Chapter 155: A Night of Terror

Xu Damao slowly regained consciousness, feeling only dizzy and his limbs numb and sore.

He opened his eyes and discovered he was lying in a dilapidated room, his mouth stuffed tightly with coarse cloth so that he could not make a single sound; his hands and feet were bound tightly with Rope, causing him sharp pain.

He reached out to grab the small Dagger on his belt, but he could not reach it no matter how he tried.

That small knife was something he had personally commissioned Li Yong's father to forge for self-defense; the knife and sheath had cost him a full five Big Ocean.

This time when he was kidnapped, the kidnappers only took the miscellaneous items in his pockets and two Big Ocean, but they did not take the Dagger; he could feel it still there, hard against him.

But if he couldn't take it out, it was as good as useless.

Xu Damao could not stop his tears from flowing; he missed his mother a little, and this also intensified his hatred for Chen Daya. If it weren't for that good-for-nothing, his father wouldn't have died, and he wouldn't have been reduced to a hostage! If he could get out alive, he would definitely kill her!

Xu Damao rubbed his arms hard against the wall, the rough wall surface scraping his wrists raw, but it was completely ineffective.

The more he struggled, the more desperate he felt.

Suddenly, the sound of two people talking drifted in from outside the room, faint and indistinct.

"Why hasn't the boss come back yet?" a coarse voice asked.

"Nancheng is so far away, wait a while longer, no need to rush," a hoarse voice replied.

"How much money do you think they'll give?" the coarse voice continued to ask.

"Eagerness doesn't make a good deal; they won't give much!" the hoarse voice said.

Xu Damao found the voices familiar, but for a moment, he couldn't recall who they were.

He calculated repeatedly in his mind: was it Chen Daya or Xiao Erduo who did this? The more he thought about it, the more he felt it must have been someone Xiao Erduo found.

He felt very hungry and started hiccuping incessantly.

After a long time had passed, the sound of chaotic footsteps came from outside.

A duck-like voice said, "I want to inspect the goods!"

"They're right in the room!"

As soon as Xu Damao heard this, his hiccups stopped instantly; he closed his eyes and pretended he hadn't woken up.

A person came in, took a look, and then went back out.

The hoarse voice complained, "25 is too little."

The duck-like voice said, "If you don't sell, then take them away."

"Alright then! The buyers are the bosses," the hoarse voice's tone softened.

Once Xu Damao heard this, he understood in an instant: the kidnappers and the human traffickers were not the same group.

A few minutes later, the door was pushed open with a "creak."

A tall masked man glanced at Xu Damao, who was feigning sleep on the floor, and cursed, "Kid, stop pretending! It's time to hit the road!"

These words were like a bolt from the blue; Xu Damao's heart sank completely.

He could no longer keep up the act; his intuition told him this person intended to kill him. He scrambled up to his knees and began kowtowing desperately, tears streaming down his face, while only "woo-woo" whimpers could escape his gagged mouth.

The masked man ignored his pleas entirely, grabbed him, and slung him over his shoulder like a sack.

Xu Damao's body jolted continuously in the air, and despair spread from his heart throughout his entire body like ice water.

After walking a few dozen meters, he was thrown into a covered horse-drawn carriage, where six young boys were already sitting.

At this moment, a wave of joy washed over Xu Damao: they didn't want to kill me, they wanted to sell us somewhere else! As long as I'm alive, with my cleverness, there will always be a way to escape!

The carriage rattled forward; the children inside stared at each other with wide eyes, tears streaming down their faces. Xu Damao, however, was very calm; he pretended to sleep and did not look at the others.

By the time they were driven off the carriage, the night was deep, the moon was shrouded by dark clouds, and the desolate village seemed very quiet.

The seven children were led by three masked men into a dilapidated earthen house.

The masked men fumbled around in the room for a while and lit a dim oil lamp.

This room was piled high with straw for sleeping.

Xu Damao could smell the pungent odor of excrement and urine permeating the air.

Before long, the tall masked man walked in carrying a broken wooden basin and a pot of water; the basin contained a few steamed corn buns.

He walked up to the children and said, "Listen, I'm going to take the cloth out of your mouths and untie the ropes on your bodies now. I'll say this first: whoever dares to shout, I'll slaughter them on the spot!"

The children looked at him timidly, none daring to make a sound.

After the rag was removed from his mouth, Xu Damao felt much more relaxed. He hurriedly leaned forward to curry favor, saying, "Uncle, there are three of you, and we are all just children; we can't run away at all. On the road, the Rope was tied too tightly, it was too painful. I've accepted my fate, I won't run. Could you tie it a bit looser tomorrow?"

The tall masked man glanced at him and said, "That depends on your performance. From now on, you are responsible for watching these children. If you perform well, I'll tie you a bit looser."

"Alright! I'll definitely watch them well!" Xu Damao agreed hurriedly and took the opportunity to plead, "Uncle, when we sleep, can you just tie one hand? You can tie us all together; no one will be able to run."

"I'll agree to that!"

Xu Damao quickly forced a smile: "Uncle, us kids, even if we ran out, we wouldn't even be able to find the road; we'd just end up starving to death on the way. You don't need to worry!"

The tall masked man was silent for a moment, then nodded: "You kid are actually quite sensible."

Xu Damao stayed awake the whole time; once the other children were asleep, he took out the small knife to cut the ropes, waiting for an opportunity.

In the early hours of the morning, the snoring of the person keeping watch outside the door sounded like a beating drum.

Xu Damao got up to check the front and back windows, only to find that from the inside, they were covered with curtains to prevent people outside from seeing in, but the outside had long been nailed shut with wooden strips; there was no way to get out.

Clearly, this residence had been specially prepared by the human traffickers; to escape, he would have to deal with the guard.

Xu Damao held his breath and gripped the small knife tightly.

His heartbeat was like a beating drum.

The guard's snoring did not stop; he gently pulled open the room door and saw the tall masked man fast asleep on the straw at the doorway.

He held the knife and gestured at the man's neck a few times, but he just didn't dare to strike.

He swallowed hard to control his emotions, but his hand was still shaking uncontrollably.

Just then, the masked man suddenly turned over. This gave him a fright.

Xu Damao finally made up his mind and slashed the Dagger fiercely toward the man's throat.

The tall masked man let out a "Heh heh" sound, the snoring stopped, and then his body began to convulse.

Xu Damao quickly opened the door to the main room.

"Creeeak!" A crisp sound suddenly rang out, and a shout immediately came from inside the room: "Who's there?"

Xu Damao was scared out of his wits and took to his heels.

"You little bastard, stop right there! Once I catch you, I'll skin you alive!" The curses rang out from behind, getting closer and closer.

Xu Damao dove into the woods nearby, relying on his thin and small frame to shuttle quickly through the bushes; even as the thorns tore his skin, he remained completely unaware.

The shouting and cursing of the two men drew nearer, and in a flash of inspiration, he bent down and crawled into a hole dug by an animal under an earthen slope.

He buried his face in the dirt, not daring to breathe.

It was not long before heavy footsteps passed right over his head.

Xu Damao curled up in the hole, and only after the surroundings had completely returned to silence did he tremble as he crawled out.

He could not distinguish the direction and ran for several more miles through the fields.

Suddenly, he discovered that those two people seemed to have run back, standing on the earthen slope opposite him, looking in his direction.

Xu Damao could no longer run; he lost his footing and tumbled into the small stream beside him.

His sound startled the people opposite, and they began to run toward this spot.

By this time, the moon had long since set, and the wilderness was very dark; only the small stream was bright.

Those two people shouted: "I see you!"

Just at this moment, those two people were suddenly tackled by someone.

After drinking a few mouthfuls of water, Xu Damao finally stood up in the small stream and discovered that the water was not deep, just barely covering his knees.

A burst of fighting sounds came from the distance; not long after, it calmed down, and three people ran over from afar.

By this time, Xu Damao was exhausted; he had no strength left to run and stood there blankly, watching the three people run over.

A mature voice barked sharply: "Who are you?"

"I... I was kidnapped, and I just escaped from the kidnappers."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a short, sturdy man splashed through the water to grab him, saying viciously: "Since we've already started killing, let's kill this little brat too!"