That explanation was a little far-fetched, but if it wasn't true, what other explanation could there be?
Maybe they could say that since the captives were going to be traded anyway, and they'd just spent good rice and big chunks of meat feeding them, beating them up would lower their value?
That explanation made some sense, but if that were the case, they should at least have scolded them after catching them, and threatened them to set an example. That would have been the reasonable thing to do.
But they hadn't even bothered with that step.
That was rather strange.
Still, for their family, being caught after trying to escape and then treated this way was already the best possible outcome.
The only question left was whether they should try to escape again.
"Husband, should we... still try to escape?" the woman asked in a hushed voice.
The man hesitated for a long time, gazing at the pitch-black night sky with deep eyes. He couldn't see the road ahead or any hope. Darkness seemed to press down on them, suffocating and despairing.
He sighed softly and murmured, "If we get the chance, we still have to try. Dada's still young. I won't let this damn world swallow him up. I can't accept it. I just can't!"
This is bad. I have no idea what's going on.
He hadn't expected an Eighth-level big shot to be hiding in the group. By rights, an Eighth-level big shot shouldn't have shown up for such a small affair.
The middle-aged man asked in a low voice, "Dada, are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
An Eight-star Awakener wasn't something you saw everywhere. Before this person showed up, they'd even wondered whether Awakeners of that level existed at all.
"What I promised you has