After turning at the corner, they saw a vertical cliff ahead. It looked to be about five hundred metres tall and had occupied almost the entirety of the hillside. The front of the hill had looked normal but this side of it looked as if a god himself had split it in two.
The power of nature had never failed to leave anyone awestruck.
Xia Lei walked towards the cliff as he studied it. He noticed that the surface of the cliff was exceptionally smooth. Not even a professional cliff climber could ascend such a cliff without the aid of professional gear.
Standing at its bottom, Xia Lei studied the ground and noticed new clues. At the start of the cliff was a pile of three stones. Two stones made up its base to prop the remaining stone on top. It looked like a triangle.
Xia Changhe had left behind a discreet direction at the entrance along with this triangular pile. It all started to make sense now! There was an entrance at the top of the hill
This was probably a secret that the man with the cobra tattoo had no idea of.
Tsukino Kyoko and Sa’im lifted their heads and observed the top.
“Boss, you’re about to tell us that there’s an entry point at the top, right?” Sa’im said mindlessly.
“Yeah, there is one on top,” confirmed Xia Lei. His gaze began scanning through the top to pinpoint its location.
“Boss, you’ve never been here. How did you know that there’s an entrance above?” Tsukino Kyoko was curious.
Xia Lei answered, “My father. Did you notice the lines carved on the rock earlier? That was a hint he left for me.”
“Ah, I recall seeing some lines on the rocks. I thought it was some child’s mindless scribble but you managed to decipher it. How did you do it?” Sa’im was equally curious.
The man had always taken pride in his observation skills. However, he felt that his observation was pathetic when compared to Xia Lei.
“I simply observed it carefully.” Xia Lei ended his search, the lack of outcome filling him with helplessness. He had attempted to utilize all features of his X-ray vision, but nothing had seemed to work. There were no obvious entrances. The cracks along the cliff were only big enough to fit a snake. There was no way an adult could squeeze in through it.
Xia Lei scowled as he thought to himself. “Could there be more clues lying around?”
“Boss, how about we climb up and check it out? There’s no way we could map it out from down here,” suggested Tsukino Kyoko.
Xia Lei declined. “Patience. This cliff is difficult to climb. If we don’t find its exact location, it’ll be a waste of energy. A climb alone is dangerous enough.”
“Then we better continue looking.” Tsukino Kyoko tossed a glare at Sa’im. “What are you still standing there for? Let’s split up, we’ll search in different directions.”
“Sure, no problem.” Sa’im began walking towards the other end of the cliff.
Tsukino Kyoko followed him in the same direction but stopped her tracks at the middle of the cliff.
Xia Lei’s gaze was trained on the triangular stone pile again. This time, he used the microscopic vision feature. That seemed to do the trick. Xia Lei had managed to find similar carvings on the rocks.
His father did leave behind some other clues.
Xia Lei ended his usage and picked up the rock. He looked at the lines, applying the same technique to decipher it. One minute later, he obtained a new piece of information.
This time, it wasn’t a combination of Han characters but a string of numbers. 369, 225.
The messages left behind by Xia Changhe had its purpose. The older man knew Xia Lei possessed the X-ray vision, which was why he decided to leave his clues out in the open like that. To the others, the lines would just appear random. But the older man had confidence that his son would be able to extract the message within. Despite that, there was a new problem now. What could these numbers mean?
Xia Lei jerked a chin up, scanning his eyes hurriedly along the cliff. This cliff was about five hundred and thirty-nine metres in height and four hundred and twenty-eight metres in width. With this estimation, his lips were curled into a smile. The number combination Xia Changhe had depicted a height and width dimension. The intersection point would be the location of the entrance!
Xia Lei immediately went to Tsukino Kyoko’s spot at the centre of the cliff.
“Boss, did you find anything?” Tsukino Kyoko turned to face him.
Xia Lei said nothing, walking straight past before stopping at a fifty-metre distance away from her. He exclaimed, “It’s here, I found it!”
Tsukino Kyoko and Sa’im went over to him.
Xia Lei pointed a finger upwards. “It’s three hundred and sixty-nine metres above us.”
Sa’im reached an arm into his bag to pull out his binoculars. He studied the aforementioned position and then looked at Xia Lei confusedly. “Boss, could you be mistaken? My binoculars have a calibration feature and there seems to be nothing at the spot you pointed at. It just looks like a smooth surface.”
Truthfully, Xia Lei had already studied the same spot Sa’im was referring to. The man was right. It was a smooth surface three hundred and sixty-nine metres above them. Despite that, there was a strong feeling in Xia Lei’s gut that told him that there were secrets hidden there.
Perhaps it was some mechanism or a disguise. But no matter what it was, Xia Changhe wouldn’t have left behind those numbers without any reason.
“I’ll climb up to check.” Tsukino Kyoko had no qualms. If Xia Lei had said that there was an entrance there, she would head up and prove it to him.
Xia Lei halted her. “No, let me do it.”
Tsukino Kyoko insisted, “There may be cliffs that I wouldn’t dare to climb in this world, but this is not one of them.” The woman did not even stop to put her bag down. She merely reached in and grabbed a pair of special gloves that were adorned with spikes. Swiftly, she leapt forward and stuck herself onto the rock wall.
The glove was probably a special ninja tool for climbing.
“Be careful.” Xia Lei was surprised at her impatience, causing him to fret a little.
Tsukino Kyoko turned around briefly to flash him a smile before continuing her climb. Her speed was insane. The way she climbed looked dangerous but in reality, every motion was extremely stable.
It only took her a few minutes to climb tens of metres. To Sa’im, her position on the cliff was about seven to eight storeys tall but in Xia Lei’s field of vision, the distance was also non-existent. He could study the efficient synergy of her limbs and core as she coordinated her climb. Along with the sway of her bottom of course.
“Boss, she fancies you,” commented Sa’im.
Xia Lei could only smile wryly at the remark. “But you like her, no?”
“Yeah, that I admit. I really like her but she has never felt anything towards me.” Sa’im sighed deeply. “A woman’s mind is so difficult to comprehend. But I know most women would fall for men like you.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t say that.”
“Hehe, I’m not jealous. Back at where I’m from, I can legally marry a few women. You paid me so much money so I have plans to utilize it. But…” Sa’im was reluctant to continue.
“But?”
“We are orphans. Our lives had been anything but normal since we were children. We can’t live our lives like this. If it’s possible… Boss, I hope you’ll let her experience a normal life,” said Sa’im.
To love someone did not necessarily mean to own someone. As long as she was living a good life and was happy, it was also another kind of bliss.
Xia Lei fell silent to collate his words. “There is an end to everything, the same goes to our life. Rest assured, after everything ends, I’ll make sure that you’ll all live a normal and happy life. I’ll give you the normal life you are referring to.”
“Boss, I don’t think you understand what I mean,” said Sa’im.
Suddenly, Tsukino Kyoko called out to them. “Boss, am I at your spot?”
Sa’im picked up his binoculars.
Xia Lei merely took a look and shouted back, “Climb another fifty metres!”
“Got it!” Tsukino Kyoko carried on.
Sa’im placed his binoculars down, shock obvious. “Boss, I just took a look. It really was an exact fifty metres from her spot. How did you…?”
“Shadows and site elements are great indicators for measurement and distance.” Xia Lei tried to sound deep but in reality, it was all the work of his X-ray vision. It was a piece of cake for him to obtain the exact measurements down to the millimetre. Thankfully, the man had kept the distance vague or else it would be difficult to fool Sa’im.
Tsukino Kyoko was fast, reaching the spot in no time. She took out a rope and threw it down. However, she had misjudged its length. The rope in her bag was only a hundred metres long.
“Shit, I should’ve brought along two more ropes.” Tsukino Kyoko groaned. “I’ll come down and bring the rope with me on the second climb.”
“No need, just wait for me up there!” Xia Lei began to climb the cliff.
“Boss, that’s dangerous!” Sa’im tried to halt him out of concern.
“Don’t worry, just stay here and keep watch. Do not let anyone near this site,” said Xia Lei.
“Sure. I couldn’t climb this even if you ordered me to,” said Sa’im sheepishly.
“Boss, be careful!” It was obvious that Tsukino Kyoko was worried.
Xia Lei mimicked Tsukino Kyoko’s ascending stance. He had only studied her movements once and his brain had already allowed him to achieve near-perfect compatibility. What Tsukino Kyoko had spent her entire childhood to master was absorbed by Xia Lei instantly.
The only difference between Xia Lei and Tsukino Kyoko was the former’s lack of climbing gloves. Despite that, he had his strength, perfect motor coordination and agility. Ninja rock-climbing gloves couldn’t come close to the advantages his body offered.
Watching Xia Lei, who climbed the cliff effortlessly like a lizard, Sa’im couldn’t help but gape. Tsukino Kyoko gaped in shock too. She had the impression that Xia Lei was secretly a ninja master.
Soon, Xia Lei joined Tsukino Kyoko at her location. The nail Tsukino Kyoko had driven into the cliff had served them as a resting point. Peering down, Sa’im was already as small as a toy soldier. The height they were at was terrifying. Forget about a tool-less climb. Anyone without a fear of heights would become acrophobic if they lingered a minute longer at their position.
“Boss, are we at the right position?” asked Tsukino Kyoko.
Xia Lei nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’ve already knocked the rocks earlier. The wall is thick and there is no space within. Could you really have mistaken its position?” Tsukino Kyoko stared at him.
“Give me a moment to study it.” Xia Lei’s left eye twitched and activated his X-ray vision.