Shen Jiao got half of the sleeping potion as she wished.

As for why it was only half a pill, the man in black had been doing bad things for over a decade or two, and this was the first time he had seen a hostage so willing to take drugs. He had to be cautious, right?

They wanted to see what tricks this young lady was up to!

Without water, Chen Jiao swallowed the medicine in one gulp, closed her eyes, and began to catch up on her sleep.

These past few days have been spent either on the road or on a frantic journey, day and night, without stopping. My body is really starting to give out.

Who knows what kind of monster the client will be? Conserving energy and recharging is the most important thing.

I've been applying medicine to the sword wound on my leg for the past two days. Although the medicine isn't as effective as the little miracle doctor's secret medicine, thank goodness it hasn't become infected.

Recovery is only a matter of time.

The drug the vendor administered probably had a time limit, because she hasn't been experiencing severe dizziness for the past few days.

The drug took effect quickly, and Shen Jiao hugged her pitiful and weak self and fell into a deep sleep.

Several men in black stared intently at Shen Jiao, trying to detect her subtle movements with their sharpest, most intelligent, and most astute eyes.

But after waiting for a long time, they realized that there was no movement at all; the young lady was really asleep!

Seriously? Did they arrest the wrong person?

How can you sleep in such a crisis-ridden situation?

The man in black was very puzzled.

The other girls who were kidnapped cried their hearts out, their tears falling like raindrops.

She was so frightened that she trembled with fear, her face turned pale, and she couldn't sleep at all.

On the other hand, this person not only can sleep, but seems to be sleeping quite soundly. If you listen carefully, you can even hear... soft snoring?

Man in black: "..."

We're still working overtime because of you, but you're sleeping soundly.

If I had known this dancer was so honest and virtuous, I wouldn't have given her the sleeping potion!

The man in black didn't discover Shen Jiao's ulterior motives, but he did discover another strange and outrageous thing—

This dancer looks very poor!

He didn't even have a single decent accessory on his entire body!

Wasn't this dancer supposed to be a favorite of the tyrant?

They wouldn't even give me a hairpin or a pair of earrings as a reward?

Is this what you call pampering?

Isn't this abuse?

However, they remembered that Shen Jiao had been kidnapped twice before, and that group of people must have stolen her valuable jewelry.

No one expected that Shen Jiao would use the jewelry to mark it.

...

Shen Jiao slept very soundly, perhaps so soundly, that she didn't feel much of the slight bump on her elbow and arm.

Seeing that she was awake, the man in black casually stuffed two slightly hardened steamed buns into her hands.

Shen Jiao: "..."

Are there any dogs around? It feels like if you threw a steamed bun out there, it would kill a dog.

To be honest, although she wasn't born into a wealthy family in her previous life, she was still well-off.

It's not to the point where we have to eat stale steamed buns and drink ice-cold boiled water every meal.

After transmigrating, I encountered a tyrant. Although he was short-tempered, had an outrageous personality, many quirks, and was quite troublesome, he provided the best food and drink for a national leader.

It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Once you get used to a life of wealth, this steamed bun is really hard to swallow.

Shen Jiao's cheeks ached from biting so hard, and she found the two steamed buns even more unpalatable.

She slowly raised her hand again.

"Hmm?" The man in black was cautious, drew his sword and snorted angrily.

Shen Jiao pleaded, "Brothers, please don't get agitated. I'm not trying to rebel this time. I just want to ask, since I've behaved so well, without crying, making a fuss, or shouting, shouldn't I be rewarded with some meat?"

This steamed bun is really hard; it's so hard to chew that she almost had to use her teeth to bite it.

"No!" the man in black said viciously. "A hostage wants to eat meat? We only have steamed buns. Take it or leave it."

Shen Jiao had excellent eyesight. She noticed some crumbs of steamed bun on the collar of the man in black and suddenly understood what was going on.

Such a heartless refusal does not necessarily mean that the hostages are to be abused.

Rather, the client wasn't very wealthy, and the employees had low wages and no meal allowances, so they had to share steamed buns with her.

There wasn't even any pickled vegetables.

Shen Jiao sighed and continued gnawing on the chewing bun.

After what seemed like an eternity, through her persistent and encouraging efforts, she finally finished eating the two steamed buns.

Shen Jiao gulped down a large pot of water and rubbed her sore lips.

The man in black handed her two more steamed buns.

Shen Jiao looked at him with a puzzled expression.

The man in black said rudely, "What are you looking at? It's time for dinner."

Shen Jiao, whose cheeks were cramping from the soreness, was speechless.

She barely managed to finish lunch, and now she's being asked to eat dinner?

When they arrived at the client's location, her masseter muscles were so underdeveloped that she looked like a hamster.

The makeshift carriage traveled non-stop, wearing out several horses in the process.

Once outside of southern Xinjiang, they encountered another group of men in black who had been waiting for a long time. The small group suddenly grew larger, and Shen Jiao was moved to another carriage with a slightly larger space.

This time, the men in black were all on horseback, leaving her alone in the carriage.

The carriage was spacious, but still rudimentary, which further convinced Shen Jiao that the client who had taken her hostage was truly poor.

This is nothing compared to Ji Yan, that extravagant, wasteful, and inhumanly wealthy tyrant who even insisted on using snowmelt from the early spring of a thousand-year-old iceberg for drinking water.

The main force traveled north, taking strange and unusual routes, spending their days traversing the mountains and forests, and never appearing near the official roads.

Whenever Shen Jiao lifted the curtain to let in some fresh air, she would be met with a barrage of vicious curses from the men in black.

She listlessly pulled her head back and began to wonder who had taken her hostage to negotiate with the tyrant.

Generally speaking, shameless but effective methods like taking hostages are used to deal with people who value relationships and loyalty.

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