Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the evening, the traffickers came to toss in the food—still the same dark, hard, coarse bran buns. After they left, the children didn't rush forward to snatch them all at once. Instead, they looked at each other for a moment before turning their heads in unison to look at Shen Banyue.

As fellow kidnapped children, Shen Banyue could climb out on her own and even steal food from the traffickers. The little brats were now all quite fearful of her.

Shen Banyue remained still with her eyes closed for a long time. Only then did the children cautiously take the buns and huddle to the side.

They didn't dare to snatch all the food this time; three pieces of bun remained on the ground.

Xiao Dizi looked around, then stealthily shuffled over, picked up all three coarse bran buns, and placed them together with the leftover white-flour buns from earlier.

Shen Banyue lifted an eyelid to glance at her, curved her lips slightly, and closed her eyes again.

The little one knew to prepare for a rainy day, gathering any food she could find to stockpile.

Whether it was due to the fever or because this body was malnourished and in poor health, Shen Banyue always felt somewhat drowsy. Estimating that the traffickers wouldn't reappear for a while after delivering the buns, she simply drifted back to sleep.

When she woke again, it was completely dark outside, and the room was quiet. Xiao Dizi was curled up asleep beside her, still clutching a small piece of coarse bran bun in her hand.

The little one was probably hungry. Not having asked for permission, she didn't dare eat the leftover white-flour buns, so she broke off a piece of the coarse bran bun to eat and fell asleep while eating.

Shen Banyue tilted her head to listen for any movement outside.

When she had gone out earlier, she had observed that this courtyard was built in the mountains, surrounded by tall trees with no other residents nearby. Precisely because of this, once night fell, the traffickers became even more brazen. The sounds of their drinking and rowdy games were loud enough to be heard from two *li* away.

Since they weren't afraid of their noise carrying out, likewise, she didn't need to fear other sounds carrying out either.

The hunting hour had arrived.

Shen Banyue climbed up to the transom window with practiced ease. As she straddled the windowsill, she instinctively glanced back. Her gaze swept over the various crooked, sleeping figures and met a pair of piercingly clear eyes.

Lin Mian had woken up at some point and was propping himself up, staring fixedly at her.

Shen Banyue raised her index finger to her lips in a "shush" gesture, then turned and silently jumped down from the transom window.

—

The traffickers were still drinking in the main room.

When the conversation turned to how he started in this line of work, the bald man with sparse eyebrows and a fierce face snorted derisively and recounted casually how he had sold his neighbor's young son for twenty bucks.

"Such a small amount of money, gone in three days. Tsk, only found out later I was cheated by the middleman. But that neighbor, to thank everyone for helping search, stewed a big pot of taro. That was pretty tasty, though."

Not only had he kidnapped and sold their child, but he also ate the taro they stewed to thank the neighbors for their help, and he even took pride in it.

Bald grinned with a heh-heh laugh and added, "That was my first job in the business. Don't think I lost out; on the second job, I got my money back from that middleman and took his daughter along for the ride."

Dare to cheat him out of money? He'd sell their daughter too.

Bald wore a smug expression as he poured himself another cup of wine, downed it in one gulp, and let out a comfortable sigh.

The other two men in the room laughed.

The man with high cheekbones wiped the wine stain from the corner of his mouth and changed the subject. "Speaking of this line of work, the one I admire most is Granny Tian. She can impersonate anyone. Put on a white coat and mix into a hospital, and she looks just like a venerable old doctor. Those people willingly hand their children right over to her."

He sighed. "What a shame she's retired from the field these past few years."

"Tricking kids is nothing special. The real skill is making those young women and wives see her like their own mother. Not like Auntie Cao with her three tired tricks: asking for directions, giving candy, and snatching the kid. Damn, all she brings back are little brats."

The man with a three-inch-long scar on his left cheek spat out a thick glob of phlegm. "Damn it, how long has it been since we've seen any women?"

Bald shot him a glance and gave another oily, lewd heh-heh laugh. "We've got that nine-year-old girl this time, cost ten bucks. Let's raise her for a bit first."

Scar clearly understood his meaning and spat again. "Damn it, when it comes to being inhuman, I really can't compare to you." He didn't reject Bald's suggestion.

The three chatted idly about all sorts of things for a while longer. High Cheekbones swayed as he got up to go relieve himself. Not long after he went out, the two inside heard a "thud" from outside. Assuming High Cheekbones had drunk too much and stumbled, not only did they not go check, they even laughed gleefully for quite a while.

Who knows how much time passed, but High Cheekbones never came back. Scarface muttered, "He didn't fall into the latrine, did he?" as he got up and went out. Then he didn't return either.

Bald finally started to feel something was off. He had a good alcohol tolerance, and besides, with so much "cargo" on hand, he couldn't afford to get truly plastered.

He walked to the doorway.

There was a moon tonight, its gentle light spilling over this mountain courtyard, casting faint, shifting shadows of the scattered items in the yard.

A gust of wind blew through, rustling the trees, which only made the surroundings seem even quieter.

An inexplicable chill crept up Bald's back. He shouted toward the latrine, "Old Hu! Old Cha! Where the hell are you?!"

No one answered.

This was clearly not right.

Bald really didn't want to go out, but he couldn't just stand in the doorway waiting for dawn either. So, grabbing a stick from beside the door, he gritted his teeth and stepped out of the room.

Not far out, Bald suddenly saw a short, thin figure under the jujube tree by the courtyard gate.

Must be seeing things from drinking too much, he thought, rubbing his face and squinting for a better look. The girl's hair was a ragged mess as if chewed by a dog. On her dirty face, a pair of eyes were unusually large and bright. It was unmistakably the oldest one from this batch of "cargo."

Late night, pale moonlight, a mountain courtyard, a little girl appearing abruptly.

The scene was eerie in every way. Despite the ongoing campaigns against the "Four Olds" everywhere these past few years, the first thing Bald remembered were the ghost stories his grandmother told him as a child—wronged souls possessing bodies to seek vengeance, evil spirits digging out hearts at midnight...

He blustered angrily, "How did you get out? Damn it, believe me, I'll beat you to death!"

Before his words even finished, the little girl suddenly pushed off with her feet, launching herself at him. A fist not much bigger than a mountain walnut smashed hard into his face.

*Wham.* Bald's head snapped to the side. Before he could react, a second punch followed. Another *thump*, and the burly man was knocked to the ground like a sandbag.

—

A few minutes later, the three traffickers lay neatly sprawled on the floor of the main room like dead dogs, their hands and feet tied with hemp rope, their mouths stuffed with suspiciously colored rags of unknown origin.

Shen Banyue sat astride a long bench, her still-childish face wearing a cold, mocking expression that didn't match her age. "Weren't you going to beat me to death? Come on, beat me!"

The three corpses on the floor: "..."

*Muffled, garbled noises.*

Judging by their expressions, they were probably cursing filthily. But since it was muffled by the rags and couldn't be heard clearly, Shen Banyue let it go. She pulled the keys from Bald's waistband, picked up the kerosene lamp, and headed to the kitchen.

In the pot was the familiar stewed pork belly with vermicelli. Comfortingly, plenty of tender cabbage had been added.

Shen Banyue, who had eaten who-knows-how-many compressed biscuits and luncheon meat cans over eight years in the apocalypse, was pleased.

As usual, she fed herself first, then packed up all the remaining food and brought it back.

This time, she didn't climb through the window. She walked right in through the door. The little brats inside had all been startled awake, looking at her with terrified eyes as wide as copper bells.

Shen Banyue placed two large enamel mugs on the ground, said, "Dig in," then handed the net bag containing two lunchboxes to Lin Mian, turned around, and went out again.

At first, the children didn't dare to move. Watching Lin Mian and Xiao Dizi open the lunchboxes and eat with relish, they swallowed hard, mustered their courage, shuffled over, grabbed chopsticks, and wolfed down the food.

While eating, they kept glancing toward the open door.

These children had been beaten into submission by the traffickers. Even with the door wide open, they didn't dare to run out. Instead, they were terrified, fearing the men would appear and beat them again.

Fortunately, by the time they had licked the two enamel mugs clean, the traffickers still hadn't shown up. Only Shen Banyue returned with medicine and water for Lin Mian.

Lin Mian glanced quietly at Shen Banyue, obediently took the enamel cup, and swallowed the medicine.

The boy was exceptionally beautiful, with delicate features, a clean air about him, and, most importantly, quiet and well-behaved—completely different from the other brats.

Seeing him finish the medicine and then quietly curl up in a corner again, seemingly a bit better than before, Shen Banyue didn't pay him any more mind. She pulled Xiao Dizi close, leaned against the corner of the wall, and fell asleep.

In a world without zombies or mutated plants, even the air felt peaceful and serene. Shen Banyue slept soundly in this atmosphere. When she opened her eyes again, she felt refreshed and energetic, confident she could knock out eight zombies with one punch.

She found half a pack of walnut cookies from the traffickers' room, shared them with the kids for breakfast, then returned to the main room and pulled the gag out of Bald's mouth.

Anyone tied up, gagged, and left on the floor overnight would be furious, let alone Bald, who clearly wasn't good-tempered. As soon as the rag was removed, he immediately started cursing: "F*, let me go, you little b, I'll f... Damn it, you little brat who only knows how to ambush! If you have the guts, untie me, and I'll beat the crap out of you..."

Shen Banyue obligingly granted his request, which was buried among a string of expletives. She reached out, untied the rope binding him, and before he could react, punched him in the face.

Swoosh, blood streamed from his nose.

Bald howled in rage, scrambled up, and lunged at Shen Banyue. Shen Banyue jumped up from where she stood and kicked him. Bald flew out like a sandbag, landing heavily on the ground with a loud thud.

"Come on, beat me to death."

The girl's childish voice rang out calmly.

Bald, sprawled on the floor: "..."

Scar and High Cheekbones, also sprawled on the floor: "..."

Then at least give him a chance to hit you!

Shen Banyue looked at Bald with a puzzled expression that seemed to say, "Why aren't you getting up to beat me?"

Bald wiped his nose, stared at his blood-stained hand, and finally broke down, wailing, "I'll let you go, okay? I'll let you go!"

Shen Banyue retorted mockingly, "Who's letting who go?"

Bald choked on his words. She didn't need him to let her go. The roles of hunter and prey had reversed; clearly, it was now a question of whether she would let them go.

He had to face reality: "Then... then what do you want?"

"Take me to meet the buyer." Shen Banyue waved her small fist. "Don't try any tricks, or I'll beat you to death!"

Bald: "???"

Wait, you're not running away, not calling for help to catch us, but you want to meet the buyer?