181: Tied together

A bowl of cold water was splashed onto Gu Xiaoyue's face, forcing her to regain consciousness.

"Pfft—"

Gu Xiaoyue shook her head and opened her eyes, only to discover she was encased in a burlap sack, with only her head exposed.

Duan Yao was in the same predicament, right beside her, having just been splashed awake by cold water as well.

"Who are you people? What do you want?!"

Duan Yao had a fiery temper, and she immediately let out a loud, spirited shout.

Gu Xiaoyue narrowed her eyes. A distinguished-looking old man with graying hair sat on a sofa not far from them.

Xiao Mingyan and Xiao Yun stood a short distance behind the old man, their faces filled with undisguised triumph.

Xiao Yun's gaze seemed venomous, as if she were saying, "You've finally fallen into my hands. Just watch how I make you suffer!"

Gu Xiaoyue frowned slightly. What she found strange was—the Xiao Family was targeting her, but why had they kidnapped Duan Yao as well?

"Do you know who I am? Why did you kidnap me?"

Seeing that they wouldn't answer, Duan Yao began struggling to get up, trying to break free from the sack.

"Don't waste your energy!"

Xiao Yun snorted coldly, walked over, and looked down at Duan Yao.

"Of course we know who you are. You're just a little girl from a branch family of the Duan Family, not anyone important!"

After saying this, she rolled her eyes at her, her face full of disdain.

Duan Yao was furious. "Since I'm not anyone important, why did you bring me here! And you even used a restriction on me!"

Duan Yao had a restriction used on her?

Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaoyue noticed a golden necklace around Duan Yao's neck.

She moved her body, realizing her own hands and feet were shackled with chains.

In this position, it was impossible to draw a summoning circle.

"Why did we capture you? Naturally, it's for your God-Rank Pet! You have so many God-Rank Pets, did you never think you'd be targeted one day?"

Xiao Yun let out another cold laugh, her eyes flashing with madness.

God Rank, those were God-Rank Pets!

Duan Yao subconsciously swallowed. She had assumed her pets wouldn't be detected by a brain scan and hadn't thought anyone would actually recognize them.

Gu Xiaoyue had recognized them before, but she was right there, so it couldn't have been her who leaked the information.

Seeing that Duan Yao was silent and ignoring her, Xiao Yun turned her head to speak to Gu Xiaoyue.

"And you! You caused me to be expelled from Huaqing, stole my Immortal Tier Pet, and even dared to use the Gu Family to suppress and bully Brother Mingyan! You deserve to die!"

Gu Xiaoyue looked coldly at Xiao Yun. It seemed that the immense mental pressure from the past year in the Xiao Family had caused her to lose her mind.

"You!"

Xiao Yun pointed at Duan Yao's nose and said viciously.

"If you know what's good for you, break your contract with your God-Rank Pet, and we might show mercy and let you go. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless and killing you to take your pet!"

If Gu Xiaoyue hadn't been bound, she would have wanted to cover her face and sigh.

This was blatant robbery, yet they actually had the nerve to claim they were showing mercy!

In her view, the Xiao Family was clearly intent on stealing Duan Yao's pets.

After all, she was just a child from a branch family of the Duan Family, not someone who was highly valued.

Otherwise, why would she have been sent to the mountains at such a young age?

Even if her pets were stolen, the Duan Family could only swallow their anger; they wouldn't stand up for a useless person.

Because with four God-Rank Pets in hand, the Xiao Family could firmly sit on the throne as the number one noble family in the Dragon Kingdom, rather than the current situation where they only shared equal status with the Duan Family.

"Breaking the contract is impossible, give up on that idea!"

Duan Yao turned her head away and replied with great resolve.

Gu Xiaoyue silently gave her a mental thumbs-up.

Regardless of whether the Duan Family valued Duan Yao, this integrity was something Gu Xiaoyue truly admired.

Gu Xiaoyue glanced at the increasingly frantic Xiao Yun, then at the head of the Xiao Family, Xiao Hongjun, whose expression had darkened further.

Xiao Yun picked up a fruit knife from the tea table and pressed it against Duan Yao's throat.

"Are you really not afraid of death!"

Duan Yao's expression didn't change; instead, she lifted her head.

"Killing me is fine, at least the pets won't fall into your hands!"

She snorted, "Because—all four God-Rank Pets are my companion beasts!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Hongjun, who had been sitting on the sofa, stood up abruptly.

He asked in a deep voice, "Girl, are all four of them your companion beasts?"

Xiao Hongjun probed, trying to detect the confidence in Duan Yao's words to judge their authenticity.

After all, having four companion beasts, all of which were God Rank, was unprecedented.

"That's right, all four! Do whatever you want, kill me or torture me!"

Duan Yao still held her head high, looking righteous and fearless.

It was Xiao Yun who seemed at a loss.

"Grandfather—"

Xiao Yun couldn't make up her mind and looked to Xiao Hongjun for help.

Xiao Hongjun took a deep breath and waved his hand.

Gu Xiaoyue and Duan Yao were put back into the sacks by two henchmen and thrown into another room.

Duan Yao struggled to stand up from inside the sack.

"Gu Xiaoyue, can you move?"

"My hands and feet are both shackled."

Duan Yao came over to help her out of the sack and tried to unlock the chains.

Gu Xiaoyue looked around. She had expected them to be thrown into a dark basement.

She hadn't expected this room to be decorated in pink, like a princess room prepared for a little girl.

"Sigh, it's no use, I can't unlock it!"

Duan Yao tried for a long time but couldn't unlock Gu Xiaoyue's chains.

She gave up and sat down next to Gu Xiaoyue.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment, and before long, soft sobbing could be heard.

"Gu Xiaoyue, I was very scared just now."

Duan Yao said in a low voice while shedding tears.

Her trembling lips made her tearful words sound even sadder.

"That woman seems like a lunatic. She was holding a knife, she really might have slit my throat..."

Gu Xiaoyue remained silent; she wanted to comfort Duan Yao.

But they both clearly felt that Xiao Yun's mental state was such that she would kill Duan Yao because of her pets!

After all, Duan Yao was just an innocent, naive little girl.

Being held at knifepoint by Xiao Yun was not the same as being held by Gu Xiaoyue.

She knew Gu Xiaoyue wouldn't actually kill her, but it was hard to say with Xiao Yun!

"Are your four pets really all companion beasts?"

Gu Xiaoyue wanted to confirm this too. She frowned and secretly wrote the question on Duan Yao's palm with her fingertip.

She was afraid that Xiao Hongjun and the others might have installed listening or monitoring devices in this room, and they were defenseless.

If Duan Yao was just bluffing, exposing the truth here would lead to her being forced to break the contracts with her pets, or even losing her life!

Duan Yao understood Gu Xiaoyue's question and answered directly.

"My four pets are indeed all companion beasts. If they want to kill me to take them, then I'm sorry, they'll only get a corpse and a permanent grudge with the Duan Family! They think the Duan Family doesn't value me, but the head of the Duan Family knows I went up the mountain to learn skills!"