How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

The tomb is located deep in the mountains, but it is so well hidden that it is difficult for outsiders to find it.

"Hey, do you guys think there's any treasure in this tomb? It looks pretty old," one of the burly young men asked excitedly, rubbing his hands together. His name was Li Daguo, and he was always enthusiastic about anything related to money.

A shifty-eyed guy next to him shook his head. "There probably are, but if it were really some kind of antique, would it be kept in such a remote place? Besides, even if there were something valuable, it wouldn't be given to us for free. There are so many of us here." He gestured towards Ruika with his chin.

“That makes sense.” There was some truth to what he said, but Li Daguo still felt that he was lucky. “What if there really is something valuable inside? This tomb looks quite large, and it was specially buried in a cave. It must be something special. Maybe there are valuable things inside.”

Li Daguo's words intrigued everyone. After all, wouldn't it be a waste not to bury some gold and silver treasures in such a mysterious tomb? Who would bother to build a tomb in a cave? It would be normal to just throw things away.

Hearing the excited tone of the crowd, Ruika couldn't help but lower her head and think.

He always felt that the tomb was not what he had imagined.

"Don't rush to dig. Let's find the exit first," Ruika said, interrupting their discussion.

Seeing Ruika's serious expression, Li Daguo curled his lip and said, "Anyway, he can't make the decision, so whatever he says goes."

Seeing this, some people scattered to look for an exit, while the rest continued digging. However, they did not have any tools with them, so they could only break off some branches and find some handy stones to dig.

Li Daguo took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and started smoking with relish, while his gaze lewdly roamed over Qingru and the other three.

Seeing Li Daguo's expression, Qingru felt extremely disgusted and slightly turned her body to avoid him, only to find that the thief's eyes were fixed on Guiying.

A surge of anger welled up inside her. This scoundrel, even in a foreign land, was still thinking of such despicable things. If she could move, she would definitely stab him through with three knives, leaving six holes in his body.

These people had tied her up very tightly. Qingru huddled in a corner, quietly trying to break free of the ropes. The ropes seemed to tighten the more she struggled. Qingru was now covered in sweat, her arms aching, yet she still couldn't budge the sturdy ropes.

Suddenly, Li Daguo threw away his cigarette butt, strolled over to Guiying, squatted down beside her, and reached out to touch her face.

Guiying quickly took two steps back to avoid Li Daguo, staring at him with wary and disgusted eyes.

Li Daguo chuckled, not annoyed at all, and turned back to his work.

Guiying breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, she almost thought that Li Daguo would tear her clothes off on the spot.

Seeing this, Qingru gritted her teeth and struggled. Finally, her legs were slightly freed, but her wrists were still tightly bound.

Qingru tried to twist her body, but only to experience more intense pain. The pain made her groan, and large beads of sweat rolled down her face. She felt a sudden sense of powerlessness.

What should I do? Qingru cried out anxiously in her heart, but no god heard her cries, and she could only rely on herself.

Suddenly, she felt a sticky, cold sensation on her right ankle, as if something slippery was clinging to it, which made her shiver all over.

Is this... a snake?

Qingru opened her eyes wide in terror, trying to see what the unknown thing in the darkness was. Suddenly, a cold, fishy stench reached her nose.

Yes, it's most likely a snake.

Qingru was unable to move, feeling the slender, slippery, soft creature slowly wriggling upwards from her feet.

Seemingly sensing her gaze, it paused for a moment, then abruptly disappeared into the darkness.

It was only then that Qingru could see clearly that it really was a snake, a small snake that was entirely black and about half a meter long.

It's unclear whether the snake left or not; perhaps it lurked in the shadows, waiting for its chance to strike. Perhaps it was attracted by the scent of blood on Qingru's feet, but found its prey too large and thus fled.

But it's still winter, how could there be snakes?

This cave is cold and damp, clearly not an environment suitable for snakes to live in.

But this wasn't the time for Qingru to think about that. Suddenly, the men stopped, and Li Daguo cursed loudly, "Damn it, this dilapidated tomb actually has an iron gate! What the hell is this?"

"Could it be the tomb of some important figure?"

"Damn it. I'm going to dig it up anyway, so what?" Li Daguo roared.

"If I didn't lack the right tools, I would have dug this grave open and seen which bastard dared to install an iron gate in his own tomb." The grave was clearly beyond the reach of digging today, and the man stood at the entrance, furious.

Ruika clearly didn't want to waste any more time here. Seeing that it was getting late, she told everyone to go back first. "It's just a cemetery. We might not find anything here. Forget it, we didn't bring any tools today. Let's take these women back first. We can also squeeze some money out of Boss Zhang. Isn't that more worthwhile than staying here?"

The others agreed with his point and thus supported Ruika's suggestion.

"Alright then, let's go."

Ruika took the lead, heading towards Qingru and the other three. The others followed closely behind.

As the group approached, Qingru grew increasingly anxious. What should she do? If she missed today, would she still be alive to escape the textile factory?

In her anxiety and unable to think of a solution, Qingru made a tough decision, bit her tongue, and forced herself to concentrate, staring intently at the approaching group of people.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed...

Like the cold gleam of a sharp sword, it pierced towards the person closest to Qingru.

A bright light flashed before Qingru's eyes, and when she saw what it was, she almost cried out in surprise.

It's that little snake!

The small black snake struck the man squarely in the face and then coiled around his neck, hissing softly. The man stood frozen in place, clearly terrified by the sudden attack.

Ruika dodged the snake the moment it lunged at him, and the scene before him shocked him.

When did this snake come out? Why is it so quiet?

The snake bit the man's neck hard, and only then did the man react, immediately reaching out to grab it. But the small snake didn't linger and quickly slithered away.

The others immediately jumped away, afraid that the snake would coil around them, and none of them paid any attention to the man who had been bitten.

Qingru was shoved and pushed to the ground by the fleeing people, her knees aching from the fall. Strangely, the snake was the closest to her, so why didn't it attack her?

This snake must have crawled out of the tomb. Could it be that the snake can distinguish between good and bad?

Qingru didn't know the answer; she only knew that this snake was currently their only helper. As long as they could drive these people away, it would be a great achievement.

She managed to move, and these people had also tied her feet, but not as tightly as her hands, so she could still move a little.

Guiying and the others were so frightened that they couldn't move, but after they came to their senses, they desperately began to wriggle, afraid of being targeted by the venomous snake.

Ruika was the first to react. She had been terrified by the small snake that suddenly appeared, but upon closer inspection, the snake was only a little longer than a woman's arm and about the thickness of a finger. It was completely black and not scary at all.

"Stop running! Look closely, it's just a tiny snake, not even necessarily poisonous. Why are you so scared?"

The crowd quieted down and carefully examined the snake. Just as Ruika had said, it was an ordinary little black snake, not even as thick as their fingers. They could kill it with a single stomp, so there was nothing to worry about.