Chapter 621 Lock Picking
The old man's words were calm but revealed a particularly cruel truth.
"Ten women?" Shen Bing's body trembled as she heard this, and her hair stood on end. Could Bernard really be such a person?
"Bernard is a demon. After he captures his prey and brings them here, he treats them as treasures, coming here whenever he feels like having fun," the old man said. "But if any of his prey disobeys him, he goes berserk."
The old man pointed to the east and said, "Look at the cages over there. They all contain the remains of those prey he killed."
Shen Bing looked over and was immediately frightened by what she saw. Her face turned pale, and she fell back, her expression filled with fear and shock, unable to speak.
With the dim light, she saw numerous white bones in the cages nearby.
The old man continued to observe Shen Bing's reaction and sighed before retreating back into his cage, no longer coming out.
"I can't stay here. I must get out!"
After a moment of terror, Shen Bing quickly regained her composure.
The strong desire to survive forced her to calm down.
Lock picking!
As long as she could open the lock, she would have a chance to escape.
Thinking of this, Shen Bing took a deep breath, suppressing her fear once again. She then removed her bra and dismantled the steel bar inside it, twisting it into the shape of a key.
Taking another deep breath, she calmed herself again and then picked up the antique lock, attempting to open it.
However, the lock remained unyielding.
After more than fifty attempts, Shen Bing started to feel restless and irritated.
She even felt a surge of anger that made it hard for her to remain calm, almost on the verge of screaming.
Her life had already been filled with so much tragedy—her mother died early, her father disappeared, and her brother became a vegetable...
She had suffered so much; why did fate have to make her the target of a demon and lock her up like this?
Fear, despair, anger, unwillingness, grievances!
Various emotions surged through Shen Bing's heart, making her increasingly restless, and she even felt the urge to scream out loud.
"Calm down, I must stay calm."
"Brother Wang said the more dangerous the situation, the calmer I should be."
"Shen Bing, Uncle Long taught you lock picking skills; you must remember."
Shen Bing didn't give up after failing but instead took a deep breath, keeping herself composed and trying to recall the lock picking skills Zhang Long had taught her.
The first step was to understand the internal structure of the lock.
This required either disassembling the lock or examining the key.
Shen Bing closed her eyes and pondered the scene of Zhang Long teaching her how to pick locks in her mind.
"In this world, there is no lock that can't be opened, only thieves who do not know how to pick locks."
"Bingbing, as a young lady from a prestigious family, you will inevitably face the risk of being kidnapped one day. So, you must learn how to untie restraints and pick locks."
"If you master this skill, you will be able to escape from life-threatening situations."
"Let's talk about lock picking first."
"Most criminals use manual handcuffs that require keys, not electronic locks. If it's manual, it can be cracked."
"Thus, whether it's Dragon Kingdom locks or foreign locks, ancient or modern, you should practice picking them all."
In her memory, scenes of Zhang Long teaching her lock picking skills resurfaced.
Back then, Zhang Long had placed all the handcuffs he could find in front of her—rows and rows of them, enough to cover several tables.
Hundreds, even thousands of handcuffs, each with a different design.
At first, she wanted to run away and didn't want to learn, but Zhang Long firmly pressed her down and taught her how to pick the locks one by one.
With so many locks, it took her two months to master the skill completely.
"That's right, it's this lock!"
In her memory, Shen Bing's gaze settled on one of the handcuffs.
This lock bore about 80% similarity to the vintage European handcuffs she had encountered.
She remembered it clearly, and now, she finally recalled how to open this lock.
With the thought in mind, she immediately twisted the iron bar into the shape of a key and attempted to open the lock.
The first try failed!
The second try also failed!
The third, the fourth...
Shen Bing didn't give up but kept trying.
Click!
Finally, after five minutes and over fifty attempts, the lock finally opened.
"Great!"
Shen Bing's eyes brightened with joy as she immediately put her bra back on and hid the makeshift key. She then opened the door of the cage.
However, her joy turned into concern in the next second.
Below her was a pool of red blood, its depth unknown, and the contents unseen.
Moreover, the distance between her cage and the blood pool was at least ten meters, and she didn't have the courage to jump down.
Hearing her movement, the old man woke up from his slumber, turned to look at her, his face filled with disbelief.
Shen Bing had managed to open the handcuffs; how was this possible?
He had studied this lock for so long and still couldn't figure it out, let alone unlock it.
Now, Shen Bing had managed to do it in just a short time?
"I can't just sit here and wait to die; I'll jump if I have to."
Shen Bing looked at the blood pool, but the sight of the white bones she saw earlier flashed through her mind. She gritted her teeth, pinched her nose, stood up, and tried to climb out of the cage to jump down.
"Wait, do not jump!"
The old man saw this scene and quickly spoke up, "There are man-eating fish below the blood pool. If you jump down, you'll be devoured."
Shen Bing was immediately startled, her feet faltering, almost slipping.
Fortunately, she quickly grabbed onto the cage's railing and stabilized herself, quickly retreating back into the cage, panting heavily.
Looking down at the blood pool, she indeed saw numerous fish swimming around.
Whether they're man-eating fish or not, she could not tell with her current vision.
The old man saw Shen Bing pick the lock and his cloudy eyes darted around. He said, "Miss, since you can pick locks, can you release me too? I know how to leave this place. If you let me out, we can escape together."
"You know how to leave?" Shen Bing's eyes lit up.
"Of course, this underground cavern was originally mine, but Bernard invaded and took it over. I'm familiar with all the layouts here," the old man said.
"Help me! Please, save me!"
"This attractive young lady, please, I beg you, save me!"
"Please, I'm begging you, save me!"
As the old man spoke, suddenly the cages hanging in the cave began to shake, and many women appeared in the light, looking at Shen Bing with hopeful eyes.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶