Luo Xiaole lay in the room that Brother Wang and his team had cleared for her.
She watched the clock, waiting for nightfall.
When the hands finally neared 1:50 AM, she scrambled to her feet.
In the next room, Brother Wang and the others were already snoring thunderously.
Their loud snores masked her soft footsteps.
"Luo Xiaole..." Before she even reached the doorway, Luo Xiaole saw Pi Jiajia lurking at the entrance of the back kitchen, his eyes darting about sneakily.
Luo Xiaole looked at him speechlessly; he resembled a weasel waiting to steal a chicken during Chinese New Year.
"Quick, quick, change into this," Pi Jiajia tossed her a garment that looked like a guard's uniform.
Luo Xiaole didn't ask any questions. She quickly put on the clothes and followed Pi Jiajia, winding and weaving through passages until they reached the cave entrance where she had seen the tiger held captive.
Another guard hadn't arrived yet, and Luo Xiaole, dressed in the guard's uniform, encountered several groups of people along the way but wasn't recognized.
Just as Pi Jiajia had said, the night shift guards were all extremely drowsy.
"Boss, remember, the barriers here can only be opened with this."
He jingled a round disk in his hand.
"This is their communication device, and also a key that can temporarily open the spatial barriers."
Luo Xiaole examined the patterns on it closely; they were indeed peculiar.
She watched as Pi Jiajia twisted the disk a few times, and it instantly turned green.
She reached out and felt the barrier leading deeper in. It seemed to respond instantly.
With a faint "hum" and a ripple like water, Luo Xiaole felt the barrier in front of her in the darkness being silently opened.
"It's open!"
Led by Pi Jiajia, she ran through the pitch-blackness.
As light appeared ahead, the emotional energy bar floating before Luo Xiaole's eyes suddenly surged, the "anger" section skyrocketing to 100%!
Luo Xiaole was startled. What was happening ahead?
As she rounded a corner, a faint torchlight suddenly caught her eye.
The scene before her shocked her to the core. She covered her mouth, speechless for a long time.
The cave was densely packed with crosses. The wooden crosses were stained with blood, reflecting a terrifying crimson glow under the torchlight.
Each cross had a person tied to it, and each person's chest was pierced directly by a large hook!
Blood dripped, drop by drop, from the hooks onto the ground before the wooden frames, creating small pits of varying depths…
"The Azure Dragon Gang is doing inhuman things!" Pi Jiajia cursed beside her.
"These are all ability users collected from all over. After being stunned with electricity, they're transported here, hooked through the chest, and then kept half-alive by healing ability users so they can't resist."
Luo Xiaole's brow furrowed tightly. "Why are they tied up here?"
In her eyes, the energy vortexes of these ability users were much fainter than before, and for two of them, the white vortexes were almost imperceptible.
Pi Jiajia pointed to the glowing orbs suspended next to each person.
"The energy within their bodies is being siphoned into these orbs and then transmitted back to the gang."
"To enhance the Azure Dragon Gang's ability users?" Luo Xiaole guessed almost instantly…
"If you guess that quickly, I'll get scared!" Pi Jiajia quipped.
"So their combat power must have increased significantly now…" No wonder the spatial ability users here could create these barriers; the range was indeed vast.
"D…damn…" From somewhere in the depths, one of the ability users managed to utter a few words, each one gritted with hatred!
Luo Xiaole saw that there were still many conscious people here and instantly understood why her energy bar's anger level had instantly filled; these were the cries of the bloodied victims, the accusations against the Azure Dragon Gang!
A surge of anger welled up in Luo Xiaole's eyes.
Even zombies didn't torture people like this!
She drew her two sharpest daggers, twirled her wrist, and directly slashed at the hook in one of the victim's chests!
How much pain these hooks must be causing them!
"Clang!" Before her knife even touched the hook, an invisible force repelled it.
"There are barriers here too?" Luo Xiaole was surprised.
"Everyone has one… and this barrier cannot be opened even with the disk," Pi Jiajia pursed his lips.
"...How can it be opened?"
"There's a representative from the gang who comes once a week. Others are not trusted, so he has to personally transport these energy orbs. Only his clearance can open them."
"When is the next time they'll come?" Luo Xiaole had a plan.
"In two days."
Luo Xiaole nodded. "Two days is enough." She scanned the area again and discovered familiar faces!
She immediately recognized the kind-looking lady with brown hair who had saved her in the apartment complex!
And several members of elite squads she knew…
She clenched her fists, vowing silently, "Hang in there a little longer, and I'll free you soon…"
"Xiaole! Hurry, I have to get back to my post, or they'll find out and I'll be done for!" Pi Jiajia suddenly whimpered.
"Where are the people? Where is the relief guard!" Someone outside shouted suspiciously.
"You go, I'll hide and find an opportunity to get out later," Luo Xiaole signaled him.
"Okay, okay." Pi Jiajia quickly ran back to the entrance, and the barrier slammed shut.
Luo Xiaole didn't have time to get out. She utilized her "advantage" in size, crouching down not far from the entrance, hidden in the darkness.
"What were you doing inside?" the approaching squad leader glared at Pi Jiajia, demanding sternly.
Pi Jiajia's palms were sweating, but he feigned composure. "Those people inside were cursing again, so I went in and lectured them a few times!"
"Is that so?" The man narrowed his eyes.
"Of course! How dare they offend the gang; they're foolish!" Pi Jiajia mentally kowtowed, hoping that in this urgent situation, everyone would forgive his fabrication.
The squad leader finally looked satisfied, patted his shoulder, and said, "That's more like it! Keep up the good work! I'm going in to take a look."
Pi Jiajia had no time to stop him. The squad leader stepped inside the barrier.
Pi Jiajia watched, his heart pounding; Luo Xiaole was still inside!
But the next second, someone tapped his shoulder.
"Who is it!" He almost jumped out of his skin!
"Shh, it's me," Luo Xiaole covered his mouth.
"You… how did you get out!" Pi Jiajia's life almost drained away.
"I noticed that your barriers here can maintain for about 6 seconds each time. So, when he was just stepping in, I found a blind spot and used the last two seconds to roll out…"
Pi Jiajia looked at her covered in dust. "Auntie, you're risking your life! You're so brave!"
"Alright, I'm going back. Tell me about the Azure Dragon Gang tomorrow."
"Do you know the way back?"
Luo Xiaole's figure was already receding, leaving him only an "ok" gesture and a small, frail back that seemed about to be swallowed by the tunnel.