Ah Xiu's fingers were still gripping the wooden shuttle, her heart pounding.
She lowered her head, pretending to focus on weaving, but a trembling voice kept escaping her mind: "Who, who are you? How can you have such abilities?"
Wang Wan didn't turn around, but simply transmitted her voice: "I come from the Fairy Islands."
Ah Xiu's eyes welled up with tears, which instantly blurred her vision.
"Is it really...is it really there?" She almost cried out, but she bit her lip tightly, suppressing her sobs. "Sister, you have to save us!"
Wang Wan remained calm and composed: "Tell me everything you know."
Ah Xiu sniffed, nodded vigorously, and spoke in a low, rapid voice.
“Every seven days, the king of the sea kingdom comes here to select people. He only takes away the most capable and skilled sisters.”
"The people who were taken away never came back..."
Her voice trailed off, until it was almost inaudible. "Everyone guesses they were sent to the bottom of the sea, but nobody knows what it's like down there, or even if they're alive..."
The flickering lights inside the grotto cast intermittent light on the girl's thin face.
Wang Wan said softly, "Don't worry, I will go and see for myself and bring everyone back."
Ah Xiu stared at her blankly, momentarily forgetting to wipe away the tears on her face.
She felt that the phrase "everyone" was like a lifeline, and she clung to it tightly, unwilling to let go.
But soon, she lowered her head again, murmuring forlornly, "But what if, what if those people are already..."
Wang Wan's tone was firm, without the slightest hesitation: "No. Since the king intends to use these weavers, he will never let them die so easily."
Ah Xiu finally nodded, no longer asking any questions. She quietly wiped the tears from her sleeve and forced herself to remain calm as she continued weaving.
It's as if doing so can give themselves and those around them a glimmer of hope.
As night fell, only a few scattered lights flickered outside the cave.
A group of women huddled in a corner, their faces showing a mixture of exhaustion and wariness.
But she still couldn't help but secretly peek at Wang Wan and the other new sisters.
Shen Yue sat against the wall, looking nonchalant, and nudged the little girl next to her with her elbow.
The little girl was so frightened that she almost tore the thread, but Shen Yue quickly helped her up: "Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad guy, I'm just strong!"
The atmosphere immediately eased a bit, and several younger girls even smiled.
Although it was a struggle, it was still much better than during the day.
Ah Xiu cleared her throat, stood up under everyone's gaze, and spoke in as steady a voice as possible.
"Don't be afraid, everyone. These ladies are experts from Fairy Island. They promised to find a way to get us out of here!"
Those previously dull and lifeless eyes suddenly lit up, and they stared intently, holding their breath as if afraid of missing a single word.
One of the bolder ones took two steps closer and whispered, "Really? Is it really possible to escape?"
Shen Yue chuckled, took out a candy from her pocket, and stuffed it into the other person's hand: "Of course it's true! But you mustn't give it away these next two days, just do your work as usual!"
All the women nodded solemnly, and the oldest one even raised three fingers to swear that she would cut off her own tongue if anyone dared to speak nonsense!
As the night deepened and everyone quieted down,
Ah Xiu secretly brought over a few of her sisters who were the fastest and most meticulous at weaving.
He had everyone bring over the best batch of mackerel yarn they had woven that day, piled it together, and then pushed it in front of Wang Wan.
"Sister Wang, these are the best fabrics we managed to rush out. Take them to hand in tomorrow. If you do a good job, they might choose you for that job..."
"That way, you might be able to find those sisters who went missing before!"
Several women holding silk scrolls huddled together. One of them, a thin little girl, suddenly knelt down with a thud, clutching the hem of her clothes tightly with both hands and sobbing.
"Please, please save my sister! Her name is Xiaohuan. She was chosen last month and we haven't heard from her since..."
Another person next to him, with red eyes, also knelt down, "And my cousin, and Cuihua, and Xing'er, none of them came back, sob sob sob..."
A low sob suddenly filled the room.
Wang Wan sighed and looked at the group of expectant girls.
"Don't be afraid. I promise you, as long as we find out everyone's location, our Mountain Goddess will never abandon anyone!"
The women around them were all curious after hearing this.
"Sister Wang, who is this Mountain Goddess you mentioned? Is she the newest immortal from our Fairy Islands who came to protect us?"
"Yes, I heard that the immortals who have recently arrived are all incredibly powerful! They've driven away a lot of evil spirits!"
"It's a pity we were captured early, and we only heard about this from the sisters who came later. Otherwise, we would definitely have tried our best to send something to the immortals!"
"These immortals have gone to great lengths to protect us; we must repay them!"
In the darkness, muttering sounds echoed one after another.
Wang Wan looked at the women and smiled: "The fact that you think this way shows that you are all good children who know how to repay kindness."
"Our Mountain Goddess is different from the immortals of Immortal Island. This matter begins with the plague demon leading many evil spirits, intending to attack the Immortal Islands..."
"The plague demon brought a brood of sons, followed by countless evil spirits..."
Wang Wan's deep voice rang out in the dim light, and the women listening to the story gasped in surprise one after another.
"Wow, the Mountain Goddess is so powerful!"
"This must be a true god!"
"I also want to worship the Mountain Goddess, but there are already many immortals in our Fairy Islands. Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"
A thin woman was muttering to herself.
"What's wrong?" Shen Yue looked over casually.
"If the immortals you're talking about are the recent transmigrators, then I'm one of them. We also worship the Mountain Goddess!"
"You don't know that many mountain god temples have been built on the Fairy Islands. Even the sea gods who fight in the sea don't dare to come and cause trouble!"
Hearing her description.
In the darkness, the eyes of a group of women grew brighter and brighter.
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