She had actually fallen asleep!
Zhu Jiayu stared in disbelief, asking Lin Hao after a long moment of confusion: “A’Hao, should we untie her ropes or not?”
Lin Hao: “…” This girl was so unguarded that she didn’t dare untie her just yet—any sudden movement and their cover would be blown immediately.
“How about… we wait until she wakes up.”
Zhu Jiayu also breathed a sigh of relief: “Right, right, we’ll talk about it when she wakes.”
The cave quickly fell silent. Lin Hao and Zhu Jiayu sat back-to-back. Although they had been through an exhausting day, they remained completely unable to sleep.
That man had gone out for some unknown purpose and could return at any moment. In such circumstances, the only one who could fall asleep so readily was probably this Miss Chi.
After an unknown amount of time, wind blew into the cave entrance, and footsteps grew increasingly closer.
These footsteps were extremely faint—normally they wouldn’t be audible to someone sleeping, but Lin Hao and Zhu Jiayu were both awake. In an instant, both their bodies tensed up as they closed their eyes to feign sleep.
The footsteps stopped. Though Lin Hao had her eyes closed, she could feel an icy gaze falling upon her face.
At this moment, she couldn’t help but envy Chi Caiyun, who was sleeping so soundly.
Suddenly a shout rang out: “Don’t kill me, my family will pay twenty thousand!”
Lin Hao clearly felt Zhu Jiayu’s entire body tremble against her back, and she herself nearly opened her eyes.
Could it be the man was going to harm Chi Caiyun?
This thought simultaneously arose in both Lin Hao and Zhu Jiayu’s minds, when they heard even longer, more drawn-out breathing sounds.
The two of them: “…”
The footsteps sounded again, gradually growing distant.
A momentary rush of cold wind surged in and then dissipated—the man had gone back out.
The cave was so quiet that the breathing sounds became increasingly distinct, drilling straight into their ears.
After a long while, Zhu Jiayu said softly: “A’Hao, I think I’m getting sleepy too.”
This long, leisurely breathing sound was practically a lullaby!
Lin Hao let out an imperceptible sigh: “Then sleep.”
As the man left and their taut nerves relaxed, she too was reaching her limit. Better to sleep and conserve their strength.
In a flash, the cave returned to silence. The light gradually changed as day slowly broke.
Lin Hao was the first to wake. With her slight movement, Zhu Jiayu jolted awake with a start.
Seeing the situation in the cave, Zhu Jiayu breathed a sigh of relief: “That scared me to death, I thought that man had come back in!”
She relaxed and looked toward Chi Caiyun, staring in disbelief: “She’s still sleeping!”
After calling out several times, Chi Caiyun finally woke up leisurely.
Still somewhat dazed, the young lady’s first reaction was to jump up, only to be reminded of her current situation when the rope cut painfully into her.
“You really can sleep.” Zhu Jiayu said coolly, not knowing whether to admire or be speechless.
Chi Caiyun glanced at the cave entrance, her lowered voice carrying excitement: “Did you untie them?”
Seeing Lin Hao nod, she first felt joy, but then her expression changed slightly: “Why didn’t you untie mine?”
Zhu Jiayu looked at her sideways: “When we were about to untie you, you fell asleep. Good thing we didn’t—the way you just tried to jump up, if we’d untied you, you would have summoned that villain immediately.”
Chi Caiyun’s face flushed red, but she refused to back down: “What’s wrong with sleeping? I was conserving my energy.”
“You even talked in your sleep when the villain came in!” Zhu Jiayu rolled her eyes. “What, you think the ransom is too low and volunteered to increase it?”
The light at the cave entrance suddenly brightened as the man walked in step by step.
Zhu Jiayu and Chi Caiyun immediately shut their mouths. Lin Hao could clearly feel Zhu Jiayu’s body tense up.
She was nervous too.
Now that the light in the cave was good, if the man noticed anything unusual, they would have no choice but to fight to the death.
The man didn’t speak. He seemed completely unconcerned about the tense atmosphere his appearance had created, leaning against the cave wall and pulling out a flatbread to eat.
Though it looked hard as a rock, the flatbread stirred up all three women’s appetites.
Chi Caiyun licked her cracked lips and mustered the courage to ask: “Um… could you give me something to eat?”
The man glanced at her and continued silently gnawing on his flatbread.
As the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Chi Caiyun had never suffered the slightest hardship. Unable to obtain any flatbread, she bit her lip and persisted: “Then could I at least have some water to drink?”
This time the man didn’t even spare her a glance. He finished eating the flatbread and walked out.
“Did he go to fetch water for us?” Chi Caiyun asked hesitantly.
Though it didn’t seem likely, one had to think positively.
Zhu Jiayu sneered: “Does that man look like he went to fetch water for us?”
“That man has already washed up.” Lin Hao suddenly spoke, abandoning any remaining hope in her heart. “He never intended to provide us with food or water. We might be able to endure three days without food, but we cannot go without water.”
Zhu Jiayu’s face turned snow-white: “So he really never planned to let us return alive?”
Upon hearing this, tears fell from Chi Caiyun’s eyes: “I… I don’t want to die… When I left home yesterday, my mother said she bought a huge pair of lobsters from the seafood shop, waiting for me to come home so we could steam them, they were so big…”
Unable to use her hands to gesture the length, the young lady’s tears fell even harder: “If I die, all my father’s money will just benefit someone else… wuuwuu, when I was kidnapped yesterday I only worried it would be embarrassing if word got out, who knew it would cost me my life…”
Got out?
A flash of inspiration struck like lightning cutting through fog, stirring something in Lin Hao’s heart.
When she first sensed the man’s murderous intent, her instinct told her it was related to her suspicion that Doctor Gu might very well be Mister Fox. Later, when Zhu Jiayu was kidnapped here, that suspicion had unconsciously faded. Then when Chi Caiyun was abducted, she was somewhat confused by the man’s actions, even neglecting her initial suspicion.
That was exactly the perpetrator’s goal, wasn’t it?
Kidnapping three young ladies from wealthy families in succession, demanding ransom while planning to silence them—when this matter spread and caused a huge uproar, who would still connect her abduction with that medical clinic?
After all, Zhu Jiayu and Chi Caiyun had both encountered kidnapping in different locations.
The perpetrator’s purpose was to provide cover for that medical clinic and protect Mister Fox’s public identity!
Once this conjecture arose, the man’s puzzling actions all seemed to make sense, and it made Lin Hao certain he would never let them return alive.
In that case, today was the best chance for escape.
“A’Hao, do you think that man is outside guarding us, or has he gone to kidnap someone else?”
“With the three of us being kidnapped, word should spread today. Everyone in the city will surely be on high alert, so it’s unlikely he’d take such a risk again. However, to smoothly escape after obtaining the ransom, he should use these two days to familiarize himself with the terrain and make arrangements. It’s unlikely he’ll guard us constantly.”
Not giving up on the ransom would make the world believe this was just a desperately poor, vicious kidnapper after money.
Lin Hao looked at Chi Caiyun: “Miss Chi, I’m going to untie your ropes now. Let’s escape.”
She thought she’d have to spend some effort convincing Chi Caiyun to abandon the naive notion that the villain would release them after receiving the ransom, but unexpectedly Chi Caiyun nodded eagerly.
The three women discarded their ropes and tiptoed toward the cave entrance.
Lin Hao walked in front, carefully observing for a long time before steeling her heart and walking out.
Taking this gamble, they still had a chance at survival. Not gambling meant they could only wait for death.