"The treasure in that cave will be mine!"
Ling Feng smiled meaningfully. "Xiao Yan, as long as I'm here, you can forget about getting your hands on either women or opportunities."
Ling Feng's hatred for Xiao Yan had clearly reached the point where only death would put an end to it.
With a sly inward chuckle, Ling Feng turned to Xiao Yi Xian beside him. Feeling playful, he teased her, "Aren't you afraid I'll keep everything for myself?"
Her lovely eyes fixed earnestly on Ling Feng, but Xiao Yi Xian smiled and shook her head. "I trust that you aren't that kind of person, Brother Ling Feng. Besides, even if you really wanted everything, I'd gladly give it to you. After all, you saved my life."
"Silly girl. Since you found this cave, of course I won't fight you over it."
Hearing the trust in Xiao Yi Xian's words, Ling Feng smiled warmly. He couldn't help reaching out to stroke her little head as he spoke gently.
Xiao Yi Xian blushed slightly at his affectionate head pat, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she said, "That won't do. If there really is treasure in the cave, we'll each take half."
"Silly girl, are you saying anyone who shows up gets half?"
Ling Feng grinned, and Xiao Yi Xian returned his smile.
"That's right."
"We'll see."
As he spoke, Ling Feng stepped forward and examined the bottomless cliff and its rock face. Once he finished, he turned toward Xiao Yi Xian in her white dress and opened his arms. "Come here. I'll carry you down."
"There's no need. I have rope in my basket, so I can get down myself." Seeing his gesture, Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face flushed slightly as she answered shyly.
Looking at the blushing Xiao Yi Xian, Ling Feng found her utterly amusing. The urge to tease her rose in him, and he shrugged, deliberately saying, "All right. Since you say so, you can go down yourself. But I should warn you first: this cliff is bottomless. If you slip and fall, you'll definitely end up smashed into a meat pancake. And there might be venomous snakes, scorpions, and things like that down there..."
"Ling Feng, you bastard!"
With every creature Ling Feng named that girls feared, Xiao Yi Xian's expression changed again. But when she saw his teasing smile, she couldn't help cursing him softly in embarrassed annoyance, even dropping her affectionate form of address.
Clearly, after talking with Ling Feng for so long, Xiao Yi Xian had begun to loosen up around him.
"So, are you coming over or not?"
Her embarrassed annoyance only broadened Ling Feng's smile, and he continued teasing her on purpose.
"You!"
Xiao Yi Xian's face flushed even more deeply.
"Keep your hands still!"
As Xiao Yi Xian's shy, warning threat fell, a fragrant breeze swept toward Ling Feng. Then a soft, sweet-smelling body bumped into his embrace.
That gentle bump seemed to strike the door to Ling Feng's heart, making it tremble fiercely. He could clearly feel the slightly hurried breathing of the soft figure in his arms, and her unique fragrance intoxicated him.
This fluttering feeling really is what youth is all about!
Feeling his body stir, Ling Feng hurriedly suppressed it. Pleasure and pain existed side by side, leaving him rather uncomfortable.
"W-why aren't you moving yet?"
Xiao Yi Xian's shy voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. Slightly embarrassed, Ling Feng hurriedly replied, "Oh, right. We're going now, we're going now."
As he spoke, Ling Feng tightened his embrace around the beauty in his arms, wrapping an arm around the slender, willow-like waist he had once praised so admiringly, and prepared to descend the cliff.
Although Xiao Yi Xian's looks weren't peerlessly beautiful, her uniquely ethereal air still made her a rare beauty. Her willow-like waist, too slender even for a single armful, especially captivated Ling Feng.
Of all the women he knew, Xiao Yi Xian probably had the slenderest, most delicate waist...
"Hoo..."
Exhaling deeply, Ling Feng chased away his distracting thoughts and began channeling chakra beneath his feet. Then he slowly walked down the rock face.
Walking on rock walls and treading across water were effortless feats for the jonin Itachi Uchiha, so Ling Feng naturally managed them with ease as well.
But to the inexperienced Xiao Yi Xian, Ling Feng's ability to walk straight down a cliff as though on level ground seemed extraordinarily advanced. A new gleam unwittingly appeared in her lovely eyes as she watched him.
Yet as Ling Feng descended farther, a strange wind rose from somewhere below, blowing Xiao Yi Xian's white skirt upward. Her face turned scarlet with embarrassment, and she pressed her delicate hands behind her to cover what had been exposed.
Gulp... They're white...
Having seen something he shouldn't have, Ling Feng couldn't help swallowing. The arousal he had just suppressed rose again. But remembering that they were on a cliff, he dared not grow careless and hurriedly recited the Mind-Calming Mantra inwardly to drive away his improper thoughts.
Ling Feng now understood the feeling all too well. Yet with Xiao Yi Xian pressed so closely against him, how could she fail to notice his reaction? Her face and ears burned red, but she said nothing, her thoughts unknown.
Continuing downward, Ling Feng soon spotted the concealed cave below. But before he could smile in delight, an enormous shadow shot upward.
Ling Feng looked over and saw a massive serpentine magical beast opening its blood-red maw at the two of them. At the sight, Xiao Yi Xian instantly turned deathly pale. She couldn't help screaming and buried herself in Ling Feng's embrace, holding him even tighter.
Ling Feng furrowed his brow and pushed off with his feet. After rising some distance, he rapidly formed hand seals and called out under his breath:
"Clone Explosion!"
In an instant, another figure identical to Ling Feng appeared. Then he actually moved toward the Rock Snake's gaping, blood-red maw.
The Rock Snake knew nothing of Ling Feng's technique and swallowed "Ling Feng" in a single gulp.
Bang!
Ling Feng's clone exploded instantly, blasting apart a stretch of the Rock Snake's body more than a dozen inches below its head. Blood and flesh sprayed everywhere.
Although the Rock Snake's exterior was tough, its insides were fragile, and Ling Feng's clone blasted it apart outright.
"Hiss-roar!"
The beast's agonized cry echoed between the cliffs. The Rock Snake fell through the air and crashed heavily into the bottomless ravine.
Facing a rank-one Rock Snake, Ling Feng was like an expert crushing a novice. It posed no challenge whatsoever.
Watching the Rock Snake disappear, Xiao Yi Xian let out a long sigh of relief. Her heart had been in her throat the whole time.
"It's all right now. Let's go inside."
After landing with Xiao Yi Xian in his arms, Ling Feng set her down and gave her a reassuring smile. Xiao Yi Xian nodded and smiled sweetly back.
"All right."
Ling Feng took out a piece of moonlight stone to provide light, then cautiously led the way into the pitch-black cave, with Xiao Yi Xian following close behind.
As they walked through the silent, dark cave, a faint chill began to envelop them.
Everything around them was silent. Only Ling Feng's and Xiao Yi Xian's faint footsteps sounded in the passage.
The deeper they went, the colder and quieter it became. Xiao Yi Xian couldn't help wrapping her arms around herself and looking up at Ling Feng, who walked slowly ahead.
After a brief hesitation, Xiao Yi Xian followed closely behind him and secretly caught hold of his sleeve. In surroundings like these, only Ling Feng could give her a little more sense of security.
Naturally, Xiao Yi Xian's little gesture didn't escape Ling Feng's notice. He merely smiled knowingly. He knew girls had an instinctive, inexplicable fear of such dark surroundings, so he let her do as she pleased.
After they had ventured deeper for some time, Ling Feng suddenly stopped. Carried forward by her momentum, Xiao Yi Xian couldn't halt in time and bumped into his back. The two soft, jutting curves made his powerful frame shudder abruptly.
"Ah!"
The sudden intimate contact drew a startled cry from Xiao Yi Xian. Her pretty face flushed crimson as she hastily backed away a step or two. Shielding the two soft mounds that had bounced against him with her hands, she stared at Ling Feng, her face and ears burning.
Seeing this, Ling Feng rubbed his nose in considerable embarrassment. Then he pointed at the blocked path ahead and said somewhat sheepishly, "There's no way forward."
His words diverted Xiao Yi Xian's attention. She studied the way ahead carefully, then finally said, "I think we've arrived. Our destination should be behind this stone door."
"In that case, let's look for the mechanism that opens it."
"All right."