Cave (Two-in-One)

Often, in the most pristine valleys, deserts, and glaciers, the appearance of a large man-made mark does not feel like a disruption to the natural landscape; instead, it evokes a sense of the power of civilization.

This elevator, named "Sky Ladder," was originally designed to allow tourists to visit the mountain and then return to their accommodations. However, with the development of better facilities on the mountain and the cooperation of the local residents in improving their living conditions, many tourists now stay on the mountain, and the Sky Ladder has begun operating 24 hours a day.

The Sky Ladder has a vertical height of 335 meters and a running height of 326 meters. It's obviously unrealistic for Liu Chang'an to jump up there in his current condition, especially since he has to take Qin Yanan with him.

Qin Yanan turned and walked to the car. Liu Chang'an got into the driver's seat. Zhu Juntang yawned, hugged the blanket and touched it, "Hey, how did you know this was my favorite little blanket?"

"I just grabbed it randomly," Qin Yanan said.

"So it's not... it doesn't smell good at all." Zhu Juntang was a little confused, but after taking another look, she realized that only the pattern and color were the same.

"Once we get to the top of the mountain, Zhu Juntang, you can rest at the Sunrise Hotel there," Liu Chang'an said.

How do you know about the Sunrise Hotel?

"Look at the GG card."

Do you have your ID card with you?

Qin Yanan had brought her ID card, but Zhu Juntang refused, "How could I possibly stay in such a small hotel? Their blankets aren't even clean, the toilets are unusable. Sitting on their beds, I feel like I'm surrounded by bacteria, viruses, and all sorts of infectious diseases... I might just die."

"Then stay in the car. Don't be afraid when we stop in front of the hotel." Qin Yanan sighed, too lazy to try and persuade her. On this kind of issue, Zhu Juntang was truly unyielding.

"I'll go with you!" Zhu Juntang requested matter-of-factly.

"Do you know what I'm going to do next?" Liu Chang'an said without turning his head.

"Turn gray?" Zhu Juntang thought she sounded cute talking like that.

"I'm going to jump from one mountain to another later and check each one for anything unusual."

"Can you hold me and jump around?" Zhu Juntang's eyes lit up because the male and female protagonists with superpowers in movies usually have such scenes, which feel like a scene that everyone must experience in life.

"What about me?" Qin Yanan lowered her voice to express her refusal. This was an experience that Liu Chang'an had probably only had with her, and Qin Yanan was unwilling to let Zhu Juntang share it.

Even with your best friend, sometimes you have to push her far away.

"Can't you jump by yourself?" Zhu Juntang looked at Qin Yanan with surprise and disappointment. "Are you really that useless?"

Qin Yanan pressed her forehead and pushed her back into the seat. Zhu Juntang cried out "Ouch!" and turned around, sticking her butt out as she got up.

"With two people, you can only squeeze them under each armpit, one on each side, which isn't a pleasant experience," Liu Chang'an said, not entirely bothered. The last time he carried Qin Yanan on a super long-distance jump, the main difficulty was finding the landing point, and there was an ascent from a low point to a height of 452 meters. Ascent jumps are much more strenuous than level jumps... Most importantly, since he felt the strain last time, it's only natural that his body is now more adapted to the situation.

"Then why don't you hold me and let Yaya crawl on your back like a frog?" Zhu Juntang didn't want to be squeezed like that; it wasn't elegant at all.

"Then why don't you lie down like a frog?" Qin Yanan picked up a pillow and hit Zhu Juntang again. What's wrong with Zhu Juntang today? Is she competing with her for Liu Chang'an's favor... No, it's not competing for favor, it's just really annoying!

"Because I'm small, it's easier to hold me in my arms, and cute girls are always being held." Zhu Juntang felt that her reasoning was perfectly valid.

This reason sounded reasonable, and Qin Yanan was still a little hurt. In terms of physique, she was indeed less suitable for being carried than Zhu Juntang. Although girls over 1.7 meters tall longed for the feeling of being petite and dependent, it was actually difficult for them to experience it... It was probably last time when Liu Chang'an carried her that Qin Yanan had such a nice feeling. This had nothing to do with Liu Chang'an; it was just that most tall girls would yearn for and like it.

"I can grab you and throw you over there. When you land, just grab a tree to cushion your fall," Liu Chang'an thought of a better solution.

"No! What if my face hits the ground?"

"Then you can stay in the car!" Qin Yanan thought this was a good idea. Even if she wasn't holding onto the tree, she shouldn't get hurt thanks to her special physique.

"Hehe, don't think you're immune to problems just because you're thick-skinned. Your clothes definitely won't hold up. When Liu Chang'an jumps over and finds you disheveled, looking pitiful, with your shoulders half-exposed, and your buttocks and breasts all showing, Liu Chang'an beastly nature..."

Liu Chang'an casually tossed his phone over, hitting Zhu Juntang on the forehead. Zhu Juntang cried out in pain and fainted.

"Help me pick up my phone and see if it's broken?" Liu Chang'an was both distressed and annoyed, because An Nuan had bought this phone for him. He hadn't thought of that in time and just wanted Zhu Juntang to shut up. If the phone was broken, he would definitely beat Zhu Juntang up again.

"Is she alright?" Qin Yanan was both annoyed and amused, of course, referring to Zhu Juntang. This was Zhu Juntang's own doing; it was probably because Liu Chang'an had been too lenient lately, making Zhu Juntang forget that all the beatings she had suffered since childhood were orchestrated by Liu Chang'an.

"It's alright, I'm very skillful. I just made her fall asleep." Liu Chang'an took the phone from Qin Yanan. Luckily, nothing was wrong... The location information was gone, so it seemed that Shangguan Dandan's phone had run out of battery.

Qin Yanan felt relieved. With her back to Liu Chang'an, she checked Zhu Juntang's breathing, then covered Zhu Juntang with the blanket. Looking at the faint red mark on Zhu Juntang's forehead, Qin Yanan couldn't help but say reproachfully, "Actually, she doesn't mean any harm. She's a very cute girl. You should be gentler."

"If I were really gentle with her, you'd get jealous," Liu Chang'an said calmly. "Women are so hypocritical."

"I won't! Why would I be jealous?" Qin Yanan said angrily, her cheeks flushed, as she tugged at her skirt.

Liu Chang'an was certainly not flirting with Qin Yanan. He was just thinking that Ye Sijin had also liked Sister Su Mei quite a bit at the beginning. However, as Sister Su Mei came to the garden more often, Ye Sijin would often casually point out some minor or major flaws of Sister Su Mei.

Liu Chang'an drove the car to the bottom of the Sky Ladder. There was a visitor center there with many cars parked. Zhu Juntang decided to let her stay in the car, which would be safe as long as it didn't fall into the sea and sink.

The first part of the Sky Ladder is inside the mountain. After more than 100 meters, the Sky Ladder bursts out of the mountain and you can see the beautiful scenery of the clusters of pillar mountains in the Bow Family Realm. On such a night, the Milky Way hangs in the sky, and the mountain pillars on the ground rise and fall. There is a faint mist, like a light veil of starlight, flowing among them, which is magnificent and beautiful.

"I want to watch the sunrise here," Qin Yanan said with some anticipation.

"Let's take a look if there's still time."

The two arrived at the mountaintop, but instead of following the direction of the tourists, they avoided the cameras and went to the back of the visitor center. The nearest peak, Zhuzishan, was only a few dozen meters away, separated by a clear stream. It would only take a few jumps to reach the peak of Zhuzishan, the target Liu Chang'an had been tracking.

"When the time is right, I'll examine your body and see what your potential is. If you're just thick-skinned, you'll probably only become a top-tier martial artist among humans." Liu Chang'an looked down at his feet; at a height of over 300 meters, it was still shorter than Baolong Center Building One.

"Okay." Now that the two of them were together, Qin Yanan unconsciously switched to the mindset of a junior interacting with Old Master Liu. She didn't ask Liu Chang'an what kind of situation he meant by "opportunity".

"Let's go over there."

"I can't jump over it." Qin Yanan said something pointless, but it was a kind of restraint, so as not to take the initiative to get over there. Then he pointed to where the elevator was.

Liu Chang'an didn't waste any words with her. He picked Qin Yanan up in his arms and leaped over her in the air.

"Your hand is pressing down on my skirt!" Qin Yanan whispered in the air. The wind was strong in the valley at night, and she could only hold onto the top of her skirt tightly. She could feel the skirt swelling up and her bottom being caressed by the cool autumn wind.

Liu Chang'an had already carried her to the top of the nearby Pillar Mountain.

Liu Chang'an didn't put her down because they still needed to get to the top of Zhuzi Mountain next door. Putting her down and carrying her would be too much trouble, and the mountaintop was quite large, with no paths developed for tourists. If they walked there, their clothes would inevitably get caught on each other.

"You... you could help hold down my skirt with your hand." Qin Yanan pressed on Liu Chang'an's chest. "I can't hold it down even with my hand behind my back, the wind is too strong when I jump!"

"It's the middle of the night, on a deserted mountaintop, who's going to look up at your butt? Do you think the moon is under your skirt?" Liu Chang'an said nonchalantly.

"It really does look a bit like it!" Qin Yanan said, unconvinced.

Liu Chang'an paused for a moment, then said nothing, pressed her skirt down behind her knees with his palm, and hopped forward without a word.

Qin Yanan's cheeks flushed. She had really spoken without thinking. He must have thought about it for a moment before realizing that what she said made sense... It did make sense. The skirt of a mature and voluptuous woman was as dazzling and bright as the moon.

Liu Chang'an, carrying Qin Yanan, leaped several times and finally arrived at the top of the pillar mountain where the signal had last been located.

"I brought you here to broaden your horizons, but I don't want you involved in dangerous battles." Liu Chang'an waved his hand. "Stay behind me. If there's a fight, I'll handle the action; you just watch."

Under the starlight, his facial features were calm yet still serious. Qin Yanan nodded. When Ye Sijin was with him, this was probably what it felt like for a younger sister to be with her older brother. His back was like a protective wall for her.

Was the moisture in his eyes that night, and his repeated words of unfulfilled longing, a buried regret stemming from his failure to protect Ye Sijin?

If he hadn't protected himself either, would he, decades later, also be standing somewhere with another woman, reminiscing about the past?

"Let's go!" Liu Chang'an pulled Qin Yanan along.

Qin Yanan snapped out of her reverie, wondering what she was even thinking about.

This Zhuzi Mountain is higher than the others. Except for aerial photography, tourists usually cannot see the top of the mountain. The trees on the mountain are taller, and the vegetation is also different.

"There's so much bird droppings here." Qin Yanan covered her nose as she stepped on some wet bird droppings. Fortunately, the droppings hadn't piled up like they do in some island nations; they were just scattered here and there.

Liu Chang'an looked around. The bird droppings were on the ground, on the trees, and on the leaves. He said, "These are droppings from starlings that are found in the Bow Family Realm."

"Huh?" Qin Yanan was surprised and impressed. This person even knew about bird droppings... So if he saw dog poop on the street, could he also tell what kind of dog it was?

"The starling family includes some of the most common birds in the world, as well as some of the rarest and most endangered. The myna is one such starling. I once specifically studied a wattled starling, whose most famous characteristic is that it loses its head feathers during the breeding season, revealing bright yellow skin... From an avian aesthetic perspective, baldness can attract mates, so I once used this example to reassure my friends not to worry about being bald. Even if no girls like it, birds will, so ultimately it doesn't make a difference..."

"Then why don't you go bald?" Qin Yanan couldn't understand his absurd logic.

"I used to be a monk. Guess if I ever went on a pilgrimage to retrieve Buddhist scriptures?"

Qin Yanan didn't find it hard to understand why he had been a monk. After all, for someone like him, being a monk seemed like a very suitable identity and profession... However, in this day and age, he didn't seem interested in becoming a monk at all. He even had a girlfriend; how could he bear to leave home? Or become a frivolous monk?

"My research on the wattled starling isn't because its baldness attracts females, but because in addition to its baldness, it also grows a long, black wattle on its chin. In humans, this would be roughly equivalent to a triple chin... So, if you're bald in middle age and have a triple chin, it's really not a big deal; someone will always like you. You know, women, like birds, are attracted to shiny things. Generally speaking, women's aesthetic sense is largely no different from that of birds..."

"I'm not going to be bald and have a triple chin! If I were bald and had a triple chin, would you like me?" Qin Yanan blurted out.

"No, it's too ugly."

"Then what you just said..."

"I said that's the aesthetic sense of birds and women... I'm not a bird or a woman. Haven't you seen bald men with triple chins often accompanied by beautiful women? So what I said is essentially correct."

"Let's end the topic of wattled starlings, thank you," Qin Yanan said calmly to Old Master Liu.

"The chin of the wattled starling is absorbed after the breeding season, which is the focus of my research and relates to new ideas for treating cancer... And its regrowth of hair after baldness is certainly something we can study to see if it can be used to cure baldness in humans. Our traditional approach is probably to simply and crudely think that eating the wattled starling will solve the problem, but they are mainly distributed in central and southern Africa..." Liu Chang'an paused, looking at a dark cave in the distance, "Most importantly, starlings prefer to breed in caves, and since there is a large amount of starling droppings here, it's not surprising that we found a cave."

Qin Yanan then realized why Liu Chang'an had been talking about starlings; he was looking for a cave, implying that the coffin might have been placed inside.

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