Kidnapped by Human Traffickers

"Big brother, big brother, he's awake! He's awake!" Feng Yunxiao heard a voice beside his ear.

"Ah, my body hurts so much. Where am I?" Feng Yunxiao struggled to open his eyes.

He laboriously pried his eyes open a crack. In the murky light, the first thing he saw was a pair of hands marked by whip scars—the knuckles were well defined, and the hands were holding a battered bowl with a chip in its rim.

Looking up, he saw a boy half a head taller than him. Strands of hair hung over the boy's forehead, partly covering his brow. There was no malice in his eyes, only a trace of worry.

"Can you sit up?" The boy held the bowl out to him, lowering his voice. "Have some water first. Take a moment to recover."

Feng Yunxiao's throat was painfully dry. He moved his fingers, and the boy understood at once. He carefully supported Feng Yunxiao's back, helping him lean against the cold wall.

Only when the water had flowed down his throat did he dare ask in a small voice, "Who... are you?"

"Fu Yanzhi." The boy crouched down to meet his eyes, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the bowl. "I was brought here too, a little before you. There are five others with us."

The dim light fell across Fu Yanzhi's face. Seeing how composed he was, Feng Yunxiao felt his frantically pounding heart strangely slow by half a beat.

Just then, the child who had called out that he was awake came over to his side, panting hard and looking at Feng Yunxiao with shining eyes.

"You're awake! My name's Li Huanhuan. Don't be scared, my big brother is amazing. He'll protect us," Li Huanhuan said with a smile.

Feng Yunxiao looked at the lively child. Fu Yanzhi patted Huanhuan on the head. "Huanhuan, go get the other brothers." Huanhuan answered and went skipping off.

Fu Yanzhi looked back at Feng Yunxiao and gently reassured him, "Don't be afraid yet. I've learned a little about this place. It's a holding site for an illegal organization. They specialize in grabbing children and sending them to their headquarters. They usually send a batch whenever they have ten."

Feng Yunxiao's fists clenched sharply. "Then... what number are we?" His voice trembled.

Fu Yanzhi glanced at him, his steady tone carrying a hint of reassurance. "You're the seventh. I'm the second. They haven't reached the number yet. We still have time."

"The seventh?" Feng Yunxiao's voice was still trembling, his fingertips unconsciously picking at the hem of his clothes.

Before Fu Yanzhi could speak again, light footsteps sounded nearby. The child who had called out that he was awake came running back, followed by several figures.

"Big brother, I brought them all!" Li Huanhuan stopped beside Fu Yanzhi and tilted up his little face, his eyes as bright as stars in a dark room.

Feng Yunxiao looked in the direction Li Huanhuan had come from. The first person he noticed was an exceptionally good-looking boy. Bo Qing stood there, his hair soft at the ends, carefully holding a little boy in his arms. The boy's small hands clutched Bo Qing's clothes tightly as he shrank timidly against him. His name was Kong Fanxing.

Behind Bo Qing, another boy with a clean, fresh air walked over. Wen Shiming was holding Kong Fanyue, his arm steadily supporting the backs of his knees, his movements practiced and gentle.

"Now that you're awake, I've put everyone in order by age so we can look after one another from now on." Fu Yanzhi stood up and pointed to the people beside him, introducing them one by one. "I'm Fu Yanzhi, sixteen. Bo Qing is thirteen. Wen Shiming is twelve."

At this point, the twins in Bo Qing's arms spoke up timidly. "I'm Kong Fanxing, and he's Kong Fanyue. We're nine."

Li Huanhuan raised his hand too. "I'm eight!"

Feng Yunxiao looked at the faces before him, which were gradually becoming familiar. Some of his tension eased, and he added quietly, "My name is Feng Yunxiao. I'm ten." At last, little bursts of laughter sounded in the corner, like a ray of light slipping into a dark room.

Feng Yunxiao looked at them. Bo Qing gave him a slight nod, and Wen Shiming's lips curved upward. Even Xingxing and Yueyue, held in their arms, secretly poked their heads out from the crook of Bo Qing's arm and glanced at him. A little flicker of warmth seemed to appear in the fear that had left him feeling so empty.

Just then, the warehouse's sheet-metal door was kicked open, sending rust showering down. The man in front had a face full of coarse flesh, with a deep scar slashing diagonally from his left brow to the corner of his mouth. His gaze was as cold as if tempered in ice, a vicious light in his eyes as he stared at Fu Yanzhi and the others.

Two men followed close behind him. One was tall and thin, his face dark and sinister, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked. The other had a buzz cut and high cheekbones. His gaze swept around the room, rough as sandpaper, and he held a short whip in his hand.

The man in the lead opened his mouth. "Not bad. This bunch of little brats looks pretty lively. Seems they'll be able to hold out a few extra days once we send them over."

The tall, thin man immediately leaned in with a fawning smile. "Of course, boss! I spent half a month lying in wait in different neighborhoods before I managed to snatch them. Every one of them's healthy, not a sickly one in the bunch!"

As he spoke, he reached out to touch Yueyue's face. Bo Qing immediately turned sideways to dodge him, his eyes cold as ice, but he didn't dare make a sound—he knew that meeting force with force now would only make the children suffer more.

The bald man picked at his ear and said indifferently, "Don't worry, boss. You have no idea how hard this batch of goods was to catch. I almost got caught by the police because of this brat."

The boss glared at the bald man. "Be more careful next time. If the police catch you, I can't save your ass." He swept his gaze over everyone. "You'd all better behave yourselves. Once we have enough of you, we'll send you off." With that, he waved a hand, and the three men turned to leave.

Just then, Feng Yunxiao found courage from who knew where. He suddenly stood up and shouted, "What you're doing is against the law! Let us out, now!"

The boss whirled around, his eyes full of viciousness. He strode up to Feng Yunxiao and raised a hand to strike.

Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Fu Yanzhi stepped in front of Feng Yunxiao. "Don't be rash. We can talk this out."

The boss sneered. "Oh, you're pretty loyal, aren't you? Fine, I'll give you a chance today. As long as you can get out of this warehouse, I'll let you go." With that, he led his men out of the warehouse and slammed the door shut behind him.

Fu Yanzhi looked at everyone, determination in his eyes. "Don't panic. We'll work together to find a way out."

Everyone nodded, a little light returning to their eyes.

Seeing how unhappy Feng Yunxiao looked, Fu Yanzhi pulled half a steamed bun from his pocket. It was what remained of the bun the skinny man had tossed them two days ago.

Fu Yanzhi said to Feng Yunxiao, "You're hungry, aren't you, Xiaoxiao? Have some steamed bun first."

As he spoke, Fu Yanzhi tore the half bun in two and handed one piece to Feng Yunxiao. He divided the small piece left over into six portions and gave them to the others.

Feng Yunxiao took the bun. It was very hard, and he had never eaten anything so hard before, but he ate it anyway because he needed to conserve his strength to escape.

After eating the bun, which was as hard as a brick, Feng Yunxiao put his hand in his pocket and discovered two lollipops a classmate had given him during class. He took them out, put them on the ground, and smashed them with a nearby stone. Then he went over to share them with everyone.

Huanhuan ran up beside Feng Yunxiao and asked, "Fourth brother, fourth brother, what have you got? Is it tasty?"

Feng Yunxiao picked a piece from the fragments and put it in Huanhuan's mouth. Huanhuan held the candy in his mouth, feeling happy as the sweet-and-sour taste of orange spread across his tongue. "Thank you, fourth brother! It's so tasty!"

Hearing that, Feng Yunxiao patted Huanhuan's head and walked over to the twins. He offered each of them a piece of candy. Kong Fanxing wanted to take it, but Kong Fanyue stopped him.

Feng Yunxiao said to the twins, "This is candy. It's really tasty. Go on, try it."

Kong Fanxing looked at Fu Yanzhi and Bo Qing. After they nodded, he took the candy and put it in his mouth, then said thank you in a very small voice. Kong Fanyue also said thank you after taking his piece, then gave it to Kong Fanxing.

Feng Yunxiao took the candy over to third brother Wen Shiming and offered him a piece. Wen Shiming took it and ate it, then smiled at Feng Yunxiao. "Thank you, little brother. This candy is very sweet."

Just as Feng Yunxiao was about to give the last of the candy to big brother and second brother, footsteps came from outside the door. The children quickly huddled together in the corner, as if they would be safe just by hiding there. Fu Yanzhi and Bo Qing stood on the outside, shielding the younger brothers within with their arms.

Fu Yanzhi reassured everyone, "Don't be afraid. Second brother and I will protect you."

The sheet-metal door was shoved roughly open. The bald man strode in, cursing, "All of you, shut the hell up!"

The tall, thin man followed, carrying several battered bowls filled with food that gave off a sour, foul smell. He said, "Eat up. Can't let you starve to death. Once I sell you, I can make some more money."

The bald man threw the bowls down in front of the children, splashing food onto Fu Yanzhi's shoes. Fu Yanzhi forced down his anger and said nothing.

The bald man looked at Feng Yunxiao in the corner. "What's the matter, brat? Got a problem with that?"

As he spoke, the bald man reached for Feng Yunxiao. Fu Yanzhi held this newly arrived fourth brother close, shielding him.

Seeing Fu Yanzhi blocking Feng Yunxiao, the bald man swung a fist into his face. Fu Yanzhi was knocked to the ground, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Bo Qing helped Fu Yanzhi up and looked at the bald man, the anger in his eyes seeming ready to burst out. Fury ignited in Feng Yunxiao's eyes. He charged forward and sank his teeth into the bald man's hand.

The bald man cursed in pain and flung Feng Yunxiao away. Feng Yunxiao fell to the ground, but still glared stubbornly at him.

Seeing this, the tall, thin man stepped forward to kick Feng Yunxiao. Just then, Li Huanhuan, who had been hiding at the very back, suddenly rushed out and stood in front of Feng Yunxiao. "Don't you bully my fourth brother!" he shouted.

The tall, thin man's kick struck Li Huanhuan as he stood in front of Feng Yunxiao. The force sent Li Huanhuan flying backward to the ground, knocking him unconscious at once.

Wen Shiming ran over to check on Huanhuan. When he found that Huanhuan had passed out, he left him with Yueyue and Xingxing, then rushed at the tall, thin man and grappled with him.

The bald man pulled a telescopic baton from inside his clothes and struck at Wen Shiming. Bo Qing and Fu Yanzhi attacked the bald man as well. When the twins saw their third brother being beaten, they too went forward to attack the skinny man. They wrapped their arms around his legs and bit him. The pain made him shriek, and he clenched his fists to hit the twins, but Wen Shiming was still in his way.

Fu Yanzhi shouted to Feng Yunxiao, "Run, Xiaoxiao! Go find the police and bring them to save us. We'll hold them off!"

Feng Yunxiao ran toward the iron door. His eyelashes trembled violently, a film of moisture clouding his eyes. Tears rolled down his cheeks like beads from a snapped string. "You have to stay alive. I'll come back and save you, brothers."

Feng Yunxiao had just run out of the corridor when he saw the warehouse's main door. He was almost out, but before he reached it, the door suddenly opened on its own. Four people came in: the fat man in the lead and three newcomers. The three wore suits and black masks.

When the four saw Feng Yunxiao running out, they realized something was wrong and grabbed him at once, heading toward the room inside. One of the men in black seized Feng Yunxiao by his clothes and lifted him up.

He kept cursing at them. "You bunch of bad guys will get what's coming to you! When I grow up, I'll kill you!"

The fat man in the lead laughed when he heard that. "Don't worry, none of you will grow up, because I'll send you to the most miserable place in the world. And you won't live to see the day I get what's coming to me. Hahaha!"