of person do you think she really is?"

Yu Lan immediately sized up the woman in ancient attire. "She’s obviously a woman of the night. She has to be from a bathhouse, a seedy hair salon, or one of those back-alley parlors."

Xuelian shook her head. She stepped forward, pointed at the woman in the distance, and said to Zhao Rong and the assistant, "This woman in ancient attire... I’d bet she comes from a black-light dance hall."

With his view blocked, Zhao Rong suddenly snapped out of it. He looked at the three women and said, "Whoa, I don’t know what happened. The moment I saw that woman in ancient clothes, I was completely captivated."

His assistant, looking just as smitten, added, "Do you think she cast some kind of spell on us? Otherwise, how could Big Brother Zhao Rong and I have been so mesmerized by her?"

Hearing Zhao Rong and the assistant, Lili said angrily, "You men are such lechers! All it takes is a woman in heavy makeup and an old-fashioned dress to completely bewitch you? It’s pathetic!"

Yu Lan even took a bottle of makeup remover from her cosmetics bag and said, "Big Brother Zhao Rong, you two can stop drooling. I’m about to splash this makeup remover on her face. I’ll let you see what she really looks like underneath it all. I guarantee her real face will scare the piss out of you!"

Xuelian took out her phone, opened Douyin, and showed them videos of influencers after they’d removed their makeup. "Big Brother Zhao Rong, Assistant, look closely," she said. "Any woman, no matter how ugly, can be made to look like a goddess with enough makeup. So, this ’beauty’ in ancient attire is definitely wearing a thick layer. Don’t be fooled by her made-up appearance."

As the group of five was discussing the woman, she suddenly started walking toward them. She spoke in a sweet, cooing voice, "Dear brothers, dear sisters, this humble girl is named Xiaoqian. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

Everyone was stunned to hear the woman call herself Xiaoqian. Zhao Rong immediately pulled out his phone, found a photo of the actress Wang Zuxian, and compared it to the woman before him. His eyes widened. "No way," he muttered, "this woman who calls herself Xiaoqian... she looks exactly like Wang Zuxian!"