Watching from the Shadows

So he couldn't leave this place for the time being?

Fang Zelin frowned at those words. Looking at the rushing river before him, he sighed inwardly.

He would still have to see if he could put together a raft.

When he had been rescuing the boy earlier, he had felt as though one wrong move would see him swept away by the river. Under these circumstances, crossing on a single tree trunk really wasn't a good idea.

At that thought, Fang Zelin scratched his head and began looking around for usable materials.

If he found some branches and tied them together with vines, perhaps that would help a little.

Watching Fang Zelin start picking up dead branches nearby, the boy frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Gathering some branches to see if I can make a raft. If we're trapped here, we'll die here sooner or later."

Fang Zelin immediately answered him.

The boy paused at his reply, then gave Fang Zelin a doubtful look. Had this man not seen what had just happened?

Even a boat couldn't make it across. What made him think he could cross on a raft?

The boy thought it over, but ultimately said nothing more, leaving Fang Zelin to make his raft.

There were some dead trees around. After gathering some wood, Fang Zelin suddenly noticed that several planks from the boat that had sunk earlier were actually drifting toward him.

At the sight, Fang Zelin's face lit up, and he hurried to the riverbank to retrieve them.

With these planks, his chances of crossing the river later should be a little better.

With that thought, Fang Zelin hurried along the riverbank, continuing to gather the planks scattered around.

A short while later, Fang Zelin suddenly raised his eyebrows. "Huh? What's this...?"

Looking into the distance, he saw a wooden chest lying quietly on the riverbank ahead.

Excitement stirred in Fang Zelin as he looked at it. A chest? Could there be some treasure inside?

With that thought, Fang Zelin quickly made his way over to the chest and opened it, his face full of anticipation.

Yet when Fang Zelin saw what was inside, he frowned. "Books? Secret manuals?"

The chest was filled with books. Judging by how blurred the writing on them was, it was plain to see that they seemed to have been soaked in river water or rainwater.

Fang Zelin picked up the topmost book to take a look. When he opened it, the writing inside was already too blurred to make out.

Disappointed at the sight, Fang Zelin hurriedly picked up the other books and opened them one by one to check.

But every book Fang Zelin opened was just like the first: none of their contents could be read clearly.

Then Fang Zelin noticed a patch covered in silt inside the chest, and instinctively reached out to scrape at it, wanting to see whether there was anything underneath.

He felt as though his hand had touched some object.

Feeling this, Fang Zelin hurriedly pulled it out, then began peeling back the layers.

Only then did he discover that what lay beneath the silt was a book wrapped in oilcloth.

Perhaps because of that, the writing in this book was still just barely legible.

Fang Zelin let out a breath of relief at the sight, then joy surged in his heart.

Out of all these books, only this one was wrapped in oilcloth. Surely it must be very important?

With that thought, Fang Zelin carefully opened the book and began examining it closely.

Yet a pair of eyes in the river some distance away saw all of this with perfect clarity.

"The name's a little strange. It's called the Comprehensive Mirror of Treasured Splendor..."

Fang Zelin looked at the title, then began reading the book's contents. Only upon examining it closely did he discover that it actually described the local customs and landscapes of various regions.

Fang Zelin was deeply disappointed by this. It wasn't a secret manual?

He was disappointed, but then another thought occurred to him.

Although it wasn't a secret manual, since it had been wrapped separately in oilcloth, perhaps there was something extraordinary about it that he simply hadn't discovered yet.

With that thought, Fang Zelin carefully tucked the book into his robe.

He would keep it for now. At the moment, he had better think about how to get out of here first.

After putting the book away, Fang Zelin began gathering wood nearby again. Seeing this, the boy also began picking up wood beside him.

"Oh, right, I still don't know your name."

Looking at the boy beside him, Fang Zelin asked.

"Call me He Chenyi."

His name actually wasn't something like Dog Egg. Fang Zelin was a little surprised by the reply.

Then he gave the boy another careful look. Was this fellow really an NPC? Why did he seem just like a real person?

Surely he wasn't actually being played by a real person?

Secretly astonished, Fang Zelin nonetheless continued gathering wood from the ground with him, his head lowered, while striking up a conversation.

He mainly asked about the surrounding area. After all, Fang Zelin wasn't particularly familiar with the place.

He Chenyi, on the other hand, knew the area like the back of his hand. He could answer practically anything Fang Zelin asked.

The two worked from noon until late afternoon. The sun was about to set, yet they still hadn't finished the raft.

Fang Zelin felt rather helpless at this. He instinctively rubbed his stomach, feeling terribly hungry.

Wasn't the hunger here a little too realistic?

Frowning, Fang Zelin came to the riverbank. He wanted to see whether there was a suitable spot where he could make a small pool for catching fish.

If that wouldn't work, he would have to search in the mountains later.

Some wild fruit or something similar would do to fill his stomach, but he feared it might be poisonous.

He had heard that quite a few other players had died suddenly after carelessly eating mushrooms, wild fruit, and the like.

By comparison, fish and shrimp from the river were actually somewhat safer.

Yet after looking around, Fang Zelin saw nothing but the rushing river. He couldn't find anywhere suitable to dig out a fishing spot.

It seemed that if he let his attention slip even slightly and stepped a little farther into the river, he would be swept away.

"Aren't you hungry?"

Fang Zelin turned back. There really was no way to find food in the river, and he couldn't help feeling a little puzzled when he saw that He Chenyi beside him didn't seem hungry at all.

At his question, He Chenyi glanced at Fang Zelin, then shook his head.

"My family's poor. We only eat one meal a day. I already ate before I fell into the water, so I'm not hungry yet."

Well...

Hearing this, Fang Zelin was momentarily at a loss for words. The boy wasn't hungry, but he was!

Driven by this hunger, Fang Zelin lay down off to one side and said, "I'm a little tired. I'll sleep for a bit."

He called it sleeping, but he was actually logging off.

After logging off, his character here would enter a dormant state. There were no protective measures, however, so quite a few deaths had occurred because of logging off.