Am I a Kamen Rider or the real young master who was switched at birth?

After the car drove out of the bustling Kowloon City area, the scenery outside the window began to peel away layer by layer, replaced by rows of dark, dense tree shadows.

The dark brown, almost black branches twisted and stretched towards the sky, like countless hands reaching out from underground.

The tree canopy was so dense that it was almost completely opaque, and sunlight could only squeeze in through certain gaps, casting a few lonely patches of light on the ground.

The air began to feel damp and stuffy, carrying an indescribable, sweet, rotten smell.

Ye Yang sat in the passenger seat; today they were driving Lin Yumin's silver-gray SUV.

Lin Yumin was still lying in Qin Buwen's courtyard receiving acupuncture to suppress the Gu poison, while Lin Xingran stayed to accompany her. So, the three people who came to the Black Forest this time were Ye Yang, Long Aotian, and Lin Ying.

Lin Ying was in charge of driving. She gripped the steering wheel with both hands, her light gray eyes focused intently on the bumpy road ahead.

Ye Yang held up Qin Buwen's densely written list to his eyes, his brows furrowing more and more as he looked at it.

"Three pounds of Black Forest wild mushrooms, two jars of Black Forest honey, one bottle of Black Forest jam—and Black Forest roasted rabbit?"

Ye Yang flipped the list over and over, making sure he hadn't picked it up upside down. "What is all this? Didn't Master send us here to gather herbs? Why did we bring a shopping list?"

His finger continued tracing downwards, "Red-scaled snake fangs—I understand that, it's the important stuff. But this next thing—two pieces of Black Forest cured meat, a jar of Black Forest glutinous rice wine, a packet of Black Forest pine nut candy. What is this pine nut candy? What does Master take us for? A reseller?"

Long Aotian took the list from Ye Yang and looked at it carefully.

His long hair was casually draped over his shoulders, swaying gently with the bumps of the car.

After reading it, a wry smile appeared on his lips. "It seems that they are all specialties of Black Forest Town. I heard my master mention before that there is a kind of fruit called Black Forest Fruit that can't be found anywhere else in the Black Forest. The fruit is deep purple, with thin skin and lots of juice. It tastes especially fragrant when made into jam and candied fruit. The glutinous rice wine made from Black Forest Fruit is my master's favorite."

He handed the list back to Ye Yang, saying with a hint of helplessness, "He gave me a similar list before when he asked me to do things. You'll get used to it."

Ye Yang leaned back in his chair, then covered his eyes with his hands and let out a long sigh: "Does Master think we're here for tourism?"

"As long as we can find the Crimson Scale Serpent, that's fine." Long Aotian turned to look at the approaching black forest outside the window, his tone unconsciously becoming slightly somber.

"To find that snake, we need to go to town and find my master's junior apprentice. My master said he has lived here for many years, studying medicine."

"The terrain of the Black Forest is very complex, and without a guide, it's impossible to find the Red Scale Snake's lair. This junior brother of my master should be very familiar with this area, and having his help will save a lot of trouble."

Ye Yang nodded, then folded the list and put it in his pocket.

Just then, Lin Ying's soft voice came from the front row: "There's a sign up ahead."

Ye Yang and Long Aotian both looked ahead at the same time.

Ahead, there was a wooden road sign standing by the roadside. The sign was old, and the surface of the wood had turned black from being eroded by rain and sun. Three large characters were painted on it in white: "Heisen Town".

Long Aotian looked at the sign, softly repeated the town's name, and said with a hint of seriousness in his voice, "It seems this is the place."

The car continued driving for a while, and the already bumpy dirt road became even muddier.

The SUV's tires slipped several times in the mud. Lin Ying's fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel, her light gray eyes fixed on the road.

She kept the car very slow, steadily driving over every mud pit.

After rounding a bend, the scenery suddenly opened up.

The black wall of trees receded to both sides, revealing a relatively open valley.

Dozens of low-rise buildings are scattered in the center of the valley.

Most of the houses are small wooden structures, some of which have been recently renovated and painted off-white, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding dark forest.

Smoke curled from the scattered chimneys, and occasionally a few children could be seen chasing and playing in the open space at the edge of town; their laughter could be heard even through the car window.

Some people were hanging clothes to dry in their yards, while others were squatting at their doorways chopping firewood.

An old man was herding a flock of ducks slowly across the main road at the entrance of town. The ducks quacked and flapped their wings.

Ye Yang rolled down the car window and looked out. At the entrance of the town, there was an old well, and a young woman was turning the well pulley to draw water.

When the woman saw their SUV approaching, she looked up and glanced at it curiously before continuing to fetch her water.

Ye Yang leaned against the car window frame and said in a relaxed tone, "Although this place is a bit remote, it looks quite pleasant. The air is good, it's quiet, and it's suitable for health and wellness."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at the children chasing each other along the ridges of the fields, and a smile appeared on his lips.

More and more people appeared on the road.

A man squatting by the roadside was chopping wood with an axe. The axe blade made a dull thud as it hit the wood. Then he looked up and his gaze fell on the emblem of Lin Ying's silver-gray SUV.

He put the axe on the ground, dusted off the sawdust from his hands, walked over to a woman who was hanging clothes to dry, and whispered something in her ear.

The woman stopped what she was doing and turned around to look at it.

Several old men playing chess by the roadside also noticed the luxurious SUV that seemed out of place in the whole town, and they whispered among themselves while holding their chess pieces.

An old man with a white beard gestured with his chin toward the SUV, while another bald old man frowned and shook his head.

Lin Ying parked the car in an open space at the entrance of town.

The three had just closed the car door and hadn't even had a chance to look around when a man strode over.

He was probably in his fifties and was wearing a faded blue short-sleeved shirt.

The man rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, revealing a pair of arms tanned dark from years of hard work.

His face was round, and when he smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes piled up in layers, making him look kind and amiable.

He looked at Ye Yang and the other two, then asked in a slightly local accent, "You three look unfamiliar—may I ask who you are?"

Ye Yang stepped forward, a polite smile on his face: "Hello—the three of us are here to see Dr. Song. We heard he's a renowned doctor in your town, and we'd like to ask him for help with some things."

The man's eyes visibly lit up when he heard the name "Dr. Song": "Oh—Dr. Song!"

He smiled and nodded, his tone carrying an undisguised pride. "He's a big shot in our town. Nobody in our town hasn't been treated by him. He can cure headaches and fevers with just three acupuncture needles."

"Last year, a hunter was bitten on the leg by a wild boar in the forest. When he was brought back, the bleeding wouldn't stop. Dr. Song used a set of acupuncture and applied medicine, and in less than half a month, the man was able to walk again. His silver needles are truly skilled."

As Ye Yang listened to him praising Song Zhiming at length, his opinion of this martial uncle improved considerably.

After the man finished speaking, he smiled and asked, "Could you please show us around? We're not familiar with the town."

The man paused for a moment, then nodded quickly, his smile widening. "No problem, no problem—let's go, I'll take you there. Dr. Song lives on the far west side of town. Her yard isn't big, but it's easy to spot; there's an osmanthus tree by the door."

"Oh, by the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Zhou Fusheng, and I am the mayor of Heisen Town."

Ye Yang nodded and smiled, then casually raised the magenta camera on his chest, pointed it at the town's street, and pressed the shutter button.

This has become his habit; he takes a photo to commemorate his visit to a new place.

The camera clicked crisply, and a photo popped out from the bottom.

He held the edge of the photo and shook it, looking down at it as he walked forward with the town mayor.

Then he suddenly stopped.

Long Aotian was walking beside him when he felt Ye Yang suddenly stop. He turned to look at him and found Ye Yang staring at the photo in his hand with a strange expression on his face.

His brows furrowed slightly, his lips pressed into a line, and the knuckles of his fingers holding the photo turned slightly white.

"What's wrong?" Long Aotian asked in a low voice.

Ye Yang didn't say anything, but handed the photo to Long Aotian.

Long Aotian took the photo and looked down at it; the background color in the photo was wrong.

The composition of the photo seems fine. But under the old locust tree at the far right of the town entrance, a woman is sitting.

The woman looked to be in her thirties, wearing a drab gray coat, her hair disheveled and hanging loosely over her shoulders.

She sat on a stone bench under the tree, leaning against the trunk, motionless, as if all her strength had been drained away by something.

Her face was slightly tilted back, her gaze fixed blankly on the direction of the dark forest in the distance, her lips slightly parted as if she were saying something.

What alarmed Ye Yang the most was the black aura surrounding her.

In the photo, black mist surges outward from inside her body, like countless tiny tentacles slowly wriggling in the air.

Long Aotian raised his head and met Ye Yang's gaze. Then he slowly shook his head.

Ye Yang put the photo back in his pocket, and the smile returned to his face.

The town mayor was still enthusiastically talking about how Dr. Song cured his wife's migraines that had lasted for many years with just one silver needle.

Long Aotian listened attentively, occasionally nodding in response.

Lin Ying followed behind them, her light gray eyes quietly surveying the shops on both sides of the town.

They followed the mayor around a corner, and the old locust tree completely disappeared behind the layers of rooftops.

Ye Yang glanced in that direction one last time before looking away.

He pressed the switch on the magenta camera on his chest, and the lens flashed slightly in the dim light.