Xu Mu smiled. He merely wanted to find a teammate—after all, with more people, it would be easier to locate Xu Ningbing.
"You don't have to walk in front," Fan Shiyu said coolly.
"As a man, how could I let a woman walk ahead of me?" Xu Mu said with a grin, pretending to step into the cave.
[Favorability +5]
"I didn't say I was walking in front."
Fan Shiyu felt a flicker of warmth. This man had a sense of loyalty—no wonder he came alone to look for his missing friend.
She turned to the two middle-aged men behind her. "You two go first."
"The hell? You damn woman, do you know who you're talking to? Believe it or not, I'll kill you right now!"
The scar-faced man shouted and reached toward her.
Whoosh!
A butterfly knife suddenly appeared in Fan Shiyu's palm. The blade spun once in her fingers and pierced straight through the man's hand, pinning it to the stone wall.
The round-faced man beside him pulled out a dagger in panic—but Fan Shiyu simply raised her other hand.
Boom!
The air trembled. The round-faced man's eyes widened in disbelief as his body was blasted backward, slamming into the rock wall. The impact was so strong that he vomited up the noodles he'd eaten for lunch.
"Gang Qi?"
The scar-faced man's face turned pale with terror, completely forgetting his pain. "Senior, please spare me!"
Fan Shiyu pulled the butterfly knife from his palm. "Walk in front. Otherwise, in this wilderness, I might just turn you two into fertilizer."
Hearing that, the scar-faced man clutched his bleeding hand and bowed his head in silence, not daring to resist. The round-faced man climbed up and led the way.
"What's wrong? Scared?" Fan Shiyu asked Xu Mu with a teasing smile.
"I feel like I've stumbled into a place full of masters," Xu Mu said with a wry nod.
"If you're scared, you can still turn back," she said, wiping the blood off her knife with a tissue and folding the blade shut.
"No way. My friend might be here."
Fan Shiyu nodded slightly. "Then let's go." She ordered the two men ahead, "Lead the way."
The middle-aged men didn't dare disobey and proceeded deeper into the cave.
At first the passage was narrow, but after twenty or thirty meters, it widened. Xu Mu noticed they were heading downhill.
After several minutes, a faint light appeared ahead. The path had been smooth all the way, and the two men began to quicken their pace.
At last, they reached the exit—but what awaited them was a cliff.
"Ah!"
The round-faced man, eager to escape, charged forward and plunged straight into the abyss.
The scar-faced man stopped just in time, trembling on the edge.
Xu Mu looked down into the chasm—an endless drop. Above the cave mouth hung a thick chain stretching across to the opposite cliff about a hundred meters away, slanting downward by several dozen meters.
The chain was as thick as a wrist—strong enough to support several people.
Xu Mu gazed at the abyss and silently hoped that Xu Ningbing hadn't fallen into such an obvious trap.
"Can you make it across?" Fan Shiyu asked. "A hundred meters isn't hard for experts, but for ordinary people, it's as hard as ascending to heaven. If you're afraid, it's not too late to go back."
"My friend and I are both good climbers. This grip strength is no problem."
Xu Mu grabbed the chain and began moving toward the opposite cliff. His body was strong—this was no harder than walking. Within moments, he reached the other side.
Fan Shiyu turned to the scar-faced man. "You next."
"Senior, my hand's injured… I'm afraid… maybe I shouldn't go."
Fan Shiyu narrowed her eyes. "Planning to attack me while I cross? Even a beginner of Internal Force could cross this like a game." She pulled out her butterfly knife again. "If you won't go, then jump."
The scar-faced man froze—she had guessed his plan exactly. He had intended to ambush her mid-crossing, pelting her with throwing knives while she was an easy target. He hadn't expected her to be so cautious.
"I'll go, all right?"
He reluctantly grabbed the chain and began to cross.
Fan Shiyu leapt lightly onto the chain behind him, staying close enough that he dared not act.
Xu Mu watched from the far side, smiling slightly. As expected of a killer—so meticulous. Walking together meant the scar-faced man wouldn't dare make a move.
A moment later, both reached the opposite side.
"You can go now," Fan Shiyu said flatly, stepping forward.
Xu Mu followed beside her. They climbed a small slope, where thick mist blanketed the path ahead. They couldn't see what lay within.
Moving forward, they found a red line on the ground stretching into the fog.
"I think you should turn back," Fan Shiyu warned. "This place isn't simple."
Xu Mu knew that already. With the sun blazing above, there was no reason for such dense mist—clearly some kind of formation.
"Xu Ningbing, you really know how to cause trouble," he muttered.
"I have to find my friend."
With that, Xu Mu stepped into the fog.
"You really aren't afraid of death," Fan Shiyu said, following him in.
The mist was only about five meters thick. When Xu Mu emerged, he found himself in a primitive forest.
He waited, but Fan Shiyu never appeared. Alarmed, he spread his senses—she was nowhere nearby.
"What's going on?"
He turned back the way he came, but though the mist should've been only five meters thick, he couldn't pass through it no matter how far he walked—twenty meters, yet still shrouded in fog.
He returned again and found himself back in the same forest.
"Great… I'm trapped."
Xu Mu sighed helplessly. No wonder Xu Ningbing said that those who went looking for her never returned—they must have been caught in this place too.
Just then, he heard a rustling sound from deep within the forest and immediately heightened his senses.