love on the turquoise land

Chapter 51

Nie Jiuluo went down to the stairs and waved to Xing Shen, signaling him to come upstairs.

Xing Shen got up and passed by Da Yan. Anticipating his mouth would start rambling again, he stuffed the cloth back into his mouth.

***

Worried that the second floor might not be soundproof enough, the two went upstairs to talk.

Nie Jiulo handed the drawing to Xing Shen.

Xing Shen's eyes struggled to make out the words and drawings on the screen and paper. He held up the paper and examined it under the light for a while. "What does this mean?"

Nie Jiulo hesitated for a moment. "I just suspect... How many people were taken from this small building?"

Xing Shen thought carefully. "Including Uncle Jiang, eight."

"Eight, plus Que Die, and the three-person squad, making it a total of twelve?"

"For now, yes," Xing Shen nodded. "Currently, we've lost contact with Lao Dao and Yu Rong's side. So, the confirmed number of trapped people is twelve."

Nie Jiulo continued, "The other side asked us to bring the people home early and mentioned that we've been told where to pick them up—this should be referring to South Ba Monkey Head, right?"

Xing Shen had no objection. "So far, they've only mentioned this location."

Nie Jiulo took the paper back from Xing Shen. "They let Gangzi and Da Yan pass on messages, but they couldn't say it directly, so they used this ambiguous way. Only those who understand will get it. There are four fruits on this tree, but they're not normal fruits. They're suspended, and my understanding is that they represent Que Die and the other three-person squad, so four people, being hung on a certain tree at South Ba Monkey Head."

Xing Shen felt a chill down his spine. "They're hanging dead?"

Nie Jiulo shook her head. "They emphasized 'it's cold' and 'the fruits are frozen.' I don't think they're hanged to death, but rather left hanging like that."

Xing Shen asked, "So, you mean Que Die and the other three are currently tied up and hanging from a tree at South Ba Monkey Head? Now?"

Nie Jiulo remained silent, just turned to look out the window. The snow was falling heavily again, and in this weather, it would only get colder in the deep mountains. Trying to freeze people alive, it might really just take one night.

She shivered involuntarily, and after a moment, she continued, "They asked us to pick up Que Die on the 8th. We didn't go, so Que Die likely... has been hanging from the 8th until now. The other three were probably hanged later."

"'The fruits are frozen, bury them under the tree, and grow a new batch of fruits until they're all gone'—this likely implies that if someone freezes to death, they'll bury them there and hang new people. Because they have many of our people in their hands anyway," Nie Jiulo analyzed.

Until they're all gone.

Xing Shen remained silent for a while before saying, "This is a trap. They know they haven't captured all of us and want to lure the remaining ones."

Nie Jiulo glanced at him. "It's definitely a trap, that much is clear."

However, this trap was putting immense pressure on them.

It conveyed a cruel message: the fate of your companions is in your hands, not ours. We'll keep sending people until you accept. The longer you take, the more 'fruits' freeze.And then... until they're all gone.