VIP Volume, Chapter 37: You Pig

Ye Xiaoxuan felt that he had never run so fast in his life—faster than a rabbit! The ground in this cave was uneven and bumpy beneath his feet, yet it wasn’t stone or sand, and there were no sharp edges, so even if you fell, you wouldn’t feel pain.

But this also greatly affected his speed. The roaring sound behind him grew ever closer, mingling with a foul, fishy stench, like some huge beast relentlessly pursuing a meal already within its grasp, its mouth watering in anticipation...

“There’s no escape! Climb onto my shoulders!” Seeing the torrent behind closing in and the endless, shadowy depths ahead offering no way out, Ye Xiaoxuan finally despaired.

Standing beside a crack in the cave wall, he didn’t know where the strength came from, but he wedged his hands under Wen Xiaoyu’s arms and, with a grunt, hoisted her above his head!

Wen Xiaoyu shrieked, settling onto Ye Xiaoxuan’s shoulders, and shouted, “Are you crazy? What are you doing?”

Feeling the warmth of her thighs against the back of his neck, Ye Xiaoxuan’s heart fluttered. He let out a heavy sigh, took a deep breath of the intoxicating fragrance from the girl above, and mumbled gloomily, “I never thought this would be my last pleasure in this world.”

Naturally, Wen Xiaoyu heard his muttered words and instantly understood his meaning—her face flushed scarlet to the very tips of her ears!

Noticing Ye Xiaoxuan’s hands digging firmly into the cracks in the cave wall, she realized his intention. He was using his own body to shield her from the flood, giving her the only slim chance at survival…

Wen Xiaoyu bit her lower lip hard, her large eyes filling with tears. This country boy, who didn’t even know martial arts, had risked his life for her again and again in just two days!

In the lake, he had pushed her to safety as he faced death; on the boat, he’d risked himself to lure the eagles; in the cockpit, he’d shielded her at the peril of his own life; and now, he was using his body to block the flood. This boy, whom everyone looked down on and whom his own villagers called worthless, had saved everyone with his life!

In that instant, Ye Xiaoxuan became a towering figure in Wen Xiaoyu’s heart, and her affections began to lean toward him. How could she just watch him die for her? With a swift motion, she flung her grappling hook upward, catching it on a crack in the ceiling. Clamping her legs tightly around Ye Xiaoxuan, she pulled him upward, only having time to shout, “Hold on to me!”—as the floodwaters surged beneath them!

Ye Xiaoxuan hadn’t even had time to react before he was suspended in midair, gripped between Wen Xiaoyu’s legs! The raging flood roared beneath his feet, and instinctively he clung to her slender legs, scrambling upward with the agility of a monkey.

The torrent below rushed by, filled with the bones of animals, making Ye Xiaoxuan’s heart pound with terror. If you were standing in that water, even if you weren’t drowned, you’d likely be impaled by those sharp fragments!

His limbs went weak as he clung to Wen Xiaoyu’s long, straight legs, trying to climb higher. But their clothes were still damp and slippery, as if he were hugging two steel pipes, making it impossible to get a grip. With a sudden slip, just as he’d climbed a bit, he slid right back down, his legs dipping into the flood!

“Hold on tight! If you drown, I won’t save you!” Wen Xiaoyu gripped the rope hook with all her strength, not daring to relax for a second. This was nothing like before—last time, when she’d used the hook to pull Ye Xiaoxuan up, the water’s buoyancy had helped. Now, if she let go, both of them would fall. At the force of this current, they’d be smashed against the cave wall, lucky to have a single bone left unbroken!

At this life-or-death moment, Ye Xiaoxuan’s potential surged again. Hugging Wen Xiaoyu’s legs, he scrambled up another bit, but his grip began to slip, so he reached for the rope at her waist. Instead, his hand caught her waistband, and with a loud rip, the trousers split in two, the buttons flying off. Ye Xiaoxuan spun downward, but the pant leg caught around Wen Xiaoyu’s knee, leaving him dangling above the water!

“Aaah!” Feeling her pants being torn off, Wen Xiaoyu let out a scream, her hands slipping from the rope as she almost fell. Thankfully, she caught herself in time, but her legs were trembling violently. She looked as if she wanted to kick the pants loose, but with a whole person dangling from them, she didn’t have the strength to move!

Ye Xiaoxuan felt he was the unluckiest person alive! Just when he’d found a way to avoid the current, he’d ended up tumbling into the water anyway, swallowing mouthfuls of foul, fishy floodwater and being battered by all sorts of debris. Fortunately, he still had a grip on the rope—or what he thought was the rope—so he wasn’t swept away!

When the current finally slowed a bit, Ye Xiaoxuan pulled himself up and out of the water, gasping for breath. Looking up, he was dumbfounded.

What he was holding was not a rope at all, but her trousers! Luckily, the last bit was still tangled around her ankle; otherwise, he’d have been swept straight to the eastern sea!

“Don’t you dare look up!” Wen Xiaoyu, blushing so hard she was nearly in tears, shouted at Ye Xiaoxuan. He quickly bowed his head guiltily, then, unable to help himself, looked up again and called, “Hey, how did you know I was looking up?”

Wen Xiaoyu didn’t dare look down, pressing her legs tightly together as she said, “I just know! I guessed! Let go of me, you pig!”

“Are you kidding me? I’d be a pig to let go of you now!” Ye Xiaoxuan only tightened his grip on the cloth strip. A moment ago, risking his life to save her had been an instinctive act of courage. But now that she was safe and he was still soaking in cold water, he wouldn’t let go just for the sake of her modesty!

Wen Xiaoyu felt the boy’s gaze below like a knife, and, mortified, she struggled and shouted, “Let go! The water’s not so bad now!”

Ye Xiaoxuan just chuckled. “I’d like to, Xiaoyu, but if I let go—” Before he could finish, the ground shook violently. He cursed inwardly—either an earthquake or a cave-in!

Before he could react, Wen Xiaoyu cried out above him. Her rope hook slipped, and she fell!

Ye Xiaoxuan judged the direction of her fall and caught her securely in his arms. At that moment, a wave stirred by the tremor swept them both forward, carrying them deeper into the darkness!