Switch Cave

"I will choose the next one!" Baili Haoyue walked towards a chest high stalagmite, "700 taels of silver on a passage!" he happily announced.

"700 taels of silver on a booby trap," Yamato leisurely walk beside Qing Youya, ready to shield him in case a booby trap really activated.

Sure enough, a second after Baili Haoyue pushed the stalagmite, a lightning came striking down on him. Fortunately it struck Baili Haoyue, his title was not a decoration as he swiftly dodged and safely escaped without a single scratch on him. If it were to strike towards Yamato, he would surely be burnt to a crisp.

Witnessing the flashing occurrence, though Yamato already accepted and comprehended the fact that the cave was straight out of fantasy. He still couldn't help but be dumbstruck by such a dangerous and bizzare thing.

Considering such thought, Yamato cleared his throat interrupting Baili Haoyue's wailing of money loss, "I have something to tell."

Baili Haoyue and Qing Youya immediately paid attention.

"I want to tell you about one of my weakness.." he cleared his throat again with a fist on his lips, feeling slightly embarrassed, "Actually i couldn't coordinate well with my legs..."

...

There was a brief silence before Qing Youya asked, "Is that why you tripped two times the moment you stop paying attention to the ground?"

Yamato nodded.

"Is that why you were walking slowly while glaring at the ground on the previous cave?" Qing Youya added.

Yamato heaved an embarrassed sigh, he scratched the back of his head, "Well.. I can walk and run straight on an even ground, i can also jump if i'm careful.. But, things like footwork, or uneven ground.. Is.. Well, you know," a rarely displayed blush appeared on his cheeks, "I'm hopeless, sorry, well.. When making a move or decision later, please keep that in mind and into consideration."

One could see how embarrassed Yamato is by looking at his face. For a woman who didn't mind an inch from walking around on her underwear, this revelation was quite unexpected for Baili Haoyue. Actually he didn't feel burdened by the new troublesome load, but instead simply felt that Ren Xiu was really just a normal human with a fair share of weakness.

As for Qing Youya who knew how much Yamato tries hard to conceal his weakness, was only slightly astonished at his compromise.

Yamato was really an extremist. For example, once put into a basketball court, Yamato could score every three pointer successfully from the middle of the court, however once asked to dribble past a player, he would definitely trip over his own leg. Yamato could show overbearing dominance in archery, yet would also show a humiliating disgrace in soccer. In short, his hands are genius, and his legs are retarded.

When Yamato moved onto Ren Xiu's body, he had actually hoped that Ren Xiu would have good legs reflexes. However it turned out that not only the face was similar, but the reflexes of the whole body as well, leaving Yamato with slight disappointment.

Only a handful of people from his original world know of this weakness. All because he developed an image of a homely carefree gentleman that doesn't do sports nor bask in the sun. Hence no one asked him to play sports together, but rather would ask him to sing and play the guitar.

"Alright, i'll keep that in mind!" Baili Haoyue confidently declared.

"But.. Unless extremely needed or clearly noticed please don't mention this thing to anyone, okay?" although Yamato's face was already calm, his cheeks and ears were still red.

Qing Youya, "Hmm.. Well, i don't know about that.."

"Wha- please? Your highness is so magnanimous, what do you want to eat? I will cook you anything once we get out of here! Alright? Your highness is so handsome!" Yamato practically begged with a coaxing tone.

"Well, food i can order anyone to cook for me.."

"Then what is it that you want? Oh, gems? Shall i gift you rare jewels later? Your highness is fond of gems right?"

"Well..."

"Your highness!" his tone was practically aggrieved.

"Pfft- alright i won't tell anyone," with a slight playful smirk, Qing Youya walked away.

That moment both Yamato and Baili Haoyue were dumbfounded in realization, Qing Youya just joked!?

In Yamato's understanding of the little prince, Qing Youya's behavior could be divided into four categories. The indifferent, polite, protective, and childish. There was no such thing as mischievous behavior, although the new revelation left him dumbfounded, it also left him somewhat pleased.

As for Baili Haoyue, he simply never heard Qing Youya teased anyone before, not even his sister.

Qing Youya halted before a bump sized stalagmite, he observed the surrounding stalagmites for a good while then closed his eyes, "Hmph.." he let out a faint chuckle that others couldn't hear.

"You want to push that one your highness?" Yamato asked tentatively, cautious of any sudden booby trap that could strike Qing Youya.

"Yes, can i also bet? I've never bet money before," the boy looked bashful and cute.

Yamato knew when Qing Youya appeared cute he must have personal intention which Yamato couldn't assume. Although it might be bad education, Yamato was quite curious he agreed, "Yes, please try your highness," then he glanced and nodded at Baili Haoyue, signaling him to be cautious to save the boy in time.

Baili Haoyue understood and nodded.

"I bet 200 silver taels on secret passage then?" Qing Youya declared with an unsure slightly sheepish tone.

"Alright, then we bet 100 silver taels on booby trap," said Yamato, giving Qing Youya face.

Then the boy stepped carefully on the stalagmite bump.

Putting up stance, they waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Vigilant, Yamato swiped his eyes through his surrounding, he narrowed his eyes the moment he spotted something, "What.. Is that?" there wasn't anything there previously.

Baili Haoyue also narrowed his eyes towards the pointed direction.

Only Qing Youya didn't need to scrutinize as he smiled, "Oh, that's a passage! But small! Do i win?"

Passage!? Both Yamato and Baili Haoyue were bewildered. There was indeed a hole on the wall, however it was only a knee high and no one could possibly pass through unless they squirmed like a worm. More importantly, that small passage was right on the direction of Tian Tu Zuo!

"Y-yes your highness! You win!" Yamato clapped with a twitched corner of his smile.

"Isn't that the direction sister-in-law have pointed? Aren't we going through?"

I'm not going to squirm my way through that! Was what both Yamato and Baili Haoyue simultaneously answered inside their hearts. No matter how capable and easy-going the two were, they have a bottom line, and they won't squirm into a dirt and centipede filled one man sized hole unless the situation critically threatens their life.

Qing Youya know what's on their mind full well, "If we are not going, how about we go back to the previous cave and choose the other way?" this was his main aim.

"No we can't your highness, that way of thinking of giving up the moment we encounter difficulty is not good. We at least have to try more," Yamato preached the boy right after allowing him to gamble money.

Qing Youya plastered a super obvious fake smile for Yamato to see, hating iron for not becoming steel. Because pushing too far would seem unnatural, Qing Youya was forced to yield yet again, "Sister-in-law is right, this humble prince shall take that advice to heart. Then, shall we continue pushing the stalagmites?"

"Yes!" Both Yamato and Baili Haoyue simultaneously agreed cheerfully. Hearing their own excited childish voice, they began coughing and clearing throat for no reason then repeated their answer in a deeper and more dignified voice, "Yes."

Qing Youya's smiling face was practically twitching all over with a faint blue veins on his neck and forehead, "But, can i be the one to choose the stalagmites?" He knew that Baili Haoyue couldn't refuse him and that Ren Xiu pampered him, thus he made the request. If he needs to act in accordance, at least he wants to make it quick.

As expected, the adults quickly agreed, they simply thought that maybe the little prince was tempted to play more hence finding it natural.

Actually Qing Youya already chose a few stalagmites in mind, but he made an act as though he was curiously searching for a suitable one. He chose another bump, "I don't have that much money, so can we bet favors?"

The adults saw Qing Youya as an intelligent child with calm temperament, thus because none of them thought Qing Youya could make unreasonable requests, they agreed.

Qing Youya stepped on the bump. Then to everyone's surprise, the previous small passage Qing Youya have opened, opened wider that it reached a waist high.

"Holy-!" Yamato was astonished. With this, both Yamato and Baili Haoyue owes Qing Youya a favor.

After that, Qing Youya continued to step on another eleven stalagmite with a bet on passage. All of it didn't simply hit the mark, because every single passage opened turned out widening that previous small hole little by little.

After the continuous widening, the Tian Tu Zuo passage was now loose enough to accommodate an adult to walk straight, forming a proper tunnel. Yamato and Baili Haoyue was practically dumbfounded and speechless from what had just transpired.

Baili Haoyue who owes Qing Youya nine favors was wide eyed, "H-how did you do that your highness?"

In this case Yamato was also very intrigued, what is it that the child could see yet the adults couldn't? What is it that the child figure out but the adults didn't? Qing Youya turned out to be way more mysterious than what he had presumed!

"Hmm, well.. You could say i noticed a pattern?" Qing Youya said vaguely.

Yamato furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes, "Pattern?" he scanned the surrounding stalagmites, "Haoyue ge, could you hold me up for a sec?"

"Sure?" and without asking anything more, Baili Haoyue crouched down and hold Yamato's thighs, he stood up straight and provided Yamato with a higher point of view.

Yamato was silent for a while, until his focused eyes widen in realization, "Wha- this, every stalagmite you push actually forms Tian Tu Zuo constellation! But how?" he shot Qing Youya an incredulous look. He assumed Qing Youya has no knowledge of astronomy due to his lack of mentioning anything of the sort in the previous cave. More over, though the stars are the same, he uses modern constellation terms instead of the ancient one, taking advantage of the fact that his companion didn't have knowledge of it. Were they to know, they might found Yamato suspicious for having an unusual knowledge or for deliberately making things up to lead them somewhere.

"Oh! So that's what it was," Qing Youya appeared a little surprised and amused.

"What do you mean?" Yamato raised his brows while being put down by Baili Haoyue. He was uneasy, he didn't want Qing Youya to be suspicious of him and was almost fearful of it. He somehow truly didn't want to be at edges with the child at all cost. He gravely hope that Qing Youya chooses the stalagmites because of some other reason instead of actually having knowledge of the starmap.

Yamato's hope was realized, Qing Youya really have no idea that the stalagmites he pushed actually forms a pattern until Yamato told him. "I didn't know what pattern it was, all i know is that the color of those stalagmites i choose matched with the color of that cave wall sister-in-law have pointed towards previously."

It wasn't entirely a lie, the stalagmites and cave wall really did have a faint and obscure difference in color, but it was really so slight that normal people wouldn't be able to tell.

Qing Youya has a very good eyes that it was unreal. He could see every slight difference in color, every tiny grit on the surface, every small camouflaged bugs, from afar, in dim lights. As if such gift was unsatisfactory, he was also blessed with a very outstanding photographic memory.

However although he noticed the grouping difference in color, what convinced him into choosing those stalagmites was actually the flow of qi. When Yamato opened the first passage, Qing Youya noticed the similar color, later he checked it by flowing his spiritual energy towards his eyes, enhancing the already exceptional eyes to even be able to see energies with his bare eyes. Just like that, he found that each stalagmites somehow has a flow of qi that go through different directions. Hence he test and verify his hypothesis with his first bet, and later pushed all the stalagmites which flow of qi headed towards his opened passage.

Yamato was speechless but relieved, "Colors? I don't see any difference in color, his highness can truly see it?"

"You might not know your highness, but his highness's eyesight has always been very outstanding. Even i had a hard time believing it the first time i witness it!"

It was when Qing Rui brought a five year old Qing Youya to play outside and was guarded by Baili Haoyue whom haven't become a general. The small boy happen to see a pigeon with a small letter tube attached to it's feet, which flew towards a place it shouldn't be. Of course the bird flew so high that people could only see a blur of color, which was also the reason why Baili Haoyue thought the boy was just messing around. Until Qing Rui insisted to follow that bird and actually found a spy.

"You flatter me general, it really wasn't much," Qing Youya responded Humbly and politely.

"Hmm, is that so.. This is out of my expectation, his highness is really too impressive, the child of heaven!" so, turns out he could really examine those gems from far away huh.

Yamato was too impressed that he didn't realize how Qing Youya's eyes turned ice cold at the mention of 'child of heaven'.

"Now, let's go!" Baili Haoyue walked in lead towards the Tian Tu Zuo passage.