72: White Tiger Leads the Way

"Sister?"

"Hmm?"

After parting ways with Gu Xiheng and the others, Cheng Siyu had a slight smile on her red lips, looking to be in a good mood; the icy "do not approach" aura on her face had faded away.

Hearing Xitian call her from beside her, she was momentarily startled before composing her expression.

"Tsk tsk tsk, oh sister, this lovestruck look of yours is truly beautiful."

Cheng Siyu turned her head to look at Gu Xitian, only to see her looking back with a teasing expression.

Cheng Siyu's face flushed as she said solemnly, "What nonsense are you talking about? Alright, stop looking at me. Be careful and don't be careless!"

"Hehe, I know, Sister Siyu." Gu Xitian gave a mischievous smile and strode forward. Seeing this, Cheng Siyu quickly followed, fearing she might encounter danger.

The group circled the village over and over but found nothing unusual.

In front of the village, the ten people gathered together, unscathed.

"Young General, we found nothing."

"Same here."

"We didn't find anything either. Are these people mice? Did they just dig a hole and escape?"

"What do we do next, Young General?"

Gu Xiheng's brows furrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Since we can't find them, we'll ignore them for now. We should stick to the original route and hurry into the mountains! We can't let them beat us to it!"

"Yes."

The group moved quickly along the route they had known from the start.

Ai Yue was currently passing by Xusui Mountain.

Xusui Mountain sounded like a mountain, but it was actually just a slightly larger hill. It couldn't be found on a map at all; only the locals called this hill Xusui Mountain.

She hadn't noticed the hill, but as she was about to pass it, Dawang suddenly jumped beside her and let out an urgent low growl.

Ai Yue immediately stopped the car and turned to ask in confusion, "What's wrong, Dawang?"

Dawang growled at her and then ran to the car door, scratching it hard a few times.

"You want to go out? Dawang, do you need to pee again? Didn't you just finish doing that?"

Dawang didn't understand what Ai Yue was saying at all; he just felt she was being so long-winded and wouldn't open the door for him... Seeing his anxious state, Ai Yue had no choice but to open the car door. Dawang jumped out instantly and bolted toward the hill. Seeing that Ai Yue wasn't following, he stopped to paw at the ground and kept growling, signaling for her to hurry up.

Seeing this, Ai Yue could only quickly put away the car and follow Dawang.

Dawang led Ai Yue left and right across the hill, up and down, circling around. Ai Yue grew increasingly confused as she followed him, not understanding what he was playing at.

Just as Ai Yue's patience was running out, Dawang suddenly accelerated. Startled, Ai Yue hurriedly kept up. The terrain here was intricate and complex; if she accidentally lost him, where would she find him?

The person and the tiger leaped quickly among the hills. After ten minutes of high-speed movement, Ai Yue accidentally stepped into thin air and fell into a pit. Seeing her fall, Dawang immediately turned back and jumped down beside her.

Before they could do anything, the soil in the pit loosened, revealing a large hole. The person and the tiger screamed as they fell in.

"Cough, cough cough cough..."

"Awoo~"

"Cough cough, Dawang, cough cough, how are you?" Fortunately, Ai Yue's physical fitness was quite strong, so falling from a height of two meters didn't cause any major issues.

It was pitch black inside the cave. Ai Yue felt Dawang nearby, letting out "awoo" cries. Her heart skipped a beat—Dawang hadn't been badly hurt from the fall, had he?

She quickly scrambled up from the ground, took out a flashlight, and turned it on to find Dawang. Sure enough, his right hind leg was injured.

She hurriedly took him into the space to treat the wound.

He had never suffered such a serious injury since he was a cub. Ai Yue bandaged him up with heartache. Once Ai Yue finished treating the wound, Dawang ignored the pain and nudged Ai Yue, wanting to go out.

"Dawang, you're injured like this; it's not suitable for you to go out. Just stay in the space, okay?"

After spending so much time together, Dawang understood her expressions and tone well. Seeing her face, he knew she wouldn't take him out.

"Roar, roar~" Dawang also looked like he disagreed.

He kept growling and hopped on one leg in circles around Ai Yue.

Seeing this, Ai Yue pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright, alright. Dawang, look at you, running around blindly in this godforsaken place, falling into this cave, and getting yourself injured! Behave yourself and recover well. I'll go out and find a way out so we can leave this dump quickly."

"Roar roar~" Dawang acted as if he hadn't heard her and continued to nudge Ai Yue while circling her.

"Hey, you brat, what on earth do you want?" Ai Yue couldn't figure out what was attracting him here, making him act so abnormally that he insisted on going out even while injured.

On this side, Dawang continued to pester Ai Yue to go out, but Ai Yue, concerned about his injury, firmly refused to take him.

On the other side, in the deepest part of the hills.

At the bottom of a cave.

"Old Five, are you sure it's here? These palm-sized stones are everywhere; which one is the energy stone?" Having searched for a long time, Sheng Jiyuan angrily threw down the stone in his hand and questioned the person nearby who was rummaging through the rocks.

"Elder Sheng, don't worry. The energy stone must be here. Since we've already found this place, we just need to search slowly. Why are you in such a hurry? If you're tired, take a rest. Don't shout like that; it wouldn't be good if you attracted others." The man called Old Five said unhurriedly.

Old Five wasn't in a hurry at all. He turned on his flashlight and carefully examined an ink-colored stone in his hand. When the light hit the stone, it reflected a faint blue glow, which was quite beautiful!

He nodded obsessively and carefully placed it into a duffel bag by his feet. The bag already contained about a dozen strangely shaped stones.

Hearing his calm words, the anger in Old Man Sheng's heart flared up. How outrageous!

This time, he was clearly the leader of the team, while Old Five was just a treasure appraiser for identifying jade. How dare he speak to him like that! What was his status? He dared to repeatedly disrespect him.

If he had obtained the white tiger last time and had it lead the way, what business would he have here?

However, for now, he could only settle for the next best thing and hope he was useful.

Thinking that the identification of the energy stones still depended on him, he suppressed his anger. "With so many stones here, how long will it take to find them? Don't forget, Gu Xiheng is nearby. If they notice something and follow us, we won't have much time."

"Rest assured! The terrain here is extremely secret. Without someone to lead the way, they won't be able to get in. You can put your heart at ease."

"Better safe than sor—"

"There are no 'what ifs'!" Old Five put down the stone in his hand, his eyes calm as a stagnant well, looking deeply at Sheng Jiyuan.

Sheng Jiyuan was stunned. For some reason, he didn't dare to look him in the eye. He gave a "hmph," avoided the other's gaze, and picked up a stone from the ground to study it himself.

Seeing that Sheng Jiyuan had stopped talking, Old Five lowered his head to continue his obsessive study of the stones. His obsessed look was as if he were caressing a peerless beauty.

Gu Xiheng and his group were following the map in their hands, gradually approaching Sheng Jiyuan's location.