He Lang’s fierce eyes scanned the room, taking in the children’s cries. He glanced at Xiao Qingya who was huddling in the corner, noticeably the quietest kid within the bunch.

[Cry, Little Ya.] The System urged her.

"Waa... Mother..."

Soon, she also joined in the chorus of crying children.

At this moment, the System realized that it also had to teach Xiao Qingya about survival. Its host had been too indifferent about a lot of things since she had given up trying to do the impossible missions.

Sometimes, she was lacking in her sharpness about how to handle things. Just like a little bird who hadn’t learned how to fly. Its wings hadn’t grown wide enough, making it impossible to fly.

Even if it tried to fly, it couldn’t. It would fall because the wings couldn’t support its body.

But... once its wings had grown, it still needed to learn to fly.

Xiao Qingya was in similar situation.

He Lang retracted his gaze. He had found it odd that Xiao Qingya was too calm earlier. It seemed that she was just too stunned and hadn’t understood what was happening.

Strangely, he thought that sometimes her eyes were too lively, like a child who was full of ideas. It gave him an impression she might run away if they even lowered their guard slightly.

"Shut up, you noisy things! Do you want me to break your limbs?!" He Lang shouted in annoyance. The kids were frightened, huddling together as they tried to suppress their cries which morphed into choked sobs.

Xiao Qingya bit her lip, silently heaving a sigh of relief. From the corner of her eyes, the man who had just fed her was gone. He was still very young, so his reaction was quite fast, yet he also already had a remarkable disguising ability.

The dim light and grain sacks served as the best concealment.

Soon, her attention was attracted by the disheveled man in He Lang’s grasp. He didn’t seem to be one of the child traffickers.

The straw hat he carried slipped from his grasp, and he was gasping for breath, his face flushed, brimming with anger.

"Who are you? You are breaking into someone else’s property!" The man’s chest heaved up and down. Even with He Lang grasping his shoulder tightly, he still tried to fight back by trying to punch him. "Get out or I will report you to the yamen!"

Alas, in terms of fighting ability, He Lang was more experienced. It didn’t take long before he tied up the man like a sack of grain and shoved him inside.

The commotion must have awoken Liu Hei. had come to check, and he was also the one who handed over the rope to He Lang.

"So, you are the owner of this grain barn?" He Lang tilted his head, his eyebrows raised as his eyes stared at the man with a condescending gaze.

The man, who seemed to be a farmer, glared at He Lang with indignation and anger.

Perceiving his gaze as mockery, He Lang was provoked. He sneered, raising his foot and slammed it on the barn owner’s leg, making the latter groan in pain.

The sound of collision seemed painful, and the children jolted, remembering He Lang’s threats about breaking their limbs. They broke into cold sweat due to fright. Some even directly passed out.

"Don’t make too much noise at night." Liu Hei warned before walking out of the room.

He Lang rolled his eyes. "What a coward."

"What? Are you furious?" He mocked the bound man on the ground. A glint flashed in his eyes. "Your grain is now mine. We will take them."

The man’s eyes bulged, veins popped up on his temples, signalling he was in extreme anger and anxiety. Before he could open his mouth to curse He Lang, the latter had taken some dirty cloth from somewhere and stuffed it in his mouth.

He Lang chuckled, his voice filled with derision. "I am a polite person. I am thanking you for providing us with the grain. It’s another unexpected harvest when we found this place."

He slammed the door shut.

The man wriggled around, trying to free himself. Unfortunately, He Lang was experienced with ropes. He wouldn’t easily untie the ropes on his limbs unless someone helped him.

After a while, he just slumped in his spot, exhausted.

Suddenly, he realized the presence of other people in the room. He had noticed these kids earlier, but because his main focus was trying to get these robbers out of his grain barn, he had subconsciously labeled them in the same camp.

When he looked closer, he realized it wasn’t the case. He Lang’s treatment of the kids was too rough, and they clearly also had their limbs bound like him.

A certain possibility popped up in his mind, and he was extremely shocked. His heart pounded hard.

Not long ago, there was a rumor that there was a child traffickers’ den in their county. The authorities had cracked them down, but... they clearly hadn’t stopped operating at all.

His heart started to beat faster. These criminals were using his grain barn to hide these kids. Although the grain there was not only his, the place was under his name.

If these people were caught, would the authorities also catch him? He began to worry about his life.

It might be because of the exhaustion after a long working time during the day, he had somehow fallen asleep. The moment he woke up, he immediately realized where he was.

"I..." The man quickly shut himself up, shocked.

It was still dark outside. The lamp oil had gone out long ago, and the whole room was enveloped in extreme darkness, making it impossible for him to see his surroundings.

However... soon, he swallowed. He clearly sensed that the ropes binding his hands and feet were gone. Even the cloth in his mouth. Who had helped him to untie the ropes?

It was quiet all around, and he could almost feel his own heavy breathing. Is this a trap?

He was familiar with his own grain barn, and it was easy for him to escape from the place.