Xu Mu smiled; he just wanted to find himself a teammate. With more people, it would naturally be easier to find Xu Ningbing.
“You don’t have to walk in front,” Fan Shiyu said calmly.
“As a man, how could I let a woman walk ahead of me?” Xu Mu replied, pretending to head into the cave.
[Affinity +5]
“I never said I was walking in front,” Fan Shiyu said, feeling a bit touched. This guy had a strong sense of loyalty.
No wonder he came alone looking for his missing friend.
Fan Shiyu glanced back at the two middle-aged men behind them. “You two walk in front.”
“What the hell? You little bitch, do you know who you’re talking to? Believe it or not, I’ll kill you right now!” The scar-faced man snapped coldly and lunged at Fan Shiyu.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a butterfly knife appeared in Fan Shiyu’s palm, spinning deftly in her hand.
In an instant, it pierced through the scar-faced man’s palm, pinning his hand to the nearby stone wall.
The round-faced man on the other side immediately pulled out a dagger when he saw this.
But Fan Shiyu simply raised her other hand toward him.
Boom!
The air trembled with a powerful shockwave.
The round-faced man’s eyes widened in disbelief as his body was violently thrown backward, crashing into the stone wall behind him.
The force was so intense that he even vomited the noodles he had eaten at noon.
“Qiang Qi?”
The scar-faced man’s face turned pale with fear, forgetting the pain in his hand. “Please, spare me, senior!”
Only then did Fan Shiyu withdraw the butterfly knife from his palm. “You wanted to walk in front? In this wild mountain, I might have turned you into fertilizer.”
Hearing this, the scar-faced man clutched his wounded palm and lowered his head, not daring to resist.
The round-faced man also got up from the ground and led the way.
“Scared now?” Fan Shiyu asked with a smile, looking at the stunned Xu Mu.
“I feel like I’ve just stepped into a place full of big shots,” Xu Mu nodded lightly.
“If you’re scared, you can leave,” Fan Shiyu said, pulling a tissue from the side pocket of her backpack.
After wiping the blood off the butterfly knife, she folded it back up, spinning it neatly in her hand.
“That’s not an option. My friend might be here,” Xu Mu shook his head.
“Then let’s go together,” Fan Shiyu said, then coldly ordered the two men ahead, “Lead the way!”
The two middle-aged men dared not resist and followed the cave path inward.
Xu Mu stayed right behind them. At first, the cave was very narrow, but after walking about twenty meters, it gradually widened on both sides.
Looking ahead, Xu Mu noticed they were going downhill.
After walking for five or six minutes, they saw a light ahead.
The path was smooth all the way, and the two men in front began to quicken their pace.
Finally, they reached the cave’s exit—and found themselves facing a cliff.
“Ah!”
The round-faced man, who had been eager to rush out and find a hiding spot, froze in place.
The scar-faced man was standing at the edge of the cave opening, luckily managing to stop in time.
Xu Mu came up beside them and looked down—the sight before him was a bottomless abyss.
High above the cave entrance, a chain stretched all the way to the opposite shore, spanning roughly a hundred meters.
However, the other side was several dozen meters lower than the cave they were in.
So the chain sloped steadily downward.
The chain was about as thick as a wrist—strong enough to support several people without strain.
Xu Mu gazed down into the abyss below, silently hoping that Xu Ningbing wouldn’t fall for such a simple trap.
“Can you make it across? A hundred meters isn’t much for an expert, but for an ordinary person, it’s almost impossible,” Fan Shiyu said, sizing him up with a favorable look. “If you’re scared, there’s still time to turn back.”
“My friend and I are both rock climbing experts. This kind of grip strength is nothing to us,” Xu Mu replied confidently.
He grabbed the chain above and began to climb toward the opposite shore.
With his current physique, this felt no different than walking.
In no time, he reached the other side.
Fan Shiyu glanced at the scar-faced man beside her. “You go first.”
“Senior, my hand is injured. I’m scared. I don’t think I can do it,” the scar-faced man shook his head weakly.
“You’re planning to take advantage of me while I cross, aren’t you? Even someone in the early stages of Ming Jin cultivation would find this chain easy to cross,” Fan Shiyu said, pulling out a butterfly knife. “If you don’t cross, then jump off!”
The scar-faced man’s heart skipped a beat—she had seen right through him.
He had just been thinking that if the woman grabbed the chain, she’d be a sitting duck.
He could easily pepper her with throwing darts and leave her a pincushion.
But unexpectedly, her vigilance was so high.
“Can’t I just go?” he asked.
With no other choice, the scar-faced man grabbed the chain and began moving toward the other side.
At that moment, Fan Shiyu lightly leapt and stepped directly onto the chain, closely following the scar-faced man.
From the opposite shore, Xu Mu smiled slightly. No wonder she was an assassin—her mind was sharp.
Walking with the scar-faced man, he definitely wouldn’t dare make a move.
Who would willingly go down together without a blood feud?
But if the scar-faced man reached the other shore first, it would certainly be dangerous for her.
Xu Mu pulled out his phone but found there was no signal here.
He looked up toward the high spot, the blazing sun overhead.
No surprises—this must be some sort of ancient ruin.
Before long, the scar-faced man and Fan Shiyu arrived on this side together.
“You can go now,” Fan Shiyu said to the scar-faced man, then strode forward.
Xu Mu followed close behind her.
They climbed over a small hill and saw thick fog ahead, obscuring everything within.
They pressed on toward the mist, and at its edge, noticed a red line stretching far into the distance beneath their feet.
“I think you should leave. This place is no ordinary spot,” Fan Shiyu warned Xu Mu.
Of course Xu Mu knew—there’s no way such dense fog could exist under the blazing sun.
It had to be some sort of legendary formation.
That Xu Ningbing really knew how to get herself into trouble.
“I’m going to find my friend,” Xu Mu said, stepping into the fog.
“You really aren’t afraid of dying,” Fan Shiyu muttered.
At this moment, Fan Shiyu followed closely behind Xu Mu, stepping into the thick fog together.
The fog was only about five meters thick. After passing through it, Xu Mu found himself facing a primeval forest.
He waited there, but when he realized Fan Shiyu hadn’t come out, he immediately scanned the surroundings—there was no sign of her anywhere.
“What’s going on?”
Xu Mu’s heart jolted as he hurried back the way he came.
But to his surprise, though the fog was supposedly only five meters thick, he couldn’t break through it.
He felt as if he had walked nearly twenty meters but was still engulfed by the dense fog.
With no other choice, Xu Mu turned around again, and after about five meters, he reappeared in the same primeval forest he had just left.
“Great, I’m trapped.”
Xu Mu sighed in frustration. No wonder Xu Ningbing had said there was no news from those sent to search for the rare treasures.
Clearly, they must be trapped here.
Just then, Xu Mu heard faint rustling sounds coming from deep within the forest.
He immediately heightened his senses.

ial death, also known as "shè sǐ" in Chinese, generally refers to... well, never mind, it's not important. My name is Ye Cheng, and I'm about to experience social death firsthand. ... 【Host, your mission is to confess your love to the young lady of the Dongfang family, the current student council president, in a way that will be unforgettable for everyone at the freshman ceremony!】 【Host, assist the girl with a sprained ankle in front of you to reach the infirmary, and fulfill the wicked thoughts in your heart!】 【Host, act on your desires and punish the arrogant young lady before you mercilessly!】 【Host, follow your instincts—abandon shameful surrender, begging, or groveling, and ruthlessly criticize the domineering, ill-mannered young lady in front of you!】 【Host...】 Ye Cheng: "Here, here, you take this host role—I quit!" Wait, why is the girl with a sprained ankle the daughter of a mafia boss? And what kind of punishment method is this for the arrogant young lady? Also, who the heck said anything about wicked thoughts in my heart? Come out here, let’s settle this one-on-one!!! ... The haughty student council president, the scheming mafia princess, the fragile yandere young lady, the airheaded maid-in-waiting, the mixed-blood loli/...

nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...

Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"

reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?