“Don’t you share yours with me, too?” Xia Ruoxin drank the soup contentedly, despite its lack of taste. To be honest, it tasted like dishwashing liquid; maybe, that was exactly what it was.

Shen Wei cupped the bowl with both her hands. “How great would it be if we can get this every day?”

“I wish so, too.” Xia Ruoxin smiled. What she actually wanted to say was that it was good to have someone to share the soup with. No matter her or Shen Wei, life would be incredibly difficult if there was only one of them left in this world.

It was good to have the soup.

Even if it was just half or a tiny portion… at least they had someone to share it with.

The others were not so fortunate. They were like the walking dead. They probably would not even live very long.

What they were unaware of was that there was a boat sailing towards where they were from afar. In the vast ocean, the boat was like a single leaf, moving along its currents.

The floorboard seemed to shake a little. Chu Lui opened his eyes, used to a life without solid ground and with nothing but a thin layer of wood between him and the ocean.

The door opened, and a pail with some biscuits was brought in.

All the hungry people rushed forward, but a scrawny man grabbed two and walked over to Chu Lui, where he passed one to the man.

He then curled up in a corner and began eating.

This was the man that Chu Lui had kicked over the last time. He was probably sucking up to Chu Lui out of fear of being beaten up again, but Chu Lui was not complaining about having something to wait on him.

He wondered how long it would take for them to arrive; there was probably about a month’s journey left.

He closed his eyes as he stuffed the biscuit into his mouth occasionally.

Regardless of its taste, he did not have much of an appetite. He grew increasingly frustrated as time passed.

A month later, the boat suddenly came to a stop; and the world was quiet.

We’re here. Chu Lui opened his eyes as the door was opened. There was quite a bit of light flowing in, and that was probably the most amount of light they had seen in a really long time.

The people were busy moving the cargo. As for them, it was not their time yet.

When it was almost dark, the people from outside chased them out of the cabins. Because it was already dark outside, it was not as hard on their eyes.

Chu Lui narrowed his eyes as he heard the few people speak.

“We’re going to exchange tonight.”

“Yeah, it’s better to do it at night. A few of them were blinded the last time we let them out in the day. It’s a good idea that we do the trade at night from now on.”

“Go get the stuff and lock them up so they can’t run. Else, it’s going to be a pain trying to capture them again. We don’t want any trouble, not when we’re here.”

A crew member brought a metal chain and chained the men up.

Chu Lui reached out his hands and let them cuff him without resistance. He was not worried that he would be there for a long time. Once they received his signal on the other end, there would be a helicopter to get him out of here. No one would be able to stop him.

The sea was unpredictable and dangerous. He would not make his way here without ample preparation. If he did that, he would die before he found the person he was looking for.

The dozen chained up men walked in a single file as they were pulled to a large mine. Before them was a wide river. It was where the gold was deposited.

Chu Lui lowered his head, but he was actually eavesdropping on the men. They were speaking in the local languages, probably the native’s dialect. There was nothing much he could do; he spoke five languages fluently, but a native dialect was not one of them.

A rugged and plump black woman walked over. She pinched parts of the men’s bodies, seemingly discontent until she walked over to Chu Lui. She placed her arm on his and patted it.

She then looked up, perhaps because of the man’s outstanding looks. Besides, he was significantly taller than all the other people here. He was 188cm, a model’s height and stature. His features were not delicate, but they were rather chiseled and good-looking. Furthermore, the last few years added to his cool demeanor, giving him a charm that most women could not resist.

The black woman winked at him as she touched him across the chest teasingly as if sending a signal of some kind.

However, Chu Lui pretended to be oblivious, looking aside.

The woman straightened her body as she went to inspect the physical condition of the others. They could not have anyone with any defects.

Following that was a round of bargaining. Chu Lui could not understand what the exact price was, but he got the sense that they were not able to come to a consensus. After about half an hour, the woman took out a small pouch.

The crew who brought them here took it from her; it was all gold pearls inside.

Chu Lui’s face and eyes turned gloomy. Was he only worth such a small bag of gold? He was really being cheapened here, not to mention that the bag was for all the men, not just him alone.

With the transaction completed, they were ushered into a wooden house that did not even have a bed. All it had were two mattresses, and not everyone could get a share of it. Without it, one had to sleep on the cold floor. Blankets were in demand here because of the terrible weather conditions. Without them, at least half the people would freeze. Before long, someone brought blankets over. However, it was all women, no sign of men.

Chu Lui had heard about the strange customs of some places. Women would be the ones out working while the men rested. It was a little like a matriarchal society, and he wondered if this was such a place.