230: Chapter 225 A Twist of Fate

Cao Xiao speculated that a thousand years ago, the Jinding Sect of the Chuliang Grotto-heaven encountered a powerful external enemy or a terrifying natural disaster. This not only destroyed the Gaotang County at the entrance but also inflicted catastrophic damage within the grotto-heaven itself, turning it into a desolate wasteland of sand and ruins. After the Jinding Sect was annihilated, survivors clinging to life or the mutated remains of the dead developed sentience, transforming into malevolent monsters. Whenever the grotto-heaven's exit opened, these creatures would use evil thoughts to control people passing over the lake, drawing them into the grotto-heaven to be devoured, sustaining their vitality in an attempt to fully resurrect. Because the grotto-heaven's exit appeared in the outside world for very short and irregular periods, the victims, their consciousness controlled, were taken all at once. The lake's vast expanse made it difficult to notice any incidents even if they occurred. Thus, for nearly a millennium, no one discovered the truth. The locals could only console themselves with the legend of a 'Lake God.' Alternatively, even if someone did discover it, they could hardly escape the monster's clutches, facing certain death. Given the monster's terror, even a modern special forces unit would be nothing more than an extra meal for it.

Today, the reason that monster was willing to risk exposure to control Hu Zhen and her sister to kill him again was twofold: first, he had ruined its plans; second, the sisters' physiques might have unique qualities. Otherwise, why specifically choose them? If it had controlled his bodyguards, he would likely be dead by now. What puzzled him was the monster's origin. Not only did it understand ancient martial arts and possess such bizarre, unpredictable abilities, but it had also lived for a thousand years. He was now very eager to confirm whether it had cultivated some miraculous technique to achieve such longevity. Unfortunately, the monster's soul had already dispersed. He had even forgotten to extract its memories at the time, leaving him now with nothing but confusion.

Although this journey was heart-stopping and fraught with life-and-death danger, it was not without gains. This Chuliang Grotto-heaven itself was an immense reward! Even as a desolate, lifeless grotto-heaven, its value was inestimable. For anyone, it would be a heaven-sent opportunity. With a radius of two hundred li—nearly twelve million mu, or about eight thousand square kilometers—its area was roughly the size of the entire Huanghe City, about seven or eight times that of Hong Kong! Merely possessing this grotto-heaven meant land value alone represented an incalculable fortune.

Although the soil here was entirely yellow sand, Cao Xiao had the capability to transform it into fertile farmland within a short period. There was no lack of sunlight here. Once flora and fauna were introduced, other natural environments could gradually self-correct, forming an independently sustainable biosphere. However, the prerequisite for all this was gaining control over this grotto-heaven. Cao Xiao himself lacked such ability and could only rely on the industrial mother machine to accomplish it.

Of course, the industrial mother machine could only achieve penetration of the grotto-heaven's spatial core point through spatial force, modify the location of the grotto-heaven's entrance, and obtain the authority to communicate with, open, and close the entrance from the outside. It could not achieve complete control. But this was sufficient. He could completely set the grotto-heaven's entrance in a hidden location secure enough to guarantee safety. This way, as long as he did not actively open the entrance, no one else could invade the grotto-heaven.

Apart from the half-hour spent using spatial force to penetrate the grotto-heaven's core, there were no further incidents. Next, he could reset the grotto-heaven's entrance. Fortunately, he could set two entrances simultaneously. Otherwise, he would have had to send the Hu sisters back first, return to modify the entrance again, and then return to the pleasure boat from the newly set entrance—a troublesome back-and-forth process. Through the grotto-heaven's core, he could see the outside world. He only needed to accurately designate the entrance locations. He modified the first entrance location to the surface of the lake, inside the cabin of the pleasure boat. He would cancel it after leaving Liang Lake. The second location would be placed in his bedroom at the Biyuntian Villa. If not for the restriction that the distance between two entrances could not exceed two hundred li, and if there were no limit to the number of entrances he could set, he would have even wanted to place an entrance all over the world. That way, he could travel thousands of miles in an instant, eliminate distance across the globe, and powerfully monopolize the global logistics and transportation industry, turning the grotto-heaven into the world's sole transit hub.

However, he was already content. This grotto-heaven must remain known only to him. Otherwise, not just China, but likely countries worldwide would not tolerate his existence. In the Supervision Department's vast archives, he had not seen a single record about grotto-heavens, blessed lands, or alternate spaces. Even the term 'space' was rarely mentioned. This indicated that other grotto-heavens and blessed lands either did not exist at all, had been completely destroyed in accidents, or were of such paramount importance that even he lacked the clearance to know about them. Regardless of which possibility was true, exposing the existence of this grotto-heaven was not a good thing. On the contrary, he needed to meticulously conceal all traces.

The treatment had long been completed. Because Cao Xiao had generously infused Yuan Energy without reservation, not only were there no lingering side effects, but he had also replenished their depleted vitality and repaired damaged tissues, maximizing the strengthening of their bodies. The sisters' current physical fitness was at least twice as robust as before! It was no worse than that of special forces soldiers.

Their bodies were full and vibrant, their complexions rosy and translucent, their skin tender like a baby's, giving off a radiant glow. Cao Xiao felt they looked even more beautiful now than when he first saw them. Wearing only thin undergarments, their alluring curves and graceful figures were faintly visible. Both were sleeping soundly, stirring wicked thoughts in this inexperienced young man, who nearly lost his composure.

Now he was deeply conflicted. Today's events should not be known by the sisters or anyone else, so the scene needed to be restored. The signs of struggle in the cabin were easy to handle—just replace the broken items with new ones. Creating something like a flower pot was effortless. The others didn't need attention either; they were controlled in their sleep and would wake up the next day knowing nothing. However, the sisters' bodies were now dirty. Sending them back like this would likely raise suspicions the next day. A girl's body was a forbidden zone not to be touched. On the pleasure boat, besides their family members, only he and his people were present. If questioned, he would be suspected, and even with reason, he couldn't explain it clearly.

Therefore, before returning, he had to wash their bodies. But the thought of a grown man doing such a thing while the girls were unconscious felt like taking advantage, filled with guilt. Moreover, facing two great beauties, he wasn't confident he could control himself. Yet, it had to be done, and he had to do it nervously, fearing they might suddenly wake up during the bath. If that happened, would he choose to be a beast or worse than a beast?

If possible, he wouldn't choose either. But the reality was, he had no choice now. A pair of large, dark eyes had opened at some point, gazing at him blearily.

"Ah~!"

Hu Zhu, sensing something amiss with her body, glanced down, then let out a piercing scream, clutching her chest with both hands.

Cao Xiao hadn't expected them to wake up so soon and was nearly scared out of his wits. His hands, which had been about to reach forward, froze in mid-air, mere centimeters from the girl's body. He was stunned, momentarily forgetting to withdraw them.

"So comfortable! Huh? Mr. Cao? Ah~!"

As expected, Hu Zhu's scream also woke Hu Zhen. Looking fully refreshed, she stretched, sat up straight, and upon seeing the situation before her, let out another scream.

The sisters huddled together, actually trembling slightly, and said fearfully, "Mr. Cao, what is this place? Please don't do anything rash, we beg you!"

"Uh... that... things aren't what you think! I mean no harm! Earlier on the pleasure boat, we encountered danger. You were drugged and had your consciousness controlled by a villain. I chased here and saved you. We're no longer on the pleasure boat. The villain has been driven away now. You're safe and can return soon."

Cao Xiao stammered as he withdrew his hands, his face flushed red. He had just reached out to carry them for a bath when they saw him. How could he explain this situation? Even with reason, it was unclear. He wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

"Wah~! Wah~! Wah!"

After hearing Cao Xiao's comforting words and looking at him again, the sisters' faces were filled with despair. Suddenly, they burst into loud sobs, crying pitifully with tears streaming down like rain.

"Ah!" Their reaction Instead, it scared them. Cao Xiao. He thought he must have said something wrong but didn't know how to speak up, flustered and anxious on the spot.

"What's wrong with you two? Everything's fine now! Stop crying. Come on, I'll take you out!"

After waiting for a while and seeing the sisters still crying incessantly, Cao Xiao had no choice but to speak up and try to console them.

Hu Zhen's eyes were swollen from crying. Her expression was a mix of disgust and resentment as she glared at Cao Xiao. "You wolf in sheep's clothing! You actually used such despicable means to ruin us! How could we ever have the face to go back and see anyone! You think you can fool us by acting like nothing happened and just walk away! We will never let you off! Once we're out, we'll call the police to arrest you. We'll die right in front of the police, and you won't live either!"

"Ah!" Cao Xiao had thought they were crying from fright. He hadn't expected them to think he had done something unspeakable to them. His conscience was clear on this matter. They had just woken up and, in their haste, hadn't yet noticed the abnormal environment they were in, leading to this misunderstanding. If he didn't provide solid evidence to explain clearly, this misunderstanding would blow up. Anyway, they would notice the abnormality when they left later. It was better to give them a straightforward, honest explanation now and have them strictly keep it secret afterward. So he laughed heartily, "Hahaha! You two silly girls, take a good look at where this is. Check the time first. Later, you'll have to apologize to me!"

"Huh?" Seeing Cao Xiao's unusual reaction, the sisters were also surprised and couldn't help but look around. After a moment, they said somewhat bewilderedly, "Where is this? A desert? Huh! It's only 1 a.m. I remember we went to sleep around 11 p.m. The date is right too! We only slept for a little over an hour. Why do I feel like I slept for a long time? I'm not tired at all; instead, I feel full of energy! How strange!"

"Hahaha! The nearest desert is over a thousand kilometers away from here. You couldn't get there that fast even by rocket!" Since he had decided to tell them the truth, Cao Xiao stopped being evasive. Now that he didn't need to bathe them and no longer feared their misunderstanding, he felt lighthearted and teased, "I'll tell you the truth! I'm a monster that eats people without spitting out the bones. I brought you to my cave dwelling to be my mountain stronghold wives! If you resist, I'll wash you clean, stew you, and eat you!"

Hu Zhen calmed her mind and thought carefully, realizing many inconsistencies, which made her start to believe Cao Xiao's initial explanation. Furthermore, aside from being dirty, there were no signs of her undergarments being disturbed. Her mental state was remarkably good, and her body felt full of strength. She had a multitude of questions. They were clearly resting fine on the pleasure boat; how did they suddenly end up in this completely unfamiliar place? And their bodies seemed to have undergone miraculous changes. Realizing she might have misunderstood Cao Xiao in her panic earlier, and now he was teasing them with their own words, she urgently wanted to understand the whole story. Blushing with embarrassment and anxiety, she asked, "Ah! Cao Xiao, stop joking. What on earth is going on?"

Cao Xiao laughed triumphantly. "Hahaha! Serves you right for wrongly accusing your savior without distinguishing right from wrong! Getting anxious now, aren't you? I just won't tell you, let you stew in your own wild thoughts!"

Hu Zhu, realizing she hadn't been violated, immediately beamed with joy. Casually wiping the tear stains from her face, she stood up straight from the bedding, saying somewhat shyly, "Cao Xiao, we wronged you. We shouldn't have said those things. We apologize. Please tell us quickly!"

Cao Xiao dared not look directly at the magnificent sight so close before him and hastily took a step back. "Uh, okay. But first, wrap yourselves in the blanket. We've been out for a while. If the others wake up and find us missing, they'll worry. Let's talk while we walk back."

Seeing Cao Xiao evade and not dare to look at her, Hu Zhu suddenly thought of something and said indignantly, "Hmph! Cao Xiao, no matter what happened earlier, you saw and touched our bodies. You owe us an explanation!"

Not to be outdone, Hu Zhen stepped forward, straightening her posture and looking directly at Cao Xiao. "Neither of us has ever had a boyfriend since we were little. Since you are the first boy to come into contact with our bodies, you must take responsibility for us! Become the only man in our lives! Zhu Zhu and I discussed it before—we don't mind marrying the same man, as long as he truly treats us well! And... my parents probably wouldn't object either!"

This sudden turn of events made Cao Xiao feel as if his liver and gall were about to split. Despite all his calculations, he never expected the Hu sisters to be so bold yet so traditionally conservative, creating this predicament through an unforeseen twist. The thought that he could only refuse, and if the sisters had strong, unyielding personalities, they might commit suicide or fall into ruin, made him panic instantly. He hurriedly tried to explain, "Ah! This was an accident. I didn't want this either, but you weren't wearing clothes when you were taken out. To prevent you from catching a cold, I had no choice but to carry you to the bedding. It was all to save you! Besides, I'm about to get married. As a man, how can I be fickle and abandon someone after misleading them? I promise you, I will never speak of today's events, I will forget everything I saw, and I will never appear before you again in the future!"