As night fell, the members of the Xuanyuan family, who had worked hard all day, were herded into an open space with other overseers. This open space was covered with straw, and it was where they would rest at night.
As for sleeping outdoors, there was no need to worry about catching a cold, as this was a tropical region where the night temperature often exceeded 30 degrees Celsius.
Everyone slumped onto the ground, too exhausted to move. They were all weary and covered in wounds. During work, any slight carelessness would result in the lash of a whip.
The mermen were brutal, showing no mercy or consideration for the women among the ability users, who received no gentler treatment when being beaten.
Xuanyuan Changfeng also noticed that other captured ability users, like them, huddled together in teams.
The sky darkened, but the area where they were located was not pitch black.
Every ten meters or so, a wooden stake over a meter high was placed on the ground. Atop each stake sat an egg-sized stone that emitted a faint glow.
The light from these stones was dim, but they illuminated a considerable area. Each stone could light up a radius of five meters around it.
Before long, five ability users approached, each carrying two large buckets, and one of them was also carrying a large box.
Leading them was a Chinese elder in his fifties.
The elder came before the group, surveyed them, and then asked, "Among you, who is the leader?"
Xuanyuan Changfeng quickly stepped forward. "Elder brother, I am the leader of these people. What do you need?"
"Come to eat!"
After the man spoke, he had his subordinates throw several buckets and a large box onto the ground. The group gathered around, but when they saw the contents of the buckets, their faces turned grim.
One bucket contained dragon beard seaweed, a very fine type of sea vegetable. Another held laver, and a third contained kelp cut into finger-thick strips.
Although these seaweeds and sea vegetables were very fresh, clearly just harvested from the sea, their appearance was utterly unappetizing.
"Can this stuff even be eaten? Isn't this pig feed?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Pig feed has some bran mixed in; this is all grass. They're treating us like livestock…"
"I, Xuanyuan Jingze, would rather starve to death today and be impaled by a trident by those mermen than eat a single bite of this…"
The elder seemed unfazed by their reactions; in fact, he was accustomed to it. Almost every batch of captured ability users reacted this way the first time they saw this food, without exception.
"Everyone, please listen to me for a moment. I was one of the first to be captured here and was assigned to collect food and deliver meals to you.
You need to understand where you are and what your situation is!
Those merfolk monsters don't see us as humans at all. We only get two meals a day, lunch and dinner, and our daily labor is extremely arduous, consuming a lot of energy.
This food provides very limited calories. If you skip even one meal, you'll be half-starved. If you skip a day, you'll likely starve to death!
I'm not trying to scare you. Over these past days, several picky eaters who refused to eat properly have starved to death!"
Hearing this, Xuanyuan Changfeng stepped forward and cupped his fists in greeting.
"Thank you, elder brother. We are new here and know nothing about the situation. Thank you for the reminder."
The elder sighed. "None of us have it easy after falling into this place. Perhaps someone will come to rescue us one day, but until then, we must find a way to survive!
The only food that can be found around this cursed island is what you see. All we few can do is desperately find more food.
As I said, if you want to live, eat as much as you can, whatever you can!
That box contains your plates, and they are relatively clean, so make do with them!
Once the plates are used up, keep your own plates safe and clean. If you lose them, there will be no more!"
After speaking, the elder and his subordinates prepared to leave. He had taken two steps when he turned back and said to Xuanyuan Changfeng,
"Oh, and young man, seeing as we share the same ancestors, there's something I must warn you about. This collar around our necks, do not ever try to break it by force!
This thing is very strange and incredibly sturdy. It's very difficult to remove. Even if you try to break it by force, the moment it's opened, the spikes on it will pierce your vital points, and you will die on the spot!
Many people have died trying to break it. I urge you not to attempt anything like this; don't gamble with your lives!"
Xuanyuan Changfeng bowed deeply to the elder. He was truly grateful to the old man, as he had indeed been planning to research how to remove the collar. If they had acted on that plan, more casualties would likely have occurred.
The elder smiled and waved his hand, then left. Xuanyuan Changfeng walked forward and saw the "plates" the elder had mentioned.
These plates were actually scallop shells, and the size of these shells was truly astonishing. Each scallop shell was about the size of a plate in a regular home.
Xuanyuan Changfeng picked up a shell, then scooped some seaweed from each bucket and, gritting his teeth, put it into his mouth.
The seaweed was fresh, but the fishy taste from being soaked in seawater was hard to bear.
Xuanyuan Changfeng chewed vigorously, then swallowed the seaweed with great difficulty. He looked up at the Xuanyuan family members who were watching him.
"Everyone, I know this is very difficult to eat, but as the elder brother said, we only have a chance to escape if we stay alive.
Although we have been captured now, the relevant intelligence has already been sent out. I believe our family has received the intelligence and is preparing to rescue us!
Our only goal now is to survive!
Don't think about resisting for now; focus on taking care of yourselves and staying alive!
This food is our guarantee for survival. No matter how unpalatable it is, we must force it down, even if it gets stuck in our throats!"
"That's right! To survive, even if I have to eat feces, this grandma will eat it!" Xuanyuan Luanfeng, standing beside him, gritted her teeth and picked up a plate of seaweed, swallowing it with difficulty!