Chapter 12: Stone Chamber

If it were normal, Lin Feng would have encountered this rock snake alone.

Relying on the Mysterious Tier low-rank combat skill in his hand, he believed he could win quickly.

But in this terrain, it is indeed a bit troublesome; fortunately, he had prepared beforehand.

Seeing Xiao Yixian frightened in his arms, her face deathly pale and lost in a daze, Lin Feng shouted loudly: "First, I'll swing over; you seize the moment and use the medicine powder to stun it."

"Uh... okay."

Hearing Lin Feng's shout, the panicked Xiao Yixian finally came to her senses, recalling that before coming down, Lin Feng had told her to prepare the medicine powder in advance.

Seeing Xiao Yixian recover, Lin Feng tapped his foot on the cliff again.

His body swung again, quickly approaching the rock snake.

When the rock snake was only a few meters away from the two of them,

Xiao Yixian's palm suddenly opened, and the white powder in her palm scattered entirely toward the rock snake.

The white powder collided with the rock snake, instantly filling the sky with powder that enveloped the rock snake.

"Peng!"

The yellowish shadow struggled in the white powder for a moment, then stiffened and fell from the air.

It crashed heavily into the bottomless valley.

"I didn't expect you to have some skill besides bullying women."

Seeing the danger resolved, Xiao Yixian let out a heavy sigh of relief and began to look at Lin Feng with new respect.

If he hadn't had me prepare the medicine powder beforehand, who knows what would have happened now.

"Hehe, you'll come to know more of my abilities in the future."

Lin Feng laughed and replied, controlling the force with his palm, then slid toward the cave again.

Soon after, Lin Feng pushed off the cliff wall with his toes for the last time, and the two figures arced through midair before landing steadily at the cave entrance.

After landing, Xiao Yixian quickly broke free from Lin Feng's embrace, then happily examined the cave entrance beyond the miscellaneous trees and rubble.

After the two cleared away the debris together, there was no longer any cover of trees or rubble.

Lin Feng and Xiao Yixian finally saw the full appearance of the cave left behind by their predecessors.

This cave's mouth is not wide, only allowing two or three people to pass, and the interior is pitch dark.

However, a faint glow subtly emanated from within, giving it a somewhat mysterious, otherworldly feel.

Around the cave entrance, there were many knife-cut-like marks.

But perhaps due to the passage of time, these marks have become extremely blurred.

"Let's go."

Smiling slightly at Xiao Yixian, Lin Feng took out a tinderbox from his person and then led the way into the dark cave.

Gazing at the pitch-black interior of the cave, Xiao Yixian hesitated a little.

After a moment, she stamped her foot, gritted her teeth, and followed him.

Walking through the quiet, dark cave, a faint chill wrapped around them.

In the silent passage, only the faint footsteps of the two could be heard.

The surrounding dim environment caused Xiao Yixian to unconsciously wrap her arms around herself.

She lifted her head to look at Lin Feng walking slowly ahead, hesitated slightly, then quickened her steps to follow closely behind him.

In such an environment, only the boy before her could give her a greater sense of security.

In this quiet atmosphere, they walked for a full ten or so minutes.

Just when Xiao Yixian could hardly bear it, the passage's silence and darkness were enough to drive one mad.

The boy ahead, however, suddenly stopped his steps.

"Ah..."

Lin Feng's sudden halt left Xiao Yixian unable to brace herself in time; she collided with his back, and due to the rebound, her body uncontrollably retreated a few steps.

Xiao Yixian's arms instinctively crossed to block the point of impact, her cheeks flushed as she looked at Lin Feng's back and exclaimed angrily, "What are you doing?!"

That earlier ambiguous contact likewise made Lin Feng let out a heavy breath.

He gave an embarrassed cough, pointed to a stone door ahead emitting a faint yellow glow, and waved his hand, saying, "There's no way forward from here."

Hearing this, Xiao Yixian furrowed her brows slightly, stepped forward two paces, gazed at the stone door, and mused, "Beyond this stone door should be our destination, right? Since this predecessor carved the cave here, I doubt he would create a dead‑end with no way in."

Lin Feng naturally knew this, and casually said, "Then there must be a mechanism left nearby; let's look for it."

"Hmm... okay."

Xiao Yixian nodded somewhat disappointedly.

She had originally wanted to show off her skill with mechanisms, but she hadn't expected Lin Feng to give her no chance at all.

After a moment, Lin Feng found a small protrusion on one side of the stone door and, facing Xiao Yixian who was bending over to search on the other side, said, "The mechanism is here."

Hearing this, Xiao Yixian hurried over, took a look, and exclaimed delightedly, "This must be it—quickly open it!"

"All right."

Lin Feng nodded in agreement, then pressed his finger down slightly; a creaking sound began to echo slowly within the cave.

As the stone door rose, a faint glow emanated from within it, dispelling all the nearby darkness.

When the stone door was fully raised, they looked at its brightly illuminated interior.

Xiao Yixian gave a slight smile, stepped back two paces, lifted her snow‑white chin toward Lin Feng, and chuckled, "Here, go in."

"No problem; the one who goes in first gets priority of choice."

Lin Feng laughed, shrugged his shoulders, and then walked straight in.

"Aren't you afraid of traps?!"

Seeing Lin Feng reverse his earlier caution and become so bold, Xiao Yixian exclaimed in panic.

Lin Feng said casually, "Given this senior's strength, if they really set a trap, it would be useless for just the two of us, no matter how careful we are."

"There's... some truth to that."

Hearing this, Xiao Yixian hurriedly followed Lin Feng's back.

Upon entering the stone chamber, their field of view suddenly widened.

Inside the stone gate was a huge stone chamber that looked somewhat simple and empty, with moonlight stones used for lighting embedded in the walls.

In the center of the stone chamber stood a chair; upon it sat a skeleton, its skull deeply sunken, and a pallid thigh bone had fallen off.

That sight, in this quiet atmosphere, looked rather grim.

Before the chair was placed a fairly long and wide green Shi Tai.

On the green Shi Tai, three locked stone boxes were neatly arranged.

Moreover, in the three corners of the stone chamber were piled many glittering gold coins, amounting to roughly several hundred thousand.

Seeing those gold coins, Lin Feng's eyes lit up; he still very much needed gold coins.

After all, whether buying medicinal ingredients, prescriptions, or cultivation techniques and combat skills, sufficient gold coins are necessary.

He shifted his gaze from the glittering gold and swept over the stone chamber.

Finally, his gaze lingered on the last corner, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

In that final corner, a small flower bed had been piled up with earth.

In the flower bed were planted various kinds of flowers and herbs, emitting a strange fragrance that twined about.

Gazing at these flowers and herbs, Lin Feng and Xiao Yixian almost simultaneously quickened their steps.

Others might not recognize these things, but they understood them perfectly.

These seemingly ordinary flowers and herbs, when judged by value, are in fact far more precious than those piles of gold coins.