Li Gang started travelling in the western direction.
His injuries started worsening as he travelled. Being left without treatment, he was already hanging on the line of death. And with the lack of information about how long he had slept, he didn't know if those who trapped him here were coming for him. He didn't know if they had already found him.
He reached the outskirts of the city. It was a remote area, and he could see the presence of a few hamlet settlements. He didn't have much strength, so he slowly went towards one of the settlements and fainted not far from a small house.
People in remote areas usually made houses with soil. These houses didn't have much durability, but they were easier to make compared to the villas of nobles.
At the same time, in the small cabin of Jin Huang,
a few black-robed men appeared silently. The leader was named Chen Wang, and he was a Rank 5 Warrior. He was the one leading this mission.
He first appeared on top of the cabin, with five Rank 4 Warriors behind him. He immediately took out a small compass-type object and fiddled with it. He said slowly, "It's safe. Let's go in."
He first checked the door carefully, and again used the circular object to check something. After finding nothing wrong, he opened the door and entered, continuing to monitor the object.
As they searched around, they didn't find anyone.
At that moment, one of his underlings tried to check the wardrobe beside the bed. Chen Wang noticed and immediately stopped him. "Stop!"
The man immediately halted and glanced at his leader.
Chen Wang took the object and scanned the ground in front of the wardrobe. It suddenly wavered, showing some signs.
Chen Wang narrowed his eyes. "As expected!"
He nodded at the man, who was already sweating.
The man immediately avoided the ground and stepped onto the bed, then opened the wardrobe to check. There was nothing inside.
The man nodded.
Chen Wang murmured inwardly, 'He can't be underestimated. He guessed that someone might try to track him and prepared a formation to verify it. It's good that we avoided this—now he won't get confirmation.'
It turned out that Li Gang had placed a formation right in front of the wardrobe. He didn't place any formations at the door or entry point of the cabin in order to lower their guard.
Anyone coming for him would surely search the wardrobe, so he placed an array in front of it. The moment they touched it, he would be notified. He would also be able to understand how close they were to him. In his position, even the smallest clue had enormous value.
One day later
Li Gang woke up again. He found himself lying on the ground in a dilapidated house. He slowly groaned to let the people know that he had awakened.
Soon, an old woman with a thirteen-year-old girl entered.
The old woman asked slowly, "Mister, are you alright?"
Li Gang sighed and said with slight pain, "No. If Grandma doesn't mind, can I stay here for a few days?"
The old lady nodded. "Yes, yes! We wouldn't discard someone in need."
People in village areas were quite simple-minded, but that didn't mean they were stupid or innocent.
The old lady might seem amiable, but how could she hide her greed from Li Gang? For a warrior, mortals were straightforward and too simple. They didn't have the ability to hide their emotions.
He could directly see through her thoughts. She wouldn't say anything now, but as time passed, she would test him and try to take as much as possible from him according to the situation.
Li Gang didn't mind this. Right now, his safety was what mattered.
He asked slowly, "What is the date? How long have I slept?"
The old lady smiled lightly. "Today is the 17th. It's only been a few hours since you fainted."
Li Gang slowly stood up and went outside to look at the sky. It was night, and judging from the time he had fainted, it made sense that he had been unconscious for only a few hours.
At the same time, the date also seemed to make sense. Did it mean that they hadn't made him faint back then?
He went to Jin Huang's cabin on the 15th after the battle, and he fainted on the same day. He had previously assumed that he had been forced unconscious, which now seemed wrong. He had fainted naturally and woken up a day later on the morning of the 17th.
He had spent half a day traveling to this remote place before fainting again. All the timing aligned. Had he really overthought things back then? Was there really no threat?
As this line of thought arose, he suddenly had a terrifying idea.
He glanced at the old woman and shivered inwardly.
He asked slowly, hoping for a negative answer, "What is the date, the month, and the year?"
The old lady frowned, but still replied, "17th February, 42058."
Li Gang was shocked as he asked, "How long has it been since you found me in front of your house?"
The old lady said lightly, "It's already been a day. Why?"
Li Gang didn't show anything outwardly and said calmly, "Nothing. Just let me rest for a while."
The old lady nodded and left.
At that moment, Li Gang felt chills in his heart.
The mark had never been on the Spatial Order—the mark had always been on him!
It should be noted that when the new calendar was announced, it happened four days before the year 42042 ended. As a result, there was a discrepancy of four days.
Even though there was a gap of four days, people usually considered the year 42042 to have ended on the day this calendar was released. Only in some remote areas like this did the 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th of December exist in the year 42042. Why not the 31st? Obviously, because every month in this world had only 30 days, including February.
Now, this was where the problem arose.
Due to the discrepancy of four days, today should actually be the 21st of February.
Another point of doubt—he had fainted here yesterday, but the lady said he had fainted only a few hours ago.
This clearly meant he had woken up after fainting yesterday, done something, and then fainted again around the same time.
Was there such a coincidence?
No.
His body had been taken over!
He suddenly realized the scheme those Rank 8 Warriors had planned. They had "died" and then parasitized his body with some means. He didn't know whether both of them resided within him or just one, but there was definitely an Emperor involved. Only Emperors were capable of such a feat.
Why had he fainted when he first arrived at Jin Huang's cabin? It was because one of them had awakened within him.
They had delayed time and then allowed him to wake up five days later. There was no clock in Jin Huang's cabin, but even if there had been, they would have altered it to deceive him.
Why did they delay him for five days? Because that was enough time for reinforcements to arrive.
At the same time, Li Gang had already admitted that he hadn't slept properly for a while. As a result, when he slept again, he wouldn't realize how much time had passed. He was no longer familiar with that sensation, especially with his injured body. He couldn't accurately judge how long he had been unconscious.
Just like what happened today—they made him sleep right at the time he had fainted yesterday. Normally, anyone would only ask the initial questions Li Gang had asked. But Li Gang was too cautious. He considered that this village was remote, and the new calendar might not have reached here. They might still be using the Elemental Era Calendar.
That was the problem now. His body was heavily injured, and he couldn't sense whether there was some kind of mark on him. He couldn't even do anything about it.
Previously, he had assumed there couldn't be any mark on his body because he thought it had been placed during his battle with those two Monarchs. As a result, he had been confident that, given his caution, it shouldn't have been possible. But if the mark had been placed after he arrived at Jin Huang's cabin, then everything changed. In his injured state, even if there was a mark, he wouldn't be able to detect it.
He had been thoroughly deceived this time.
Those two had deliberately drained the energy from the Spatial Order to force him to discard it.
Now, he couldn't escape without the Spatial Order. He still had a small amount of Spiritual Stones, enough to use it once—but what was the point? He no longer had the Spatial Order.
Li Gang even considered going back to the cabin, but now he viewed Rank 8 Warriors in a completely different light.
The most dangerous place was often the safest place. He wasn't the only one who knew this—everyone in this world did. Normally, people didn't check the same place twice, so if Li Gang returned after they left, he should have been safe.
However, Rank 8s were not ordinary warriors. They were extremely meticulous.
They would surely leave someone behind to send a message in case Li Gang returned. Now a question arises: if they have marked his body, why would they check that cabin? Can't they directly come to find him?
This entire deduction from Li Gang's perspective is due to a significant information gap. His body being marked is the worst-case possibility, and the fact that the formation trap he had laid in the cabin, in front of the wardrobe, didn't trigger further suggests that they might not have gone to the cabin and are instead heading directly for him.
Doesn't that mean Li Gang can go back to the cabin?
But there is another issue. After realizing that his body might have been taken over, Li Gang considered another possibility. What if it isn't his body that was marked, but instead, whenever the other entity takes control of him, it reveals his location?
This is a crucial point. This situation isn't the worst case, but if Li Gang assumes the worst-case possibility as truth, then this scenario could directly trap him.
How?
Because in such a situation, the reinforcements would first check the cabin. Only after obtaining new information from the Rank 8 Warrior—after he awakens within Li Gang—would they leave the cabin and come for him. In that case, if they were able to avoid the formation, then the opponent is highly formidable, and they would surely leave someone hidden near the cabin in case he returns.
He had to heal quickly. He couldn't go too far from where he was.
He glanced at the girl, who was looking at him as if he were the most pitiful person in the world. Her eyes were filled with pity and kindness. Even though the old woman had left, she remained, staring at his wounds.
He asked, "What is your name?"
The girl replied softly, "Chu You."
Li Gang asked, "Do you know who the strongest person here is?"
Chu You said immediately, "Big Brother Zudas is the strongest!"
Li Gang keenly noticed her excitement when she said the name "Zudas." He said humbly, "Can you call him for me? I need help."
Chu You immediately nodded.
She left.