The night was black as ink. In the darkness, heavy rain poured down madly from the sky, drumming against the tent like a barrage of firecrackers. From any distance away, human voices were impossible to hear clearly. Yet not far off, muffled sounds of commotion still carried through the curtain of rain.
"Ah... let go... don't..."
"***... Don't move, or I'll kill you..."
"Brother Dao, don't do this, her family..."
"What about her family? I..."
"It's still not safe today... wait another couple of days..."
Carefully shifting her body, Lingjing pressed close against Jiaming, trembling slightly. In the darkness, rainwater seeped in beneath the tent. Even in summer, it still felt cold.
"Jiaming, what are they going to do to Sister Yahan...?"
"Uh." Jiaming thought for a moment, then shook his head and played dumb. "I don't know... Don't worry, it'll be fine."
The two children were now sitting in the tent without any tools, their hands and feet tied with rope. At least on the surface, all they could do was remain seated, huddled together. Testing the tension of the ropes, Jiaming narrowed his eyes.
It would be easy to break free from ropes like these. But if he rushed over now, they would effectively still have a hostage in their hands. He had no weapon, and his body was not yet particularly strong. He needed to hold back as much as possible. He could only hope that what he had said would truly work. Otherwise...
He glanced at the little girl beside him. In the darkness, he could sense that she was looking at him as well. Lowering his head, he gently pressed his forehead against hers and repeated, "Don't worry, it'll be fine."
If that guy really intended to go through with it, then no matter how frightening it was, he would have to try. At the very least, he could not let Lingjing be left with some terrible shadow in her heart.
With that decision made, fortunately, a moment later Triangle-eyed came over from the other side with Zhang Yahan, whose hands were tied. It seemed Scarface had finally been persuaded by Triangle-eyed. After all, they had only entered the forest for one day. Though the heavy rain had covered many of their tracks, the chances of being caught were still high. Under such circumstances, they still wanted to leave themselves a way out.
That being the case, these two could only be considered ordinary hooligans. Taking care of them would be easy. The problem was how to do it without making the girls suspicious...
"Get over there! I saved you once..." Triangle-eyed shone his flashlight into the tent, then shoved Zhang Yahan over. The rain outside was truly torrential. In the short distance between the two tents, both of them had already been soaked through more than halfway. Zhang Yahan in particular must have struggled on the ground for a long time just now. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes messy, and she looked thoroughly bedraggled. A faint smile appeared on Jiaming's lips. Yahan shot him a fierce glare before being shoved into the tent to sit down.
Triangle-eyed followed in afterward. He held the flashlight in one hand and the double-barreled short gun in the other. The two bandits had apparently already agreed on the order in which they would keep watch. After tying Zhang Yahan's legs, he sat down nearby, placing the short gun at his inner left side.
With four people inside, the tent felt rather crowded. Triangle-eyed took up nearly half the space, leaving the other three to sit squeezed together back to back. Having robbed tens of thousands of yuan this time, Triangle-eyed was clearly restless. He kept shifting about, occasionally pulling out a stack of cash and greedily counting it beneath the flashlight's beam. Then he carefully wiped the short gun several times with a cloth. Every now and then, he would stare at Zhang Yahan with lecherous eyes. Whenever that happened, the young teacher would instinctively edge closer to the two children.
After fidgeting around like that for over an hour, the flashlight finally went out. The endless rain outside seemed to swallow everything into a bottomless abyss. There were no other sounds, only rain, rain, rain.
In such darkness, exhausted Lingjing soon fell asleep while leaning against Jiaming. Zhang Yahan, however, was in complete turmoil and did not dare sleep at all. If what Scarface had tried to do earlier had truly happened, she would rather have died. From what they had said, if the police did not catch them after two days, they would definitely do something to her... And that brat too—when he had come to rescue them, she had actually been touched for a moment. Who would have thought he would say something like that?
"...If you wanted money, why didn't you just go after Sister Yahan directly? Her family is the Jianghai Zhang Family. They're loaded; tens of thousands are nothing to them."
Now that he had revealed her family's wealth, not only might she become their target for rape, these two could also use her as a hostage for extortion. In that case, they would not let her go anytime soon, while the two children might be released as burdens. He was too clever... Of course, a child could not possibly have thought that far ahead. I must be overthinking it...
Her heart filled with resentment. Thus, when the little boy suddenly squeezed closer, she instinctively tried to move away. But in the next instant, he grabbed her hands, which were tied behind her back.
He was undoing her ropes!
Her heart suddenly began pounding. She had no time to think about how this boy had freed himself, but as long as her hands could move, there was hope. Rather than face the worst possible outcome, she might as well take a chance!
Lightning suddenly tore across the night sky, briefly illuminating the inside of the tent. On the side nearest her, Triangle-eyed had a dagger at his waist, while the gun had been placed on the other side. Should she take the knife or the gun...? Trembling, she reached out her hand...
Her breathing quickened and her heart raced. For a moment, the pounding of her pulse and the sound of her breathing nearly drowned out the torrential rain outside. Slowly, she crouched down and reached for the dagger at Triangle-eyed's waist.
I have to get it. I have to get it. Don't miss. Don't miss...
Guided by that fleeting impression, she reached out. The brief moment felt as agonizing as a lifetime. Finally, her fingers touched the dagger's hilt. Just as she was about to pull it free, another hand suddenly pressed down on hers.
"What are you doing... mmph..."
Triangle-eyed let out a shout, but in the next instant, it was as though something had blocked his throat, and he could no longer make a sound. The hand pressing down on hers trembled as it released her. Though she had no idea what was happening, Yahan seized the chance to pull out the dagger. Then lightning flashed again, and she finally saw the scene before her clearly.
At some point, the child named Gu Jiaming had gotten hold of the short gun. The entire barrel was now stuffed into Triangle-eyed's mouth. The sight before her was so unbelievable that Yahan almost thought she was hallucinating. She hurriedly picked up the flashlight, but before she could turn it on, a shout came from the other tent.
"What happened!?"
The faint glow of a flashlight lit up outside the tent. Scarface was clearly heading this way. Yahan's thoughts raced. Just as she was about to ask Jiaming to give her the short gun, the gun suddenly went off!
Flames burst from the short gun, and the entire tent jolted. Lingjing screamed in fright. Through the curtain of rain came Scarface's sudden cry of agony. Yahan switched on the flashlight. Triangle-eyed had already lunged at her, but as he rose, he seemed to slip. His body tilted, and in his attempt to snatch the dagger, the other leg that swung over met it directly. The dagger plunged into his thigh, and an even more miserable howl rang through the tent.
Seeing him rolling and howling desperately beside her, Yahan could only retreat instinctively. Under the flashlight's beam, Jiaming, who had just fired the gun, abruptly tossed the short gun aside. Then he pulled the dagger straight out of Triangle-eyed's thigh and held it in his hand. Blood spurted everywhere. Jiaming's hands trembled as he gripped the knife, his face a picture of panic. "I-I-I... I killed someone... Don't move—"
That shout was directed at Triangle-eyed. In truth, the short gun could only fire one shot at a time. If Triangle-eyed regained his senses, steeled himself, pulled the dagger from his leg, and turned it on the three of them, Jiaming would truly have no choice but to act.
"Jiaming!" Seeing how panicked he was, still holding the knife in his hand, Lingjing hurriedly hugged him with a sob in her voice. As for Zhang Yahan, she cautiously said, "It was an accidental discharge. It's fine, Gu Jiaming, it's fine. Come on, give me the knife..."
An accident—at this point, it seemed to have ended perfectly.
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