Start with a red name

Chapter 47 Future Prospects

Geng Xuan tried hard to regulate his breathing and calm the sudden waves in his heart.

He turned his eyes away from the six iron cages holding the children and calmly examined his surroundings.

As he looked carefully, he discovered that the underground space in front of him, which was unusually brightly illuminated by the fire, seemed like a hub and intersection.

There are five tunnel entrances connected to this underground space. Compared to the area illuminated by the fire, each one is pitch black and no one knows where they lead to. It looks a bit creepy.

And the place where he is hiding at the moment is one of them.

Because of his position, he could not see the entire underground space clearly, and there were many blind spots. Geng Xuan guessed that perhaps there was a tunnel entrance connected to this underground space in a place he could not see.

In addition, Geng Xuan also found that there were three places with obvious signs of blockage.

Geng Xuan speculated that there might have been tunnel entrances in these three places.

The sealing technique is very rough and does not require the ability to identify soil. Ordinary people with a little care can see it.

Geng Xuan was somewhat hesitant about his next move.

This discovery is certainly shocking, but it is also a huge gain.

But it seems that's where it ends.

To explore more, one must enter the area illuminated by the fire and ask these children for more information, or enter other tunnels to see where they lead to.

But in the absence of more information, it would be reckless to do so.

What will happen next is even more difficult to predict and control.

"So be it."

After careful analysis, Geng Xuan realized that this exploration should stop here and should not continue.

After making the decision, Geng Xuan, hiding in the shadows, retreated silently.

Before he had taken a few steps back, Geng Xuan suddenly stopped.

However, the six children who were originally crying stopped crying at the same time, all looked in one direction with their eyes filled with fear, and some even couldn't control their bodies and began to tremble like sieves.

The direction they were looking in was exactly the blind spot of Geng Xuan's vision. He didn't know what they saw, but he understood that something must be happening in a place he couldn't see.

Geng Xuan stopped, held his breath, and silently reached for the cutting knife at his waist.

Realizing that something was happening, he was not overly worried. Although the place he was in was not completely dark, if he had time to fully adapt, he would be able to see vaguely within a few steps.

But if there is a place with bright fire nearby, it will basically be no different from pure darkness.

As the children quieted down, Geng Xuan also held his breath and concentrated. Finally, he heard a strange sound coming slowly from far away.

It was like two iron pestles hitting the ground rhythmically.

The sound was getting louder and louder, and getting closer and closer.

Then, Geng Xuan, who had excellent eyesight, discovered that a section of the wall became brighter and seemed to be shaking slightly.

In the slight shaking, some faint shadows can be vaguely seen on the wall.

Geng Xuan immediately realized that there was probably a tunnel entrance somewhere out of his sight, and someone was approaching with a torch.

Just as Geng Xuan was thinking about it, a figure with an iron rod under each armpit appeared in the room.

This person had a very strange body shape. His upper body was no different from that of a normal adult, but his lower body and legs were as short as a baby's, and they swung like noodles as the two iron pestles moved.

Although he did not see his front and only saw his back, Geng Xuan was certain that this person was the ugly beggar with deformed legs who he had met once in the market and who had forcibly taken ten cents from him.

Behind this person, there were two more people.

One is strong and the other is quite thin.

Both of them held a torch in their hands.

The strong man was holding a wooden barrel in his hand.

After the three men entered the room, the ugly beggar with the deformed leg came to the fire with an iron stick and stood there motionless as if he was frozen in time.

The thin man opened the six iron cages, and the strong man carried a wooden barrel to a shallow wooden trough next to the fire and poured the watery stuff in the barrel that was worse than pig food into the trough. Pig food would not be so watery.

Among the six children, one was the quickest to see the opportunity. He got on all fours and quickly crawled to the wooden trough. He put his head directly into the trough and started eating like an animal.

Three of them were obviously very hungry. After getting out of the cage, they subconsciously stood up and ran towards the wooden trough.

But soon, they fell to the ground one by one, screaming.

The thin man had a long whip in his hand and said coldly, "It seems that you have forgotten the rules again!"

One of the children immediately turned over, got on all fours, and rushed towards the wooden trough.

The other two didn't react much slower.

Because the thin man intentionally controlled the force of the whip, although the whip was painful when it hit their bodies, it did not cause too much damage to them and did not affect their movements much.

Soon, four small figures buried their heads in the wooden trough side by side, making the sound of eating quickly.

The thin man nodded with satisfaction.

But soon, his eyes turned sinister as he looked at the two children who were still squatting in the iron cage.

"Aren't you hungry?"

Neither of the two children said a word.

One of them trembled noticeably when he spoke, but still stubbornly refused to climb out of the cage.

Seeing this, the thin man nodded without saying another word.

After the four children at the wooden trough stopped eating and returned to their respective iron cages, the thin man locked the cages again.

The figure who had been silent since he appeared and stood motionless by the fire holding two iron pestles finally moved the pestles again and faced the direction of the six iron cages so that all the children in the cages could see him.

Even the two children hiding in the cage who had not yet surrendered had faces filled with fear at this moment.

“In five days, some big shots will come.

Among the six of you, the three most obedient and sensible ones will be picked out and taken away to be apprentices.

Believe me, as long as you can seize it, this is an opportunity that will allow you to reach great heights!

As for the remaining three, they also have to leave here... You seem very happy?

However, there are some things I need to let you know first.

Although you will leave here, you will not return to your parents.

Someone will take you somewhere else to be an apprentice.

However, what you are going to learn is quite special. Before you can formally learn, you need to break your legs, or even your arms, pull out your tongue, or dig out your ears. Someone will arrange the specific procedures for you.

If one is particularly lucky, he may be castrated and sent to Yuanjing to enjoy a good life."

The six children were all pale with fear.

Some of them seemed to understand but not quite, with some confusion in their eyes.

But some were quite precocious and fully understood the meaning of the words, their eyes full of despair.

"There are still five days left. Think carefully about what to do and be prepared."

After saying this, regardless of how much the children understood, the ugly beggar with the deformed leg left from another tunnel with two iron pestles, and the thin man held a torch to light the way for him.

The strong man did not leave with them. Instead, he poured the remaining soup and water in the wooden trough into the wooden barrel.

Then he picked up the bucket and poured it on the burning fire, and the fire was extinguished instantly.

Only the torch in his hand was still flickering.

As the man returned along the same path holding the torch, the space fell into complete darkness.

After a moment of deathly silence, the sound of a child crying could be heard again in the darkness.

(End of this chapter)