"Sixth Master specially trained them not to eat just anything, fearing someone might poison them," Tatu explained.
She had just been considering poisoning these Tibetan Mastiffs, but it seemed that plan wouldn't work. She needed to devise another method.
"Sixth Master... he truly is... farsighted, isn't he?" Sienna Johnson said sarcastically.
"WOOF WOOF..." The black Tibetan Mastiff, perhaps sensing her hostility, barked relentlessly at her. Sienna stared at this stumbling block to her escape, pondering how to deal with this major problem.
"Sixth Master is a good man; all the brothers respect him greatly. When he finishes his business and returns to Abyanabad, he will marry Miss Mega, and he will marry you too," Tatu said, intending to comfort Sienna that Sixth Master wouldn't just play with her and then abandon her. Unfortunately for his intentions, Sienna desperately wished Sixth Master *would* abandon her.
Abyanabad practiced polygamy. Sienna knew several men there who had married multiple wives. In Abyanabad, the more wives a man had, the more capable he was considered.
Since Sixth Master seemed quite powerful and evidently had strong desires in *that department*, it wasn't surprising he would marry several wives. However, she had no interest in being one of them.
"Is Mega Sixth Master's first wife?"
"Miss Mega is Sixth Master's fiancée."
Tatu looked at Sienna, worried she might be jealous, and said, "In Abyanabad, although men can marry many women, every wife's status is equal. Whatever Miss Mega receives, Sixth Master will ensure you receive as well."
Sienna smiled but didn't reply to that. Instead, she asked, "How can I get them to eat the meat and bones I toss them?"
Tatu, suspecting nothing, explained, "That requires training." He then tossed in a few more pieces of meat but didn't continue feeding them.
The Tibetan Mastiffs scrambled for the meat. "You're not feeding them anymore?" Sienna asked. "They're still not full."
"They can't be fed too much, or they'll lose their wildness," Tatu replied.
「...」
Sienna's escape plan faced two insurmountable obstacles. First, the Tibetan Mastiffs: they were released at night and only kenneled in the morning, meaning she could only attempt to escape during the day. However, during the day, the island was heavily guarded. Second, she had to figure out how to get a boat to leave the island, which was surrounded on all sides by the sea.
Actually, her plan had many loopholes, but she couldn't wait any longer.
The mere thought of that man returning made Sienna anxious. When he came back, he would undoubtedly drag her off to make love, and she loathed the very idea of it.
"Tatu, how many more days until Sixth Master returns?"
Tatu, thinking Sienna missed Sixth Master, answered honestly, "There's been a change of plans. It'll be about another week."
"Oh."
Tatu was actually worried Sienna might ask what Sixth Master was doing, but thankfully, she didn't. Sienna and Tatu fed the Tibetan Mastiffs together. Even when the dogs fought amongst themselves for a piece of meat, they still wouldn't eat the meat bones she tossed in.
"They really don't eat it?"
"Sixth Master trained them; they won't eat it."
"What if they did?"
"Sixth Master would poison them!"
"Sixth Master is so ruthless!"
Sienna rubbed her nose; a brilliant idea had just struck her.
That evening, dressed in oversized clothes, Sienna excitedly ran to the kennels. The pack of Tibetan Mastiffs initially roared at her, but after sniffing the air, they quickly quieted down. They wagged their tails and whined softly at Sienna, as docile as the little pet dogs she used to raise.
Sure enough, this method worked.
Sienna had scrubbed herself clean from head to toe, using Sixth Master's usual shower gel, and was even wearing a piece of his old clothing. Sure enough, the 'blind' Tibetan Mastiffs treated her as if she were Sixth Master himself.
"Eat up, my little darlings!" Sienna tossed in a piece of meat, watching the Tibetan Mastiffs with a sinister gaze. One of the black ones approached, sniffed the meat, and actually ate it.
Sienna was ecstatic!
"Sister-in-law, what are you doing?" Tatu asked, his curiosity piqued. He was on patrol and had spotted Sienna standing by the kennels, dressed rather oddly.
"Look, they're eating the meat bones I tossed them now."
"How is that possible?"
Sienna threw in another meat bone. The black Tibetan Mastiff aggressively snatched it and began to gnaw on it.
Tatu stared at Sienna, eyes wide with curiosity. It seems these dogs aren't so loyal to Sixth Master after all, eh? Sienna thought, feeling rather smug.
Tatu was speechless.
「...」
Sienna had studied medicine in college, and her adoptive father's family were practitioners of Traditional Medicine. From a young age, Sienna had learned from her grandfather and adoptive father how to identify medicinal herbs—which ones could save a life, and which ones could end it.
Thus, Sienna gathered numerous herbs from the back mountain, mixing them with wildflowers so it wouldn't seem suspicious when she brought them back.
"Madam, do you like flowers?" a young man greeted Sienna as she approached.
"What woman doesn't like flowers?" Sienna smiled at the somewhat shy young man, whose face immediately turned red. He looked quite endearing. "Are you going to give me flowers?"
The young man's ears turned red as well. Sienna's smile grew even brighter. Seeing that the young man was completely smitten, Tatu approached with a gloomy expression, clearly displeased with Sister-in-law's 'flirtatiousness'.
"Are these flowers something you can just give away casually? If Sixth Master returns and finds out you gave flowers to Sister-in-law, you'll be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks!"
The infatuated look vanished from the young man's face, replaced by a pale pallor. He hastily explained, "I meant no harm! I just saw Madam working hard picking flowers on the mountain and thought I'd help her."
Tatu said sternly, "That's not your concern!"
"I won't dare do it again." The young man glanced at Sienna, then scurried away as if fleeing from a pack of wolves and tigers.
Sienna sniffed the flowers in her arms and said mockingly, "So, if Sixth Master doesn't give me flowers, does that mean I'll never receive flowers from anyone ever again?"
Tatu explained earnestly, "Sixth Master likes you very much. He'll give you anything you want. But he's extremely possessive. In the future, you must maintain your distance from other men. Don't get too close, or Sixth Master will get angry if he finds out."
Sienna snorted coldly. She glanced sideways at Tatu, a look that made him inwardly shiver. "A sage once said: Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire. Sixth Master has so many wives, yet other men aren't even allowed to give me flowers?"
With that said, she didn't give Tatu a chance to drone on and left, clutching her herbs.
A profound smile touched her lips as she looked up at the vast blue sky and the equally blue sea. The thought that she might soon escape to freedom made Sienna's mood as bright and hopeful as an April day.