The bandits' destination was near the desolate mountains, a hundred miles away. Before they had even reached the halfway point, the group was already exhausted after a day's journey. In addition, they had not eaten, and by evening, the stomachs of the bandits and their companions were rumbling one after another.
Just then, they arrived at a relatively flat grassy area, where the twilight light shone through a clump of dark bushes, providing the group with the last bit of warmth.
"Boss, we've been walking all day, and no one can catch up with us. How about we grab a bite to eat and rest for the night?" A henchman cautiously approached the bearded leader and asked.
The bearded man glanced hesitantly at the path behind him, seemingly afraid someone might rush out, but the only response he received was the whistling of the night wind against the cliff.
"So much trouble!" the bearded man cursed, but still found a place to sit down and rest.
Seeing this, the others, fearing he might change his mind, also sat down on the grass, hurriedly taking out their dry rations and sharing them with each other.
The blindfolds covering the children's eyes had been removed, but their hands and feet were still bound. Wan Yuekui and Wan Yuechi were thrown together, while Wanwan and Xiao Qi were thrown together, with a small distance between them.
Wan Yuekui stood in front of his younger brother, watching the kidnappers wolfing down their food with vigilance.
While eating, the bearded man noticed his friends. His gaze swept over Wan Yuekui twice, and suddenly he brought a bowl of steamed buns to the Wan brothers and stuffed one of the buns into Wan Yuekui's mouth.
"Eat quickly!"
If the hostages were too weak to move due to hunger, they would be a burden to the kidnappers. The bearded man knew he couldn't let these guys starve to death.
"Mmm..."
Wan Yuekui's hands and feet were still tied, and he could not move, so he had no choice but to accept this rough feeding method.
"Have you finished eating?"
The bandit fed him a steamed bun, then reached out and pinched Wan Yuekui's chin, forcing him to open his mouth, as if carefully observing whether he had swallowed it.
After receiving a satisfactory answer, he turned his attention to the other children, asking, "Do you want to eat by yourselves or should I feed you?"
No one likes this way of feeding, Wan Yuechi frowned and said, "Eat by yourself."
"You guys know what's good for you!"
After saying that, he slammed the bowl down on the ground and turned to leave.
Wan Yuekui coughed for a while before he recovered. Looking at the porcelain bowl on the ground, he had an idea and whispered something in Wan Yuechi's ear.
When Wan Yuechi heard about his brother's plan, he thought it was feasible, so he sidled over, struggled to get the porcelain bowl with his bound hands, and then smashed it hard on the ground.
The porcelain bowl immediately shattered into several pieces.
The two brothers quickly picked out a piece that suited their hands and hurriedly started cutting the rope.
"What was that sound?" The sound of the porcelain bowl shattering alerted the bandits. "Someone go check it out."
Then came several approaching footsteps.
The two brothers were even more flustered, their foreheads were covered in a thin layer of sweat, their hands moved more frantically and with greater force, but they were still only children. Despite their efforts, they were still unable to cut the rope before the bandits arrived.
"Trying to run away?" The bearded man picked one up with each hand, and laughed mockingly as if he had seen something amusing. "So young, yet so overconfident. Where do you think you can escape to in this desolate wilderness?"
After saying that, he lifted the two children up and slammed them heavily onto the grass. The two children cried out in pain.
Wanwan was anxious, but her hands and feet were tied and she couldn't move, so she could only ask in a low voice, "Brother, are you hurt?"
Wan Yuekui groaned and replied that he was fine.
Just as Wanwan was about to ask more questions, she suddenly realized that the bearded man had left the mermaid pearl in the corner when he was punishing his brothers!
A glimmer of hope suddenly ignited in her, and she held her breath, hoping to establish some spiritual connection with the mermaid pearl.
Sensing Wanwan's call, the mermaid pearl immediately emitted a faint blue glow. At this time, the light in the sky had not completely dissipated, so this faint light was not dazzling.
Wanwan used her magic again, and the mermaid pearl instantly burst forth with power, soaring into the air and landing in Wanwan's palm.
Night fell quickly in the mountains. In no time, the sunlight faded from the sky, leaving not even a trace of sunset. The thick darkness swept across the sky in an instant, and then the moon appeared in the east, marking the official arrival of night.
The bandits, who had been on the move all day, went to sleep one after another as night fell.
When the moon was directly overhead, all the bandits were asleep, many of them snoring loudly. Wanwan's friends also fell asleep one after another due to exhaustion and tension.
The timing is perfect!
Wanwan summoned the mermaid pearl again with her mind. This time, she seemed to see a strange pattern in the pearl.
The pattern floated gently on the pearl, as if drifting on the water. It was composed of many complex lines, with undulating lines that seemed to outline layers of mountains and several villages.
The small, curved brain was not big enough to understand such a complex picture, so it tried to feel the waves behind the picture.
The water inside the mermaid pearl responded quickly to Wanwan, creating a magnificent surge within the pearl, seemingly about to break free from its confinement and burst forth.
Wanwan instantly felt the surging waves, as if she were standing on the edge of a turbulent ocean.
Inside the mermaid pearl is an inexhaustible source of water!
Wanwan could clearly feel the call of the ocean within the mermaid pearl.
A surge of joy welled up inside her, but she forced herself to calm down.
"Wanwan, what are you doing?"
The other three were light sleepers and had already woken up, with the Wan brothers staring at her with sleepy eyes.
"Wanwan has a way to escape!"
Her eyes sparkled, revealing a joy that was clearly visible in the moonlight.
"Wanwan, are you talking in your sleep?"
Wan Yuekui asked in a low voice, and even yawned.
Wanwan stopped explaining and simply used her mind to awaken the water source inside the mermaid pearl. The waves inside sensed Wanwan's call and immediately stirred up another wave.
She only extracted a portion, and the three of them were all astonished to see the water column that suddenly emerged from the bead under the moonlight.
After churning under the moonlight, the water column transformed into a water blade. Wanwan held her breath and used her mental power to direct the water blade to her brothers' side.
Wan Yuekui tensed up instantly and kept shuffling back.
With a soft "whoosh," the water blade severed Wan Yuekui's rope.
He opened his eyes with lingering fear, raised his hands which had been numb from being tied up and were suddenly released, glanced at them blankly, and then looked at Wanwan with a dazed expression.
Two more soft sounds were heard, and the rest of the people were untied.
After being untied, the three looked at each other in confusion, dumbfounded by Wanwan's actions of controlling the water and cutting the rope. They stared at each other for a long time.
I don't know whether I should ask about Wanwan's strangeness first, or discuss an escape plan.
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