I don't know how much time had passed when Dongfang Huaizhu slowly opened her eyes and finally saw the environment she was in.
It was a dim and sunless place. Only a few planks above let in some fragmented light. Dongfang Qinlan beside her was still unconscious. Dongfang Huaizhu softly called her, "Qinlan, Qinlan."
Dongfang Qinlan slowly opened her eyes. She was a bit dazed and her head was still dizzy. "Sister, where are we...?"
Dongfang Huaizhu looked around again. She found that the air was filled with choking dust and had a damp and cold feeling of a place that had been sunless for years, which further confirmed her suspicion.
"Probably under the inn. It should be a cellar."
Dongfang Huaizhu was about to say something else when suddenly she heard a sound from the wooden planks above. There were voices of discussion. Then the planks were moved aside, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Cough, cough, cough." It was a woman's voice.
Dongfang Huaizhu held her breath and watched the movement above. Then several people suddenly jumped down. The one in the lead was a woman in fiery - red clothes with long hair hanging over her shoulders and wearing a half - mask. The woman had a straight back and a tall and upright figure. It was obvious that she had been practicing martial arts for years.
Behind her were two adult men. One was calm and composed, standing with his hands behind his back. He didn't look outstanding, but it was easy to tell that he was extremely shrewd. The other was the youngest of the three, with ambition written all over his face and carrying a sword with him.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Mei Sanniang, the leader of this astonishing band of thieves, that is, the boss." The red - clothed woman in the lead spoke. Her voice was brisk and as flamboyant as Dongfang Huaizhu had imagined.
"This is my second - in - command, Zhili, and the third - in - command, Qimiao." Mei Sanniang introduced the other two.
Dongfang Huaizhu held her breath and watched her next move warily. However, the woman didn't intend to act for the moment and just said to herself, "My three brothers and I have been watching you sisters for a long time. I didn't expect today to be the perfect opportunity. Haha! It's really a blessing from heaven!"
Dongfang Huaizhu coldly looked at the woman's loud laughter. "So what exactly do you want? Blackmail?"
Dongfang Huaizhu's voice was cold. Mei Sanniang didn't take it to heart and raised her eyebrows. "Sure enough, a young lady from the Dongfang family. Your courage is truly extraordinary. But thanks to you, the young lady of the Dongfang family, it won't be long before my brothers and I make a name for ourselves in the martial arts world!"
"Haha! That's right! Once the news gets out, the three of us will be famous all over the world!" The second - in - command, Zhili, in black clothes squinted his eyes as if he was already enjoying the pleasure of becoming famous.
"Tsk! A bunch of useless people!" Dongfang Qinlan couldn't stand their arrogance.
Then she spat out sacred fire from her hand, intending to burn the ropes. The raging fire spurted out from Dongfang Qinlan's mouth, carrying scorching heat.
When the sacred fire came out, the ropes that bound the two of them didn't move at all. Dongfang Qinlan stared in surprise. "This... What's going on? It's impossible!"
Dongfang Huaizhu was also incredulous. They must have tampered with the ropes!
"Stop making useless struggles. Since we've kidnapped the two young ladies of the Dongfang family, we've surely done our homework. This rope cost me a great deal of effort. How could a little girl like you who acts so wildly break it easily!"
Mei Sanniang gave Dongfang Qinlan a slight glance and seemed to despise her flamboyance. "This rope is most suitable for tying you, little girl. It can just take the edge off you!"
"Humph! You're just a bunch of petty and useless people! Only capable of doing shady things in secret! If we were in my Shenhuo Manor today, I'd beat the three of you to the ground!" Dongfang Qinlan tilted her head slightly. Her tone was full of pride for the Shenhuo Manor.
"I thought you were some heroes. Turns out you're just a few scurrying rats! Bah!" Dongfang Qinlan still felt it wasn't enough to relieve her anger and continued scolding.
The third - in - command, Qimiao, was still young. He was so angry at these words that he clenched his fists and shouted at Dongfang Qinlan, "That's enough! You little girl have a sharp tongue! I'd like to see if you can withstand my torture!"
"Your grandma isn't scared!" Dongfang Qinlan only had time to shout this sentence before she saw Qimiao pick up a whip from the side. Dongfang Qinlan didn't know what he was going to do, but as a little girl who had never experienced such things, she was really panicked.
"Don't! Third - in - command, she's just a child. If you have anything, come at me!" Dongfang Huaizhu was so anxious that tears fell. She couldn't bear to see her younger sister about to be tortured.
"Sister, I'm fine! I'd like to see how long this little grasshopper can jump around!" Dongfang Qinlan glared hatefully at Qimiao who was walking towards her step by step.
Qimiao didn't take Dongfang Qinlan's loud shouts to heart. He tied Dongfang Qinlan to a pillar forcefully and whipped her with his right hand.
"Ah!" Dongfang Qinlan cried out in pain. Her eye sockets turned red from the pain.
Dongfang Huaizhu forced herself to keep her eyes open. Big teardrops rolled down one by one. Her heart felt as if it had been stabbed.
Looking at Dongfang Qinlan's painful and no - longer - flamboyant face, Qimiao smiled silently and continued to wave the whip, lashing Dongfang Qinlan again and again.
"Why aren't you so tough now? Hmm? Aren't you so powerful?" Qimiao said as he increased the strength of his hand. The sound of the whip hitting the flesh was extremely harsh in this cellar.
Dongfang Qinlan was still young and her body was fragile. After just a few lashes, she fainted. Her head fell to one side, unconscious.
Dongfang Huaizhu knelt there like a statue. Her heart no longer felt pain but had become numb. Qimiao threw down the whip, clapped his hands, and the three of them swaggered away, not forgetting to close the floor.
Dongfang Huaizhu crawled to Dongfang Qinlan's side and loosened the ropes a bit. Although she couldn't untie them, she could at least make the little girl feel less uncomfortable. Looking at her younger sister's haggard face, Dongfang Huaizhu felt even more guilty.
She sat beside Dongfang Qinlan like this for the whole night. While thinking about a way to escape, she looked around. There was no place to climb, and the ropes on her body were so tight that she couldn't even use her light - body skills.
After thinking for the whole night, there was still no progress. She didn't know when there was finally movement above again. It was the same three people from yesterday. They moved the floor aside and stood not far in front of Dongfang Huaizhu.
Dongfang Huaizhu looked up at the sunlight above and guessed that it should be early morning. So she had just sat here for the whole night...
She couldn't just sit here waiting for death anymore!
"How was your stay, young lady?" Mei Sanniang spoke, looking at Dongfang Huaizhu and Dongfang Qinlan who had opened her eyes at some point.
Dongfang Huaizhu's mind was racing. Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind and her voice became a bit more lively. "Three of you, I have a proposal."
Dongfang Huaizhu paused. "Rather than just kidnapping the young ladies of the Dongfang family, which would only be regarded as petty theft and not honorable at all if it got out. But if you three take the young ladies of the Dongfang family as your younger brothers, won't your success be just around the corner from now on?"
Dongfang Huaizhu's thinking was clear. Her words made the three of them look at each other in surprise. Zhili thought for a long time.
"She's right." Zhili whispered to Mei Sanniang.
The three of them got together and discussed for a while. Then Zhili and Qimiao came over and untied the two of them.