Chapter 459: There are people guarding outside. Even if we are untied, we can't escape.
Xiaohong was also tied up tightly and could only move her body with difficulty, crawling like a small animal to get closer to Qian Duoduo's wrists that were tied behind her back.
The cold tip of her nose touched her skin, and she opened her mouth and bit the rough and tough hemp rope with her teeth.
In the darkness, the only sounds that could be heard were her rapid breathing and the faint sound of her teeth rubbing against the rope.
Time passed slowly in the cold torment.
Qian Duoduo felt her bound arms go from tingling to numbness to near unconsciousness, and her body became stiff and sore from holding the awkward position for so long. "Xiaohong, you, please try harder! I feel like my hands aren't even mine anymore..." Her voice trembled with pain.
Xiaohong was breathing heavily, her teeth felt sore and painful, and she even tasted the bitterness of the hemp rope and a hint of blood in her mouth (probably because her gums were bitten).
She uttered a word with difficulty: "Almost...almost, miss, hold on a little longer..." Her voice was exhausted.
The women in the corner also held their breath, looked over here nervously, and silently cheered for Xiaohong in their hearts.
Their hands and feet were also tied, and their only hope rested on the master and servant.
I don’t know how long it took, but just when Qian Duoduo was about to despair, Xiaohong suddenly exerted force, and her teeth finally broke the key knot!
"Untied...untied!" Xiaohong collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, feeling relieved.
Qian Duoduo's hands suddenly loosened. Although they were numb and stinging, the ecstasy of regaining her freedom made her not care about anything else.
She quickly flexed her stiff fingers a few times, then fumbled quickly to untie the ropes around her ankles.
As soon as she was free, she turned around and used her still somewhat uncontrollable fingers to tremble but skillfully help Xiaohong untie the restraints on her hands and feet.
The master and servant regained their ability to move, and quickly got up and walked to the corner. With the help of the dim light, they began to untie the ropes of the other five women one by one.
When the rope of the last woman fell to the ground, the room was filled with a brief sense of relief as if they had survived a disaster, but it was quickly replaced by a deeper fear. They were still trapped in this cage.
Qian Duoduo tiptoed to the only heavy and dilapidated wooden door, squinted his eyes carefully, and peeked out through an irregular gap in the door panel.
Not far from the door, a simple fire pit was burning with leaping flames, and two men were sitting around it.
It was the man who had just dragged them! One had a face full of flesh and a hideous scar, and the other was equally burly.
The two men each held a coarse earthenware wine jar in their hands and were roasting something over the campfire. They were drinking the cheap liquor in big gulps and cursing and saying obscene words that were unbearable to the ears.
The strong smell of alcohol and meat drifted in through the crack in the door, causing the hungry Qian Duoduo to feel a stomachache.
Qian Duoduo spat in her heart: "Bah! Two damn beasts! Drinking cat urine outside in the middle of winter, I wish you would freeze to death!" She thought hatefully.
"What should we do?" A woman behind him cried in a very low voice, "There are people guarding outside. Even if we untie them, we can't escape..."
"Yeah," another woman said desperately, her voice trembling. "This damn place is in the middle of nowhere, dark and covered in snow. You won't be able to find your way out. You'll be caught before you get far... The consequences will definitely be even worse..."
Qian Duoduo was actually a little nervous. She had originally planned to wait until the two men outside passed out from drinking alcohol before thinking of a solution.
She pushed the door gently, unwilling to give up, but it didn't budge! It was locked tightly with a heavy iron chain and padlock! The extremely slight shaking and the creaking sound of the door hinges just now seemed particularly harsh in the silent night!
"Bang!" The scarred man by the fire pit slammed the wine jar to the ground, his fierce eyes shot straight at the wooden door like a poisoned knife, and he roared in a rough and vicious voice: "You little bitches in there! Behave yourself! If you dare to make any noise again, don't blame me for not being gentle with women! If I didn't think you guys are still virgins and can be sold for more money, I would have executed you right here and there!" He pretended to slap the scabbard at his waist, making a terrifying metal collision sound.
Another man drunkenly pulled him and said, "Alright, alright, brother, why are you getting angry with a bunch of caged birds? The door is locked tightly, how can they fly away? Come on, have a drink..." He tilted his head back and took another big gulp.
Inside the door, all the women, including Qian Duoduo, were frightened out of their wits by the sudden roar. They instantly retreated into the deepest shadows of the corner, huddled together tightly, not daring to even breathe.
Icy fear gripped their hearts again. The room was empty, filled with only a biting chill and a lingering smell of dust and mold.
Qian Duoduo hugged his knees, feeling hungry and cold. His stomach felt like it was burning with hunger, and his limbs were almost numb from the cold.
She couldn't help but put her cold hands under her armpits to keep them warm, but her stomach made a rumbling sound.
Grievances, fear, and intense longing surged in her heart. She whimpered softly, her voice tinged with tears: "I'm so hungry... so cold... Yueyue... if you don't come... I... I'm going to freeze to death and starve to death here... Brother Lan... Woo..."
Xiaohong was next to her, feeling her body trembling. Seeing the little confidence her young lady had forced herself to hold on to crumbling in the face of reality, she couldn't help but mutter softly, her voice full of pessimism: "Miss, it's late at night, the princess... the princess may... not even know that you are missing..." These words were like an ice-cold needle, instantly piercing the last faint bubble of hope in Qian Duoduo's heart.
Qian Duoduo felt her heart clench at the pain of Xiaohong's discouraging words. She immediately glared at her fiercely, her voice filled with suppressed anxiety and displeasure: "Shut up! How can my father sit still if a grown-up like me doesn't go home at night? He must have sent someone to the Regent's Palace to ask! Yueyue is so smart, as long as she knew that I haven't gone home so late, she would immediately guess that something happened! She...she will definitely send someone to find me!" She seemed to be trying to persuade Xiaohong, but more like she was cheering herself up.
Xiaohong shrank her neck, but the pessimism in her eyes did not disappear. Her voice was as thin as a mosquito's, full of frustration: "But Miss, even if the princess knew that something happened to you, she doesn't know that we were tied up in this desolate and desolate place. How can she find us? What if... What if no one comes, and tomorrow morning we are stuffed into a carriage and taken to an even farther and more terrifying place, what should we do then..." The more she spoke, the smaller her voice became, and in the end she almost cried. The terrible idea made her shiver all over.
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