When Feng Yi woke up, the “Family Register” that had been open was already closed.

The top layer of the stone platform had returned to its original state, sealing the “Family Register” inside.

The stone pillar slowly sank until it merged seamlessly with the ground.

Feng Yi squatted down and examined it carefully. Worried that his eyes might be playing tricks on him, he even took out his phone and used the high-definition camera to zoom in, wanting to see every detail of the floor clearly.

However, whether with the naked eye or the phone’s HD camera, what he saw and captured was a single, solid piece of ground without any fine lines, let alone cracks.

It was as if everything he had experienced before was a hallucination.

He searched the room thoroughly several times but still found no suspicious traces.

Feng Yi checked the time on his phone.

He had actually stayed here all night!

It was now 7:00 AM the next morning!

He had likely stood here all night! Yet, his body felt no stiffness or discomfort whatsoever!

Unable to find more clues, Feng Yi could only give up. He lifted his foot and walked toward where the door had opened in the wall.

The door slid open automatically.

As he approached the door, the lights in the room extinguished one by one. By the time he had stepped completely out and the sliding door closed behind him, the secret chamber was plunged into darkness.

Walking out of the room, he heard movement from the small courtyard outside.

“Good morning, Mute Uncle. Is it foggy?” Feng Yi said.

“It will scatter soon,” Mute Uncle’s phone voice replied.

The fog blocked the sunlight, but the morning glow had already appeared. Through the gradually thinning layer of mist, one could see the orange-red light tinged with gold.

Various plants and trees in the old courtyard, both large and small leaves, were covered in water droplets. The soil, which had been dry and hard yesterday, was now either turned to mud or had changed shape due to the dampness.

“Did it rain last night?” Feng Yi was surprised. He had checked the weather forecast, and it clearly said these two days would be sunny!

But someone had mentioned to him that the weather on the mountain was unpredictable and could change at any moment; the local forecast often changed several times a day.

So, Feng Yi just asked casually.

Mute Uncle took out his phone, typed quickly, and converted it to speech: “Breakfast is steamed buns (baozi) and noodles. They’re in the kitchen; go eat yourself. It’s all left for you. Don’t go hungry, eat it all! I’m going to the tea garden to pick some tea leaves.”

“There’s a tea garden here? Need help? I’m not hungry yet,” Feng Yi asked.

“No, you are hungry!” Mute Uncle replied.

Feng Yi wanted to say more, but Mute Uncle waved his hand, shouldered his bamboo basket, and went out.

Seeing this, Feng Yi had to give up. He had hoped to glean some information while helping out.

The kitchen was easy to find. However, the items on the kitchen table exceeded his comprehension.

A large porcelain bowl. Or rather, a large porcelain basin, he didn’t know where it was bought, but it was nearly the size of an adult’s washbasin. It was filled to the brim with hand-rolled noodles.

A large steamer basket. Inside were ten large steamed buns with thin skin and generous filling. Each one was about the diameter of his palm, stuffed entirely with meat.

Feng Yi stared blankly.

What kind of misunderstanding does Mute Uncle have about me?

Why would he think I can eat this much stuff?

Back when he was working part-time filming commercials in school, he had strict dietary requirements to manage his figure. His appetite hadn’t changed much since then.

With his appetite, a normal bowl of noodle soup plus one bun… at most two, would be enough.

Cannot waste food!

So, the very self-aware Feng Yi found a normal-sized noodle bowl in the cupboard, scooped out a portion of noodles from the big porcelain basin, picked up a bun, and started eating.

As he ate, he suddenly realized he had finished everything.

And he actually felt a little hungry.

He scooped out another bowl, grabbed another bun, and continued eating.

The hunger became increasingly obvious.

Fifteen minutes later.

Feng Yi stared silently at the large porcelain basin, which didn’t even have a spoonful of soup left, and the empty steamer basket.

****

Meanwhile.

Mute Uncle carried his bamboo basket to the tea garden.

Overnight, the tea bushes had sprouted many new buds.

The large leaves were covered in water droplets.

Dew slid down the edges of the leaves, gathered, and hung from the tips, swaying up and down.

The morning glow pierced through the thin mist, forming strange rays of light on the clear droplets.

Mute Uncle’s aged eyes looked at the tea garden as the fog gradually dispersed. He grinned, took out a specially made basket from the bamboo crate, strapped it to his front, and moved through the tea bushes.

His hands picked tea on both sides simultaneously, plucking only the fine new buds from the branches.

With every wave of his hand, multiple newly grown, tender green leaf buds jumped into the front basket.

His arms danced, moving so fast that only blurred fan-shaped shadows and a dense, light clicking sound could be perceived.

He was more efficient than the brushes of a robot vacuum.

His clothes were quickly soaked by the dew. The front basket filled with leaf buds at a speed visible to the naked eye. After dumping them into the large bamboo crate on his back, he continued to the next round.

When Mute Uncle returned from picking tea, Feng Yi was sitting on the stone threshold at the door in a daze, as if pondering some profound philosophy of life.

Seeing Mute Uncle, Feng Yi snapped back to reality and glanced at the time on his phone. “Finished picking tea so quickly?”

The fog had dispersed, and the sunlight began to warm the earth, but a trace of moisture could still be felt in the air.

Mute Uncle put down the bamboo crate and replied via phone: “Wait two hours before going down the mountain. I’m frying tea. I’ll give you two cans.”

Feng Yi: “…Okay, thank you, Mute Uncle.”

I didn’t have plans to go down the mountain immediately anyway!

I still want to find out more information!

But Mute Uncle quickly entered the tea-frying phase. He was extremely absorbed, even putting aside the phone that never left his body, and wouldn’t let Feng Yi intervene.

Feng Yi could only wait.

Two hours later, Mute Uncle finished frying the tea, separated some into two specially made cans, and handed them to Feng Yi. “Wait two days before drinking.”

Eating and taking, Feng Yi felt embarrassed not to pay. He was just about to say something.

Mute Uncle waved his hand dismissively and typed a few words on his phone: “Not short on this bit of money! You hurry back now. Others will tell you about the rest.”

Feng Yi wanted to ask about the ancestral home, the family register, and even fish for information about the old butler and the great-aunt from Mute Uncle. But hearing Mute Uncle’s words now, it was clear he wouldn’t get any useful information.

He’s blatantly chasing people away.

Feng Yi packed the tea cans, tidied up simply, and looked at Mute Uncle.

Mute Uncle made a gesture: Hurry up!

Feng Yi sighed inwardly and walked out with his bag on his back. He hadn’t gone far when he heard a voice message coming from behind him, it was probably sent by one of Mute Uncle’s friends

[Online! Need a fourth player!!!]

Feng Yi looked back and saw Mute Uncle typing furiously while walking into the house.

The old man was truly busy.

Sighing, Feng Yi walked down the mountain.

This time he didn’t wear the helmet or face mask; his gloves were also put away in his bag.

He inexplicably knew that it was fine not to wear the helmet or mask.

The flying insects were gradually becoming more active, but on the way down, whenever Feng Yi passed by, those insects actively avoided him, as if they smelled something they disliked.

Near the halfway point of the mountain, Feng Yi saw the two people who had driven him up yesterday.

The two were lifting large boxes out of their car, walking to the isolation barrier, placing the boxes on a machine that transported them to the other side of the net, and then dumping out the contents.

The boxes were full of rats.

Judging by their plump physiques and sleek, shiny fur, these rats lived very well.

Feng Yi went over to greet them. This time he wouldn’t ask them to drive him down. Having just accomplished a major task, although his doubts had increased rather than decreased, he felt much more grounded than when he arrived yesterday, and his body wasn’t tired.

“Going back?” they asked.

“Yeah. What are you guys doing?” Feng Yi walked over.

“Feeding them rats. Have to do this every few days. Resource utilization, you know, rats transported from the city area. Raised so fat; who knows how much stuff they stole and ate.”

Dumping another box, the two looked at the Rat Snakes on the other side of the isolation net.

“Why does it feel like there are very few snakes out today?”

“Indeed, not as active as the previous times. They look timid and shrinking back,” the other person said.

“But looking at how they swallow rats, they’re still quite fierce. Doesn’t look like they’re sick.”

“Probably because of the rain last night; it’s still a bit cool on the mountain. They’ll be more active when it warms up a bit more.”

Hearing their words, Feng Yi also walked over to take a closer look.

“Not afraid of snakes anymore?” one asked.

Feng Yi paused, then nodded. “I feel less afraid.”

He really wasn’t as scared as yesterday.

Just as he inexplicably knew those mosquitoes and insects would avoid him, he seemed to also know:

This bunch of foodies can’t hurt me!

To verify this, Feng Yi took another step closer to the isolation net.

On the other side of the net, a King Rat Snake, over two meters long with a body thicker than an adult’s forearm, was swallowing a rat. Upon Feng Yi’s approach, it suddenly froze, slowly turned away, twisted its body with some difficulty to move further away, and then continued swallowing.

Not just this one; several others nearby, whether eating or preparing to eat, also quickly moved away.

Seeing this, the two people responsible for feeding were extremely surprised. “Why are they suddenly afraid of people? Aren’t they usually quite aggressive?”

Normally, this group of King Rat Snakes wouldn’t stop swallowing rats even if people were watching nearby. This was the first time they had seen them so “shy.”

However, the two didn’t dwell on it, guessing that Feng Yi might have sprayed some snake repellent or something similar.

Feng Yi left and continued down the mountain, sending a text message to the driver from yesterday. If the driver was driving, it wouldn’t be convenient to answer a call, but he would see the message when he was free. If he didn’t reply by the time Feng Yi reached the bottom, Feng Yi would find another car.

Fortunately, the driver replied very quickly, calling him directly.

The driver had a strong impression of him. “Safe is good… Alright, I’m not far from there. I’ll head over immediately. Wait about… at most 50 minutes.”

Feng Yi wasn’t in a rush now. After agreeing with the driver, he was in the mood to appreciate the mountain scenery while walking down.

He even saw a frog hiding.

He heard there were frogs and toads in the conservation area, just not many. Those King Rat Snakes were fed too many rats, reducing their predation on frogs and toads, allowing a small population to survive on the mountain.

When Feng Yi arrived at the parking lot from yesterday, the driver happened to drive up.

The driver looked him over. “Spirits seem high.”

“Not bad.” Feng Yi put away his bag and got in the car.

As the car left Little Phoenix Mountain, they happened to see patrol officers from the conservation area catching a “prison-breaking” snake. The snake had its mouth wide open, swallowing a frog.

Driver: “Tsk, watching a snake swallow food up close is still pretty terrifying, don’t you think?”

Saying this, he turned his head to seek agreement, only to find Feng Yi staring out the window with drool at the corner of his mouth.

Driver: ???

Feng Yi quickly wiped the corner of his mouth. Seeing the driver staring at him with a probing look, he explained, “My classmate just texted me; we’re going back to eat a big feast.”

The driver suddenly understood and nodded vigorously in empathy. “Hey, same here. If someone told me they were treating me to a big feast, I’d have even less self-control than you!”

After speaking, the driver added a warning: “But remember, one is illegal, ten sends you to prison! If you want to eat, go eat farmed bullfrogs; don’t touch the wild frogs. Bullfrogs are very common now, big and meaty. Oh, I love perilla bullfrog the most!”

Feng Yi laughed and agreed, then, while the driver turned back to drive, he lightly slapped himself.

What is wrong with me! How could I get hungry watching that!

NOTES

Perilla Bullfrog (紫苏牛蛙): A popular Chinese dish known for its savory and aromatic flavor, using purple perilla leaves.