Rebirth: She is Ready for a Counterattack!-Chapter 110: Cooperation

The young man first untied Gu Xiaoqing’s ropes. Fortunately, the knots weren’t of the complicated kind with many loops. Probably the traffickers didn’t feel they posed much of a threat since they were just some kids.

Gu Xiaoqing’s hands were freed, and she moved her arms, which were almost numb from soreness. Then she sat up, untied the ropes on her feet, and spat out the rag from her mouth.

Finally, Gu Xiaoqing was able to adapt to the darkness and saw the boy in front of her. Haha, truthfully, he was just a shadow.

Fumbling around, she untied the ropes on the boy’s hands. The boy quickly got up and also untied the ropes on his feet.

Gu Xiaoqing softly called out Gu Xiaojie’s name, believing that he should be there.

"Gu Xiaojie, Gu Xiaojie!"

What came back to her were only the terrified muffled sobs of the children.

Gu Xiaoqing felt a bit discouraged.

It was completely pitch black.

Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared in front of her; it was the boy striking a match.

What luck, the boy had matches in his pocket; having matches at this time was certainly fortunate.

The boy helped Gu Xiaoqing up. She was still dizzy, but determined to find Gu Xiaojie, she leaned on the boy and looked around one by one, finally spotting Gu Xiaojie and Zhang Zijie in the corner.

"My name is Guan Shaonan, what’s yours?"

In the boy’s cool voice, there was a hint of curiosity. This girl was too calm, not like a typical teenage girl.

"My name is Gu Xiaoqing."

"Are you looking for your brother?"

Having heard the name Gu Xiaoqing called out, Guan Shaonan assumed they were family.

Gu Xiaoqing nodded.

She untied the ropes for each child, but they couldn’t get out.

Gu Xiaojie nestled fearfully in Gu Xiaoqing’s arms.

The kid was scared.

Guan Shaonan came back after a while, sat down beside Gu Xiaoqing, "The main door is locked tightly from the outside. These people won’t come during the day, but at night someone comes to take some children away. If I’m guessing correctly, it should be around noon now, so if we manage to escape, we should be able to cover some distance."

Gu Xiaoqing breathed a sigh of relief.

She had been worried that there would be traffickers outside.

This place seemed to be a desolate cave in a remote mountain; otherwise, the traffickers wouldn’t even leave anyone to guard them.

This didn’t make sense.

These people were too careless, even though they were all children, there were also her and Guan Shaonan, who were older.

The biggest question was why she, in an attempt to save her brother Gu Xiaojie, got caught by the traffickers by accident. Normally, traffickers wouldn’t want to capture someone her age.

It would be hard to sell someone like her.

But Guan Shaonan was very obviously not younger than her, looking about fifteen or sixteen years old, yet he was also captured.

This was unusual.

"So what do we do?"

Gu Xiaoqing was anxious too; who had ever been in such a situation?

Guan Shaonan lay on the ground, spread out.

"There really is no way right now. The doors and windows are sealed and locked. From the crack in the door, I saw there’s no sign of people outside; it’s definitely some abandoned cave on the mountain, usually a distance from the village. Even if we shout, no one would hear us."

His voice carried powerlessness and frustration.

Guan Shaonan had tried everything, but traffickers weren’t fools. Compared to them, traffickers were more experienced.

The children, upon hearing this, began to cry in sobs.

At first, it started quietly, but gradually the sound grew louder.

One started crying, which led the others around them to cry as well.

Gu Xiaoqing felt a bit frustrated, and even in her arms, Gu Xiaojie was whimpering softly, leaning against her and asking: "Second sister, are we really going to be sold? I’m scared, I want to go home, I miss our parents."

Gu Xiaoqing stroked Gu Xiaojie’s hair, wiped his tears with her sleeve, and quietly comforted him: "It’s okay, Xiao Jie, we will be rescued. Our parents must be looking for us. We have to find a way to escape. Don’t worry, sister is with you and will keep you safe."

Fang Shaonan listened to the crisp voice of the girl, and felt as if the previous agitation within him was settling down, replaced by a sense of peace.

Even a girl was stronger than him.

So calm, while he was still boiling with rage.

Gu Xiaoqing spoke loudly to the children in the darkness: "Everyone, stop crying. If we cry loudly and get discovered by the traffickers outside, we will be tied up again."

All crying stopped abruptly; although many were only three or four years old, they dimly understood that their crying could lead to bad consequences.

All around, there was silence.

Gu Xiaoqing got up and placed Gu Xiaojie on the ground. Panicked, he cried out: "Sis, sis, where are you going?"

She reassured him, "I want to see what this place is really like. We still need to find a way to escape."

Gu Xiaojie fell silent.

Fang Shaonan jumped up and said, "I’ll go with you; two people are more likely to spot something the other misses."

He had pulled himself together.

Gu Xiaoqing nodded.

"Let’s make a torch first. It’s too dark to see, and nothing is clear; it’s all half-understood, which makes it hard to think of a plan."

Gu Xiaoqing knew that Fang Shaonan had matches.

Fang Shaonan agreed, just tossing out the words: "You wait here, I’ll find some wood."

Earlier, Fang Shaonan noticed some wooden boards behind the main door which could temporarily serve as torches if burned.

Going over, he found several boards, which seemed to be old bed slats, already quite rotten.

He easily snapped off a long strip.

Using the matches, he lit some straw, then set the wooden board on fire, immediately casting a bright beam of light in the darkness.

Fang Shaonan and Gu Xiaoqing saw all the children in the room.

Every face was dirty, with many children’s faces still streaked with tears, eyes filled with panic and fear, each clinging to the next. At last, Gu Xiaojie and Zhang Zijie, seeing each other, immediately hugged.

They huddled in the corner.

The cave’s doorway was left with a large open space.

Gu Xiaoqing and Fang Shaonan circled the cave, both feeling a bit deflated.

The traffickers were cunning; there was nothing here.

Aside from the children, the ropes on the ground, and some wooden boards in the corner, were some waste newspapers and bits of hard, stale bread, probably left from earlier.

The place was filthy, with traces of excrement, suggesting it had been a hideout for traffickers before.