Dividing the Treasure

Xiao Se frowned and pretended to be angry. "What are you doing here? If it hadn't been for me just now, you'd probably have met your end already."

"I..." Under Xiao Se's glare, Little Fairy Doctor's gaze shifted evasively. After a long silence, she gave an awkward smile. "I... I spotted a medicinal herb and came to pick it. Yes... that's right."

"You really don't even know how to lie. This cliff is surrounded by sheer rock walls, bare as can be. Other than that White Orchid Fruit at the top, where would there be any medicinal herbs?" Xiao Se shot Little Fairy Doctor a look, then pointed at the cave with a cold smile. "You're interested in that cave, aren't you?"

At his words, Little Fairy Doctor's heart tightened. The jade hand beneath Xiao Se's armpit instinctively reached for her waist and pulled out a packet of Medicinal Powder. Just as she was about to scatter it, Xiao Se's voice rang out beside her ear again. "The two of us are hanging from a cliff right now. If you want us to die together, then go ahead."

"Y-you wouldn't kill me to silence me, would you?! Let me tell you, don't do anything reckless. Many of the mercenaries up there have received my help. If they find out you killed me, they definitely won't let you off!" Little Fairy Doctor cried in alarm.

"I wouldn't go so far as to kill you. As for other things..." Xiao Se smiled teasingly, his gaze slowly drifting downward until it settled on Little Fairy Doctor's budding breasts.

"Ah... pervert!" With Xiao Se looking at her like that, Little Fairy Doctor stopped caring about anything else and was about to scatter the Medicinal Powder.

It seemed his joke had gone a little too far, so Xiao Se hurriedly stopped her. "All right, all right. You've got no butt and no chest—I'm not interested in you. I was just joking."

"Hmph, if you dare try anything, I'll perish with you." Little Fairy Doctor gave a soft snort, gripping the packet of medicine tightly as though she would throw it out at the slightest disagreement.

Xiao Se raised his chin toward the cave and said calmly, "Since we're here, let's go take a look together. Hold on tight."

Without waiting for her reply, Xiao Se tightened his right arm around Little Fairy Doctor's slender waist. With a forceful pull of his left hand and a light tap of his toes against the cliff face, he borrowed momentum in midair and leaped into the pitch-black cave.

Releasing Little Fairy Doctor's waist, Xiao Se raised his right hand. A cluster of blue-white flames rose in his palm, instantly illuminating the entire cave.

Staring blankly at the dancing flames in Xiao Se's hand, Little Fairy Doctor exclaimed, "Condensing Solid Flame... are you a Fourth-Rank Alchemist?"

Xiao Se shook his head, took out a torch from his Ring and lit it, then handed it to Little Fairy Doctor. "I'm not that capable. This is only Beast Flame. Let's go inside."

Taking the torch, Little Fairy Doctor nodded and followed Xiao Se deeper into the cave with an uneasy heart.

Upon entering the interior of the cave, Xiao Se casually took out several torches and lit them. Using a hidden-weapon throwing technique, he embedded them upside down along the cave walls, and their surroundings immediately brightened.

"Wow... so many precious herbs..." Seeing the herb garden in the corner of the cave, Little Fairy Doctor's beautiful eyes lit up at once. She hurried to the flower bed as if she had found a priceless treasure.

Then she looked toward the stone table in the center of the cave and discovered that two of the three stone boxes had already been opened. She immediately asked Xiao Se, "Someone's been here?"

"No one has been here. I took the things from the stone boxes. I only came out to investigate after hearing movement outside." Xiao Se lied without so much as a blush, then removed the mask from his face.

Seeing Xiao Se's handsome yet youthful face, Little Fairy Doctor's pretty face instantly reddened. She could not help exclaiming, "I never expected you to be so young. I really admire you—coming alone to explore the Demon Beast Mountain Range at such a young age."

"You're not much older than me either. We're about the same." Xiao Se curled his lip and stood before the first stone box. "Let's make this clear beforehand. I don't mind sharing some of the spoils with you, but I won't give you what was in the first two boxes. We'll look at the remaining box together. If it's more useful to you, then you can have it."

"Hehe... then thank you." Little Fairy Doctor walked to Xiao Se's side with a smile. Women really were creatures who valued appearances; ever since seeing Xiao Se's face clearly, her earlier wariness seemed to have completely vanished.

Under Little Fairy Doctor's expectant gaze, Xiao Se took out the key and opened the stone box. A seven-colored scroll came into view.

"The Seven-Colored Poison Classic." Xiao Se slowly unrolled the scroll, and Little Fairy Doctor's eyes immediately lit up.

Seeing that Little Fairy Doctor was practically staring holes into it, Xiao Se smiled faintly, rolled up the scroll, and handed it to her. "Although I'm an alchemist, this poison classic is useless to me. You're practically drooling over it, so you can have it."

"Hmph, who's drooling?" Little Fairy Doctor's pretty face flushed slightly as she pouted, avoiding Xiao Se's gaze and murmuring softly, "Thank you."

Xiao Se smiled lightly. "Didn't we agree beforehand? If it was useful to you, you could have it." Then he looked toward the herb garden and the Gold Coins in the corner. "Next, it's time to divide the rest."

"Mm." Little Fairy Doctor raised her fair, lovely chin and smiled. "Take whatever you want. Getting this Seven-Colored Poison Classic has already made this trip worthwhile for me."

Xiao Se rubbed his fair chin, stood before the herb garden, and picked the Ice Spirit Flame Grass. Then he picked several herbs needed to refine Third-Rank Qi Recovery Pills before turning to Little Fairy Doctor. "I'll take the Ice Spirit Flame Grass and these few herbs."

"You really have a sharp eye. You picked the best ones, but there are still so many rare herbs here. Are you sure it's fine to give them all to me?" Little Fairy Doctor pursed her red lips and asked with a smile.

"Hehe, the rest aren't of much use to me. If you like them, you can have them all." Xiao Se chuckled and waved a hand.

Little Fairy Doctor smiled sweetly. "That's true. I almost forgot you're an alchemist. Then I'll gladly accept."

With that, Little Fairy Doctor walked over to the herb garden. As she picked the herbs, she casually asked, "Come to think of it, I still don't know your name!"

"My name is Xiao Se. Se as in the ancient zither." Xiao Se answered calmly.

"Xiao Se... Xiao Se... a good name." Little Fairy Doctor nodded slightly and continued picking herbs.

"The Gold Coins are mine." Xiao Se pointed at the several hundred thousand Gold Coins in the corner.

"I only like herbs. Gold Coins are neither here nor there to me. I've already taken such great advantage of you today, so you can have them all." Little Fairy Doctor answered without hesitation.

Xiao Se nodded slightly and waved a hand, storing all the Gold Coins in his Ring.

A short while later, Little Fairy Doctor finished gathering the herbs.

"I'm planning to return to the Herb Gathering Team. What about you? Do you want to come with me?" Little Fairy Doctor looked at Xiao Se with a gentle smile.

"I plan to cultivate in the Demon Beast Mountain Range for a while, so I won't be returning to the Herb Gathering Team." Xiao Se shook his head. After hesitating briefly, he looked at Little Fairy Doctor again, his eyes turning serious. "You'd better not tell anyone about what happened today, not even your personal Maid. I don't really care, but wealth moves people's hearts, and the human heart is the most unpredictable thing. Faced with absolute profit, those mercenaries won't care whether you ever saved them."

Hearing Xiao Se's warning, Little Fairy Doctor nodded blankly, then said seriously, "I understand. You should be careful in the Demon Beast Mountain Range too. I don't want to lose a friend like you."

As if possessed, Little Fairy Doctor extended her jade hand toward Xiao Se.

Xiao Se nodded slightly and took her soft, delicate hand. "I will."

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