Chapter 138: Self-Rescue

The short man held the water flask to Lin Hao's lips: "Just drink it like this. If you don't want to, forget it."

Lin Hao lowered her eyes and stared at the mouth of the flask; it was clearly a flask the man had already used.

The thought of drinking from this flask made her stomach churn, but she still nodded: "I'll drink."

There was no telling where this cave was located. If it was hidden enough, it would be perfectly normal for the search parties not to find them for several days. If she wanted to help her sister escape, she had to maintain her physical strength.

Fortunately, the man did not shove the mouth of the flask into Lin Hao's mouth, but instead tilted it to pour the water.

Lin Hao tried to catch it with her mouth; some went in, but most flowed down her neck and onto her clothes.

This undignified state caused a slight change in the man's expression.

Lin Hao tilted her head slightly: "I've had enough, thank you."

The man picked up a cloth wad to plug her mouth again, but Lin Hao hurriedly pleaded: "Please, don't plug my mouth. I feel like it's hard to breathe. I promise I won't scream."

The man hesitated and glanced at his companion.

The burly man said coldly, "No."

The short man no longer hesitated and efficiently plugged Lin Hao's mouth.

At that moment, Lin Chan woke up.

Unlike Lin Hao, who had been pretending to be unconscious, Lin Chan had truly passed out. Upon suddenly waking, her first reaction was to look for her sister. Seeing Lin Hao with her mouth plugged and her hands and feet bound, she couldn't help but let out anxious whimpers.

"This one is awake too." The short man's interest in Lin Chan was clearly greater than in Lin Hao, not because he had any ulterior motives, but out of curiosity.

"Want some water?" he asked the same question.

Most of Lin Chan's attention was on Lin Hao. Seeing her give a nearly imperceptible nod, Lin Chan immediately nodded as well.

After a warning from the man, he removed the cloth from Lin Chan's mouth and handed over the water flask.

Lin Chan's expression changed instantly: "I... I'm not thirsty..."

To be fair, in such a short amount of time, she really wasn't thirsty yet.

The man smiled while holding the flask: "You're more fastidious than your sister."

Lin Chan instinctively glanced at Lin Hao and changed her tune: "Please, I'll have a little."

Enduring the nausea to drink her fill, Lin Chan asked the two men cautiously: "Are you after a ransom? As long as you don't hurt me or my sister, my family will pay whatever ransom you ask."

"Stop talking nonsense." The man plugged Lin Chan's mouth with the cloth. "Stay quiet."

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

More than half of the entrance was obscured by rock, with vines and wild grass hanging outside. Through the gaps in the vines, one could observe the situation outside at any time.

Undoubtedly, this was an excellent hiding place.

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

She had implicated her sister!

Lin Hao blinked.

Though the two sisters could not speak, they were perfectly in sync, and Lin Chan's despair was soothed.

*Does my younger sister have a way to escape?*

She couldn't imagine how they could escape in this state, yet she chose to believe her for no reason.

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

The unchanging scenery outside the cave made the two men feel bored, and the two girls bound tightly inside made them feel very secure.

The short man let out a heavy sigh: "I'm going to nap for a bit."

Since they couldn't chat freely, let alone take advantage of the girls, sleeping was the best way to pass the time.

Before long, snoring echoed in the cave.

The burly man frowned and slapped him awake.

"What is it?"

"Stop sleeping. You're snoring."

The short man nearly jumped up, his voice rising: "Impossible, I haven't even fallen asleep!"

"You were snoring. Someone might hear it."

"I wasn't even asleep, how could I be snoring?" The short man was indignant and turned to ask Lin Hao and her sister, "Did you hear me snoring?"

Lin Hao and Lin Chan exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

The short man was instantly speechless.

The burly man spoke: "I'll sleep first. You take the night shift."

"What if I snore at night?"

*Is he trying to trick me into guarding alone until the end?*

"We're in the mountains. Those people will stop searching at night, so snoring won't matter."

Hearing this, the short man had no choice but to nod: "Fine then, you sleep first."

Not long after, the burly man fell asleep.

Listening to his companion's steady breathing, the short man became even sleepier, soon nodding off like a chick pecking at grain.

After a while, snoring echoed in the cave once again.

Lin Chan looked at Lin Hao.

Lin Hao waited a bit longer. Once she was certain both men were asleep, she slowly moved her body, and her hands, bound behind her back, brushed against Lin Chan's hands.

Lin Chan didn't know what her sister was doing, so she kept her expression neutral.

Suddenly, she felt something tugging at the ropes binding her hands.

Once, twice, three times...

Lin Chan looked at Lin Hao in shock.

That was clearly a hard object. Her sister's hands were bound just like hers; how did she get it?

Lin Hao signaled for Lin Chan not to give themselves away, focusing on using the hard object to saw through the rope.

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

When she had tripped while chasing the people who kidnapped her sister, her right hand had landed right on this small stone shard. Without hesitation, she had hidden the tiny shard in her palm.

The soft palm had been scraped raw by the hard stone, stinging painfully, but compared to the chance of escape, it was negligible.

A stone shard was not a dagger after all, and using it to saw through rope was not easy. After sawing for a while, Lin Hao's hands grew numb and sweat beaded on her forehead.

Lin Chan watched with heartache, but she was frustrated by her inability to help.

Finally, her hands suddenly loosened; the rope had snapped.

Lin Chan was overjoyed, but she quickly regained her composure, her hands behind her back beginning to untie the ropes for Lin Hao.

With free hands, untying the ropes was much easier than sawing them with a small stone. Before long, Lin Hao's hands were also free.

Lin Chan did not continue her movements.

Her sister was clearly more resourceful; they could not act rashly and lose their chance at escape.

Lin Hao looked toward the cave entrance.

The two masked men were both leaning against the rock wall, still asleep.

A look of determination flashed in her eyes.

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

She had realized while they were chasing them that these two were very skilled; they were not people she could deal with through brute force.

This was also why she hadn't resisted desperately when they caught her. Only by doing this could she stay with her sister, rather than becoming just another person for the search parties to look for like a needle in a haystack.

She still had to wait for an opportunity—an opportunity for the two men to be separated.

Lin Hao hid the severed ropes and replaced the ropes binding their feet with slipknots. At a critical moment, a gentle pull would set their legs free.

What followed was a long wait.

As the light changed, the cave grew increasingly dim. Finally, the burly man opened his eyes. His first instinct was to turn and look at the two sisters, then he irritably kicked the short man: "Why did you fall asleep!"

The short man was kicked awake, looking somewhat embarrassed: "I don't even know how I fell asleep..."

He glanced inside, his tone becoming more casual: "Anyway, they can't run off. Uh... I'm going out to relieve myself."

***

*Jiushiliu's new book "Treading Branches" is out. Friends looking for new reads can check it out. Synopsis: Qin Luan dreamed of her master. Her master told her to descend the mountain, return to the capital, save one person, and break off one engagement.*

*(End of Chapter)*