Chapter 9: Manor Level 9

【Damn!】

【Impressive!】

【Is this it? Is it finally over?】

【Number 5, my source of happiness, don’t die…】

【Quick, call He Xi, idiot!】

【In this situation, He Xi can’t save you, right? Unless he can fly.】

【After He Xi killed the ancestor god, he inherited all his powers—flying must be a piece of cake for him, right?】

【Impossible. If he’s that powerful, why hasn’t he come out of the hole in all these years? Last time, he almost got killed by Number 4!】

【That’s unclear, but He Xi’s power… you guys can’t even imagine…】

【Stop being all mysterious and making others lose face.】

【Don’t die, Number 5… sniff】

【Idiot, the sooner you die, the sooner you’re reborn.】

【You’re all bad people, waaa】

【Moron, get lost!】

Fluffy Ball couldn’t believe Ai Ling would jump off the cliff. The sudden sensation of weightlessness almost made it faint, forgetting to return to Ai Ling’s mind.

When Ai Ling jumped, the leopard behind her couldn’t stop its momentum and ended up falling ahead of them.

The mountain wind howled below, and Ai Ling’s survival instinct kicked in as she flailed her arms, trying to grab onto something, hoping for any small chance of survival.

When she jumped, she was already very close to the cliffside. In her panicked scrambling, she accidentally bumped into a branch sticking out from the cliff and, after a brief cushioning effect, her hands quickly grabbed a thick vine.

Ai Ling’s heart was pounding like a drum as she hung onto the vine, swinging back and forth several times before finally coming to a stop.

At this moment, Fluffy Ball was still screaming, falling straight down.

Ai Ling, half-relieved and half-amused, shouted, “Fluffy Ball, why are you screaming? Didn’t you know how to fly?”

Oh, right! It can fly!

With this reminder, Fluffy Ball immediately stopped falling and zoomed back up.

“Ai Ling, are you crazy? Why jump off a cliff?” Fluffy Ball scolded angrily.

Ai Ling took a deep breath to calm herself, saying, “If I didn’t jump, I’d be a fat meal in the leopard’s mouth by now. Good thing I’m smart, see? We’re saved!”

Fluffy Ball squinted its eyes, “Really? You’re planning to climb up with the vine?”

“What’s wrong with…” Ai Ling looked up for a moment but immediately closed her mouth.

Even though the cliff was covered in vines, the distance was at least as high as twenty-five or twenty-six stories. Not to mention climbing it by hand, even with mountaineering tools, she wouldn’t be able to do it.

It felt like she had just jumped, yet somehow she had fallen so far?

Ai Ling felt a little discouraged. Was this it? Was she going to be stuck here until she exhausted her strength and fell again?

No, no, no. Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, she would still try to climb.

With that thought, Ai Ling gathered her courage and extended her left hand, preparing to climb.

Ding ling ling!

As soon as her hand moved, the small bell emitted a pleasant sound.

Oh no, how could she have forgotten this life-saving thing? She should have called He Xi when she encountered the leopard earlier. Now, being stuck halfway up the mountain, even if He Xi came, he probably wouldn’t be able to save her.

But no matter what, he was local. He could always think of a way.

She brought the bell close to her lips, just about to call out when Fluffy Ball flew to the upper-right corner, startled, and said, “Ai Ling, Ai Ling, come look, there’s a cave here!”

A cave? Could it be some kind of adventure, like in martial arts novels?

Ai Ling thought for a moment, put the bell aside, and decided to go check it out first.

She slowly climbed through the vines in Fluffy Ball’s direction.

Sure enough, a cave about the size of a person was hidden behind the vines. The entrance was almost entirely covered, so you couldn’t notice it unless you looked closely.

In front of the entrance, there was a small platform that protruded slightly. Ai Ling stretched out her foot and easily stood on it.

She brushed aside the vines blocking the entrance, letting sunlight pour into the cave.

Being cautious, she didn’t rush in but instead stood on the platform, carefully observing.

Inside the cave, it was a very clean and spacious large chamber, seemingly modified by someone. There was a small, dark hole inside that led deep into the cave, looking primitive and unknown.

The larger chamber had stone tables and benches, just like the trap cave she had encountered before, and beside them, there were several metal boxes, some intact and some damaged.

Ai Ling was very excited. Forget about what was inside the boxes for now, just the metal material alone must be worth a lot. This ancient cave had likely existed for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, and remained intact over time—definitely valuable.

She confirmed that the cave was safe and then pulled Fluffy Ball inside with her.

On the stone table, there was still a piece of paper made from an unknown material, just like the last time, with writing on it.

At this moment, Ai Ling had no interest in the note. Her mind was completely focused on those iron boxes. She counted—there were five in total, three of which had been damaged, seemingly from being forcefully opened.

The damaged boxes were empty, with only some dark ash inside, showing that there had once been something in them, but it had since oxidized.

Seeing the ash, Ai Ling’s previously excited heart cooled. No matter what the other two boxes had once contained, they were probably just dust by now.

She sighed and opened one of the undamaged boxes. As expected, a cloud of choking dust immediately rushed out. Ai Ling quickly jumped back, peering inside. Among the thin layer of ash, something seemed to be glowing.

Ai Ling’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly reached in and retrieved the glowing object.

It turned out to be a sapphire the size of a quail egg, its surface shimmering with a soft light. It was a deep, translucent blue, like the faint glow of light refracted into the ocean.

It was so beautiful that Ai Ling was lost in that pure blue world, almost forgetting where she was.

“Ai Ling!” Fluffy Ball saw her standing there, dazed, and couldn’t help but wonder, “Are you spacing out again?”

Ai Ling smiled foolishly and said, “We’re rich, Fluffy Ball! Do you know how much this big sapphire could sell for? At least…”

Suddenly, she realized that this wasn’t Earth. Even if she had a whole box full of treasures, it wouldn’t be worth anything to her here. Sigh!

She tucked the sapphire into her pocket and went to open the second undamaged box.

Compared to the others, this box was a bit small—about the size of a shoe box. It had been pressed underneath the other damaged boxes. The box had a lock, but it had already been pried open. It seemed like the contents had been rummaged through, probably in an attempt to take them, which is why it wasn’t destroyed.

Afraid of more dust, Ai Ling stood back and gave the tilted box a hard kick with her foot. It was heavy. The box flipped over onto the ground, spilling its contents.

In that moment, Ai Ling couldn’t help but close her eyes… The entire box was filled with gold bars, clinking as they spilled out. The dazzling gold nearly blinded her.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, it really was a treasure cave!

Tsk, tsk, tsk, but what a pity!

Ai Ling looked at the box full of gold, her heart aching. If only this were Earth, she and her grandmother could live like royalty from now on—who would dare give them a dirty look?

Sigh. Ai Ling kicked the gold bars with her foot, wondering if the islanders who guarded treasure caves on isolated islands felt the same way she did now—trapped with treasure they couldn’t use.

At this point, if she said she was “so poor that all I have left is money,” no one would probably dare to argue.

As she kicked, her eyes caught sight of a thin sheet of paper floating out of the box. Ai Ling quickly stepped forward to pick it up.

It was a map. A big circle on it, with blue, yellow, and black areas, showing mountains and rivers clearly.

Ai Ling showed it to Fluffy Ball, who said he couldn’t understand it—probably a map of some other planet.

This reminded Ai Ling of the piece of paper on the table. She quickly went over, picked it up, and blew off the dust, asking Fluffy Ball to scan it for her.

Once it was scanned, the paper read: