“You two are insane! Why did you kidnap her?”
“This woman got us wanted throughout the city. I can’t swallow this anger.”
“How are we supposed to escape with her in tow?”
“Who said anything about bringing her along? Once I’ve had my fill of tormenting her, I’ll dump her somewhere…”
After an unknown length of time, Jiang Suihuan was awakened by the conversation between two people. She found herself bound tightly with rope, unable to move. Slowly opening her eyes to survey her surroundings, she saw Ying Tao tied up beside her, head bowed, uncertain whether dead or alive.
The lighting was extremely dim here. Behind her was a solid stone wall, and above, water droplets dripped one by one from the rocky surface. She guessed this must be a cave.
Two men stood with their backs to her at the cave entrance. The one on the left was bald, tall and burly, while the other was the little boy who had deceived Jiang Suihuan into coming here.
The little boy stood with his hands behind his back, his posture somewhat precociously mature, shoulders slightly hunched.
Being highly knowledgeable about human physiology, Jiang Suihuan immediately recognized this wasn’t a child – this was a dwarf!
Though her arms and legs were immobilized, her hands remained free. Unseen behind her back, her hands slowly opened, revealing a pair of scissors and two doses of anesthetic.
Holding the anesthetic in her left hand, she used the scissors in her right to quietly cut through most of the rope, leaving no visible evidence.
After completing this, she closed her eyes and pretended to still be unconscious.
The bald man and the dwarf seemed to have a disagreement. The bald man stormed out of the cave angrily, leaving only the dwarf who grumbled as he approached Jiang Suihuan.
“Pah! Some Houfu young lady she is! Sleeping for a whole day without waking up, just like a pig!”
The dwarf kicked Jiang Suihuan lightly with his foot. “Hey, wake up!”
In that critical moment, Jiang Suihuan swiftly broke through the weakened rope. With the anesthetic in her left hand, she forcefully injected it into the dwarf’s foot.
Completely unprepared for this move, the dwarf staggered back a few steps, eyes wide as he demanded, “When did you wake up? And what did you inject into my foot?”
“Anesthetic.” Jiang Suihuan smiled faintly. “This is called giving someone a taste of their own medicine.”
The dwarf’s eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.
Jiang Suihuan hurried to Ying Tao’s side, untying the ropes and checking her condition.
Fortunately, she had only fainted. Jiang Suihuan took a medicine bottle from her laboratory and waved it under Ying Tao’s nose.
Ying Tao gradually regained consciousness. Upon seeing Jiang Suihuan, she immediately became alert and asked urgently, “Are you alright, Miss?”
“I’m fine.” Jiang Suihuan made a “shush” gesture. “Keep your voice down. Don’t let anyone hear us.”
“Oh, right.” Ying Tao lowered her voice, a sob catching in her throat. “You scared me to death. I thought I’d never see you again.”
Jiang Suihuan comforted her, “Don’t worry, I’m perfectly fine.”
After speaking, she handed Ying Tao a length of rope. “Tie up this dwarf’s feet. I’ll bind his hands.”
“Dwarf? Isn’t this a little boy?” Ying Tao covered her mouth in surprise.
Jiang Suihuan curled her lip. “We’ve been deceived. An ordinary child couldn’t have knocked you out so easily. This is a dwarf pretending to be a child. From what he said earlier, it seems he has some grudge against us.”
As she spoke, she deftly tied the rope. “He has accomplices. Let’s take him away from here first, then interrogate him slowly.”
The two of them dragged the Dwarf on the ground to the cave entrance. Jiang Suihuan carefully observed the outside, only stepping out after confirming it was safe.
This was a cave deep in the mountains, surrounded by towering ancient trees that made it impossible to determine their direction.
The Dwarf’s accomplices were surely nearby. Not daring to stay too long, Jiang Suihuan randomly pointed in a direction, and the two of them dragged the Dwarf toward it.
After walking for about half an hour, their stamina gradually waned. Jiang Suihuan leaned against a large tree and sat down. “Let’s stop here. We’ll stay here for the night.”
Ying Tao, who had never been to such a place before, felt uneasy and sat down closely beside Jiang Suihuan. “Miss, could there be wild beasts here?”
“In such deep, old forests, wild beasts are inevitable. Go gather some firewood nearby. I’ll start a fire—that will keep the beasts away.”
Jiang Suihuan had once learned wilderness survival skills and knew how to survive in the wild, so she remained remarkably calm.
“Our miss is truly capable of anything,” Ying Tao chirped as she scurried off to gather firewood.
The area was rarely visited, and the ground was littered with dry branches. Ying Tao soon returned with a large bundle of kindling.
Jiang Suihuan used a friction fire-starting method to ignite the dry branches.
Watching the flames dance before her, Jiang Suihuan’s stomach growled loudly. From yesterday until now, almost a day and a half had passed without a single grain of rice, and her belly was already empty and aching with hunger.
Ying Tao was in the same state, rubbing her stomach and sighing, “Ah, if only we had a pheasant. Pluck the feathers, remove the guts, roast it over the fire until it sizzles and glistens with oil—it would surely be delicious.”
Jiang Suihuan grew increasingly hungry at her words and was about to search nearby for wild game like pheasants when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the Dwarf’s eyelids twitching incessantly.
Strange. She had injected an entire dose of anesthetic into the Dwarf. By all logic, he shouldn’t wake for two days. How was he regaining consciousness after just half an hour?
Jiang Suihuan’s eyes shifted thoughtfully. She signaled to Ying Tao and declared loudly, “Though we don’t have pheasant, we have something else to eat—guaranteed to be even more delicious!”
“What is it?” Ying Tao asked playfully.
“It’s this little child on the ground. Look how thin his skin and tender his flesh are—he must be very tasty.”
The Dwarf could no longer keep up the act. He tried to sneak away like a caterpillar but was pinned under Jiang Suihuan’s foot. She brandished a scalpel and grinned ominously. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Don’t eat me! I’m over sixty years old—I’m not tasty at all!” the Dwarf roared, terrified by encountering someone even crazier than himself. His pants soon grew damp with fear.
Jiang Suihuan covered her nose in disgust. “How repulsive. If you make another sound, I’ll sew your mouth shut.”
The Dwarf immediately fell silent, staring at Jiang Suihuan in terror.
He had schemed to kidnap Jiang Suihuan, intending to torment her thoroughly. Never did he imagine he would be the one suffering now, filling him with deep regret.
Jiang Suihuan twirled the scalpel in her hand and spoke unhurriedly, “If I’m not mistaken, you’re the poison master Li Fuqing mentioned, aren’t you?”
“Was it you who made the poisonous wooden stool that killed three generations of Li Xueming’s family?”
The Dwarf exclaimed in astonishment, “How did you know?”
“Maintaining such a youthful appearance at over sixty years old and having a resistance to anesthetics—if I couldn’t figure it out, I’d be a fool.”
Jiang Suihuan sneered, “The Emperor has ordered a city-wide manhunt for you. Instead of fleeing, you kidnapped me—it’s like walking right into a trap.”
“Tomorrow, you’ll be handed over to the authorities, and your accomplices won’t escape either!”
Ying Tao chimed in from the side, “Exactly! People with wicked hearts like yours will never come to a good end!”
The Dwarf, terrified and pale, quickly kowtowed to the ground. “I was wrong, I was wrong! Please show mercy and forgive me. I promise I won’t dare do it again!”
Seeing Jiang Suihuan unmoved, a glint of cunning flashed in his eyes, and he hurriedly cried out, “I have something valuable here. If you let me go, I’ll give it to you!”