When Fan Shiyu heard that, she finally shut her mouth.
She had to admit — judging by how Xu Mu and Dai Xingluo interacted, the two clearly knew each other well.
Compared to that woman, Fan Shiyu was just someone who'd only recently met Xu Mu.
If she were honest, she couldn't compete on that front.
Still, Fan Shiyu was someone who valued loyalty.
She wouldn't take Xu Mu's water for free — she'd do everything she could to help keep him safe.
Xu Mu, however, found it a little difficult to move freely while being flanked by two women.
"You two wait here a minute."
He pulled his arm out of Dai Xingluo's hold and jogged toward a large tree in the distance.
There, he deliberately brushed aside some fallen leaves and opened his storage space, taking out four bottles of mineral water and placing them where the two women could see.
If they weren't around, he could simply draw water straight from storage whenever he needed.
But since they were following him, he had to be careful not to reveal too much.
After stowing the bottles back into his backpack, Xu Mu returned to them.
"Brother, just how much water do you have?" Dai Xingluo asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
Fan Shiyu was equally puzzled. She'd entered this place with Xu Mu and had seen him carrying only one backpack — could it really be full of water bottles?
"My friend's been missing for days," Xu Mu said casually. "Clearly she's trapped somewhere. And once you're trapped, what's the most important thing? Water, of course."
He gave a random explanation, then pulled out a packet of spicy strips, handing one to Fan Shiyu. "Here — a friendly gift."
"Ah, I see," Dai Xingluo sighed beside him. "Brother must be tired of me already. To think he's so perfunctory with me now."
Fan Shiyu shot her a glance and snatched the snack from Xu Mu's hand.
"Here," Xu Mu said, taking out another packet and placing it in front of Dai Xingluo.
"So I'm the last one to get something. Guess I'm not as interesting as the other girls," Dai Xingluo muttered dramatically.
"You want it or not?" Xu Mu asked flatly.
"I want it!" she huffed, quickly taking the spicy strips.
Xu Mu opened a packet for himself and started eating as they continued walking.
He soon noticed that neither woman had opened theirs — both tucked the snacks away in their pockets instead.
"Why aren't you eating?" he asked.
"Even with all your water, we're still technically short on supplies," Fan Shiyu replied. "Eating something spicy will just make us thirstier."
"Fair point," Xu Mu nodded — but he kept eating anyway.
After finishing that packet, he pulled out some beef jerky.
They'd been walking all day since morning, and he hadn't eaten much. Now his stomach was starting to complain.
"Brother, I want some," Dai Xingluo said immediately, stretching out her fair hand in front of him.
Xu Mu tore off a piece and handed it to her.
"Xu Mu, give me some too," Fan Shiyu said, a bit embarrassed.
"Here," Xu Mu said, giving her a share as well.
Compared to the others in this scorching wasteland, the three of them were practically having a midnight picnic.
By now, the temperature had dropped.
The moon hung high — round and luminous like a jade disk — bright enough to cast sharp, clear shadows.
For the three of them, it felt almost like a night stroll.
Before long, Xu Mu realized they'd circled back to where they started.
Suddenly, he stopped.
"What is it?" Fan Shiyu asked.
"In a full day of walking, we've covered a lot of ground. Did either of you see any other caves around here?" Xu Mu pointed at the cave ahead.
He'd discovered it earlier — a cave that had seemed unremarkable except for a lone skeleton inside.
"I haven't seen any other caves," Fan Shiyu said, shaking her head.
"I only found this one — and yeah, there's a skeleton in there," Dai Xingluo added.
"That's exactly what's odd," Xu Mu said, frowning. "On such a hot day, who would dig out a huge cave like this just for fun?"
As he spoke, he stepped inside again.
Both women followed closely, daggers in hand — wary now that it was dark.
But Xu Mu walked casually; he'd already scanned the place with his spiritual sense.
He turned on his phone flashlight as they entered the cave.
The interior was roughly spherical, about seven or eight meters across — one single chamber.
Everything was visible at a glance, which was why Xu Mu hadn't lingered the first time.
"Xu Mu, look — the skeleton. Judging from the state of the bones, it's been dead a long time," Fan Shiyu said, shining her own light as she approached.
As an assassin, she wasn't squeamish about corpses.
Meanwhile, Xu Mu pressed his palms along the cave walls, testing for anything unusual.
After circling the entire chamber, he found nothing.
Logically, with so many people having passed through, the walls and floor should've been thoroughly inspected already.
He turned his flashlight upward.
After scanning for a while, his eyes drifted to the skeleton — and then something clicked.
"You two, come here," Xu Mu called.
Fan Shiyu and Dai Xingluo came over. "What is it?" they asked in unison.
"Look up there," Xu Mu pointed toward the slanted upper wall. "What's different about it compared to the rest?"
Both women followed his finger, peering upward.
After a moment, Fan Shiyu's eyes widened. "Xu Mu — the crack in that rock! It's shaped differently!"
Dai Xingluo looked again, and now she saw it too.
Most of the cave's walls were a mix of rock and soil, full of irregular fissures.
But that particular stone had a perfectly square crack — each side about half a meter long.
The fissure had been cleverly disguised with smaller cracks — almost impossible to notice unless you were looking closely.
Dai Xingluo bent her knees and leapt up, giving the square stone a push.
When she landed, her face lit up. "Brother, it moved!"
She jumped again, putting more strength into it this time.
Whoosh!
The square stone lifted upward, revealing a hidden opening above.
But after a few seconds, gravity pulled the stone slab back down, sealing the entrance again.
"Why do I feel like you're the real assassin?" Fan Shiyu said, giving Xu Mu a thumbs-up. "How did you even spot that?"
"Look at the skeleton," Xu Mu said, pointing back. "The direction it's facing — it's staring right at that spot."
Both women turned, and sure enough — it was true.
"Let's go check it out," Dai Xingluo said, eyes gleaming.
She jumped twice, pushing the stone all the way up and crawling through the opening.
"You next!" Fan Shiyu said, grabbing Xu Mu by the waist and boosting him up before following.
Behind the slab, they found a gear-driven mechanism.
Because of gravity, it automatically lowered the stone back into place, sealing the passage.
To their surprise, there was another chamber above the cave.
Xu Mu led the way forward along the narrow tunnel.
If Xu Ningbing wasn't here… then she might really be in danger.
He kept his senses extended, constantly scanning the surroundings.
Within a radius of two hundred meters, he would know the instant someone appeared.
After walking nearly a hundred meters, Xu Mu finally detected signs of life.