Super Soldier in the City-Chapter 2067 - 2130: The Mangrove Forest

"Where is this?" Li Yifei, who had been sitting next to Xu Shanshan, suddenly found himself in a unique place, resembling a palace. The space inside was vast, seemingly boundless, and Li Yifei stood at the entrance of this palace. Looking around, he saw the massive palace doors slightly ajar. The doors were ten meters high, majestic and grand. Above the palace doors hung a large plaque with three words inscribed on it—Island of All Beings.

Could this be the name of the island? Li Yifei moved his hands and feet, looking at the palace doors and the plaque as he speculated. But no one answered him, for outside the grand palace doors, he was alone, appearing insignificant and the space around him empty.

Peering through the gap in the palace doors, he saw a long corridor inside. The corridor was equally spacious, brightly lit yet seeming endless. However, in the midst of it all, Li Yifei felt something significant inside was calling out to him.

Yet, just as he was about to step inside, he found he couldn’t move his legs as if his body was fixed in place. Panic rose in his heart, and he hurriedly looked down, only to realize there was nothing under his feet. No, it was more accurate to say his legs had disappeared, and looking further up, he found he had no waist, no upper body, no arms, and not even a neck in sight.

Realizing this, Li Yifei was greatly alarmed, but when he wanted to call out for help, he couldn’t even produce a sound.

What is going on? Could it be another illusion spell?

Li Yifei suddenly remembered that he had been on watch duty, sitting right next to Xu Shanshan. His senses were extended, alert to any disturbances within a hundred meters. How could he have been ensnared in an illusion without realizing it?

Just when Li Yifei could no longer suppress his panic, he suddenly heard a voice, as if it came from the sky or perhaps his own mind. Regardless, at that moment, Li Yifei couldn’t discern it, he could only hear a voice saying, hurry up, there isn’t much time.

Hurry up for what? What do you mean there isn’t much time? Li Yifei was plunged into thought.

The voice grew weaker, lasting perhaps a minute, maybe just tens of seconds, or even shorter, and then Li Yifei could no longer hear it.

Phew! Li Yifei suddenly sat up, eyes wide open, and with his thoughts returning, he found himself surrounded by red, in the same red forest where they had fled to the previous night.

Taking deep breaths, Li Yifei suddenly turned his head but saw no sign of Xu Shanshan, who should have been beside him.

Where’s Shanshan? Li Yifei jumped up, looking around with a growing sense of urgency. He didn’t know how he had fallen asleep or how he had that strange dream. His memory lingered on that previous moment when he was on watch duty, and suddenly it was daylight and Xu Shanshan was gone.

The backpack was still there, but Xu Shanshan’s Blue Glow Sword was missing, while Li Yifei’s damaged backpack was still in place.

"Hubby, you’re awake," Xu Shanshan said, emerging from behind a tree in the distance, carrying something, which Li Yifei saw were two large fish. Frowning, he waited until Xu Shanshan approached and then asked, "You went fishing?"

"Yes, when I woke up this morning, I heard the sound of water and followed it to find there were fish everywhere, very many. But... I don’t know if they’re poisonous. The blood is red, and the flesh smells fresh. I thought it should be fine, so I skewered two with my sword and brought them back," Xu Shanshan explained, placing the fish before Li Yifei. She had already cleaned the innards, and the flesh indeed looked fresh and seemed like normal fish, with red blood.

Li Yifei breathed a sigh of relief and said, "When I woke up and didn’t see you, I got a little panicked."

Xu Shanshan laughed broadly, hugging Li Yifei, and said, "Silly hubby, how could I leave you behind? If I go, I’ll take you with me, not to mention, with you here, I wouldn’t go anywhere else."

"Yeah, I understand," Li Yifei said, kissing Xu Shanshan on the forehead. Then, with a change of tone, he asked, "But how did I fall asleep? I remember clearly standing watch."

"Maybe it was because we were too tired during the day. Ever since we got off the plane, we’ve been on the move. Last night, you barely rested before we had to run again," Xu Shanshan analyzed.

Li Yifei continued, "I also had a dream, dreaming that the island’s name is the Island of All Beings, and there’s a huge palace in the middle of the island..."

Li Yifei recounted his dream to Xu Shanshan, whose eyes blinked repeatedly as she listened. Afterward, she couldn’t help but remark, "That dream was really vivid. If there truly is such a palace in the middle of the island, it would be fascinating."

Li Yifei chuckled. That dream was indeed vivid, and he remembered many details about the majestic palace gates, even the minute details were clear. But what concerned him more was how he fell asleep. With his vigilance, even if he needed to sleep, it should have been a process, not something that happened in the blink of an eye.

But looking at Xu Shanshan, she seemed perfectly fine, well-rested because Li Yifei was on watch, allowing her to sleep peacefully. Of course, had she known Li Yifei fell asleep too, Xu Shanshan probably would have gotten up to take a turn on watch.

Without thinking too much, Li Yifei picked up a few pieces of wood, combined them with solid fuel, and started a fire. He prepared two fish, cooked them, and handed one to Xu Shanshan. There were other things to eat in the bag, but it was best to save whenever possible. Besides, the fish tasted really good, somewhat like bass, but one or two times larger, with a better texture and extremely fresh.

Xu Shanshan only ate half a fish, then had a piece of a compressed biscuit. The other half went to Li Yifei. After eating, the two tidied up, and Xu Shanshan led Li Yifei to a small stream. Li Yifei walked over, took a look, and uttered a "wow." The small stream was nearly piled up like a mountain, filled with countless fish.

"So many." Li Yifei grinned. With these fish around, even without food, the two wouldn’t starve. Judging by the number, they wouldn’t run out of fish even if they ate for years. Well, of course, they wouldn’t run out, as these fish needed to reproduce as well.

But it’s not like the two of them could stay here for years. That’s just a joke.

What truly puzzled Li Yifei was... this area of red forest was so safe. At least up until now, Li Yifei hadn’t seen any dangers. He didn’t even feel a sense of alertness.

Precisely because of this, Li Yifei felt odd. Even when he was looking at those fishes, proven non-poisonous and safe to eat, he didn’t let down his guard.

"Let’s go, we should go that way!" Xu Shanshan pulled Li Yifei’s hand, ready to leave, pointing towards the center of the island.

"Wait a minute," Li Yifei felt a sudden urge in his heart and said, "These fish are so big, I’m curious about what they eat. I haven’t seen any food in this water, could it be that these fish grow big just by drinking water?"

Xu Shanshan chuckled and said, "Of course not. Now that you mention it, I’m curious too. They must eat something!"

The stream was home to tens of thousands of fish, perhaps even more. These fish couldn’t just appear out of nowhere without eating or drinking. Driven by curiosity, the two followed the stream upstream. The stream wasn’t wide, about seven or eight meters, with a depth of one to two meters. The water was crystal clear, and everything was visible at a glance.

They walked a bit over two hundred meters, still within the red forest, and then saw the stream suddenly disappear. Upon closer inspection, they found the stream flowed out from under a large rock, and beyond the rock, the ground was normal.

Li Yifei said, "It seems to be an underground river. Judging from the size of the exit, those fish probably come from here, or maybe there’s a food source inside, which is why they can grow so big."

"Yes, yes!" Xu Shanshan nodded repeatedly.

Finding this explained part of their curiosity. Li Yifei had no intention of diving into the underground river; that would be too dangerous.

After reorienting themselves, Li Yifei picked the right direction and continued inward.

A few hundred meters behind them, a pair of eerie green eyes appeared again. But this time, the distance was farther away, so Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan didn’t notice. Even if they turned back, they couldn’t see it because too many trees blocked the view.

However, those eerie green eyes seemed to penetrate the dense barriers and see the two of them.

The red forest was vast. As Li Yifei suspected, since this island was enormous, walking solely on foot after landing took a lot of time.

"Honey, look," Xu Shanshan suddenly pointed ahead, and Li Yifei saw it too. It was a huge mound, interspersed with some stones, the entire mound showing a red hue. At a quick glance, one might think it was a tomb, but in reality... Li Yifei pulled Xu Shanshan back, who was about to walk forward, and whispered, "Don’t go over there, that mound is moving!"

Moving? Xu Shanshan’s eyes widened; they were thirty or forty meters away from the mound, so she couldn’t see clearly. Under Li Yifei’s reminder, Xu Shanshan observed and indeed found that the mound was moving.

It wasn’t the mound itself that was moving, but the things on top of the mound. They were... the red color was distinctly something crawling.

As a girl, Xu Shanshan still remembers her mission in the Amazon rainforest, falling into a place full of venomous insects, so she shivered, instinctively looking back at Li Yifei.

Li Yifei shook his head and whispered, "Let’s go around it, be cautious, and watch your step."

Xu Shanshan nodded forcefully. The things crawling on the mound, if not mistaken, were likely ants or other insects. Regardless of what they were, provoking them would be a big trouble for the two of them. Unlike large animals, these swarms, often numbering in the thousands or more, were indeed troublesome.