Chapter 409: Wooden House on the Cliff

Different from the open and flat south beach, the north of Qiaoyan Island is filled with bare, towering reefs. Black-brown rock pillars are forcibly bonded together under the power of nature, forming sharp, rugged mountain peaks.

Millions of years of wind and rain erosion have left the roots of the rock pillars full of cracks, the widest of which is no more than a palm's length, but they are bottomless inside, and standing on them, one can only see a piece of pitch black.

"Chi..."

Leather boots landed, and the soles stepped on the dark green moss on the rock surface, just like stepping on some kind of sponge soaked in water, accompanied by a stagnant sound of water squeezing out, which was the sticky and slippery touch coming from the soles of the feet.

It was damp all year round, and a light wipe of the palm supporting the rock wall to the side would leave the fingers covered in cold water droplets.

Xia Nan was focused, controlling his body's center of gravity, carefully taking every step, walking carefully between the rock walls.

In his ears were the noise of the whistling sea breeze, the sound of waves splashing and shattering on the reefs, and the strange whistling sound of air flowing through the rock wall gaps on both sides.

If he turned his head and looked down at this moment, he would be able to see the deep, dark sea surface below that had swallowed the light by the rock walls, and the black-brown reefs reflecting the waves.

If he didn't control his body center of gravity and accidentally slipped, he would be smashed to pieces.

If it were his previous life, even those extreme athletes with rich experience, if they didn't have long-term sufficient preparation and expensive, detailed professional equipment, wouldn't dare to climb rashly.

If ordinary people were allowed to climb this kind of terrain, it would undoubtedly be courting death.

Many people, let alone touching the rock wall and rubbing forward step by step, just taking one look down, the height above the rock wall would be enough to scare them into weak legs, and then being blown by the whistling sea breeze, they could close their eyes and prepare for their funeral.

The Xia Nan before crossing over was just an ordinary office worker, not having much courage. Occasionally, when encountering a taxi driver driving fast, he had to grab the car roof handle. He had climbed the highest mountain, which was a dirt slope in the park next to the company. He rarely went out to travel, let alone go to any dangerous places.

But right now, his mentality had changed significantly compared to his previous life.

Strong physical fitness, agility, strength, and perception ability far exceeding ordinary people allowed Xia Nan to keenly avoid the easily crumbling parts of the rock wall and maintain body balance in the narrow path that only allowed one person to pass sideways, relying on muscle strength to stably support body movements for a long time without deformation or loss of posture.

【Tide Shaping】 endowed him with the ability to walk freely on most unstable planes, and the balance bonus from 【Bone-Binding Iron Shins】 made it difficult for him to fall.

Even if he really reached the worst-case scenario, slipping and falling off the cliff.

Releasing 【Gravity Control】 at maximum power without counting the consumption, plus the constant fall damage reduction effect of 【Tide Shaping】, would be enough to reduce the damage he received to the maximum extent.

And as long as Xia Nan still had a breath left, 【Tears of Spring Breath】 and 【Ember Echo】 would be able to pull him back from the line of life and death.

Fault tolerance is directly maxed out!

With his comprehensive quality now, to some extent, unless it is an extremely harsh environment, such as in magma or in space, otherwise, ordinary seaside cliffs like this cannot cause him much danger.

Of course, he still needs to be careful.

He took every step very steadily, stepping firmly before lifting his feet to take the next step.

Fortunately, the former residence of Mr. Morton in Village Chief Steven's mouth was not too far away. After walking between the rock walls for about half an hour, a small wooden house reflecting the high reefs and the sky overhead came into Xia Nan's view.

Its selection was extremely tricky, almost as if it grew in a rock crevice.

It happened to be located between the angles of two vertical wall cracks, allowing falling rocks from above to slide past on both sides; three large protruding black-brown reefs above formed a natural rain shed, blocking most of the rainwater; while having an open view, it also blocked most of the sight from the sea because of its special position hidden behind the cliff.

Clearly, there had been careful consideration in site selection.

As for the wooden cabin itself, even though three or four decades had passed since its initial construction, its exterior did not look particularly dilapidated; it seemed to be regularly maintained, with only some of the joints between the timbers inevitably corroded and moldy due to the influence of the humid seaside air.

Xia Nan didn't rush into the house to search for the key to 【Dream Weaving Corridor】, because right next to the wooden house, on a stone cliff platform extending outward.

A middle-aged man wearing a brownish-green hooded cloak was sitting motionless at the tip of the hanging rock, holding a bone-white curved fishing rod in his hand, the transparent fishing line at the end extending to the undulating sea surface below, and one could vaguely glimpse the small fishing float floating in the waves.

Guessing in his heart, this should be the guest from Shoal Islands in Village Chief Steven's mouth.

Perception ability took effect silently. Although the other party was currently facing away from himself, Xia Nan could feel that the man in the hood had already discovered him.

Of course, he didn't deliberately hide his footsteps anyway.

In such an unfamiliar environment, and the two were still alone, from the perspective of politeness, and also to show his attitude of no hostility, Xia Nan didn't approach, just stood far away.

Organizing the language in his heart, just wanting to say something.

A "Zi" sound suddenly sounded in the air!

The fishing float sank, the originally leisurely hanging fishing line suddenly tightened, and the fishing rod bent vigorously.

Fish on!

But strangely, compared to the huge change in the fishing rod and fishing line in an instant, the man's reaction was stingy.

The whole person was like a stone statue standing on the cliff, motionless.

He gripped the rod body firmly with both hands, but didn't lift it immediately, instead deliberately sending two inches of line down, letting the prey under the sea think it had succeeded and subconsciously bite the hook deeper.

He carefully felt the subtle changes in the force transmitted from his palms, until a certain moment, the prey completely bit the hook, and there was no possibility of breaking free.

Only then did he follow the trend and stand up, exerting force to lift the rod.

The gap between a novice and an experienced hand was vividly reflected at this moment.

In Xia Nan's eyes, the man's action when lifting the rod was incomparably natural, as if he had practiced it thousands of times. His waist and legs coordinated, his left foot retreated half a step to step firmly, his right knee was slightly bent in a bow step, and the strength of his whole body was as stable as the rising tide.

Retrieving the line was even more like breathing, with a rhythm of tension and relaxation.

He even suspected that the other party could perceive the change in the prey's physical strength under the hook through the force transmitted from his hands, deliberately relaxing when struggling, and pulling hard when resting.

The figure standing on the cliff was connected to the vast ocean below by a transparent fishing line, accompanied by the surging tide, as if fighting with the entire ocean when lifting the rod and exerting force.

"Pop."

In the depths of the waves, there was a light sound of water splashing.

A silver-white sea fish, about two feet long, was pulled out of the seawater.

It was slender, hanging at the end of the fishing line, and the body it swung when struggling was like a silver short blade chiseling the cliff.

Until a powerful large hand suddenly stabbed out from the side, accurately and fiercely hooking the depression behind the gill cover, as if possessing some special exertion technique, the fingers inserted into the gill cover bent slightly, and the silver fish that was still jumping around was as if hit in the dead spot, instantly losing all its strength and entering a state of stiffness.

Unhooking the hook, the man held the silver fish in his hand and raised it slightly, nodding with satisfaction.

Only then did he turn around and look at Xia Nan, who was waiting patiently not far ahead.

Raising his chin slightly toward the wooden house, he also raised the silver fish in his hand.

"Thumnia Silver Shuttle Fish, you might not see one in the whole fish market of Broken Wave Pier in a day, and the taste is more delicious than a whole day of hen soup."

"How about it, want to try?"

Colin suddenly felt that the sailor life didn't seem so boring.

The long voyage of five days made his whole soul seem to be swallowed by the endless waves on the sea.

And precisely because of this, when he stepped on land after a long absence and his feet stepped on the ground, the emotion in his heart was indescribable.

At the same time, in Qiaoyan Village, this remote village that had never been heard of before. ===== CHAPTER 410 =====