“Ah, Ah Hao!” Compared to Lin Hao whose mouth was stuffed with a wadded cloth, Zhu Jiayu still had the freedom to speak. In her shock, she stammered out Lin Hao’s name.

Lin Hao instinctively looked at the man.

The man’s movements paused. His cold gaze swept over the two of them, and he tied Zhu Jiayu back-to-back with Lin Hao.

“Just who are you? Why did you kidnap Ah Hao and me to this place?” Zhu Jiayu asked through her tears.

“Do you want your mouth stuffed too?” the man asked expressionlessly. The way he looked at Zhu Jiayu wasn’t like looking at a young maiden in her prime—it was as if he were looking at a rock, a wild weed.

Zhu Jiayu was frightened by those extremely cold eyes and didn’t dare make another sound.

The cave fell quiet for a time. Faintly, they could hear mountain winds howling and wild beasts roaring.

In such deep mountains, once night fell, even if one could escape, it would still be a dead end.

Lin Hao began coughing. Because her mouth was blocked, she couldn’t cough properly. The cough was stifled in her throat as if she might suffocate at any moment.

Zhu Jiayu momentarily forgot her fear. With her back to Lin Hao, unable to see her clearly, she asked urgently: “Ah Hao, what’s wrong?”

What answered her was muffled coughing that sounded increasingly distressing.

Zhu Jiayu grew extremely anxious and could only plead with the man for help: “Please take out the wadded cloth. We promise we won’t cry out or shout. Besides, this place is so remote—even if we shouted ourselves hoarse, no one could hear us…”

Whether it was Zhu Jiayu’s pleading that worked, or Lin Hao’s muffled coughing that tormented the man’s ears, he walked over without a word and removed the cloth wadded in Lin Hao’s mouth.

With her mouth freed, Lin Hao took great gulps of air, and her coughing stopped.

“Water—” She looked at the man, her bloodless lips trembling.

The man glanced at Lin Hao and walked out.

The instant the vines were pushed aside, the light in the cave brightened, then quickly returned to dimness.

Lin Hao listened intently. The faint sound of footsteps soon disappeared.

“Ah Hao, why are you here?” Without the terrifying man present, Zhu Jiayu couldn’t wait to ask.

“I went to visit my cousin. This person was hiding in my carriage and kidnapped me here…” Lin Hao explained the situation concisely, then asked Zhu Jiayu, “What about you, Ayu?”

“My situation is similar to yours. I was kidnapped when I got in the carriage to go home after browsing a clothing shop.”

Lin Hao questioned her carefully. Zhu Jiayu had been kidnapped about an hour after the man had left this place.

“Ah Hao, why did he kidnap us? Has he been watching us all along?”

Lin Hao stared at the cave entrance and shook her head slightly: “I rather think it’s coincidence.”

“Coincidence?”

“When you called out my name, that person was startled for a moment, which shows he wasn’t mentally prepared for us to know each other. Besides, neither my visit to my cousin nor your trip to browse the clothing shop was planned in advance. He’s not a deity—how could he kidnap two targets he’d been watching in such a short time?”

Zhu Jiayu blinked, suddenly understanding: “You mean it’s purely our bad luck—this person specifically targets wealthy young ladies, and we just happened to run into him?”

Lin Hao fell silent for a moment.

In her view, Zhu Jiayu might indeed have had bad luck, but for herself, that wasn’t necessarily the case.

Not wanting Zhu Jiayu to let down her guard, she reminded her softly: “Ayu, I don’t think this person is after money.”

Zhu Jiayu was stunned: “Not after money? Then what else could it be? He said to have my family bring ransom money to the ruined temple in the mountains in three days.”

Because of this, though she was afraid, deep down she wasn’t completely in despair.

“It’s just a feeling. This person gives me the feeling he could snap someone’s neck at any moment.” Unable to let Zhu Jiayu know about her speculation regarding the clinic doctor, Lin Hao could only attribute it to intuition.

Zhu Jiayu immediately believed her.

In her heart, Lin Hao, who had resolved such a troublesome marriage for a good friend, was reliable and wouldn’t exaggerate for effect.

This made her even more frightened.

“Ah Hao… when that person comes back with water, will he… will he harm us?”

“It’s hard to say at the moment. In any case, don’t provoke him. Let’s just observe the situation for now.”

Lin Hao’s voice sounded relatively calm, but a strong sense of helplessness rose in her heart.

It wasn’t despair, but trapped in this desperate situation, there truly seemed to be no way out.

This was different from that time when she deliberately let villains kidnap her to save her sister. Back then, she had the ability to escape at any time. Now she had become fish on the chopping block, at others’ mercy.

If only Ashuo could find her.

Even though Lin Hao had never thought of relying on others, in this moment of rare weakness, she couldn’t help but hope for her beloved to descend from the heavens.

But reason told her this wasn’t realistic.

This area had continuous mountain ranges and towering ancient trees. Even if dozens or hundreds of people entered the mountains to search, it would be difficult to make any discoveries in a short time. What’s more, they were in someone’s hands—with such concerns, there couldn’t possibly be a large-scale search. Relying on just two or three people, finding this place would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Ah Hao, are you thirsty?” After a stretch of silence, Zhu Jiayu asked.

For this young lady whose greatest excitement had been gossiping with friends about the Marquis Pingjia’s heir making a fool of himself, the current quiet made her more panicked. She always had to say something to feel at ease.

“A little. What about you?”

“I’m thirsty.” Zhu Jiayu’s voice carried a sob.

“Be patient and wait. That person has to drink water and eat.” Lin Hao comforted Zhu Jiayu, though she wasn’t confident herself.

If her intuition was correct and that person’s true purpose was to take her life, why would he care whether they were thirsty or hungry?

The two waited like this until dusk was approaching.

Movement came from the cave entrance. The two turned their heads to look and saw the man walk in, carrying something on his shoulder.

Before Lin Hao could see clearly what the man was carrying, he threw his burden to the ground.

A pained cry rang out—what had been thrown on the ground was actually a young lady. She seemed to have been unconscious, but the fall woke her, and for a moment she couldn’t recognize her current situation.

“Who are you? I’m telling you, my father is the richest man in the capital. If you treat me like this, he definitely won’t let you off!”

“Let me out! Someone! Help—”

A large hand reached over and grasped the young lady’s slender neck. A calm, emotionless warning sounded: “I don’t mind collecting one less ransom.”

“You, what do you mean?” The young lady’s fierce exterior concealed inner cowardice, and her voice became smaller.

The man paid the young lady no heed. He tied her up securely, then pulled out a flatbread from his chest and silently chewed on it.

There was no fire in the cave, and the damp cold enveloped everyone.

The young lady couldn’t help but plead: “Please let me go. I’ll have my father give you lots and lots of money…”

The man frowned and glanced at the young lady. Whether he found her annoying or had some other business, he walked out.

With the man gone, Zhu Jiayu asked the young lady tied in another spot in a small voice: “Which family are you from? How were you kidnapped?”

The young lady gave Zhu Jiayu a sidelong glance: “Who are you? Why should I tell you?”

Zhu Jiayu was stunned.

Even in this situation, this girl still wanted to act arrogant and domineering?

But Lin Hao ignored their conversation, her gaze fixed unmoving on one spot.