Chapter 26
Yun Xiaoxiao lowered her head and followed the Thin Man to a small cabin.
The cabin door was chained shut.
The Thin Man used a key to unlock the chain, pushed open the door, and roughly pulled Yun Xiaoxiao inside.
"Get in!"
The interior was empty, with nothing but dry straw covering the floor.
The Thin Man walked to the far right corner and swept away the straw with his foot, revealing a square wooden trapdoor, which was also locked.
He skillfully unlocked the trapdoor and pushed Yun Xiaoxiao towards it.
"Uncle, I'm scared," Yun Xiaoxiao said, glancing at the wooden ladder leading down, pretending to be frightened.
The Thin Man looked impatient and spoke harshly.
"Hurry up, don't make trouble!"
"Uncle, please come down with me. Boo-hoo, I'm afraid there are monsters down there," Yun Xiaoxiao squeezed her eyes and began wailing loudly.
"Damn it! Kids are such a nuisance!" Seemingly annoyed by Yun Xiaoxiao's crying, the Thin Man went down first, not forgetting to turn back and say, "Follow me."
As Yun Xiaoxiao descended, she closed the trapdoor behind her.
The further down they went, the clearer the situation below became.
It was a cellar, dimly lit, with straw covering the floor.
In the farthest corner, two children about six or seven years old were huddled, dirty and terrified.
Near their feet was a bowl filled with dog food.
On a wooden stake, a boy of about nine was hanging upside down.
His body was covered in whip marks, bloody and raw.
His right wrist was wrapped in a bandage, stained crimson.
Everything in this cellar was all too familiar to Yun Xiaoxiao.
In her previous life, she had been one of them!
She too had been hung upside down on that stake for disobedience, whipped, and had her wrists cut to bleed!
She and the other children locked up here were like chicks kept by the scum running this dog farm, waiting to be slaughtered when food ran low and meat was scarce!
Yun Xiaoxiao's lowered eyes gradually became dark and sinister!
"Go over there and..." Before the Thin Man could finish saying "stay", a green vine pressed against his throat.
He stared in horror at the monster that could pierce his throat at any moment, about to scream.
"If you dare to shout, it will send you to the afterlife in the next second!"
Yun Xiaoxiao's lips curled into a cruel smile as she waved the green vine.
The thorn-like green vine exuded a deadly threat, and the Thin Man turned pale with fright, hurriedly covering his mouth.
"Go sit over there," Yun Xiaoxiao jerked her chin.
Looking up for too long was tiring.
Seeing Yun Xiaoxiao emanating an evil aura, the Thin Man's legs trembled as he shuffled step by step to where she had pointed and sat down.
His eyes were filled with fear.
Why had the soft and harmless little girl from earlier suddenly become so terrifying?
Such a horrifying gaze and aura, he hadn't even seen it in their boss, it was too... too scary!
The two children who had been keeping their heads down now looked up, gazing at Yun Xiaoxiao with admiration.
Even the injured boy tied to the stake managed to raise his head to look in her direction.
Yun Xiaoxiao ignored how the three were looking at her and faced the terrified Thin Man.
Her voice was cool, "Now, I ask, you answer."
The Thin Man immediately nodded vigorously.
"How many of your people are there in this dog farm in total?"
"Initially there were twelve of us, but after Fat Brother's associate Tiger Brother arrived, it became twenty-six. Five were killed by zombies, and Tiger Brother and nine others went out to search for supplies a while ago and haven't returned. Now, including me, there are only eleven of us left in the dog farm."
"I took a glance earlier, and there are clearly more than eleven people here."
The Thin Man hurriedly explained, "That's because some refugees have also come to our place."
"What's your relationship with Xiao Feng?"
"Him? He's just passing through, arrived only yesterday. Our Fat Brother wanted to persuade him to stay, so he's been treating him well with food and drink, but he... as you saw, has quite a temper, and just left earlier."
Yun Xiaoxiao understood. It seemed Xiao Feng had no real connection to the dog farm.
That was good. If he had been one of them, it would have been more troublesome to deal with.
"Are there any other Superhumans among your group?"
"Superhumans?" The Thin Man looked confused; he hadn't heard this term before.
"People like Xiao Feng, who can suddenly breathe fire, or have other strange abilities."
The Thin Man shook his head.
Yun Xiaoxiao furrowed her brow, "Then one last question, apart from your own people, does anyone else know about this cellar? In other words, has anyone else eaten this 'fresh meat'?"
The Thin Man understood Yun Xiaoxiao's implication all too well.
He shook his head hurriedly, trying to explain, "We haven't eaten any, we just..."
"Answer my question!" Yun Xiaoxiao's gaze turned icy.
She didn't know if they had started eating in this life.
But in her previous life, when she arrived here, the people locked up weren't these three!
Where had those three gone? It didn't take a genius to figure it out!
"No, no, nobody else knows about this place, and we haven't had the chance to eat yet..."
Hah! Haven't had the chance? Meaning they would have if they had the chance!
Truly a bunch of deplorable beasts!
Seeing Yun Xiaoxiao's cold gaze, the Thin Man couldn't help but shudder.
"Please don't kill me, I've told you everything you wanted to know," he begged.
Yun Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, "I won't kill you, but you need to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"Call your ten brothers to come to this cabin. Remember, no tricks, otherwise..."
Before Yun Xiaoxiao could finish her threat, the Thin Man nodded frantically.
"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll definitely call them over, absolutely no tricks!"
For the sake of survival, he had no choice but to betray his brothers.
This was a Superhuman as terrifying as Xiao Feng! He couldn't afford to cross her!
"Go then."
Yun Xiaoxiao retracted the green vine.
The Thin Man hurriedly stood up and ran outside.
Yun Xiaoxiao walked over to the two bound children and used her knife to cut the ropes binding them.
She then went to the boy hanging upside down, aimed her knife at the rope above, and with a flick, the rope snapped, and the boy fell onto the straw-covered ground.
Having done all this, Yun Xiaoxiao didn't spare the three another glance before climbing up the wooden ladder towards the outside.
The three exchanged glances, their eyes brimming with grateful tears.
The two younger ones hurriedly moved to support the severely injured older boy.
"Brother Long, are you alright?"
"Don't... don't move me yet."
The older boy cried out in pain, frightening the younger ones into quickly letting go.
"Sorry, Brother Long, did we hurt you?"
"It's okay, don't cry. It just hurts from being hung up for so long, it'll be better after a while."
Long Zhe looked at the empty wooden ladder, feeling a bit lost.