Ruling the Historical Romance Novel as the Female Supporting Character-Chapter 223: Just Stalling for Time

"Alright!" Xia Weiguo agreed with surprising swiftness. Not just Su Yijia, even the two men holding her seemed momentarily stunned.

"Then write down what we want on a piece of paper and pass it through," one of the captors demanded.

"You come out first, let us keep an eye on Jiajia to ensure her safety," Xia Weiguo countered, struggling to maintain his calm. These men were ruthless; without supervision, they would definitely harm Jiajia, risking Qin Kaize’s life.

"Spit! Do you think we don’t know what you’re plotting? Trying to ambush us? No way! Just give us what we want and then everyone retreat 500 meters. Otherwise, we’ll hurt this little lady," the man barked, his tone ruthless, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Alright!" Xia Weiguo couldn’t afford to delay. He ordered his men, "Retreat, move out immediately."

Obeying the command, the men swiftly withdrew from the courtyard. Listening to the sounds outside, the man beside Su Yijia tapped her face with his gun.

"Didn’t expect you to be even more useful than we thought!" His mocking tone didn’t faze Su Yijia; she kept her eyes lowered, expressionless.

The two men didn’t mind her attitude. One of them moved the large iron pot from the stove, removed the firewood inside, and then lifted a not-so-thick stone slab. The tall man, nearly six feet, quickly disappeared into the stove.

The man restraining Su Yijia didn’t waste time, lifting her like a small chicken and placing her into the stove. The man inside immediately grabbed her legs, pulling her in.

"Hurry up!" He urged, pushing her head to move forward. She had no choice but to comply.

After walking for about ten minutes, Su Yijia realized the other man hadn’t followed. Clearly, he stayed back in the kitchen to stall Xia Weiguo and the others, preventing them from realizing she had been moved.

These people were indeed prepared to die for their mission.

"Move faster! Don’t think you can delay us!" The man noticed her slowing down and kicked her leg, though not too hard, likely fearing she’d be too injured to walk.

Su Yijia had no choice but to quicken her pace. The underground passage was straight, and they quickly reached Yongyang Village.

Within two hours, they arrived at a large cavern with some light shining through.

"Get up!" the man behind her ordered.

"I can’t lift my arms. How am I supposed to climb up?" Su Yijia replied helplessly.

The man spat in frustration, then lifted her by the legs and hoisted her up. As soon as her head emerged, seven or eight men with guns pointed at her. They frowned deeply upon seeing her but still grabbed her by the neck and pulled her up.

The grip was so tight Su Yijia almost thought they’d choke her to death.

"Weren’t you supposed to capture Qin Kaize? Why bring back a woman?" one of the men complained.

"This woman is Qin Kaize’s wife. He’s captured so many of our brothers. We couldn’t get him, but having his wife is better," the man below ground snarled, his words dripping with hatred.

The others waited for a while, and when no one else emerged from the underground passage, their faces darkened.

"All the other brothers are gone?" one of the men asked, his voice heavy with anger.

"Yes! It’s all this woman’s fault. She had some kind of hidden weapon that knocked our men out. Otherwise, we would have captured them all. Look, we dislocated her arms to prevent her from pulling any more tricks," the man spat, glaring venomously at Su Yijia.

Upon hearing this, the man beside them slapped Su Yijia hard across the face. "Bitch!" he snarled. Su Yijia fell to the ground, pain radiating from her head as if it had been sliced in half. Her pale face quickly turned red and swollen, looking especially miserable. Tasting the blood in her mouth, she licked the wounded inside of her cheek, and to her horror, found one of her teeth loose.

Damn it! She had always found it satisfying to read about protagonists knocking out the teeth of cannon fodder and villains in novels. She never imagined she’d find herself in such a situation. She was too old to be losing teeth now. Given China’s current dental capabilities, no one would be able to replace it for her.

The man who slapped her looked at her disheveled hair and the red mark on her fair face, his eyes darkening. He crouched halfway down, grabbing Su Yijia’s chin and forcing her to look up at him. Her slightly reddened peach blossom eyes were misty, appearing so alluring that they seemed to draw people in. The cold, emotionless look in her eyes made him even more eager to destroy her.

"Qin Kaize, that cripple, sure is lucky to have married such a beautiful wife. Did he force you to marry him because he’s a hero?" The man shook Su Yijia’s head side to side, as if examining a piece of merchandise.

"What good is it for a cripple to marry a wife? Make her a widow? Why not let me show you what a real man is like today," he said with a malicious grin, his hand moving to his waist.

The man next to him immediately pulled him back. "Enough! Are you out of your mind? Don’t you know the Chinese value purity above all? If they think it’s not worth it to save her, our brothers would have died in vain, and we won’t get what we want."

"Tch, fine. We’ll wait until we get what we want, then I’ll have some fun with her," the man said lecherously, patting Su Yijia’s face.

"By the way, what did you use on our brothers earlier?" the man who brought her here asked, suddenly curious.

"Tranquilizer darts. I didn’t use poison," Su Yijia answered honestly.

The man’s eyes roved over her, still suspicious. "And your hidden weapon?"

"I threw it with the gun I had taken," Su Yijia replied with the explanation she had prepared in advance.

He frowned, skeptical. They had seen her throw the weapon but couldn’t confirm if she had also discarded her hidden weapon amidst the chaos. Nonetheless, there was no time to dwell on it further.

Without saying another word, the man took out two pieces of hemp rope and bound Su Yijia’s hands and feet tightly. They didn’t relax their guard at all, despite their numbers and the fact that her arms were dislocated. Unlike in movies, where captors foolishly turned their backs to chat or locked their captive in a small room, they kept her within their sight and chatted nonchalantly.

Though they didn’t discuss anything particularly secretive, their open attitude clearly indicated that they had no intention of letting her live after they got what they wanted.