The shorter man brought the water flask to Lin Hao’s lips: “Drink like this. If you don’t want to, forget it.”

Lin Hao lowered her eyes, staring at the spout. This was clearly the water flask the man had used.

Thinking about drinking from this flask made her stomach churn, but she still nodded: “I’ll drink.”

She didn’t know where this cave was located. If it was sufficiently hidden, it would be perfectly normal for the searchers not to find it for several days. If she wanted to escape with her sister, she had to maintain ample strength.

Fortunately, the man didn’t shove the spout into Lin Hao’s mouth but tilted it to pour water.

Lin Hao used her mouth to catch it. Some went down her throat, but more flowed onto her neck and clothing.

This wretched state caused the man’s expression to shift slightly.

Lin Hao turned her head to the side: “I’ve had enough. Thank you.”

The man picked up the cloth ball to gag her mouth again. Lin Hao hurriedly pleaded: “Please don’t gag my mouth. I’m finding it so difficult to breathe. I promise I won’t shout.”

The man hesitated, glancing at his companion.

The imposing man’s tone was cold: “No.”

The shorter man hesitated no longer and efficiently gagged Lin Hao’s mouth.

At this moment, Lin Chan woke up.

Unlike Lin Hao who had been feigning unconsciousness the whole time, Lin Chan had truly passed out. Suddenly awakening, her first reaction was to look for her sister. Seeing Lin Hao gagged and bound hand and foot, she couldn’t help but make anxious whimpering sounds.

“This one’s awake too.” The shorter man was clearly more interested in Lin Chan than Lin Hao—not with improper thoughts, but out of curiosity.

“Want water?” he asked the same question.

Lin Chan had most of her attention on Lin Hao. Seeing her give an almost imperceptible nod, she immediately nodded.

After warning her, the man removed the cloth ball stuffed in Lin Chan’s mouth and brought the water flask over.

Lin Chan’s expression changed immediately: “I… I’m not thirsty anymore…”

Truth be told, in such a short time, she really wasn’t thirsty yet.

The man held the water flask with a smile: “You’re more particular than your sister.”

Lin Chan instinctively glanced at Lin Hao and changed her response: “Please, I’ll drink a little after all.”

Suppressing her nausea, she drank enough water, then carefully asked the two men: “Are you after ransom? As long as you don’t harm me and my sister, my family will pay any amount of ransom.”

“Stop talking nonsense.” The man used the cloth ball to gag Lin Chan’s mouth. “Stay put.”

The two men returned to sit near the cave entrance to rest.

The entrance was half-blocked by rocks, with vines and wild grass hanging down outside. Through the gaps in the vines, they could observe the outside situation at any time.

Without doubt, this was an excellent hiding place.

Lin Chan looked at Lin Hao in despair, tears gathering in her eyes.

She had dragged her sister into this!

Lin Hao blinked.

Though the sisters couldn’t speak, they had perfect understanding. Lin Chan’s desperate mood was soothed.

Could Second Sister have a way to escape?

She couldn’t imagine how they could escape in their current state, but she chose to trust without reason.

Time passed bit by bit, and the light at the cave entrance quietly shifted direction.

The unchanging scenery outside made the two men feel bored, and the two young ladies bound tightly inside also put them at ease.

The shorter man let out a stifled breath: “I’ll take a nap first.”

They couldn’t chat casually, couldn’t take any small advantages—sleeping was the best way to pass the time.

Before long, snoring sounds echoed in the cave.

The imposing man frowned and slapped him awake.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t sleep. You snore.”

The shorter man nearly jumped up, his voice rising a few notches: “Impossible! I haven’t even fallen asleep yet!”

“You did. The snoring might be heard by people.”

“I didn’t even fall asleep—how could I snore?” The shorter man was unconvinced and turned to ask Lin Hao and her sister, “Did you hear me snore?”

Lin Hao and Lin Chan exchanged glances and nodded in unison.

The shorter man immediately had nothing to say.

The imposing man spoke: “I’ll sleep first. You sleep tonight.”

“What if I still snore at night?”

This was tricking him into standing watch alone until the end, wasn’t it?

“This is the mountains. At night, those people will stop searching, so snoring won’t matter.”

Hearing this, the shorter man could only nod: “Fine then, you sleep first.”

Before long, the imposing man fell asleep.

Listening to his companion’s even breathing, the shorter man grew drowsier and soon was nodding like a chicken pecking at rice.

After a while, snoring sounds once again filled the cave.

Lin Chan looked toward Lin Hao.

Lin Hao waited a bit longer, confirming the two men were asleep, then slowly turned her body. Her hands bound behind her back touched Lin Chan’s hands.

Lin Chan didn’t know what her sister intended to do but kept her expression blank.

She suddenly felt something pulling at the rope binding her hands.

Once, twice, three times…

Lin Chan looked at Lin Hao in shock.

That was clearly a hard object. Second Sister’s hands were bound like hers—how had she gotten hold of it?

Lin Hao signaled Lin Chan not to give anything away and focused on cutting the rope with the hard object.

It was a small stone shard she had hidden in her palm beforehand.

When chasing the people who had abducted her sister, she had tripped and her right hand happened to press down on this small stone shard. Without hesitation, she had hidden the tiny shard in her palm.

The delicate skin of her palm had been broken by the hard stone shard, burning painfully, but compared to the chance of escape, it was nothing worth mentioning.

After all, the stone shard wasn’t a dagger. Using it to wear through the rope wasn’t easy. After working for a while, Lin Hao’s hand grew somewhat numb, and sweat appeared on her forehead.

Lin Chan watched with heartache but could do nothing to help.

Finally, her hands suddenly loosened—the rope had broken.

Lin Chan was delighted but quickly restored her expression to calm. Her hands behind her back began untying the rope for Lin Hao.

With free hands, untying rope was much easier than slowly grinding with a small stone shard. Before long, Lin Hao’s hands were also free.

Lin Chan didn’t continue moving.

Her sister clearly had more ideas than she did. They couldn’t act rashly and lose this chance to escape.

Lin Hao looked toward the cave entrance.

Both masked men were leaning against the stone wall, still sleeping.

Determination flashed in her eyes.

To escape, they had to pass through that entrance, but the possibility of passing through that entrance without waking the two men was almost nil.

While chasing them, she had discovered these two men had excellent martial skills—she couldn’t overcome them by force.

This was also why she hadn’t desperately resisted before falling into their hands. Only this way could she stay with her sister rather than become one member of a search party looking for needles in a haystack.

She still needed to wait for an opportunity—wait for a chance when the two men separated.

Lin Hao hid the fallen rope and changed the ropes binding her and Lin Chan’s feet into slip knots. At the critical moment, with just a light pull, their legs would be free.

What followed was a long wait.

As the light changed, the cave grew increasingly dim. Finally, the imposing man opened his eyes. He immediately turned to check on the Lin sisters, then irritably kicked the shorter man: “How did you fall asleep!”

The shorter man was kicked awake, somewhat embarrassed: “I don’t know how I fell asleep either…”

He glanced inside, his tone more casual: “Anyway, they can’t escape. So… I’m going outside to relieve myself.”