Chapter 3025 A Good Match

To be fair, the mention of valuables made sense.

No matter how bizarre its structure, the place still bore some resemblance to an underground tomb, making it easy to associate with burial goods.

Not to mention the area they were about to explore was a hidden passage.

"Why?"

The Long-Haired Man couldn't quite follow his girlfriend's sudden shift in topic, blurting out the question on pure reflex.

"I've just heard some stories. Like how cats are the guardians of hidden gold coins."

The Long-Haired Woman offered this additional explanation, drawing on folklore.

"Especially since this one actually is a black-and-white cat."

She glanced toward the underground passage, her tone carrying a strong hint of certainty.

Hmm...

Chief Yuan obviously didn't care about money, but the detail the Long-Haired Woman just revealed clearly struck a chord with her.

She had thought they were on a wild goose chase, but the woman accurately naming the cat's coat colors added a new layer of mystery. If she hadn't actually seen it, it couldn't possibly be such a perfect coincidence, could it?

Keeping quiet for a moment, Yuan Shan simply turned to look at Professor Fu.

"I've heard that story too."

He, however, seemed to completely miss the point. Meeting her inquiring gaze, he merely indicated that he had indeed heard of black-and-white cats guarding gold coins, and the Long-Haired Woman wasn't just talking nonsense.

"I haven't really heard of it, but if that's the case, doesn't that mean we don't need to go down to save it?"

By comparison, the other half of the couple seemed a bit out of the loop.

The Long-Haired Man looked increasingly confused as he listened, hesitating briefly before shaking his head.

However, his brain hadn't stopped working. His face soon lit up with joy as he hit upon a crucial realization.

If the cat really was a guardian, that meant this place was its territory. There was no need for a rescue.

Unless—

Seeing that his girlfriend didn't immediately agree with him, he seemed to realize something, staring at her with his mouth slightly open.

"That's only one possibility... it might still be trapped down there."

Unfortunately, the Long-Haired Woman held back any shocking revelations. She simply offered a flawless excuse, even wearing a smile.

...

"It really isn't that simple. She seems more inclined to let him go down."

The mundane rescue story had suddenly taken another twist. For a moment, even Yuan Shan—who had been so eager to save the cat—seemed to have her interest piqued.

Unbothered by how Professor Fu's earlier denseness had stifled the conversation, she narrowed her eyes at the couple and continued sharing her observations.

Watching her performance up to this point, there was clearly nothing innocent about the Long-Haired Woman anymore. Beneath the facade of a cat rescuer, a faint trace of greed was seeping through.

Even the initially touching atmosphere had instantly soured.

"Just her?"

Fu Qian nodded, though he didn't entirely agree.

To anyone else, this development might seem a bit cynical.

But to him, it actually resolved the logical paradox they had noted earlier.

In a dark place like this, pure compassion wasn't enough to sustain the wonderful drama unfolding before them.

"You mean he is too?"

The possibility Fu Qian hinted at was undoubtedly even more worldview-shattering. However, Yuan Shan was someone used to the darkness of human nature. Though she frowned, she wasn't all that surprised.

"Normally, with these kinds of things, we judge actions not intent," Fu Qian said. "I just think that this way, the two of them make a better match."

Unfortunately, Professor Fu was making a completely baseless guess. While acknowledging that the Long-Haired Man's performance still lacked any obvious flaws, he offered this abstract reasoning.

"That makes sense. Anything is possible... so should we still go down together?"

His guess quickly proved to be not so abstract after all. Faced with his girlfriend's statement, the Long-Haired Man's gaze lingered for a moment before he slowly offered this new suggestion.

...

"There really is a problem with him. He's just a bit better at faking it."

The Long-Haired Man's suggestion lacked logic, but at first glance, it seemed to align with human nature.

However, playing the role of the audience, Yuan Shan shook her head. In that moment, she had clearly made her judgment.

"Don't you think they're a perfect match?"

Fu Qian emphasized his foresight once again. Given that they had already finished graciously deferring to each other, the Long-Haired Woman bringing up valuables was obviously out of character.

But this intentional exposure wasn't for nothing.

In a gloomy crypt, a lover had actively torn off her disguise to reveal her greed. Yet the boyfriend not only didn't run away, but continued to indulge her.

It might look like deep affection, but having the nerve to indulge her at a time like this was a problem in itself.

No matter how natural their mutual deference had seemed a moment ago, someone with this much nerve and sense of responsibility would hardly just let his girlfriend win.

As for why he wouldn't run if it wasn't out of deep affection?

Most human behavior could be explained by finding the motive.

If it wasn't for love, then the easiest reason to think of was money.

The couple before them might very well be a pair of fearless tomb raiders, and saving the cat was nothing but a convenient excuse.

In short, some things went without saying. The Long-Haired Woman was clearly using this self-exposure tactic to smoke out her partner's true colors.

"That would definitely be better, but it still doesn't solve the problem. What if someone seals this passage while we're down there?"

With the change in the Long-Haired Man's demeanor, his girlfriend had clearly confirmed a few things. However, she didn't choose to call him out. Wearing a knowing smile, she maintained the posture of facing a difficult problem together and pointed out the hidden danger of his plan.

To be honest, her concern wasn't unreasonable.

Although few people ever came here, the consequences of being trapped below were far too severe—not to mention there were plenty of handy materials right here to do the job.

But as she said this, the Long-Haired Woman's eyes never left her boyfriend. The implication was intriguing, subtly explaining why neither of them had wanted to go down earlier—

The one who went down might get first dibs on the "gold coins," but their life and death would likely be controlled by the person staying up top.

Being trapped inside to die so the other could take it all—the person going down would be handing over that initiative completely.

The crux of the matter was that even if they had no intention of doing so themselves, there was absolutely no guarantee the other person felt the same.

In short, down here in the dark Underground, a chain of suspicion had easily formed, bringing the situation to a stalemate.

And as the two grew to understand each other better, the severity of the situation only increased.

"Impressive. You actually figured it out."

Fortunately, their luck was good. They had run into Professor Fu, who was always adept at breaking stalemates.

Without waiting for the Long-Haired Man to weigh his words, Fu Qian naturally interjected. He walked right up to the edge of the passage and kicked the stone slab beside it.

"Who goes there—"

There was a limit to pretending no one else was watching, especially when Fu Qian had chosen to butt into such a highly relevant topic.

The young couple snapped their heads over, deeply shocked.

"Someone here to express his gratitude, seeing as you're both so eager to save my cat."

Fu Qian wore a relaxed expression, recalling his heroic posture during The Abyss mission—a gun in one hand and a cat in the other.

"You can call me the Mad Cat Gunner."