One day, I might really kick the bucket, no telling when, and I only hope that day comes later rather than sooner. Of course, Feng Yi doesn't want to die if he can help it.

So, with that in mind, Feng Yi strode towards the old man's position. As he walked, he kept an eye and ear out in all directions, not forgetting to observe his surroundings and the old man's reactions, for you can infer a person's strength from their responses.

Just as he expected, when he approached, the old man's ears twitched ever so slightly. Feng Yi paused mid-step, his heart skipping a beat, and stopped, realizing there was more to this than met the eye.

Indeed, the old man was no ordinary individual, able to detect even the ghost-like sounds Feng Yi made. Seeing this made Feng Yi extra cautious. After all, in such a desolate wilderness, encountering a mysteriously skilled person like this warranted vigilance. He prepared himself to act at a moment's notice.

However, the old man just chuckled, stroking his beard gently while giving the rod a sharp tug, and whoosh! The fish was hooked.

It turned out to be a carp, and quite a sizeable one at that—a Golden Carp weighing over five pounds, which made Feng Yi drool with envy... It was fortunate that, although he didn't carry much, he had brought along quite a few spices, including monosodium glutamate, flavoring agents, and all thirteen spices.

Essentially, Feng Yi had a bit of every kind of spice you could think of tucked away in his little box, right?

Of course, the Space Crystal also contained the prey he had hunted in the past few days, mostly wild rabbits. There was also a strange creature with green skin that was deemed edible after being assessed by Mardis. It was quite a decent meal, and Feng Yi wouldn't mind bartering it with the old man for an equivalent exchange, willing or not.

But right now, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Feng Yi was worried that showing up out of the blue might give the old man a heart attack, or, if not that serious, maybe high blood pressure or diabetes, which wouldn't be good either. After all, the elderly are fragile, and the young should be considerate.

With the intention of not scaring the man to death, Feng Yi deliberately made his footsteps heavier, causing the dry twigs on the ground to crackle... He also gave a light cough as a polite signal of his approach.

Meanwhile, as he walked, Feng Yi changed his facial features to look like another person—not too significantly, but he was no longer himself; he was now the one named Li Xiang, keeping his true identity a secret was crucial.

The fact that he was still alive was known only to John, a critical aspect of his plan, which was precisely why John had gone from dejection to full revival after just a few days. After teleporting, Feng Yi had sent John an encrypted message, which wasn't received until John arrived in Mardis and set up the Star Domain Broadcast.

When Feng Yi spoke, the old man also noticed him and turned around, his eyes showing a rare glint of peculiarity as he looked up and down at Feng Yi and asked, "Young man, where do you come from, and where are you heading?"

(I come from there and want to go there...) An image of somebody pointing at the sky flashed through Feng Yi's mind, as if adopting the identity of Li Xiang and this sentence fit the logic of a simpleton perfectly. But he quickly dismissed such silly thoughts. Since he couldn't receive any signals from Mardis here, Feng Yi wasn't sure about the local customs and thus dared not act foolishly or fabricate reasons haphazardly.

He handed over a Zana Republic ID card in a somewhat summarized manner, claiming he was a certain pilot who had encountered a midair malfunction and accidentally crash-landed in this jungle... Since he couldn't send out a distress signal due to interference, he had been wandering around for a while and would have starved had he not been carrying enough food to stave off hunger.

As Feng Yi introduced himself, his eyes occasionally lingered on the Golden Carp that the old man had caught...

Hearing this, the old man sighed deeply, "Young man, this place is named Immortal Mountain, and it's not where ordinary folks should be. I'm afraid there might be no return for you."

Chewing on these words, Feng Yi fell silent for a moment, "What should I say?"

"Immortal Mountain, as the name suggests, is a place rarely tread by mortals and a site for Taoist cultivation. Don't be deceived by the nearby birdsong and verdant scenery; the periphery is arranged with a Heavenly Gang Eight Trigrams Minor Star Array. This place is like a microcosm, with the array shifting every hour. Even if the gods come, they'll struggle to escape without understanding the secrets of the array."

Feng Yi nodded slightly, continuing to inquire, "So, the array's core is somewhat similar to a Bewildering Array, regardless of the direction? As long as you can find your way out within an hour, you can leave safely?"

"Theoretically, that's correct. If explained scientifically, it's due to the local magnetic field having different fluctuation patterns from the outside world, which can disorientate one's sensory perception, causing you to loop back to your starting point no matter which way you go."

Should have started with that. Over the past few days, Feng Yi had been walking intermittently, unaware of the rumors of his supposed death on the outside; indeed, most people didn't believe Feng Yi was the Revenge Shadow Rider. But that didn't stop the endless gossip and speculation.

Now, Feng Yi wanted to ask the old man why he felt at ease fishing here. Of course, he did just that, as he believed the old man saw him as nothing more than an ordinary person, one who couldn't possibly navigate out of the woods within an hour.

But as Feng Yi, with his naive appearance, voiced the question, the old man laughed heartily, "Ha... ha... ha..." stroking his beard, then, quite unexpectedly, vanished without a trace. What the heck? Feng Yi looked left and right, confirming that the old man had indeed vanished abruptly. If he had to compare it to something he'd seen before, it was identical to the effect of the Escape Technique wielded by Mengdie.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.