Her eyes swept across the desolate village, the dirt road in the distance that meandered and disappeared into the dense forest, and the sparse bushes nearby.
It's so quiet here, abnormally quiet.
The old men who were basking in the sun at the entrance of the village seemed to stop talking and follow them with their eyes when she and Chen Yu walked around the village.
Time passed minute by minute, and Chen Yu was immersed in the joy of collecting samples.
Ning Xiwan's uneasiness grew like a creeping vine. She pulled out her phone, but the signal was only a weak bar, intermittent.
She tried to send a location message to Duan Shuce, but the sending icon kept spinning for a long time and showed failure.
At this moment, the roar of an engine came from far away, breaking the silence of the mountains.
A mud-covered, dilapidated silver van wobbled out of the more secluded dirt road at the other end of the village and headed straight for the bottom of the cliff where they were.
The car stopped a few dozen meters away, stirring up dust that filled the cool air. The car door swung open with a bang, and three men jumped out.
The leader was a sturdy man in his forties, wearing an old jacket that was washed to a pale color. He had a forced, somewhat awkward and flattering smile on his face.
Two young men followed behind him, one was tall and thin, with a wandering look in his eyes, constantly looking around.
The other was short and stocky, with dark skin, thick lips, and a look of numb ferocity in his eyes.
Both were wearing cheap sportswear, their cuffs and trouser legs speckled with mud.
The sturdy man rubbed his hands and walked towards Ning Xiwan and Chen Yu, speaking in a thick and difficult-to-understand dialect: "You two...you two girls, are you college students from the city?"
Chen Yu was startled by the sudden appearance of people and cars, and subconsciously leaned towards Ning Xiwan, holding a rock specimen that had just been knocked off in his hand.
Ning Xiwan didn't move, but just looked at him calmly, without any panic in her eyes, only an almost indifferent scrutiny.
She clearly caught the extremely uncomfortable look that flashed across the short and sturdy man's eyes when he saw Chen Yu, as if he was evaluating a piece of merchandise.
The tall and thin man was observing his surroundings vigilantly, especially the way they came.
"We are from Liushugou in front." The sturdy man pointed in the direction the van came from, and his smile became even more "honest".
"The road is so bad, the car got stuck in a mud pit and it took us ages to get out. Seeing you two girls out here in the wilderness, I'm afraid it's not safe! This area... I heard there were wild boars a few days ago. They were really fierce!"
As he spoke, he took a few steps closer, carrying with him a strong smell of sweat and cheap tobacco.
"Thank you for the reminder. We'll leave after collecting the samples." Ning Xiwan's voice was very calm, and no emotion could be heard.
She leaned slightly to the side, completely shielding the still somewhat confused Chen Yu behind her. This subtle action carried a clear sense of protection.
"Oh, quarrying stones? College students are so knowledgeable!" The sturdy man smiled, but his eyes passed over Ning Xiwan's shoulder, fell on Chen Yu, and swept over their backpacks on the ground.
"This job is tiring, isn't it? Look how tired the girl is, her face is pale. How about... get in our car and rest your legs? Have a drink of water? We are also going back to the village, so we can give you a ride on the way. It's a long way to go!"
He pointed to the van.
"No, we have a car parked at the entrance of the village."
Ning Xiwan refused directly, her tone leaving no room for questioning.
She noticed that when the short and strong man heard "There is a car parked at the entrance of the village", his brows frowned almost imperceptibly and he exchanged a very brief glance with the sturdy man.
"The entrance to the village?" The sturdy man kept smiling, but his eyes flickered slightly.
"Oh, that's great! But... we just came from that side, why didn't we see any cars? Maybe we parked in the wrong place? There are so many forked roads in this village, it's easy for strangers to get lost."
The tentativeness and inducement in his tone instantly made Ning Xiwan's alarm bells sharpen to the extreme.
Her hands hung at her sides, her knuckles cracking slightly from the force applied.
Chen Yu finally sensed something was wrong and clutched Ning Xiwan's clothes tightly, her voice trembling: "Wanwan... shall we go?"
"Let's go?" The short and strong man who had been silent all the time suddenly grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and his voice was hoarse and unpleasant.
"You're here and you still want to leave?" He suddenly pulled out a half-meter-long wooden stick wrapped in iron sheets from his waist.
At the same time, the tall and thin man quickly pulled out a rusty but sharp-edged hatchet from the side of the van.
The two men stood on the left and the right, their eyes instantly becoming fierce and greedy, no longer concealed at all, like jackals eyeing their prey.
The "honest" smile on the sturdy man's face also disappeared, replaced by a kind of mercenary coldness and greed.
He stopped talking nonsense and gave the order directly: "Hurry up! These two delicate city girls, especially the one at the back, look so pretty and can be sold for a good price! The one in the front..."
He squinted his eyes as he looked at Ning Xiwan. He was startled by the sudden burst of icy murderous intent in her eyes, but greed overwhelmed him immediately. "This one has a fiercer look, but she looks prettier! Tie her up tightly, don't hurt her face!"
The final disguise is torn! The intention is exposed! Human traffickers!
"Ah——!" Chen Yu screamed in fright.
Just as the short and strong man grinned and swung his stick at Ning Xiwan's shoulder, the tall and thin man rushed towards Chen Yu with a knife.
Ning Xiwan moved!
Her movements were so fast that they surpassed the limits of human reaction. She didn't retreat, didn't dodge, but like an enraged cheetah, she ducked and lunged forward, facing the whistling wooden stick.
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