The suction in the forest came particularly violently, with trees toppling and sand and stones flying.
Even the villagers on this side of the creek had their clothes flapping, unable to resist being drawn in that direction.
When the gust of wind passed, everyone looked around in succession, all aghast and pale.
The scene was in chaos, with dust rising everywhere.
On the other side of the creek, Mrs. Li had vanished, leaving only her yellowed cane behind.
"Mountain God! It’s the Mountain God! She’s been taken away by the Mountain God!"
Someone in the crowd let out a scream of terror.
Seeing this, the rest of the people scrambled backward, fearing they would meet the same fate as Mrs. Li if they were a step too slow.
Pei Laoliu, who was about to step forward, also froze in place. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn ɴovᴇl(F)ɪre.ɴet
His expression changed continuously, his hair standing on end, alarm bells ringing in his heart.
Others might not have seen it clearly, but he saw it distinctly.
In the forest, it was no Mountain God; it was a massive black giant python.
Although it was within the dense jungle, only its bloody mouth and two cold eyes were visible.
But just from these, one could basically discern how terrifying the size of this monster was. It had long outgrown the category of ordinary snakes and was an outright demon.
Pei Laoliu sniffed, faintly catching a whiff of a rancid smell in the surrounding air, knowing this was not a place to linger, and he must leave quickly.
He immediately shouted to everyone:
"Everyone, the monster hasn’t retreated yet; this place is dangerous, quickly follow me!"
Master Liu’s shout was like a rainbow, waking the panicked people around him as if they had found their backbone, all gathering towards him.
He tapped his foot, and his figure dashed off lightly.
The group of villagers behind was startled, not expecting this old Taoist to have such skills.
Any doubts arising from his strange clothes evaporated at that moment.
This level of skill surely couldn’t belong to an ordinary person!
Everyone followed Pei Laoliu helter-skelter, and soon they had left the creekside and returned to the village.
It was Pei Laoliu’s first time here, and he didn’t know the way, but he ran along the path in a frenzy and ended up in the village center by happenstance.
This place had houses built with blue bricks and thatch, similar to where he had stayed before, but here they seemed a bit cleaner due to maintenance.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
A group of burly men panted heavily as they ran back, causing the village women and children to panic, thinking it was the man-eating monster from outside.
Village Chief Li Yuan was the oldest and ended up at the tail of the group with a few younger men, eventually being helped back by two teenage boys.
"Daoist, Daoist, wait for me!"
He asked them to put him down, possibly due to a twisted ankle, limping over to Pei Laoliu.
"The Daoist is indeed extraordinary; this display of footwork is something I’ve witnessed for the first time in my life. It’s much better than our village hunters."
Li Yuan marveled, but saw Pei Laoliu constantly looking behind him and couldn’t help but ask:
"Daoist, what are you looking at? Oh... We were at the back earlier, and it seems the Mountain God didn’t follow. Otherwise, I might have been the first to be caught..."
His expression was timid, clearly still terrified by what had happened.
Pei Laoliu stretched his neck, watching for a while. Seeing nothing was pursuing, as the village chief had said, he finally sighed with relief and felt his heart settle down.
Although he had seen many strange creatures in the Alien Species Manual before, some towering as high as a hundred meters like small mountains, utterly terrifying.
But to be this close to such creatures, for Master Liu, it was truly a first.
Having spent most of his life in the Martial World, he was used to relying on eloquence rather than brute force. When had he ever faced such a calamity?
However, since the event had transpired, Master Liu was no naive youngster unfamiliar with the world.
After all, he was the erstwhile acclaimed Half-immortal Pei, who now possessed true mana, so he wasn’t at a complete loss.
Looking around, the question Master Liu most wanted to resolve was whether he was still on Water Blue Star.
"Village Chief Li, may I inquire about something?"
He bowed to the elder beside him.
Li Yuan hurriedly waved his hand, saying:
"There’s no need to be so formal. If the Daoist has any questions, please ask. I’ll be glad to help with everything I know!"
Seeing this, Pei Laoliu finally asked the question that had puzzled him for a long time.
"Could Village Chief Li tell me, where exactly is this place, and what year and time is it now?"
Everyone nearby was paying attention here, and upon hearing the old Daoist suddenly asking such a question, they were all surprised.
They had expected it to be a difficult question, but it turned out to be so simple that even a three-year-old in the village would know. How could the skilled Daoist not know?
Seeing their expressions, Pei Laoliu easily used the excuse he had prepared from the beginning.
"I have been practicing in my sect all day, and recently I felt something in my heart, so I went down the mountain to travel. But I’m not aware of the current dynasty or my location in the mundane world, which is quite embarrassing."