Lu Xingyan didn't know how long she stayed inside the ship but base on the way the kidnappers were feeding them, she could guess that they were two days on the sea since they were fed once a day. Even if they were just there in the room, everyone was tired and was feeling sea-sick, including her.

  On the third day of sea travel, the cargo ship finally came to a stop and the hostages were brought out of the room. It was dark outside, the sky was filled with stars. The only reason why the culprits brought them out was so that they could transfer in a smaller boat that soon sailed towards the island. She could already guess that they arrived at the Azure Republic.

  Thanks to the moonlight, Lu Xingyan was able to see where they were heading and that was toward a huge cliff. When they got close, Lu Xingyan noticed a rope hanging and was leading up to a cave. Spider Lily was the first one who climbed up using the rope and after she did, the mercenaries in the boat untied the hostages, one at a time, and made them climb as well and was tied up again when they got into the cave.

  There was no route of escape no matter how Lu Xingyan tried to think of one but she didn't lose hope. She made sure to remember the place.

  They were being transported illegally. People outside the Azure Republic had hard times getting in so the cave in the cliff must have one of the secret passages on how to enter the country.

  Lu Xingyan's wrists were tied up again the moment she got inside the cave. There were five armed mercenaries, excluding Spider Lily. When everyone was in the cave, they all walked, heading to the innermost part. The cave was cold and their only source of light was flashlights that the mercenaries were holding. They walked for hours and the cave seemed endless. They rested a couple of times and yet, there was no sign of its end. It was a two days walk, they may have rested but hostages were weak and hungry. There were no spare food and the mercenaries ignored them whenever someone begged for water or food.

  Just when Lu Xingyan and the others thought that they were just marching to their deaths, they finally arrived at a wooden door and it was opened by Spider Lily.

  They stayed in a dark cave for two days that when they went out, sudden light greeted them, making everyone cover their eyes because of the unexpected brightness. It took time before the hostages' eyes adjusted and found out that they were inside a huge room with a long table in the middle, filled with drinks and food. Not far from that table, there was a smaller table with two baskets on top filled with plain loaves of bread and glasses of water.

  The room was guarded well and the mercenaries who went with them untied everyone the moment their leader eyed them.

  Spider Lily turned and faced them, with a grin, she greeted everyone, "Welcome to the Murong Mansion. I know all of you are tired and hungry so we prepared a feast for you."

  Everyone's eyes sparkled in delight but they hesitated at first. On the other hand, Lu Xingyan was suspicious of the sudden feast for them.

  "Please, help yourselves." Spider Lily insisted, smiling.

  The next moment, everyone rushed towards the long table except for Lu Xingyan who remained on her ground. She eyed the small table next to the long table filled with delicious-looking food. She turned her gaze back to her History teacher and saw a devious smile on her lips. Just then, a sudden thought entered her mind. "Don't eat the food!" She shouted before her companions could even take a bite of the food.

  Everyone turned their heads to her in wonder.

  "Are you not hungry?" Spider Lily asked, raising a brow.

  "I am but please allow me to inspect the food." No matter how much her stomach was complaining or how dry her lips were, Lu Xingyan had a rational mind.

  One of the hostages, George, frowned at what she said, "Inspect? Inspect of what? We're all starving here!"

  "Please." Lu Xingyan insisted as she finally took a step towards the table. "The food might be poisoned." She quickly added.

  Everyone in the room was surprised, including the mercenaries and the guards.

  "Poisoned?" Spider Lily asked. "How can we poison the food? You all are our guests and we brought you all here to play a game."

  "See? How can we play if we're hungry?" Another hostage, Nasha said before finally taking a sip on the bottle of juice she was holding.

  "Wait!" But they didn't listen.

  The rest followed except for Sano, Eli, and the man named George. Even if he was the one who shouted at the high school girl, he wanted to make sure that the food was clean so he allowed others to have the first bite. They were hesitant after hearing Lu Xingyan's warning.

  The three people continued to eat for another minute. Sana and Eli thought that Lu Xingyan might just be overthinking things. They were about to eat but stopped when they heard coughs coming from the three people who are first. Soon, blood trickled down their nose and they all began salivating which made the two people who didn't eat throw the food they were holding out of fear.

  Three r bodies dropped on the ground in the next second, their bodies convulsing before coming to stop. Their eyes turned lifeless. It happened all too fast that the rest of their group wasn't even able to react or call for help.

  "As expected from the smart Ms. Lu." Spider Lily praised, her clap echoing in the room.

  Lu Xingyan slowly turned to the woman she once called 'Teacher' in horror. "Y-you…… You killed them……" She stuttered, taking a step back further away from her.

  "Of course, child. What do you expect from me? I'm a killer." She grinned proudly…… "Besides, we don't have the use of dumb players like them."