Upon arriving at the cave entrance, one of the guards handed over the token.
The guards at the cave entrance checked the token, found it was fine, and then glanced at the other guards with some doubt in their eyes.
"The child was just brought here yesterday, why are you bringing another one today?"
“Isn’t it good to have more children? Didn’t they keep urging us to send them away?” a guard said.
“That’s true, it’s better to send more and keep them around so we can feel more at ease. Hey guys, you look unfamiliar? Are you new here?” the cave guard asked.
"The city's been cracking down on spies lately, so we're short-handed. This is the first time we've been assigned to deliver children. These kids are gagged and keep crying the whole way; it's so annoying. And it's a long way. If we hadn't been assigned here, who would want to do this lousy job?" the guard complained.
“Who says otherwise? You guys are lucky, you only come every few days. We have to stay here every day, and there are so many mosquitoes in the mountains. We don’t know when we can go back. Hurry up and go inside. We need to get back to the city after we finish this, it will be dark by then.”
"That's right, let someone else do it next time," the guard complained, waving his hand. "Hurry up and send them in, we should go back soon too."
Several guards led seven children into the cave. The gatekeeper did not notice that two of the children, who were looking down, had heterochromatic eyes.
That's right, this group of people is Xiao Yanchu, Su Ruojin, Hu Qing, and the bodyguards.
Of these seven children, besides Yuan Hong and Da Pu, the others were the same children they had rescued and settled in the suburbs.
Because I was delayed picking up these children, I only arrived at this hour.
The children were very willing to cooperate when they heard that they were going to help catch bad guys.
Upon entering the cave, one sees more than twenty guards standing watch inside.
Su Ruojin had previously wondered if there might be some alchemy furnaces in this cave, where people might use children to refine elixirs, like the Taoist Master Tianyi.
She had previously looked through the books on Gu techniques that she had brought out from the Star Gu Pavilion, and they recorded that the refining of some Gu worms did indeed require special pills.
But when she saw what was inside the cave, she was still shocked. Everything inside was completely beyond Su Ruojin's expectations.
There was no alchemy furnace in the cave, but in the very center there was a huge square iron cage containing seven or eight children of varying ages, dressed in rags.
To Su Ruojin's shock, these children all had bloodshot eyes, baring their teeth like wild beasts, and staring fiercely at the other children in the iron cage.
He would roar whenever he saw an opportunity, and would go up to tear at and bite other children, using any means necessary.
These children have lost all semblance of normal human reason; all that remains is the instinct of wild beasts.
Every child was covered in wounds, their clothes stained with blood, yet no one seemed to feel any pain.
One of the boys, about twelve or thirteen years old, had two children, about four or five years old, clinging to him and biting his arms and legs with all their might.
Blood flowed from the corners of the children's mouths, and with their bright red eyes, these were no longer children, but wild beasts!
The air was filled with the smell of blood, perhaps from the blood on these children.
The others were also momentarily stunned by what they saw. If the five children hadn't had something stuffed in their mouths, they probably would have screamed.
Seeing this, Hu Qing and the others quickly and quietly pulled the children aside and gently patted their backs. The children gradually calmed down, but their little faces were still filled with fear.
Not far from the iron cage, there was a rope hanging in the air, with a round stone table below it. The tabletop appeared to be dyed black.
Around the stone table, there are many red and black stains, which look like marks left by dripping or dried blood.
Su Ruojin didn't understand what this thing was used for at first.
At this moment, the twelve or thirteen-year-old boy in the cage ripped the child hanging from his upper body off and slammed him to the ground. Then he raised his foot and stomped on the child's head.
One kick, two kicks, three kicks...
The child initially tried to move and struggle, but later he coughed up more and more bloody foam until he finally stopped moving altogether.
Upon seeing the child die, the other children in the cage were not afraid at all; instead, they all showed excitement and rushed up to tear the child apart.
Upon seeing this, the guards outside the cage immediately opened it, used their spears to drive away the other children, and dragged out the child who had been trampled to death.
Next, Su Ruojin finally understood the purpose of the hanging rope.
Seeing the scene before her, she clenched her fists tightly.
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