Chapter 24: The Tyrant’s Petty Son

The slightest noise woke him up.

Xiao Jingyuan was the same. Ever since losing everyone around him and being betrayed by Xia Mo, he had become extremely cautious, unwilling to trust anyone again.

At the faintest sound outside, he would wake up instantly.

“We can’t sleep anymore. Quick, give me the mat,” Xia Mo whispered to Xiao Jingyuan.

Xiao Jingyuan swiftly rolled up the bedding and mat, handing them over to her. In an instant, Xia Mo stowed away everything that didn’t belong in the room—everything except the watermelon knife.

At that moment, Xiao Jingyuan said, “Put away the watermelon knife too. Let’s see what they’re up to.”

“Huh?”

“Quick.”

Fine, just don’t mess this up.

Xiao Jingyuan efficiently slipped under Xia Mo’s blanket, making her body tense up.

Outside, someone was prying at the door latch. Just as it was about to give way, Xiao Jingyuan whispered in Xia Mo’s ear, “They’re coming. Pretend to be asleep.”

She hurriedly shut her eyes.

The two of them lay together, pretending to sleep under the ragged quilt that the mustached man had given them.

The door opened, and sure enough, the intruder was the mustached man.

He checked on them and, seeing that both appeared to be sleeping soundly, tiptoed back out and gestured to the people outside.

“Come in, they’re already drugged unconscious.”

A man carrying a candle waved it in front of their faces and asked, “These two are just kids? Why do they look like girls?”

“Heh, that’s why I said this batch is high quality.”

“So the goods are good, huh? Here’s your payment.”

Two men carrying burlap sacks walked in and hoisted Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan onto their shoulders.

This was already the second time Xiao Jingyuan had fallen into the hands of human traffickers. He wasn’t as panicked or furious as the first time, having grown much calmer.

The two were carried for a while before being thrown onto a wooden cart. The traffickers pushed the cart out of the city.

Meanwhile, at the innkeeper’s house, as dawn broke, the mustached man’s sister-in-law came to knock on the door with breakfast in hand, only to find it ajar. Inside, the bedding was neatly folded, but there was no sign of the guests.

Just then, the mustached man emerged, rubbing his sleepy eyes. “Sister-in-law, they left at dawn.”

“They left?”

“Yeah, I heard they were in a hurry to get going, so they didn’t wait for you.”

The middle-aged woman didn’t think much of it. Travelers often came and went in a rush.

She had no idea that the two young guests had already been sold off by her brother-in-law.

After finishing the breakfast meant for Xia Mo and the boy, the mustached man pocketed the silver from their sale and cheerfully headed to a nearby gambling den.

On the other side, Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan were taken to a manor outside the city. There, they saw three other children and two young girls.

By now, they were awake, but their mouths were gagged, and their hands and feet were bound, thrown together with the others.

The traffickers left and locked the door behind them.

“When will the boss arrive?”

“Soon. Once he inspects the goods, we’ll transport them to Jiangnan.”

“Got it. Li-ge, go eat something while you can. Once we hit the road, who knows when we’ll get another proper meal.”

“Alright, you stay here and keep watch. Don’t let them escape.”

“Don’t worry, they’re just a bunch of brats. I could take ten of them with one punch.”

Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan exchanged glances.

Who cares how many he can punch? Cutting the ropes comes first.

With a thought, Xia Mo entered her convenience store and retrieved a sharp fruit knife.

Then, she shifted her body so that her hands, bound behind her back, exposed the knife to Xiao Jingyuan.

Xiao Jingyuan lifted his foot and started rubbing the rope binding his legs against the blade in her hand. His technique wasn’t great, and a few times, he accidentally stepped on her hand.

Xia Mo frowned, enduring the pain and gripping the knife tightly.

Before long, the rope around his feet snapped. The other children and the two young girls turned to watch.

Fortunately, they weren’t foolish enough to make a sound.

They used the same method to free their hands and remove the cloth stuffed in their mouths.

Once Xiao Jingyuan was free, he turned to untie the young girl beside him.

Xia Mo’s eyes widened. This little bastard! Shouldn’t he untie her first?

“Mm! Mm-mm!” She protested.

Xiao Jingyuan acted like he didn’t hear her, completely ignoring her.

The girl he untied first whispered gratefully, “Thank you, young master. If I can return to my parents, I will surely repay you.”

Xiao Jingyuan didn’t respond, simply moving on to free the others.

Xia Mo rolled her eyes in frustration.

Ungrateful little wolf! She had treated him so well along the way, and this was how he repaid her?

Only after everyone else was freed did Xiao Jingyuan finally approach Xia Mo with the knife.

But instead of cutting her ropes immediately, he looked at her with an indifferent expression and said, “Do you know what it feels like to fall into the hands of traffickers? This is just the beginning.”

Xia Mo glared at him angrily.

What the hell? Was this brat planning to betray her now?

Just as she was about to explode, Xiao Jingyuan crouched down and swiftly cut her ropes.

Xia Mo spat out the cloth from her mouth and snapped, “You ungrateful little brat! I already told you, I didn’t sell you out!”

“Do I look like an idiot to you?”

Xia Mo: “…”

The original owner definitely sold him. Anyone with a brain could tell.

Her explanation sounded weak, and clearly, he had never believed her.

This was so frustrating.

Why did she have to transmigrate right after their friendship had already sunk?

At that moment, a delicate young girl spoke up timidly, “Um… whatever misunderstandings you two have, can we talk about them later? We should figure out how to escape first.”

Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan shot each other one last glare before reluctantly letting it go.

“There’s only one guard outside. Leave him to me. Si-ge, once I deal with him, you take the others and head to the town. As long as you hand them over to the town guards, they’ll be safe.”

The two young girls were about fourteen or fifteen years old, while the three children were six or seven. Including Xia Mo, that made three teenage girls leading three kids—not an impossible task.

But what was Xiao Jingyuan planning?

“What will you do after dealing with the guard?”

A murderous aura filled Xiao Jingyuan’s face. “None of your business. Just wait for me in town.”

Xia Mo was still mad and thought to herself, Fine! If you get hacked to death, that’s your problem.

Even so, she still got him a weapon—a watermelon knife.

She deliberately squatted in a corner.

“Huh? There’s a knife here!”

Xiao Jingyuan stepped forward. “Oh wow, really?”

Their flawless teamwork left the others stunned.

That massive knife had been right there in the straw pile, yet no one else had noticed it?

“Well, this should help. Si-ge, take them and go.”

“Alright. You be careful too.”

And just like that, they were back to being brotherly again.