My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 18 The Cave

When Lin Ziping woke up, he felt his hands were a little numb. He tried to move them, but found that his hands were tied behind his back and his mouth was stuffed with something.

what's the situation?

Lin Ziping quickly regained consciousness, enduring the dizziness, and tried to open his eyes, but the sunlight was so bright on his face that he couldn't see anything.

I turned my head to avoid the sunlight, blinked, and finally saw that it was a cave. Sunlight shone through the cracks and shone directly into my eyes. There were eight or nine children lying on the ground around me, their hands tied behind their backs and their mouths stuffed with cloth. Two or three of the children had already woken up and were whimpering, while the others were still asleep.

Seeing this, and recalling what Granny Liao had said about "picking up flowers," Lin Ziping guessed that he might have encountered human traffickers.

As expected, an unexpected event was bound to happen.

Lin Ziping felt a sense of panic. The thought of being abducted by human traffickers flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but feel afraid. He wanted to escape, but even adults find it extremely difficult to escape the clutches of traffickers; for a child, it was even more impossible.

Taking two deep breaths, Lin Ziping forced himself to calm down.

After calming down a bit, Lin Ziping observed the surrounding environment.

Although sunlight shone through the cracks into the cave, it was still very dark inside, and some parts were still unclear. Including Lin Ziping, there were a total of 12 children who were tied up.

Lin Ziping tried to move his body and sit up, but could only wriggle weakly.

The children gradually woke up, and sobbing could be heard from time to time.

A beam of light shone into the cave, and Lin Ziping looked toward the light. A middle-aged man carrying something walked in.

What is this? A glimmer of hope welled up in my heart.

"What's all the noise about!" the man shouted, casually throwing down what he was carrying.

Lin Ziping looked at what the man had thrown down; it was a person.

The man who entered was wearing a dirty sheepskin coat, but a white jade pendant hung from his waist, which looked very strange. The man had an ordinary appearance and no special features. If you met him in a crowd, he would just be an ordinary passerby. But now, backlit by the sun, he appeared a bit gentle.

Lin Ziping tried to discern the man's special qualities and wanted to remember his appearance.

The man untied the whip from his waist and lashed it towards the source of the whimpering, cursing, "I told you to shut up, didn't you hear me?"

"Dashan, stop! These are all good stuff. You'll have to pay for them if you break them!" A head popped out of the cave and yelled at the man.

The man from the mountain put away his whip and smiled obsequiously at the man at the cave entrance, saying, "Eighth Master, you were right to discipline them. It's not that these brats are disobedient; I was afraid of attracting the soldiers."

Eighth Master walked in and kicked Da Shan: "Go and prepare some food. This batch of goods is worth a lot of money."

Da Shan bowed and agreed, then quickly ran out.

Eighth Master said with a grin, "Young masters and ladies, I'm sorry you had to go through that today, but I'll send you off to live a good life soon, so you'd better be obedient."

Da Shan came in carrying a bucket: "Eighth Master, I've prepared the food."

"I, Eighth Master, am a kind-hearted man. I can't bear to see you young masters and ladies go hungry and cold. You must behave well and not run around, or I will be very angry." Eighth Master continued as he walked, his smile deepening.

He turned to Dashan and instructed him, "Dashan, go and untie their ropes."

"Eighth Master, what if they run away?" Da Shan put down the bucket in his hand, casually wiped his hands on his body, scratched his head, and asked in confusion.

Eighth Master raised his hand and slapped Da Shan: "If you don't untie them, you'll serve them!"

"Eighth Master, you're brilliant." Da Shan covered his face with his hands and chuckled.

Da Shan approached the boy closest to him, knelt down to untie the rope, and the boy suddenly stood up and rushed out.

Dashan quickly grabbed him and slapped the boy hard across the face.

"Eighth Master, this child is trying to run away."

Eighth Master walked up to the boy, kicked him in the knee, and the boy fell to the ground. Eighth Master then drew a knife from his waist and stabbed it into the back of the boy's hand.

"Ah—" the boy wailed in pain.

"Why are you being so disobedient? Disobedient children need to be punished." Eighth Master drew his knife. "From now on, you're not allowed to speak or cry."

The children stared in horror at the scene before them, cowering in fear.

"Dashan, continue." Eighth Master took out a handkerchief and slowly wiped the knife.

Da Shan continued to untie the ropes for the children.

Lin Ziping was both shocked and furious, and looked down at the person Da Shan had left behind.

Ji Xun? Lin Ziping confirmed again that it was indeed Ji Xun. He had also been kidnapped by human traffickers and brought up the mountain. Then Magistrate Ji should come to rescue him.

Although it was somewhat unethical, Lin Ziping felt a little relieved to see Ji Xun there, knowing that at least the government would be more responsible when looking for someone.

After Da Shan untied the ropes from Lin Ziping, Lin Ziping, now free of his hands, removed the rag from his mouth, took a few deep breaths to relieve his discomfort, and then squatted down on the ground, shrinking into the crowd like everyone else to minimize his presence.

Lin Ziping had been worried ever since she came into this world, afraid that her identity as a girl would be discovered, and now this worry was even greater.

In the same situation, the risks faced by girls are far greater than those faced by boys.

A short while later, Da Shan untied the ropes from everyone except Ji Xun, pointed at Ji Xun and said, "Eighth Master, this kid has been restless the whole way. I gave him a strong drug, and he's still not awake."

Eighth Master glared at Da Shan: "If this medicine is too strong and turns him into an idiot, what if it affects the quality of the goods? Da Shan, you need to learn to use your brain!"

Da Shan said obsequiously, "Eighth Master's lesson is correct. I still have much to learn from Eighth Master."

Eighth Master smiled smugly: "Let's go, I still need to report the situation here to Master Jiang."

Da Shan followed Eighth Master out of the cave. When he got to the bucket that contained food, he kicked it over. Eighth Master glanced at it, said nothing, and walked straight out.

As the two left, the cave fell into darkness again. No sunlight shone through the cracks. The boy whose palm had been pierced by Eighth Master was wailing softly, and the sobbing of other children could be heard from time to time.

Seeing that no one else was coming in, Lin Ziping slowly got up and walked towards Ji Xun to help him untie the ropes.

"Ji Xun".

Lin Ziping tried to help Ji Xun up, but Ji Xun suddenly opened his eyes.

"Lin Ziping?" Ji Xun said hoarsely.

Lin Ziping nodded: "It's me."

"This is where?"

Lin Ziping shook his head: "Ji Xun, are you alright? We might have run into some kidnappers."

Upon hearing this, Ji Xun looked up and around, remaining silent for a long while.

An inexplicable silence fell over the cave.

"My father will come looking for me," Ji Xun said softly.

Lin Ziping didn't hear clearly and asked, "Ji Xun, what did you say?"

Ji Xun's voice came through: "My father will come looking for me."

The other children also stopped sobbing, repeating, "My dad will come for me."

Lin Ziping nodded: "Yes, my uncle will also come to see me."