Chapter 33: A Bold Decision

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Wang Xingyu, He Tiantian, and Qin Meng all assumed that Lin Feng would be delighted if Cheng Xiangyu offered to follow him, and that he would agree without hesitation.

After all, none of the three of them wanted to follow Lin Feng.

Yet Lin Feng merely said, “Cheng Xiangyu, you can come with me, but I’ve already made myself clear: if you follow me, you must listen to me and help me with the work.”

He Tiantian and Qin Meng were rendered speechless.

They thought that Cheng Xiangyu, a wealthy heiress from a powerful family, was willing to stay by his side. That was a blessing he must have accumulated over several lifetimes, not to mention his chance to rise in the world and enter high society.

And he actually had the nerve to set conditions?

He was simply a fool beyond redemption, completely ignorant of social graces. No wonder he was destined to remain poor for the rest of his life.

Wang Xingyu, meanwhile, smiled secretly.

He had been worried that Cheng Xiangyu would leave with Lin Feng. He had never expected Lin Feng to make such a demand.

He was certain that a pampered young lady like Cheng Xiangyu would never obey a poor nobody like Lin Feng.

Yet Cheng Xiangyu did not hesitate for even a moment. She smiled and nodded. “All right, I understand. Don’t worry. I’ll definitely listen to you and help you with the work.”

“And look, I used to be terrified of this dead man’s dress, but I’m not afraid of it anymore. I even brought it along on purpose.”

Gasp!

He Tiantian and Qin Meng were so stunned that their jaws nearly dropped. They could hardly believe their eyes or ears.

They could not understand it.

No matter how hard they tried, they simply could not understand why Cheng Xiangyu would agree to such a demand from Lin Feng.

Wang Xingyu clenched his fists, feeling deeply irritated.

In his heart, Cheng Xiangyu was the only one of the three women he truly liked.

The other two were merely easy prey that had offered themselves to him. He might as well enjoy them, since they were available. He had only wanted to play with them.

Unable to restrain himself, he reached out to stop Cheng Xiangyu. “You’re really going to leave with this poor nobody?”

Cheng Xiangyu did not answer. Instead, she shifted her body and reached out to take Lin Feng’s hand, signaling for him to help her leave.

Her actions gave Wang Xingyu his answer.

Inwardly, she was grumbling: If I don’t leave with Lin Feng, am I supposed to stay here and freeze and starve with you?

She simply did not dare say it aloud and openly offend Wang Xingyu because he was the city lord’s son.

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Seeing that Cheng Xiangyu genuinely intended to leave with him, and remembering how much she had already changed, Lin Feng readily helped her up. Carrying their belongings, he left with her.

“Damn it!”

Watching them disappear, Wang Xingyu cursed furiously.

Seeing this, He Tiantian hurried to comfort him. “Young Master Wang, her leg is injured. She wouldn’t be much help even if she stayed. Let her go. Besides, you still have me.”

Qin Meng quickly chimed in. “That’s right, Young Master Wang. You still have us.”

Wang Xingyu merely snorted coldly. “Can either of you compare with Cheng Xiangyu?”

The two women were instantly left speechless, their hearts filled with an indescribable bitterness.

…

With Lin Feng supporting her, Cheng Xiangyu followed him deeper into the woods. Along the way, she noticed leopard tracks on the ground.

It seemed Lin Feng was heading toward the leopard’s territory.

Wasn’t that courting death?

Deeply puzzled, she asked, “Lin Feng, if I’m not mistaken, the leopard’s den should be ahead, right?”

Lin Feng nodded. “That’s right.”

She froze, utterly bewildered.

Seeing her expression, Lin Feng explained, “A leopard’s den is usually a hollow tree or a cave. Places like that are generally well protected from wind and rain, making them ideal shelters.”

“That’s why I abandoned the shelter I worked so hard to build. I thought of this.”

As he spoke, he gazed ahead with anticipation. “If we’re lucky, we’ll find its cave after following these tracks for a short distance.”

Cheng Xiangyu was stunned. It took her a while to recover before she asked, “Aren’t you afraid we’ll run into the leopard? It’s a ferocious beast!”

Lin Feng smiled and waved his hand. “Don’t worry. I’m confident I can handle it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare take over a leopard’s den.”

Seeing that she still looked worried, he continued explaining. “A leopard will go hunting immediately after the rain, which means it’s very hungry. If it can’t find anything to eat, it won’t return to its den.”

“By the time it returns, it won’t be as hungry, and it won’t be as fierce.”

“That leopard wasn’t very large. I’m confident I could kill it with my bare hands. It was simply much more aggressive than usual because it was starving. Since I might have been injured, I drove it away instead of killing it.”

Recalling how Lin Feng had repelled the leopard earlier, Cheng Xiangyu felt that he was indeed exceptionally brave. He had shown no fear at all when facing the beast, so he probably was not boasting.

Still, she could not help worrying. “What if there are other leopards in the den?”

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Lin Feng waved his hand at once. “Impossible. Like tigers, leopards are generally solitary animals. Besides, I observed that the leopard earlier was male, and it showed no signs of being in heat. So I’m certain it’s alone.”

After hearing his reasoning, Cheng Xiangyu found it quite convincing, but she was still not entirely reassured. Uneasy, she let Lin Feng support her as they continued forward.

Twenty minutes later, a small hill suddenly appeared ahead.

Lin Feng was overjoyed. “Ha-ha, this is wonderful! It seems the leopard’s den isn’t a hollow tree but a cave.”

Compared with a hollow tree, a cave would naturally provide much better protection from wind and rain.

Cheng Xiangyu was not nearly as happy. The thought that they must now be very close to the leopard’s den filled her with anxiety, and she stopped. “Lin Feng, I want to hide here. Go take a look first. If we run into the leopard, I’ll only hold you back.”

Lin Feng thought for a moment, then nodded. “All right. Hide here for now. If the leopard comes back, don’t make a sound under any circumstances, and don’t cause the slightest disturbance.”

Cheng Xiangyu nodded. “Understood!”

Lin Feng continued, “Give me the things. I’ll take them to the cave first, then come back for you.”

Cheng Xiangyu handed him the formal dress and the items wrapped inside it.

Lin Feng placed the two bundles on the ground, helped Cheng Xiangyu hide in the grass nearby, then picked up both bundles and hurried forward along the leopard tracks.

Just as he expected, a cave soon came into view.

The entrance was at least twenty centimeters above ground level, more than a meter wide and over two meters high. This was enough to keep rainwater from flowing inside and to block most of the rain blown in by the wind.

After entering the cave, Lin Feng discovered that even if some rain did blow inside, it would not matter. The interior was spacious as well.

The cave covered roughly two hundred square meters, and its ceiling was at least five meters high.

What pleased him most was that the rock was not the sort that allowed water to seep through easily. Even on this rain-soaked deserted island, one needed to walk only two or three meters into the cave before reaching a completely dry area.

The only imperfection was the poor lighting. After taking a few steps deeper, he could no longer see a thing.

Although Lin Feng was certain there were no other leopards inside, he remained vigilant for the sake of safety.

Now he set down the two bundles, picked up a stone, and deliberately struck the cave wall, creating a loud echo.

After quite some time, there was still no response from within—not even the flutter of bats.

On second thought, that made sense. This was a leopard’s den, and leopards were capable of hunting bats as well.

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