The slanting sun moved toward evening, and the light in the cave grew dim, making people increasingly irritable and restless.

Zhu Jiayu and the newly arrived young lady bickered in low voices, neither willing to back down.

“Ah Hao, don’t you think she can’t recognize the situation? She still thinks she’s in her own home!”

“You two know each other?” The young lady was tied in a different spot and could actually see both Lin Hao and Zhu Jiayu at the same time. “Hey, why aren’t you talking?”

Zhu Jiayu also noticed that Lin Hao hadn’t made a sound in quite a while and couldn’t help but worry: “Ah Hao, what’s wrong?”

Lin Hao withdrew her gaze that had been fixed on one spot and looked toward the young lady.

In the dim light, she couldn’t see the other’s subtle expressions clearly—only a round apple-shaped face, and an air of spoiledness that could be felt even when not clearly visible.

Lin Hao hesitated inwardly for a moment, then lifted the corners of her lips slightly: “I’m Second Miss Lin Hao from the General’s Mansion, and with me is Fourth Miss Zhu Jiayu from Earl Yichun’s mansion.”

This girl gave the impression of not having a good temperament. Before making a request, announcing their identities first would give them better chances.

Indeed, after Lin Hao revealed her and Zhu Jiayu’s identities, the young lady’s imposing manner clearly deflated, and she said in a small voice: “My name is Chi Caiyun. My father is the richest man in the capital and does business with the imperial family.”

“Miss Chi knows about our current situation, yes?”

Chi Caiyun nodded in small movements: “I know. That villain wants my family to prepare ransom money. In three days, they’ll hand over the ransom and he’ll release us.”

Speaking of this, Chi Caiyun’s face was full of gloom.

Staying in this godforsaken place for three days would be unbearable.

“What if he doesn’t release us?” In the increasingly dim light, Lin Hao asked softly.

Chi Caiyun’s expression stiffened: “What do you mean he won’t release us? Keeping us would be useless to him!”

“Indeed, it would be useless.” Lin Hao didn’t refute her words, then her tone shifted. “But we’ve seen his face. If he’s ruthless enough, taking the ransom and returning three corpses is also possible.”

Chi Caiyun was clearly panicked: “That can’t be! Once he gets the ransom, he can just flee far away. If he really harmed us, our families definitely wouldn’t let it go. Why would he bring trouble on himself?”

The young lady’s words carried disbelief—not because she was making excuses for the villain, but because when people fall into dire straits, they’re always unwilling to believe worse possibilities.

Lin Hao understood this point and said gently: “My fiancé is an outstanding artist who can draw a person’s appearance based on verbal description. If you consider this point, do you still think there’s no possibility he would kill us to silence us?”

Hearing this, the blood drained completely from Chi Caiyun’s face: “Then what should we do?”

Zhu Jiayu also couldn’t help but ask: “That’s right, Ah Hao, what should we do?”

“We must save ourselves.” Lin Hao’s voice was very soft, yet it had the power to soothe hearts.

“How do we save ourselves?” Zhu Jiayu and Chi Caiyun asked in unison.

Lin Hao’s gaze moved downward: “Miss Chi, look by your feet. There’s a hairpin there—it should be yours.”

Chi Caiyun looked over and indeed saw a decorative hairpin fallen by her feet. She didn’t know when it had dropped.

“It is mine!” She was somewhat excited, though she didn’t know what to be excited about.

“Miss Chi, try to kick it over to my hands.” Lin Hao moved her hands that were bound behind her back.

Chi Caiyun glanced over. In a flash of understanding, she grasped Lin Hao’s meaning.

“You want to use the hairpin to wear through the rope?” she asked in a lowered voice.

Lin Hao nodded.

Chi Caiyun stared fixedly at the hairpin by her feet, her expression constantly changing.

She wasn’t far from Lin Hao—kicking the hairpin over to her wouldn’t be difficult. But what if Lin Hao used the hairpin to break through the rope and only cared about escaping herself?

This was her hairpin. Rather than letting someone else use it to save their life, why not use it herself?

Lin Hao’s gaze never left Chi Caiyun’s vicinity. Seeing her unpredictable expression, how could she not guess the other’s thoughts?

Once some words were spoken out loud, things would become awkward.

Lin Hao didn’t give the other party a chance to make the situation tense. She spoke first: “This hairpin is our opportunity for self-rescue. The hairpin belongs to Miss Chi, so logically Miss Chi using it to save herself would be most appropriate…”

These words sounded pleasing, and Chi Caiyun’s restless thoughts unconsciously subsided somewhat.

Lin Hao knew that this kind of spoiled-tempered young lady often responded to softness rather than hardness. Normally there was no need to accommodate her, but at this moment concerning life and death, one certainly couldn’t be forceful. Thus her tone became even gentler: “All our hands and feet are bound, and the hairpin just happens to be by Miss Chi’s feet. It would be easy for Miss Chi to kick the hairpin to my side, but kicking it to your own hands would probably be very difficult, wouldn’t it?”

Chi Caiyun pressed her lips together. By now she had also calmed down.

“There’s another point. What binds my hands together is a cloth handkerchief, not rope, so my chances of using the hairpin to escape would be much greater. As long as I can break free, I won’t abandon you two.”

Unlike Zhu Jiayu and Chi Caiyun whose hands had still been free when they first entered the cave, Lin Hao’s hands had been bound with a handkerchief when entering the mountain. Once they reached the cave, the man had used rope to tie her to the rock. Although the rope had also been wound twice around her wrists, the binding method was different from theirs.

As long as she used the hairpin to cut through the cloth, breaking free of the handkerchief’s restraint, her hands would have enough range of movement to untie the rope.

Lin Hao’s words completely dispelled Chi Caiyun’s petty schemes.

“All right then, but don’t forget what you said.” Chi Caiyun wiggled her toes and touched the hairpin, then suddenly stopped again. “What if you go back on your word?”

Zhu Jiayu had long been annoyed by her dawdling and said in a low voice: “Are you ever going to finish? Must you waste time? It would be great if that person comes back and we miss our chance! Our Ah Hao never speaks carelessly. If you don’t trust her, do you need her to make an oath?”

“Then I’ll make an oath.”

“Ah Hao!”

Lin Hao smiled slightly: “It’s nothing. I don’t plan to go back on my word anyway.”

She readily made an oath, her eyes and brows glowing as she looked at the young lady opposite her.

Chi Caiyun set aside her last bit of hesitation. She straightened her toes, gave a forceful kick, and sent the hairpin to Lin Hao’s hands.

“Very accurate.” Lin Hao curved her lips, not stinting on praise.

Chi Caiyun had never been praised so directly by a girl of similar age. Her gaze awkwardly shifted elsewhere, but the corners of her mouth lifted. “I’m very good at cuju.”

“No wonder.” Lin Hao echoed with one sentence, putting all her attention on the hairpin.

Though the hairpin was close at hand, her hands wound with cloth and rope had such a small range of movement that it took great effort to finally grasp the hairpin.

Once she had the hairpin, things became easier. The cloth had little resistance against such a sharp object and was quickly cut through.

Free of the cloth, Lin Hao’s hands had a degree of freedom. Though untying the rope was still laborious, it wasn’t without hope.

Two quarters of an hour later, Lin Hao breathed a long sigh of relief.

Finally untied!

Afraid the man who had gone out for some unknown purpose might suddenly return, she didn’t dare remove the rope completely. Maintaining her original position, she groped about to untie Zhu Jiayu’s rope.

Fortunately, given the darkness in the cave, even looking with one’s eyes couldn’t see clearly what was happening, so this couldn’t really be considered taking a detour.

After approximately another two quarters of an hour, Zhu Jiayu’s suppressed joyful cry came: “It’s untied!”

The two looked toward Chi Caiyun, who hadn’t made a sound for a while, and heard long, even breathing sounds.