The two thugs guarding them knew that they were already on edge.
Upon seeing Zhou Qiqi's awkward posture while lying on the ground, they immediately became alarmed.
Without a word, he rushed forward, roughly dragged Zhou Qiqi up from the ground, twisted her arm tightly, and questioned her:
"Damn it! What were you doing sneakily down there?!"
One of the bandits shouted angrily, his eyes fixed on Zhou Qiqi's hands, which were tied behind her back.
Another thug nervously approached, reaching out to pry open her clenched fist, and said sternly:
"What are you hiding in your hand? Are you trying to do something bad? Hand it over!"
Zhou Qiqi gritted her teeth and let them roughly pry her fingers apart.
When the palm is opened, there are no daggers, blades, or other weapons inside, only two small orange plastic buttons.
"Damn it!"
The first thug to notice something was wrong breathed a sigh of relief, then grumbled and snatched the button away.
His face was full of disgust and confusion as he cursed:
"You scared the hell out of me! I thought you were hiding something! What are you doing clutching those two flimsy buttons? Are you crazy?!"
He casually tossed the two buttons onto the ground like trash.
The mine has an uneven terrain, and water seeps from a crevice in the rock, forming a small stream.
The two small buttons rolled a few times on the ground, fell into the water, slid out of the cave, and flowed into the mountain stream outside.
Zhou Qiqi's gaze followed the two missing buttons, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.
Far from panicking, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, she already knew on the way into the cave that she could no longer openly drop buttons along the way while blindfolded.
But taking advantage of her last struggle, she secretly grabbed a handful of buttons from her handbag and held them tightly in her hand.
On the way up the mountain after that, even though someone was watching her from behind, she restrained herself and didn't dare to make any rash moves.
After being thrown into the mine, she was surrounded by darkness and unsure if there were any eyes watching her from the shadows, so she remained still.
Until Brother Long and Xu Zao appeared, she pretended to argue fiercely with Xu Zao, partly to divert Brother Long's attention and dispel any other thoughts he might have.
On the other hand, it was also to take the opportunity to quickly observe the environment inside the cave and look for possible opportunities to transmit information.
When Xu Zao slapped her, she knew her chance had come!
She wasn't actually that delicate; she was slapped so far away with just one slap.
He simply pretended to be dizzy from the beating and staggered backward.
He looked quite disheveled, but actually took the opportunity to fall towards the direction of the water flow.
Just as the group of thugs burst into laughter, their attention was diverted.
She risked her life and quietly tossed the few buttons she was clutching in her hand to the edge of the stream, hoping they would drift away and flow into the mountain ravine outside.
In this way, Shen Huaichuan might be able to find her by following the clues.
At that time, she did not know that Shen Huaichuan had already located this mountain area by following the clues she had left behind.
She relied solely on her unwavering trust in Shen Huaichuan from the depths of her heart to leave behind every possible trace.
Unexpectedly, the good news came so quickly!
Shen Huaichuan actually found us, and so quickly!
This shows that everything she did was not in vain; he understood her thoughts and read her distress signal.
With this solid hope and confidence in her heart, Zhou Qiqi calmed down completely.
She stopped struggling in vain, and silently sat down against the cold stone wall, trying to regulate her breathing and conserve her remaining strength, waiting for the moment she would see the light of day again.
Compared to Zhou Qiqi, who had calmed down just a wall away, Xu Zao, who was dragged to another corner of the cave, was in a completely different situation.
She was so terrified that she was shaking like a leaf.
The skinny monkey roughly pressed her against a protruding rock, threw her a crumpled set of paper and pen that he'd somehow found, and growled menacingly:
"What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and write!"
Xu Zao's mind went blank, and she asked tremblingly, "Write...write what?"
"Nonsense! It's a ransom note! Write it exactly as Brother Long just said!"
The skinny monkey was extremely impatient. The situation was urgent, and this woman was still dawdling.
His mind was filled with vulgar and obscene thoughts again, and he had already torn off Xu Zao's red woolen coat during the struggle.
Looking at her thin sweater, his eyes grew increasingly malicious.
Using the force of the shove, he roughly tore off most of Xu Zao's sweater collar and roughly squeezed her body.
The cold air stung her exposed skin. Xu Zao felt ashamed and afraid, utterly embarrassed, yet dared not resist. She could only look at Brother Long not far away with tears in her eyes, as if seeking help.
She still harbored a sliver of hope, thinking that she looked like his deceased lover. He had treated her fairly well before and even promised to help her kidnap Zhou Qiqi to "avenge" her. Shouldn't there be some affection between them?
However, Brother Long merely glared at her coldly, his eyes showing no pity, only disgust and urging:
"What are you looking at? If you can write, then fucking start writing! If you dawdle any longer, I'll shoot you!"
To him, Xu Zao was nothing more than a temporary plaything to amuse himself. Now that he was tired of her and she had caused such a big problem, he was already being merciful by not killing her on the spot.
The most important thing right now is to get the money and find a way out; I don't have time to care about her life or death.
Brother Long's words were like a bucket of ice water, completely extinguishing Xu Zao's last bit of hope.
She was utterly desperate, overwhelmed with immense regret, and felt mortified!
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