Chapter 10

In the remote wilderness, the campfire crackled, and the traffickers did not travel at night. This place was probably one of their secret hideouts; although it was a cave, it had been tidied up nicely, and they had everything here, even some stored dry rations.

"Da You Ge, are these all the usual place trades?" Shitou, who had a hemp-stalk physique, added some dry twigs to the fire, speaking about the transaction that was about to happen.

Dao Ba Lian nodded after looking at this trip's haul: "Just leave the oldest girl; Cocoon Town's Granny Sheng wants one, and the deposit has already been paid."

Shitou looked at the oldest girl; though she was the oldest, she was only about fourteen or fifteen. However, among the several girls, she appeared the most ordinary, likely why her destination was decided. Thinking this, he actually felt a bit sorry for her.

In the past, the boys and girls they captured were sent to the brothel, where the prices were highest. Over time, there was nothing pitiful about it. But sending them to Granny Sheng in Cocoon Town was different! They had a base in Cocoon Town, so they knew a bit about the town.

"To Cocoon Town?" Yu Niang pursed her lips: "Why not send the little one to Cocoon Town? Cocoon Town wants pretty maids; this age is enough, isn't it better the prettier? The ones sent are a bit inferior, and Granny Sheng's people still pick faults, saying the immortals don't like them!"

When she said this, she stared at Gan Tian, her tone full of malice.

Dao Ba Lian's face darkened and he was about to scold, but Xiao Hu shook his head first: "Granny Sheng picking faults is their business; if you have the ability, bring money—more money, more goods. When I was young, I followed my father and elder brothers to cut bamboo, and it's always been like that."

At this point, Yu Niang also realized she had just spoken incorrectly; with ordinary companions she could still lose her temper and put on a face, but facing Dao Ba Lian, their boss, she didn't dare—just now she could be said to have lost her head.

But she couldn't bring herself to soften her face with kind words; she could only walk over to the oldest girl as if covering up, patting her cheek: "You're blessed! The others on the road all have to go to the brothel to become servants' playthings. You'redifferent—clean and pure, you can go serve the immortals! If it weren't for running into us by luck, you'd never have this fortune in your lifetime!"

Though she said that, those present weren't children; who could believe that? So-called serving the immortals has its good and bad! It's like the emperor selecting beauties—some vie to enter, while others hurriedly seek a marital home to avoid it.

Those vying to enter are the children of official and noble families, knowing that entering the palace means becoming a consort. If they gain favor, it's even more like one person attaining the Dao and their chickens and dogs ascending to heaven! I wouldn't dare say all the daughters of official and noble families have such aspirations, but at least some families indeed plot for this.

But the daughters of common folk are another matter! If truly a lovely girl born of a humble household, she could marry anywhere without mistake, yet sending her into the deep palace? That would make her a palace maid with a life as thin as paper!

Palace maids can certainly rise to power... but speaking of which, there's also the ultimate rags-to-riches story of a beggar becoming emperor—yet no one rushes to become a beggar for that! The principle is the same.

Serving the immortals is the same: if a true righteous deity takes a concubine, few would be unwilling. But if good men and faithful women are sent as offerings like sacrificial gifts, that's another matter.

At best one becomes a maid; worse, no one knows what will happen... All we can say is that orthodox immortals have a bottom line, but sometimes the immortal crowd lacks supervision, privately doing outrageous things; as long as there's no evidence, they can eventually cover it up.

And listening to Yu Niang's tone, one always feels it's not something good.

"It's a blessing!" Probably to ease the atmosphere, a kind-hearted person in the group quickly chimed in: "Isn't it a blessing? The river god's wedding! The river god of Washing Silk River—this great deity also has prestige; what's wrong with being his bride?"

"'Where is the Washing Silk River?' Gan Tian whispered to the boy behind her."

"'I don't know.' The boy wrote somewhat carelessly."

This isn't surprising, although the other party seems knowledgeable about geography, able to discern direction even in extreme conditions, knowing they'reclose to Suppressing the River. But some details aren't necessarily known, such as the Washing Silk River, and also Cocoon Town—this is like a single line or point in a dense river network; no one could possibly know it all.

Although she didn't get an answer, Gan Tian still pondered... she was a bit concerned about this.

"'Let's move tonight!' Just as Gan Tian was thinking, she received a hint from the other side."

Although we don't know when they'll 'trade', the fact that they're near Suppressing the River is true; perhaps they felt further delay would bring risk. When they 'met up' last night, the other party told her, also letting her make the necessary preparations.

In the dead of night, just past the hour of the ox, when people sleep deepest. The night watch were Yu Niang and Xiao Hu; Gan Tian received a signal in her palm, and carefully let the small knife in her sleeve slide out.

Previously the small knife hung at her waist, but when it was in the box during the day she tried for a while before managing to grasp it with her hands bound behind her back, after which she hid it in her sleeve for easy use at night.

Gan Tian gripped the small knife, feeling around to cut the rope binding the boy. After hesitating a moment, the boy who had originally planned to find a chance to escape first did not directly take the knife to proceed with his next plan; instead, with his back to the night watch, he turned and cut Gan Tian's rope.

Actually, escaping first would be a better choice, after all, dragging along a clueless little girl increases the difficulty—in fact, although the two had been in contact for a long time, he hadn't planned to bring Gan Tian when escaping. In his view it was completely unnecessary; once they contacted the authorities, the others could naturally be rescued.

Of course, there's also the possibility of an accident, not waiting for the authorities to come to the rescue.

But such an accident wouldn't be more troublesome than dragging a burden; the latter is actually more likely to cause trouble.

"'Others couldn't discover this.' When he said that, he didn't take it to heart, subconsciously thinking she knew some little tricks—like the misdirection and feinting east to strike west commonly used in magic tricks—which is why the gang didn't notice this already small knife."

However, for some reason, he often recalled that remark later.

She... might not be that simple.

Since childhood he has trusted his intuition, for it is quite reliable. Compared to carefully considered thoughts, his intuition felt that bringing this girl would be more advantageous!

Gan Tian felt the other's finger tap three times on her wrist; she knew this was the signal to begin, and she grew tense mentally, completely dispelling the fatigue of this time.

"Cough cough... uh..." The boy looked as if he had just awakened from a nightmare, his acting astonishing—he even made his face turn pale and his forehead sweat.

Although the firelight's glow at night made it hard to see clearly, he still managed to act out the details.

"I want to relieve myself." Just like the urgent need to urinate after a nightmare.

Xiao Hu wasn't ill-tempered; although this scene at this time would seem troublesome, he said nothing. After a moment of silence, he led the boy to the place outside the cave to relieve himself.

Although the rope had been cut, the end was pinched in the boy's hand, making it hard to notice in the poor night light.

Now there was only one obstacle; Gan Tian calmly glanced at Yu Niang sitting by the fire.

She couldn't wait for the other side to come over, because their better option was to neutralize the guard and flee. Coming back would mean facing this group, which would only make things unsolvable.

The small knife had already been taken; now she could only rely on herself.

Taking a deep breath, Gan Tian focused her attention entirely on the guard.

Yu Niang added firewood to the fire, then lifted her gaze to look outside the cave. She wasn't entirely sure whether Xiao Hu hadn't returned yet because of some accident, or because he wasn't just relieving himself but doing a major bowel movement—no one would think the former likely, for although Xiao Hu is young, he wields a fine blade, and his knife hadn't left his side just now.

Could a delicate, pampered young master escape from his hands?

Because of this thought, she didn't wake her sleeping comrades. Thinking it over, anyway the place to relieve oneself wasn't far, and going out for a while was unlikely to cause trouble, so she stood up and left the cave, intending to see what was happening.

What a fortunate turn of events!

After Yu Niang walked out of the cave and her footsteps faded, Gan Tian rose silently on tiptoe.

Upon reaching outside the cave, the pitch-black, empty surroundings paradoxically gave a sense of safety—for these days she had for the first time not been under surveillance.

She didn't immediately look for a place to hide, nor did she recklessly dash into the deep mountains.

Instead, she went to the area outside the cave where the mules, horses, and large carts were kept, and untied the reins of the small donkey.

Her small donkey had also been abducted by this gang; since they were posing as merchants, bringing an extra donkey wasn't strange, so they left the small donkey behind.

Moreover, the small donkey's temperament was gentle and it hadn't caused trouble, which is why it had been kept all along.

Gan Tian couldn't recognize the road; since leaving home she had relied entirely on the small donkey not to get lost. Now that she needed to go, she would surely still rely on this old companion.

Leading the small donkey slowly, once they were a bit farther away, Gan Tian then mounted the small donkey.

They were about to flee, but Gan Tian hesitated a little—although the situation demanded improvisation, either she or the boy could seize an opportunity to run; there was no emphasis on going together. If someone had a chance to escape, the first thing to do should be to get as far away as possible, then report to the authorities.

But if they come at us forcefully when we try to run away, what do we do if something goes wrong? She had seen it; that person who went out with the youth had a machete at his waist—not someone easy to deal with! You can report to the officials to come rescue people, but if something happens to the person, reporting to the officials is useless.

Gan Tian pursed her lips, whispered a few words into the little donkey's ear. The little donkey seemed a bit confused and unwilling to obey, but it tapped its hooves on the spot a few times; in the end it still followed her words, made a circuit, and went to understand the place from different directions.

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Thanks to the little angels who voted for me with overlord votes or poured nutrient solution during the period 2020-04-1408:34:56~2020-04-1508:18:42~

Thanks to the little angels who poured nutrient solution: the phoenix flower has opened another bottle;

Thank you very much for everyone's support; I will continue to work hard!