Oh no, he's coming for me!

After Shang Xinci entered the dense woods, Xiao Yan opened his eyes beneath the tree. He carefully checked everyone in the camp, then quietly rose and followed her once he was sure no one had woken.

When he entered the woods, he found Shang Xinci leaning against a tree with her arms folded, watching him.

"You really are cautious. Come on! We have to be back before dawn."

Looking at this Shang Xinci, who was completely different from her daytime self, Xiao Yan muttered inwardly. Still, he figured this might be her true nature. After all, what ordinary person would venture deep into the mountains to hunt for treasure?

The two moved quickly, reaching the edge of a cliff in just over ten minutes.

Shang Xinci pointed down into the seemingly bottomless drop.

"It's down there. Head down from here, and there's a ledge jutting out on the opposite side, a dozen or so yards below. The cave is there."

Xiao Yan leaned out to inspect it and frowned slightly.

"It isn't that far down. You could go down yourself."

"It isn't far, but the gap between the cliffs is narrow, and fierce gusts sweep through from time to time. It's easy to fall. I tried before, but I couldn't get down."

Xiao Yan nodded and asked no further questions. Instead, he took out a hemp rope, tied it to a large tree, and tossed the remaining length over the edge.

"Come on. I'll hold you."

At Xiao Yan's words, Shang Xinci stiffened, and her composure cracked.

Seeing her reaction, Xiao Yan assumed she felt awkward because he was a man, so he waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry. I won't take advantage of you."

Shang Xinci looked at Xiao Yan, then finally gritted her teeth and stepped into his arms. Her face held not only mortified indignation, but even more embarrassment.

"You absolutely cannot tell anyone about this. If anyone finds out, you're dead!"

Xiao Yan wrapped his arms around Shang Xinci. Feeling the soft, delicate body in his embrace, he stiffened too, coughed, and tightened his grip a little.

"Don't worry. I won't go blabbing."

"Heh heh, feels pretty good, doesn't it?"

Just as Xiao Yan was about to take Shang Xinci down, Yao Lao's sleazy voice rang out, bringing an embarrassed look to his face.

"Teacher, what are you talking about!"

"Ooh, look at you blushing. If that little girlfriend of yours finds out, you'll have more trouble than you can swallow."

"All right, stop it."

Xiao Yan shook his head and jumped down with Shang Xinci.

Since there was no Rock Snake here as there had been in the original story, the two reached the stone ledge without any trouble.

The instant they landed, Shang Xinci broke free of Xiao Yan's embrace and ran aside, hopping up and down while vigorously rubbing her arms.

"Eugh, that was so gross. I really miss Xiao Yi Xian."

Shang Xinci kept trying to soothe her goosebumps, silently reassuring herself.

It's fine, it's fine. No one will ever know.

Seeing Shang Xinci behave that way, Xiao Yan merely assumed she disliked men. He thought nothing more of it and decided to give her some time to recover.

"I'm going in first. Come in whenever you're ready."

Once Xiao Yan went inside, Shang Xinci returned to normal and leisurely followed him.

By the time she entered, Xiao Yan had already opened the stone chamber and was grumbling inside.

"Seriously, what kind of treasure trove is this? They didn't leave me so much as a hair, just a skeleton."

Shang Xinci walked over to Xiao Yan with a smile and pointed at the three stone boxes on the floor.

"Aren't there still three things here? Maybe there's treasure inside."

At her words, Xiao Yan perked up again and set about prying open the three stone boxes.

He opened the first stone box full of anticipation, only to find a sheet of paper.

The smile froze on Xiao Yan's face, giving way to confusion.

"Strange. What is this?"

Although the paper had been inside a stone box, judging by its wear, it could have been made no earlier than last year.

He unfolded the sheet to find it densely covered in lines of cultivation formulas.

"Could there really be something valuable here?"

Seeing those incomprehensible formulas, Xiao Yan's dejected expression brightened into a smile again.

But when he read the final line, he angrily flung the paper to the floor.

"I ***** a damn dog! Are you messing with me? I ***"

On the paper lying on the floor, the final line read: You were reading pretty carefully, weren't you? I made all of it up.

Beside him, Shang Xinci looked as though she wanted to laugh but did not dare, her pretty face turning bright red from holding it in.

Hearing her, Xiao Yan turned his dead-fish stare on her.

"You weren't tricking me, were you? There's nothing here. We went through all that trouble just to get played."

At the sight of Xiao Yan's expression, Shang Xinci could no longer hold back. She burst out laughing, followed by a string of silvery, bell-like giggles.

"Hee hee, you're the one with bad luck. How can you blame me? Besides, there are still two left. What if there's something good inside?"

Xiao Yan sighed and opened the two remaining boxes, only to find a single Flying Dou Technique.

Picking up the Flying Dou Technique, Xiao Yan was delighted at first, but then grew awkward. They had agreed to split everything equally, yet now there was only one Flying Dou Technique. How were they supposed to divide it?

Shang Xinci saw through his thoughts, shook her head, and turned to leave.

"You take it. With my current strength, I can't use something like that anyway. Since there's nothing good here, I'll just count myself unlucky."

A grateful smile appeared on Xiao Yan's face. This Flying Dou Technique scroll was very important to him, and his heart filled with gratitude toward Shang Xinci.

"Little Yanzi, stop grinning like an idiot. There's something strange about the skeleton behind you."

At Yao Lao's words, Xiao Yan put away his smile and turned toward the skeleton on the chair behind him, a gleam flashing through his eyes...

Shang Xinci waited at the cave entrance for a while before Xiao Yan emerged. Hearing him, she turned her head slightly and saw his satisfied expression, knowing he had obtained the Demonic Flame Remnant Map.

"Finished? Let's go."

Xiao Yan nodded.

Once they reached the top, Shang Xinci headed straight toward the distant trail without lingering.

Watching Shang Xinci walk away, Xiao Yan called after her.

"Where are you going?"

Shang Xinci did not stop, replying coolly.

"We've divided everything up. Why wouldn't I leave?"

"Will we... see each other again?"

Xiao Yan did not know what had come over him. The words had suddenly slipped out of nowhere.

At those words, Shang Xinci's steps faltered before she picked up her pace.

"No! If you tell anyone about this, you're dead!"

With that, Shang Xinci turned and vanished into the woods.

Seeing her react so strongly, Xiao Yan guiltily rubbed his nose. His hands seemed to retain the warmth and softness of Shang Xinci's body.

"Heh heh heh, have you fallen for her?"

While Xiao Yan was lost in thought, Yao Lao's sleazy voice rang out again. Then Yao Lao appeared beside him, stroking his beard as he looked at Xiao Yan with teasing eyes.