"That's all I have."
Ye Lan looked at the boy's bruised face, which was obviously caused by him being unconscious and beaten. The other party had tried to take the pills away, and he made a move. The corners of his lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, because of his cold nature, he only uttered two words, "Enough."
That's enough.
Then Wu Heng fed her the medicine. After Ye Lan's condition improved a little, the two of them had time to observe the environment they were in.
They were in a cave, which was long and wide enough to accommodate two large trucks running side by side. The walls on both sides were filled with people sleeping, and all of them were dressed in rags, which was different from the glamorous clothes seen in other places on the mysterious island. They looked like homeless people gathered in the subway.
After a while, the boy who had left earlier came back with a bowl of water and a piece of bread in his hands.
"Here, this is your food for today. This is all we have. What is saved is my rations." His gesture of handing over the food revealed reluctance.
Ye Lan and Wu Heng both grew up in the fairy mountains and knew how precious food was, so they didn't act pretentiously or refuse. After thanking them, they took the food and shared a piece of bread and a bowl of water equally.
"Hehe, you guys are different from those rich people before. You seem to be able to endure hardships, and you are not noisy and annoying. Remember to not yell when you live here in the future, otherwise you will be punished." The young man saw their actions and felt something was new, so he squatted down to chat again.
Hearing this, Ye Lan paused while eating bread and looked over, "Has anyone been imprisoned here before like us?"
"Hey, that's a lot." The young man laughed when he heard it, pointing to the group of people nearby. "These are all of them. I heard that they were all famous wealthy people in the past."
Ye Lan subconsciously looked towards the old man next door, but he couldn't sense any aura of a superior from him, so he frowned and asked, "Then why are they locked up here?"
"Kidnapped for ransom," the young man shrugged, nonchalantly saying, "The people who live here aren't good people to begin with. They need entertainment, so some people use these caves to hide people and do all sorts of shady business. But usually, they won't release people even if they're paid a ransom. They'll wait until these people go crazy and commit suicide, then throw them into the sea to feed the fish."
The mysterious island is the Garden of Eden for internationally wanted criminals, and those who are able to obtain residency are all guilty of heinous crimes.
People whose hands are stained with donated blood will not restrain their greed, so crimes will still be committed, but the targets will be changed to guests on the mysterious island.
However, "Why not kill the hostage immediately after getting the ransom?" Ye Lan immediately noticed this loophole.
It is a huge expense to feed a group of people by wasting food every day, so why bother?
"They dare not, because there are regulations on the mysterious island. No one can be killed at will except for natural death. Moreover, the identity of the dead must be verified. If the news of the rich man's murder spreads, the management of the mysterious island will be held accountable." The boy explained the reason.
Because it was a private transaction, the management could turn a blind eye, but it was too outrageous and they could not hide the truth and could not shield these criminals.
So after getting the ransom, they imprison the hostages and torture them for several years or even more than ten years until the outside world has forgotten about them, and then slowly release them. Naturally, no one will care at that time.
This mature industry chain...
Ye Lan suddenly felt an ominous premonition, so he asked the young man in front of him, "How many years have you been here?"
The young man grinned brightly upon hearing this and said, "I was born here. I'm 23 years old now. You should be younger than me."
He called her "little sister", but she was the youngest in the cave and he was used to calling her elders, so she didn't actually look that young.
However, the other person's behavior is very childish, which sometimes makes people ignore their age.
The two chatted for a while, and suddenly someone inside called out, "Little boy, the old cripple is sick again."
The boy who was originally smiling suddenly became serious, jumped up and ran inside.
Ye Lan remembered that the other party made money by treating people, so after thinking about it, he asked Wu Heng to go over and take a look.
After a while, Wu Heng returned and briefly explained the situation inside. "There's an old man, probably over 90 years old, with all his veins broken. It's too humid here, and the monsoon will exacerbate his pain."
As soon as he finished speaking, a figure rushed out from inside. Upon closer inspection, it was Xiaoer carrying a large package and wearing clean clothes. It seemed that he was about to leave the cave.
Ye Lan signaled Wu Heng to stop him.
"What are you doing? I have something important to do right now and don't have time to chat with you." Yaoer shook off Wu Heng's arm.
Wu Heng had been using some clever force to hold him down, but he hadn't expected to be pulled free. After a moment's pause, he said, "I'll go with you."
"No, you can't leave the cave." The youngest boy refused.
Wu Heng wanted to say something else, but was stopped by several people nearby.
Since there was no grudge between them, Wu Heng couldn't take any action and could only watch the man disappear from the cave entrance.
Those people weren't fierce or vicious, but rather elderly with kind features. They took the initiative to explain, "It's not that Younger won't take you out, it's that we sheep can't go out. There are checkpoints outside, and anyone without a name card will be dealt with. We all had a hard time hiding a name card to let Younger out, but he's been missing his master, Old Crooked, so he hasn't left the mysterious island."
These people sighed as they spoke, and they thought that they might as well take their youngest away from the mysterious island to help them inform their families that they were still alive and come to the island to rescue them.
But the youngest has no power or influence, and was born in a cave and has never seen the outside world. Even if he leaves the mysterious island, he is unfamiliar with the place. Even if he finds his family, it will probably be difficult to search for the location of the mysterious island and return here.
Therefore, gradually, the hope in their hearts was wiped out, and they completely gave up. They no longer blamed their youngest son for going in and out with the brand-name card. Instead, they were moved by his filial piety, which left a trace of warmth in their desperate lives.
"Little brother, sit down. Maybe our youngest can buy some food this time, so you don't have to share the food and go hungry." An old man advised.
Wu Heng also knew that it was hopeless to chase after her, so he sat back quietly beside the girl.
Ye Lan was still very weak and spent most of her time resting with her eyes closed. She didn't talk much, but several old men and women nearby kept looking at her. It was not until Wu Heng stared at them warily that she expressed her doubts.
"Usually, a girl as beautiful as this one would be kept by those people for their own enjoyment, and would be kept as a servant at home, never to see anyone again. It's very rare that she would be sent here to fend for herself."
Therefore, this cave is mostly populated by older women, with very few young people, let alone a girl with such delicate looks.
Knowing the robbers' methods, Wu Heng frowned uncomfortably and felt disgusted, but he also understood that those people did not dare to treat Ye Lan as their own.
After all, a Grim Reaper who had cleared out a hundred floors of the Arena would have to be crazy to keep her by his side.
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