Xiao Yixian froze for a moment before decisively shaking her head. "This is far too valuable—I can't accept it!"
"Oh? In that case, I'll just throw it away," Goku replied casually, tossing the item in his hand onto the ground without the slightest concern.
"You—! How could you treat something so precious like that?!" Xiao Yixian exclaimed, immediately scooping the two items off the ground. She then carefully took out a crystal vial and gently placed the Violet Profusion Flowers inside.
"You didn't want it, and I don't have any use for it either—what's the point of keeping it?" Goku said indifferently.
"Well, since you don't want it, I'll take it then!" Xiao Yixian rolled her eyes at him dramatically. Goku simply smiled, a trace of amusement flashing across his face.
They hadn't walked far before a steep cliff appeared ahead. Goku paused, a hint of surprise surfacing in his expression. "No way... could this really be that place?"
Goku slowly approached the cliff's edge and peered down. Jagged rocks, twisted trees, and even bones littered the sheer wall of the cliff.
Scanning the surroundings, his gaze eventually fixed on a spot in the cliff face obscured by a fallen tree trunk. A faint smile crept up his lips. "It really is this place… I have to say, fate works in mysterious ways."
"What is it? Did you find something?" Xiao Yixian asked curiously, noticing Goku's grin as she walked over. But when she looked down, the dizzying drop made her shriek and stumble backward several steps. Her face flushed in embarrassment as she caught Goku looking at her.
"Looking down like that all of a sudden—it really is kind of terrifying!" she admitted, exhaling deeply. "So… what did you see down there?"
From her genuine reaction, it was clear she hadn't spotted the hidden location yet. Goku turned back to the cliff and chuckled. "Wanna go take a look? I think we might've found something really special."
"Huh?" Xiao Yixian's curiosity was piqued. She stepped forward again, squinting at the cliffside. Moments later, she spotted the concealed section behind the fallen log. Her eyes lit up. "That does look suspicious! Could it be ruins or something? Should we check it out?"
Goku laughed. "Of course! We found it—why let someone else have all the fun?" Without warning, he grabbed Xiao Yixian's slender waist, grinning. "Hold on tight—time for some thrills!"
"Ah! What are you doing?!" Xiao Yixian shrieked, her face burning crimson. Touching her hand was one thing, but this? Never having been held like that before, her heart pounded wildly.
"Let's fall together, babe!" Goku joked as he leapt off the cliff with Xiao Yixian in his arms.
"YOU CRAZY IDIOT! Who wants to die with you?! I'm not ready to die! Damn it, I'm so dead because of you!" Xiao Yixian screamed, eyes shut tight as she clung to Goku for dear life.
"Relax!" Goku laughed. "I was just messing with you! Open your eyes—we didn't fall."
He pushed aside the log, revealing a hidden cave entrance. The opening was narrow, only wide enough for two or three people to pass through side by side. Even during the day, it was dim inside, adding an eerie air of mystery.
Xiao Yixian slowly opened her eyes, realizing they were standing safely on a ledge, not free-falling. She let out a breath of relief and glared at him. "You nearly scared me to death! Was that supposed to be funny?!"
"You didn't think that was thrilling?" Goku teased.
"Thrilling, my ass! I nearly had a heart attack! Still… there really is a cave here. It looks so mysterious! Let's go inside and check it out. Judging by the surroundings, it must have been left by a powerful figure—maybe it really is an ancient ruin!"
Her excitement growing, Xiao Yixian blushed and said softly, "Umm… can you put me down now?" She was still nestled in Goku's arms.
Goku nodded, reluctantly letting her go.
"What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and get in here!" Xiao Yixian's face reddened even more as she caught Goku staring. She glared at him in mock anger.
Suddenly, a faint "shhh—" sound sliced through the air, and Goku sensed a weak but fast-moving presence emerging from a crack in the cliff wall. It shot toward Xiao Yixian at lightning speed.
Still basking in the afterglow of holding the beauty in his arms, Goku hadn't been paying attention. But it only took him a split second to react.
"Ah—!" Xiao Yixian cried out, caught off guard. With her limited strength, there was no way she could dodge such a sudden attack.
But Goku was faster than the strike itself. He raised his right hand, and with a flash from his fingertip—ZAP!—the attacker's head exploded and splattered against the cave wall.
"It's a Rock Serpent!" Xiao Yixian exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. Blushing, she looked at Goku gratefully. "Thank you! I almost died just now! This place really is dangerous…"
The Rock Serpent was a snake-type magical beast that lived within cliff walls, roughly rank-1. Its body was flat and wing-like, able to glide through the air like a falcon. Its stone-attribute body was as hard as rock—ordinary blades couldn't even scratch it.
But Goku had obliterated its head with just a single finger beam.
Thinking back to how he had previously flicked a rank Two beast to death, and all his other mysterious abilities, Xiao Yixian couldn't help but feel increasingly curious. Just who is this man…?
Still, she wasn't the nosy type. Though her heart was full of questions, she didn't pry.
"Let's keep going. Let's see what treasures lie inside," Goku said, stepping ahead.
---
At the cliff's edge above, Mu Li stood with his men, staring down at the hidden cave. A sly grin spread across his face as his eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Haha! What a lucky break! Those two actually found an ancient ruin! Well, lucky for me—it'll all be mine soon! Go get some ropes—we're going down after them. Heh heh…"
As Goku and Xiao Yixian ventured deeper, the cave grew darker and colder. The air turned ominous, and their soft footsteps echoed eerily.
Seeing Xiao Yixian crossing her arms tightly in front of her chest, Goku chuckled. "What's wrong? Scared?"
"O-of course not!" she snapped, stubborn as always.
Smiling, Goku reached out and gently held her left hand. "Then hold on. That way, you won't be scared."
Her face turned red again. She tried to pull away, but his grip stayed firm. Eventually, she gave up and let him hold her hand. Somehow, the warmth from his touch chased away the chill in the air. In this dark and lonely cave, he was the only one who could make her feel safe.
---
Inside the pitch-black cave, the sound of two sets of footsteps echoed clearly—tap tap tap. Xiao Yixian followed closely behind Goku, her hand still held tightly in his. Every so often, she would glance up at the tall figure walking ahead of her. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her thoughts drifted.
This strange feeling of warmth and safety was something she had never experienced before—not from anyone else.
After walking silently for over ten minutes, Goku finally spoke up. "Dead end."
"Huh—?" Xiao Yixian, lost in thought, was startled by his voice. Her cheeks turned even redder. She looked ahead and saw a stone door glowing faintly with a yellow hue.
"Stand back. I'll blast it open," Goku said, rolling up his sleeves and stretching his arms.
"Wait, wait, wait! Don't be reckless!" Xiao Yixian panicked and grabbed his arm. "This place is ancient—we don't know what kind of traps might be set up! That glow on the door clearly shows it's protected by an earth-element formation. If we just pay attention, we can disable it without force."
Just as she was about to step forward and try disarming it, Goku stopped her.
"Is that really necessary?" he said, casually forming a sword of energy in his hand. With a gentle swing—shiiing, shiiing!—the solid stone door was sliced into several pieces like tofu, crashing to the ground in chunks.
A beam of white light immediately poured out from the opened room, illuminating the pitch-black cave behind them.
"You… You…" Xiao Yixian was stunned. That door wasn't just made of stone—it had been reinforced with an elemental barrier. And yet, Goku had cut through it as if it were paper. If the one who built this place saw that, what would they think…?
"Quit spacing out. Come on in," Goku said, patting her gently on the shoulder and stepping into the chamber.
Xiao Yixian hurried to follow.
---
Once they stepped inside, the space suddenly expanded. The stone chamber was massive—simple, spacious, and silent. The walls were embedded with moonlight stones that softly lit the room.
At the center stood a stone chair, on which sat a skeleton. Its sunken skull had slid down onto its white thigh bones, creating a rather unsettling sight in the otherwise still atmosphere.
In front of the chair sat a wide rectangular stone table, on top of which lay three sealed stone boxes, neatly arranged.
In the three corners of the room were piles of glittering gold coins and other rare treasures. Judging by the sheer volume, there were likely hundreds of thousands of coins.
Goku waved his hand. All the gold vanished in an instant, sucked into his world ring.
With so many girls to take care of, gold was something he could never have too much of.
In the final corner of the chamber stood a raised flowerbed built from stone and dirt. Inside it grew all kinds of rare herbs, their fragrances intermingling and filling the room with a medicinal aroma.
Xiao Yixian's eyes lit up. She rushed over excitedly. Others might not recognize these plants, but she certainly did. These seemingly ordinary herbs were actually priceless!
"Purple Blueleaf… Snow Lotus Seeds… White Spirit Ginseng Fruit… Iceflame Grass…"
As she stood frozen before the flowerbed, her eyes wide in awe, the names of these rare medicinal herbs fell softly from her lips, each one more valuable than the last.
"These are all good stuff! Perfect for Zi yan!" Goku said cheerfully, and with another wave of his hand, the entire flowerbed vanished into his world ring.
Xiao Yixian froze, then turned and glared at him.
"Seriously?! You're hogging everything?! Couldn't you at least ask first?! I wasn't going to fight you over them, you know!"
Clearly, she was frustrated. It wasn't that she wanted to fight over the treasures—but Goku's complete disregard for her feelings stung.
"These herbs are useful to me," Goku replied casually. "Besides, you should be looking at those three boxes. I think the real treasures are in there. If there's anything you need, they're all yours."
"Now that's more like it." Xiao Yixian nodded with satisfaction. she carefully walked up to the stone table.
Just as she was about to open the boxes, she noticed Goku approaching the skeleton.
"Hey! What are you doing? Don't touch it! What if there's a trap?!"
"What trap? Relax." Goku didn't slow down at all. He simply reached out and pulled three black keys from the skeleton's bony hand. "These should be the keys to the boxes."
He returned to Xiao Yixian's side and said, "Step behind me. If there is a trap, I'll shield you."
__
T/N:
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