Xiao Qingya’s body trembled slightly. She was deeply shocked! Fortunately, she hadn’t opened her eyes without the System’s cue that the surroundings were marked as safe.

This man is so perceptive. How does he know?

[Little Ya, don’t fall for his trick. He could be merely testing you.] The System’s words echoed in her mind, trying to calm her down.

No matter how she thought about it, the matter was still odd. Who would bother to test a helpless baby who wasn’t even two-year-old yet?

Still, she didn’t move, pretending to be asleep, limp with steady breath, as if she was truly deep in her sleep.

"Did I see it wrong? The baby is still sleeping?" The man’s words, full of thoughts, entered Xiao Qingya’s ears. "The drug is supposed to wear off a few hours once the children fall unconscious."

Drug? Xiao Qingya was horrified. Who had drugged her?

Judging from the sound, it was clearly Liu Hei who was speaking. He hadn’t left at all! 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"He Lang, come here and take a look. Are you sure they have given the correct amount?" Liu Hei’s worried voice reverberated into the room.

Soon, heavy footsteps entered the room. He Lang huffed in annoyance. "I already told them to give the correct amount."

"Are you sure? Why is the baby not awake yet? The drug is supposed to last only for three hours. It’s already past that." Liu Hei analyzed.

He Lang seemed to take offense over his words. He approached Liu Hei with a dark face. "Are you doubting me? Trying to pin the blame on me?"

"I didn’t mean that," Liu Hei took a deep breath, trying to explain. "I–"

Before he could continue, He Lang already pushed him roughly. Liu Hei fell all over the floor, hitting the raised wooden platform used to hold the sacks of grain.

The sounds of heavy grain sacks rolled over filled the room.

Fortunately, He Lang was quick to realize what had happened. He snatched Xiao Qingya first before any of the sacks could hit her.

Liu Hei appeared burly, but in terms of strength, he was no match for He Lang who survived by being a bandit for as long as he remembered. He coughed, pain spread all over his body.

His dark eyes settled on He Lang, filled with resentment. Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath. "You need to control that temper of yours."

After he said that, Liu Hei struggled to get up from the ground and walked toward the door, slamming it shut.

"Coward," He Lang sneered. "He dares to blame me!"

He wanted to toss Xiao Qingya back to the ground, but then he thought better of it. Letting out a snort, he slowly put Xiao Qingya down.

"Such a delicate baby." He complained, and then he frowned as he thought of something. Liu Hei... seemed to be right. Over three hours should have passed already.

His fierce eyes scrutinized Xiao Qingya. "Why are you not awake yet? Don’t tell me you are sick? Children are so troublesome. If you are sick, they might buy this item at a lower price."

A determined look appeared in his eyes. "No matter what, I won’t take a loss. I should get at least ten times the price I bought you."

Xiao Qingya’s heart was filled with turmoil when she heard that. [System, do you think there is a trafficker in our village that supplies the children to these people?]

[Host, there is such a possibility. The other man mentioned about bringing more children so they might abduct more. We can try to determine if we recognize these kids.] The System answered. [Don’t be afraid. I will be with you.]

Even though the System was worried, it still tried to encourage its baby host.

Xiao Qingya mostly spent her time at the house under the care of her siblings, but she did occasionally play with other kids around her age. One of her sisters sometimes still brought her out to play and socialize.

She was confident she would recognize the kids who lived in the same village.

Soon, she heard some rustling sound, and almost instinctively struggled when she felt something binding her feet. He Lang was tying her limbs with ropes.

"We can’t take the chance and let you escape still," he muttered.

Surprisingly, when he wasn’t in his angry mood, he could still use his brain to think things more thoroughly.

"I really want to pinch your skin, pull your hair or snap one of your fingers to see whether you will wake up if you feel. Unfortunately, they will lower the price if they see any defects." He Lang clicked his tongue.

Every one of his words made Xiao Qingya’s skin crawl. Even with the System trying to hum a tune to distract her mind, she still inwardly shuddered.

His heavy footsteps hit the ground, and soon, he was gone.

Once the System made sure that there was no one around, she opened her eyes and gasped. He Lang had tied the ropes really tight, making it hard for her to untie herself.

Her big eyes surveyed the surroundings and concluded that they should be in some kind of grain barn. Judging from the new sacks and fresh grain, this place wasn’t some kind of abandoned building.

She wondered whether this place was owned by the child traffickers or not.

[Little Ya, they might have found this place as a temporary hideout.] The System told its guess.

She blinked and thought of something. [They might want to steal the grains too.]

There were so many grains here, and it would surely fetch a good price if they were to sell them. This was definitely the grain barn belonging to several families or even a merchant.

There was also a possibility she could receive help if the grain barn’s owner would come and check. Still, she didn’t place her entire hope on this possibility.

Her eyes fell on the ropes and her small face was full of frowns. She tried to use her teeth to untie the ropes.

She tried several times until she gave up.

In the afternoon, suddenly her stomach rumbled. She hadn’t eaten anything since this morning. At the same time... the door was abruptly opened.

A face full of scars appeared in her line of sight. They stared at each other.