Sneaking Into the Woods? I'm Here to Stock Up

Deep within the island's dense forest, ancient trees towered overhead, vines tangled everywhere, and sunlight could barely penetrate. The air was thick with dampness and gloom.

To create a better show, the production team had deliberately set up plenty of frightening traps and NPCs along the way.

According to the director's script, the guests were supposed to tremble in fear, then naturally huddle together as pink bubbles filled the air.

However, when it came to Jian Ning's group, the whole vibe took a sharp turn.

The cameraman lugged his equipment as he panted and ran after them.

"J-Jian! Slow down! Why are you running so fast? We need footage!"

Jian Ning didn't even look back. Grabbing Huo Si by the wrist, he strode forward with the momentum of a racewalking champion.

"What footage? Making money is more important... no, treasure hunting is more important! What if someone else gets there first?"

[Hurry, hurry! The system said that pirate treasure is in a cave five hundred meters ahead!]

[Gold coins! Gems! Antiques! Daddy's here to take you home!]

[Huo Si, your legs are so long. Why are you walking so slowly? Do you never exercise? Gone soft?]

Huo Si, who had been dragged along the entire way: "..."

He looked at Jian Ning's nape, flushed red with excitement, and sighed helplessly.

Gone soft?

It seemed he needed to let Jian Ning know tonight what it meant to have too much stamina.

Just then, the grass ahead began shaking violently.

A shrill scream rang out. "Giiive—meee—myyyy—liiife—backkk—"

A female ghost in white, her hair hanging loose and her face smeared with fake blood, suddenly sprang out from behind a tree and pounced at Jian Ning with bared claws.

If it had been a normal person, they would have screamed and hidden in their boyfriend's arms.

But Jian Ning's mind was filled entirely with gold coins. All he saw was some clueless thing blocking his road to riches.

"Get lost! Don't block the way!"

Without a second thought, Jian Ning reflexively raised his leg and delivered a beautiful side kick—

Bang!

Before the "female ghost" could even show off her acting skills, Jian Ning kicked her flying two meters away, leaving her dangling from a tree branch behind them.

Female ghost: "???"

Cameraman: "???"

[Holy shit! That kick had some serious skill behind it!]

[Jian Ning: With no ghosts or gods in his heart, every kick is divine.]

Jian Ning lowered his leg, dusted off his pant leg, and said with disgust.

"Are scammers dressing this non-mainstream these days? Do you even know whose man I am? You dare block President Huo's path?"

Then he immediately put on a flattering smile and turned back to Huo Si.

"Mr. Huo, you weren't scared, were you? Don't worry. With me here, no one can delay us from sneaking into... no, exploring!"

Huo Si looked at the staff member hanging from the tree and questioning her life choices, then at the supposedly delicate little wife before him whose combat power was off the charts. A teasing smile curled at his lips.

"Mhm, I wasn't scared. Your legwork... is pretty good. Next time, you can try it somewhere else."

For example, around his waist.

After shaking off the cameraman—mainly because the cameraman truly couldn't run anymore—Jian Ning finally led Huo Si to the hidden cave marked by the system.

The entrance was covered by thick vines and looked dark and terrifying.

But Jian Ning could see nothing but golden light.

[This is it! System, turn on flashlight mode!]

Jian Ning pushed aside the vines and pulled Huo Si inside.

The cave was dark, illuminated only by the faint light filtering in through the entrance. The farther they went, the narrower it became.

"Watch your head." Huo Si stayed behind Jian Ning the entire time, one hand shielding the top of his head. In the enclosed space, his voice sounded especially low and magnetic.

At last, they reached the end.

Sure enough, there was a dusty wooden chest sitting there.

Jian Ning was so excited his hands trembled. He pounced over and flung open the lid.

There was no dazzling golden glow like he had imagined.

The chest contained only a full box of... rusty lumps of metal and several blackened silver coins.

[System! Are you messing with me? This is pirate treasure? How much could this pile of scrap metal possibly be worth?]

System: [Please remain calm, Host. Pick up the largest "lump of metal." It is a disguise. Break it open, and you will find a top-grade Imperial Green Jade Rough Stone inside. That blackened silver coin is a discontinued seventeenth-century antique coin. Its auction price is five hundred thousand US dollars per piece.]

Jian Ning's eyes instantly turned into searchlights.

[Five hundred thousand?! US dollars?!]

[I'm rich, I'm rich! How many five hundred thousands are in this whole box?!]

Excited, he grabbed a handful of silver coins and was about to stuff them into his pocket.

Then—

A soft click sounded.

It was the sound of some mechanism being triggered.

Immediately afterward, the stone door behind them rumbled down, sealing off the exit in an instant.

The entire cave fell into dead, pitch-black silence.

"..."

The silver coins in Jian Ning's hand fell to the ground with a crisp clatter.

[We're screwed. I screwed this up.]

[For five hundred thousand US dollars, I buried both myself and the Beijing elite's crown prince?]

[Well, great. No need to sneak into the woods now. We can just be buried together.]

In the darkness, Jian Ning felt a warm hand grasp his wrist and pull him into a firm embrace.

"M-Mr. Huo?" Jian Ning's voice trembled slightly. "The door seems to have... closed."

"Mhm." Huo Si didn't sound panicked at all. If anything, he sounded... comfortable?

"Looks like we're trapped."

Huo Si took out his phone and turned on the flashlight.

The faint light fell across their faces, creating an ambiguous atmosphere in the cramped space.

He pressed Jian Ning against the treasure chest and braced both hands at his sides, completely caging him within his territory.

"Jian Ning." Huo Si lowered his head, his nose almost touching Jian Ning's. "You dragged me in here in such a rush just for this... junk?"

Guiltily, Jian Ning tried to hide the jade rough stone behind his back. "H-How can this be junk? It's a witness to history! It's... it's..."

"It's for money, isn't it?" Huo Si mercilessly exposed him.

Jian Ning: "..."

[You know that, so why ask? Can't you let me save some face?]

Huo Si chuckled. His fingers slid down Jian Ning's cheek and stopped at his Adam's apple, gently stroking it.

"I really don't understand. The supplementary card I gave you has no limit, and I'm worth hundreds of billions. Instead of digging into this living mountain of gold, you insisted on digging up these dead things?"

"Jian Ning, did you get your priorities backward?"

Huo Si's touch made Jian Ning's entire body go weak. He shrank his neck and tried to defend himself.

"T-That's different! The supplementary card is yours. These... I want to get rich through my own labor!"

"Get rich through labor?"

Huo Si's gaze darkened. He slid one knee between Jian Ning's legs and pressed his body tightly against him.

"Since you want to work, why not... do something more valuable?"

Jian Ning had yet to react. "W-What kind of work?"

Huo Si lowered his head and bit Jian Ning's lip, speaking indistinctly.

"For example... pleasing your patron."

It was a kiss full of possessiveness.

In the dark, enclosed, oxygen-starved cave, every sensation was amplified without limit.

Jian Ning's back was against the icy treasure chest, while the man before him was burning hot. It was ice and fire all at once.

Huo Si kissed him fiercely, as though he intended to vent all his resentment at being ignored by Jian Ning along the way.

His hand also slipped restlessly beneath Jian Ning's shirt hem, lingering over his lean waist.

[Mn! That tickles! Don't touch there!]

[Huo Si, damn you! This is a cave! Someone could come rescue us at any moment! Can't you restrain yourself a little?!]

[Although... this kind of setting does seem pretty... exciting?]

Jian Ning's reason steadily crumbled beneath Huo Si's assault. The hands that had initially pushed him away gradually turned into arms wrapped around Huo Si's neck.

Just as they were kissing so intensely that Jian Ning's third button was almost undone—

Rumble!

A loud noise suddenly came from outside the stone door.

Then the stone door slowly rose.

Blinding sunlight rushed in along with several figures.

"Teacher Jian! Teacher Huo! Are you in there?!"

The director rushed in with the rescue team and cameraman, frantic with worry. "The signal suddenly cut out just now. You scared me to dea..."

The director's voice abruptly stopped.

At that moment, the scene inside the cave was incredibly explosive.

Huo Si was pressing Jian Ning against the chest. Their clothes were disheveled, and Jian Ning's eyes were dazed.

One of Huo Si's hands was still inside Jian Ning's clothes, while the other held the back of Jian Ning's head.

Everyone: "..."

The camera faithfully recorded the entire scene.

Huo Si calmly turned sideways, shielding the disheveled Jian Ning. He slowly withdrew his hand and casually straightened Jian Ning's clothes.

Then he turned back, his cold gaze sweeping over the stunned crowd at the entrance. His tone carried clear displeasure at being interrupted.

"You fixed it so quickly?"

"Looks like the production team's mechanisms... aren't very high quality."

Jian Ning hid behind Huo Si, his face so red it looked ready to drip blood.

He looked at the treasure chest he had not yet managed to take, then at the crowd of cameras gathered at the entrance.

[It's over.]

[I didn't get the money, but I lost all my dignity first.]

[Now the whole internet knows what shameless business we were doing in that cave!]

That night, the trending topics on Weibo were once again dominated by Love Emergency.

#Huo Si Jian Ning Kissing In A Cave#

#Can We Really Watch This For Free#

#Production Team: We Came To Rescue People, Not Eat Dog Food#

After returning to camp, Jian Ning hid in the tent and refused to come out.

It was too humiliating.

He had lost all the face he would ever have in his entire life today.

Huo Si, on the other hand, was in an excellent mood. He even had someone secretly transport back the "Imperial Green Jade Rough Stone" Jian Ning had been longing for and place it beside Jian Ning's pillow.

"Stop hiding." Huo Si lifted the tent flap and tossed the stone to Jian Ning. "Your earnings from labor."

Jian Ning hugged the stone, and his eyes immediately lit up. In the face of money, all shame was worthless.

[Wow! A stone! My precious stone!]

[Long live President Huo! President Huo is so generous!]

Just as Jian Ning was hugging the stone and grinning foolishly, a sudden commotion rose outside the tent.

Su Mo called, her tone somewhat urgent.

"Jian Ning, something happened."

"Someone took a screenshot of that treasure chest during the livestream and enlarged it. An archaeology expert pointed out that it belonged to the famous seventeenth-century Lost Pirate."

"People from the cultural relics bureau have already come to the island. They said they're sealing off the site."

"And... someone reported that you tried to put an antique coin in your pocket just now, which makes you suspected of illegally selling cultural relics."

The stone in Jian Ning's hand dropped to the ground with a smack.

[Illegally selling cultural relics?!]

[I haven't even had time to warm it up yet! Who reported me?!]

The system notification sounded.

[Ding! Reporter's IP address detected.]

[Target: Kevin.]

[He saw you hide the silver coin at the cave entrance just now. He's bringing the police here.]

Huo Si frowned as he looked at Jian Ning's face instantly turn pale. "What happened?"

Jian Ning grabbed Huo Si's hand, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Mr. Huo... I might... have to go inside and work a sewing machine."

"If I go in, will you wait for me? Or will you... remarry and take my golden trash can with you?"