Chapter 1396 - 1396: All You Need Is a Hand

"Ah!"

A piercing scream rang in Xiao Feng's ear.

Yao Qianxue tentatively opened her eyes, only to find Xiao Feng's feet firmly on the concrete platform.

Slowly getting off Xiao Feng's back, Yao Qianxue looked back, her beautiful eyes full of disbelief.

"That distance, you could challenge the world record, you know. I remember the best achievement so far is only about seven or eight meters."

"Don't have the time." Xiao Feng dropped a line and started throwing equipment onto the platform at the third gate.

After tossing two backpacks over in succession, he glanced around and swept his right arm around Yao Qianxue's slender waist.

"You..."

Yao Qianxue's body shivered, alert: "What are you, what are you planning to do?"

As she asked, her heart, which had just slowed down, suddenly began to beat faster!

She looked at the shore ten meters away and then looked down at the rushing water below, her heart couldn't help but feel tense.

If this man beside her decided to do something here, there would be no way to escape...

As she was daydreaming, Xiao Feng grinned: "Nothing much, just giving you the experience of flying. Want to try?"

"How, how to try?"

"Hold onto me first."

"Hold..." Yao Qianxue's face flushed red instantly, and she asked in a voice barely audible: "How, how do I hold?"

"Up to you, hold in a way you won't fall from mid-air," Xiao Feng said casually.

In fact, having Yao Qianxue hold onto him didn't matter much from a safety perspective. It was purely to make her feel a bit safer.

Moments later, Yao Qianxue held onto Xiao Feng's waist, unsure whether it was from fear or shyness, unable to lift her head.

"Ready?"

"Mm."

After a quick confirmation, Xiao Feng took a few steps back, then increased his speed. As his feet touched the edge of the platform, he exerted force and leapt towards the platform at the third gate.

At this moment, Yao Qianxue still couldn't resist closing her eyes, making the thrilling experience less than perfect.

"Bang!"

The two landed on the platform at the third gate, leaving Yao Qianxue completely bewildered.

She even couldn't understand why she agreed to experience the so-called flying.

Quickly releasing her grip, Yao Qianxue took a deep breath: "Let me calm down, and adjust my emotions, then I'll start working."

"No rush, take your time," Xiao Feng said with a smile.

After speaking, he sat on the platform, his gaze looking into the distance...

Once you have seen the Five Sacred Mountains, other mountains will seem mundane.

Once you have seen Huangshan, it's no longer necessary to visit the Five Sacred Mountains.

This logic applies to viewing water bodies as well.

Yuehu Reservoir, known as Jiangcheng's largest reservoir, certainly lives up to this title.

But for those who have witnessed the vast and boundless ocean, Yuehu Reservoir might seem somewhat lacking.

About five minutes later, Yao Qianxue said, "I'm ready, can we start now?"

Xiao Feng glanced at his phone and nodded: "Let's begin."

Yao Qianxue took out an instrument from her backpack, checking all around her feet meticulously, as if defusing a bomb.

After examining every inch of the platform, she shook her head: "It's not on this platform."

Xiao Feng nodded slowly and looked upwards, considering the likelihood of the bomb being there as low.

After all, with the gate being right below, blowing it open would have more destructive impact.

Thus, he needed to go down.

With this in mind, Xiao Feng pulled a rope from his bag and lowered two backpacks onto a small platform below.

Then, he turned to Yao Qianxue: "We learned vertical descent, right?"

"Learned it," Yao Qianxue nodded.

Xiao Feng handed over a pair of gloves and asked, "Can you manage on your own?

Don't act tough if you can't."

Yao Qianxue revealed a confident smile, took the gloves and put them on.

A moment later, seeing Yao Qianxue waving to him from the lower small platform, Xiao Feng nodded with satisfaction.

Her earlier moves were textbook perfect, indicating her basic skills beyond bomb disposal were strong.

Evaluating internally, Xiao Feng puts on one glove, grabs the rope with his hand, and descended smoothly onto the platform, quickly and fluidly.

Yao Qianxue froze with amazement: "How did you do that?"

"How did I do what?" Xiao Feng seemed unsure of her meaning, and naturally remarked: "Just need hands, right?"

"..." Yao Qianxue.

Just needing hands was a bit too demoralizing.

Nonetheless, Yao Qianxue had witnessed enough incredibility from Xiao Feng.

Though surprised now, she wasn't out of character.

Calming herself a bit, Yao Qianxue began carefully inspecting the instrument.

The small platform below didn't offer much space, with two backpacks occupying almost seventy percent of it.

This made Yao Qianxue move two steps, and Xiao Feng had to move one alongside, or risk an awkward inability to move.

As time ticked away, until Xiao Feng and Yao Qianxue had circled the small platform for a full round, an alarm finally sounded.

"Beep!"

Yao Qianxue's eyes lit up, her hand holding the instrument stable as she took a marker from her pocket, bitten off the cap, and marked the wall.

Xiao Feng observed near the mark, his brows furrowing slightly.

Why didn't he see Tang Yunshu's mark?

In fact, while Yao Qianxue was using the instrument, he was visually searching for a mark.

Now, despite the instrument's alert, he still didn't see a mark, making Xiao Feng feel something was amiss.

"What's wrong?" Observing Xiao Feng's odd expression, Yao Qianxue asked perplexed.

Xiao Feng slowly shook his head and stepped forward, touching the gate's wall. Its rough texture felt like coarse sandpaper.

Seeing the dust and sand on his fingers, he faintly caught on...

He put on the glove he had removed, and wiped around Yao Qianxue's mark.

Sure enough, Tang Yunshu's unique mark emerged.

The mark was small, but clearly visible, hidden under sand and dust, invisible to the naked eye.

Beside him, Yao Qianxue showed realization: "Were you looking for this pattern?"

"Yes."

"And the person who left this pattern..."

"Is a friend of mine," Xiao Feng said casually: "I'll introduce you sometime."

Yao Qianxue nodded, her mind filled with new questions.

Such as: If they're friends, why didn't Xiao Feng ask where exactly the mark was?

Or, is the person hiding the bomb the friend Xiao Feng mentioned?

But now wasn't the time to ask these.

Also, instinctively, Yao Qianxue felt even if she asked, Xiao Feng most likely wouldn't tell her.

"What's next?" Xiao Feng asked.

Yao Qianxue replied: "First use tools to break open the wall, for safety, at least half a meter away from my marked area."

Hearing this, Xiao Feng rummaged through the bag for a hammer and chisel and started working at a calculated distance.

The sound of tapping continued for a full twenty minutes before a small corner of the hidden bomb was revealed.

Yao Qianxue cautioned Xiao Feng to be careful next before squatting, searching through her backpack for the essential tools.

Both worked diligently, without disturbing each other, with only the sound of wind rushing through the gate and the water flow below remaining.

Yet at this moment, a head peeked out from the upper big platform, sneering: "Move any further, and you're dead!"