Ye Yunniang and the others sat together, worried that the three men on night watch would rush towards them.

"Ah, don't touch me!" a woman suddenly screamed, her body retreating backward.

The others were also made to back away by her shout.

"Shut up," the man threatened, gripping his knife tightly.

"Jin Laoliu, Brother Ma said it before. Don't touch the ones who are tied up."

"You stinky monkey, stop trying to intimidate me with Brother Ma." Jin Laoliu hated the monkeys in the team the most. They were always talking about Brother Ma, it was so annoying.

Brother Ma enjoys beautiful women every day, but he can't let him have some fun too.

"You know Ma's temper," Monkey said, unconcerned about Jin Laoliu's attitude.

Jin Laoliu, seeing the fat meat that was about to be eaten but unable to, kicked the woman hard.

"You slut."

Click.

"Ah—my leg!" The woman's sharp voice pierced the night, interrupting the other five people who were engrossed in their conversation.

Brother Ma walked out of the tent with a gloomy face. "What happened?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Jin Laoliu tried to hide.

"Brother Ma, Jin Laoliu broke a woman's leg." Monkey didn't hide anything.

"You bastard! A woman with a broken leg is worthless!" Brother Ma roared, walked over to Jin Laoliu, and kicked him hard.

Jin Laoliu fell to the ground and then hugged Ma Ge's leg, saying, "Brother Ma, I was wrong. Please forgive me this time. I won't do it again."

"You want a next time?" Brother Ma kicked Jin Laoliu hard with his other leg, which wasn't being held. Then, he yelled at the woman with the broken leg who was still screaming, "Scream again, and I'll kill you."

The woman's voice stopped abruptly. Terrified, she lost her balance and fell to the right, landing right next to Wen Nuan.

Wen Nuan let out a muffled groan and couldn't help but lean closer to Ye Yunniang.

Ye Yunniang held her ground and blocked the warmth.

"Old Cao."

The man who had remained silent among the three on watchmen walked over and examined the woman's broken leg.

"His leg is broken, it can't be set properly." Old Cao's answer made Jin Laoliu kneel down with a thud.

"Brother Ma, I was wrong. I couldn't control my legs. Brother Ma, please forgive me."

Brother Ma looked at Jin Laoliu, who was kowtowing and begging for mercy, and said, "What did I say last time?"

"Brother Ma, I was wrong, I was wrong. It was my fault for being so stupid." Jin Laoliu slapped himself hard, hoping to get Brother Ma's forgiveness.

Brother Ma answered by drawing his knife, and swiftly and decisively, he sliced ​​off one of Jin Laoliu's ears.

"Next time, it won't be your ear that gets chopped off." Ma Ge's gaze swept over Jin Laoliu's neck as he spoke.

Jin Laoliu covered his ears, afraid to cry out in pain, and nodded vigorously, "I will definitely control myself."

"Watch out, don't let him die." After saying that, Brother Ma went back to his tent.

Old Cao bandaged up Jin Laoliu's wound.

"Old Cao, be gentle," Jin Laoliu muttered under his breath, his eyes fixed fiercely on the woman with the broken leg.

It was all her fault; her ear was cut off.

The woman with the broken leg was terrified and tried to hide, but the pain was excruciating with every movement. She groaned and shuffled backward.

Warmth behind her made her unable to sit still, and she fell onto Ye Yunniang.

I wanted to get up, but my hands and feet were tied and I had no strength. I twisted and turned like a worm.

"Don't move."

“I don’t want to move either. The one in front of me is moving.” Wen Nuan frowned. “Don’t move.”

"My leg is injured, please let me pass," the woman with the broken leg said matter-of-factly.

"We didn't hurt you, so why should we let you have it? If you move again, don't blame me for taking action," Wen Nuan said with a warning.

"Don't you have any compassion? My leg is broken."

"No."

Warm and straightforward answer left the woman with the broken leg speechless, causing her to cry in grievance.

"You son of a bitch, if you cry again, I'll kill you." Jin Laoliu was already irritable, and hearing the woman's sobbing only made him more furious.

The woman dared not cry, and the others dared not speak either.

After a night filled with fear and trepidation, dawn finally broke.

Ye Yunniang breathed a sigh of relief.

The ropes were untied, revealing swollen and painful hands and feet. Supporting each other, they walked behind a tree, keeping an eye out for people, and took care of their own needs.

In the early morning, the human traffickers were somewhat relaxed.

Ye Yunniang looked into the distance, pondering the possibility of escape.

"What are you thinking about?" Wen Nuan nudged Ye Yunniang's arm.

Ye Yunniang's body went limp, and she almost fell over.

Given her current condition, she would die within 10 steps of escaping.

"I'm sorry," Wen Nuan said, helping Ye Yunniang up.

"It's alright." Ye Yunniang leaned against the tree and straightened up.

Back at the camp, each person had a hard, uncooked cornbread and half a bowl of water for breakfast.

After finishing our meal, we got into the car and set off.

The carriage traveled along a narrow path, occasionally passing over a pothole, making the ride quite bumpy.

Finally, noon arrived, and the carriage stopped. The traffickers let Ye Yunniang and the others off the carriage to rest, for their own convenience.

That's it, hurry back to the carriage.

They didn't get any food at noon.

Ye Yunniang and her group could only watch the human traffickers eat meat and drink alcohol on empty stomachs.

Last night, the woman with almond-shaped eyes and peach-like cheeks sat next to Brother Ma and shared some food with him.

"Her name is Tao Hong, and she's the wife of Wan Hao, my neighbor who lives two doors down. Many people envy Wan Hao for marrying such a beautiful wife," Chunyan said, recounting Tao Hong's background.

"They have a very good relationship and always hold hands wherever they go. I used to be very envious of them and hoped that I could be like them in the future."

"How did she get abducted?"

Chunyan's smile faded.

"Brother Wanhao took a fancy to a woman in a brothel. For her, he took all the money in the house and..." Chunyan couldn't continue.

“They also sold the peach blossoms,” Chunnuan continued.

"How did you know?" Chunyan asked in surprise.

"It's obvious. Men are all unfaithful and ungrateful," Wen Nuan said dismissively.

“No, my father and my brother are both very good people,” Chunyan retorted.

"They're fine. How did you get sold?"

"I wasn't sold; I was arrested."

Chunyan recalled that day when she took the money her mother gave her to buy hair ties.

On the way, I happened to see Wanhao grabbing Taohong's hand and pulling her into a small alley.

Peach struggled and resisted, but she wasn't strong enough and was dragged inside.

Out of curiosity, Chunyan followed and saw Marriott selling peach blossoms.

He was so surprised that he made a sound, alerting the human traffickers, and was arrested.

Being caught out of curiosity was embarrassing for Chunyan, but she felt more regret for not listening to her parents.

Don't be playful, and don't run around out of curiosity.

Not wanting to admit her own foolishness, Chunyan looked at Wen Nuan and the others.

"What about you guys? Sister Wen Nuan, how did you get arrested?"

"She was sold by her stepmother and her husband."

"I went out to buy something, and then I was drugged."

"I went out to dig for wild vegetables and got tied up."

“An old woman came to my door asking for water, and I gave her some. Then, I was drugged.”

...The others recounted their experiences of being abducted.

Ye Yunniang said she didn't know.

"I don't know? How could you not know?" Chunyan asked, puzzled.

"I took a nap and woke up in the traffickers' car."

"You were also sold out by your family."

"No, my family treats me very well and would never sell me."

"What happened?"

"have no idea."

"Peach Blossom is here."