The Decaying World

Lin Hui looked up and could faintly see that the bright yellow halos seemed to be emanating from giant moths.

He paused for a moment to rest, eat, and drink, replenishing his energy. He also ducked behind a large boulder to relieve himself.

The wind howled across the plain like the wailing of ghosts. The temperature was extremely low, and patches of the black earth were covered in a light, white frost.

A few glossy black scorpions RUSTLED out from a hole in the ground, swaggering past Lin Hui’s feet with their stingers held high.

SPLAT.

Lin Hui stomped one flat and gazed into the distance in the direction he was heading. He couldn’t see anything in the night.

’At this speed, I must be covering at least a hundred meters per second, right? I’ve been running for so long and still haven’t reached the Core Area... Isn’t this Inner City a bit too big?’

Patiently, he adjusted his mask again and shot forward at high speed.

This time, however, he didn’t run for long before the scenery ahead finally changed.

The once-pitch-black sky gradually began to light up with fine points of white light.

Massive pillars erupted from the earth, soaring into the sky, piercing the mist, and extending to an unknown height.

From a distance, these gigantic pillars resembled a forest of giant, pale gray trees. Their surfaces shimmered with specks of white light, making them look like illuminated columns in the night, suffused with a texture like the starry sky.

Lin Hui slowed his pace but continued to race forward.

On the plain ahead, he could now see that the pale gray pillars had massive, irregular hollows at their bases.

They were like giant white trees that had grown from beneath the ground, bursting through the earth to reach for the sky.

Surrounding the hollows was a vast sea of pure white flowers.

The dense sea of flowers filled Lin Hui’s entire field of vision.

It dyed the world directly in front of him a pure, immaculate white.

But as he drew closer, he discovered that beneath the sea of flowers were clusters of white stone buildings.

The buildings stretched on one after another, and he could faintly see a heavy flow of traffic moving back and forth within, like blood coursing through veins.

As he got even closer, roads appeared before him, extending into the floral cityscape. They crisscrossed and intertwined like a miniature spiderweb.

A great number of trucks, oxcarts, horse-drawn carriages, and carts pulled by black giant deer as large as horses flowed back and forth upon them.

They brought large quantities of goods in, then sped away carrying huge, lumpy mounds of Wanfu Meat covered in tiny mouths, along with other cargo.

Lin Hui noticed that no one else had arrived on foot like him. Most people were riding on passing trucks or passenger carts. Some pointed at him curiously, chattering about something or other.

Continuing forward, he soon chose a main road and followed the flow of traffic, slowly entering the city area of white flowers.

Rows of houses with rooftops planted with countless white flowers appeared with increasing density on both sides of the road.

Most of these houses were made of stone. Some had small courtyards of unknown purpose, where people were watering potted plants.

In front of other houses, people were washing the bodies of stopped horse-drawn carriages, oxcarts, and deer carts with fresh water.

Still others were small shops where the owners were playing cards with a few friends, looking relaxed and carefree.

The place made Lin Hui feel as if he had returned to a small town from his past life—if not for the cluster of pale gray pillars towering into the clouds.

He quickly followed the main road forward, passing through block after block, until the road extended to a hollow at the base of one of the giant pillars.

At the edge of the hollow, the road surface curved and sloped downward, forming a spiral that descended toward the bottom of the pit.

Lin Hui stopped, stood at the edge, and glanced down, but didn’t proceed.

He tried to observe the bottom of the pit, but it was pitch-black and he couldn’t see anything.

The traffic had thinned out considerably by this point; many vehicles had already diverted onto other branch roads along the way.

Having run all this way in one go, Lin Hui could faintly hear the sound of a small stream coming from within the giant pillar.

Looking back, he saw that in the floral cityscape, almost no one was strolling leisurely on the streets. Everyone was either loading or unloading cargo, and as soon as they finished, they immediately got back in their vehicles and left without a moment’s delay.

As far as the eye could see, he was the only one standing idly at the edge of the pit, looking around.

A few young people saw him from a distance and grew curious. They discussed him for a moment, but before they could reach any conclusion, the old man leading them smacked each of them on the head and hurried them onto their vehicle to leave.

’It seems not many people live here; it’s just a cargo transit area...’ Lin Hui mused. He also hadn’t seen any patrol guards, yet those people and their vehicles were so hurried, unwilling to stay a moment longer. There had to be a reason.

He pondered for a moment, then quickly understood. He took a permit issued by the Rain Palace from his waist pouch.

The color of the black permit token was fading at a visible rate.

’Intense radiation?’ Lin Hui was beginning to understand.

Ignoring what anyone else might think, he quickly chose one of the giant pillars and ran a lap around it.

Soon, on one side of the pillar, he discovered a straight stone bridge for entry and exit.

The bridge was pale gray, made of the same material as the pillar.

Trucks were densely packed, moving in and out across it.

To one side of the bridge, a large round hole was open on the pillar’s surface, from which a silver stream flowed, splashing down into the deep pit below.

The ROARING sound of water was incessant.

Now Lin Hui understood where the sound of water he’d heard earlier was coming from.

"My lord, is this your first time in Tuyue’s Core Area?" At that moment, a Silver Full Body Armor Guard from the stone bridge walked up to him and cupped his fists in a salute.

The ROARING water made the man’s voice somewhat muffled and unclear.

Lin Hui withdrew his gaze and looked at the man.

Through the gaps in the helmet, he could clearly see that the face inside was not a normal human face at all, but a blurry, constantly shifting visage that seemed to be made of gray-white mist.

"And you are?" he asked in a low, cautious voice.

"My name is Shixin Jie, an Undying Guard responsible for the security here. I’ve been in charge of maintaining basic order in this place for over thirty years." The guard patted the Double-Bladed Sword at his waist, his tone carrying a hint of pride.

"I see. I’m just here to look around. Since it’s my first time, is there anything you can tell me about this place?" Lin Hui knew the guard had likely mistaken him for someone else, but he didn’t correct him and played along.

"My apologies, my lord. I am not a guide. If you require one, you can follow the signs and tour the area yourself. Besides us of the Undead Race, very few can live here long-term. Our people are primarily responsible for order and security here," Shixin Jie replied.

"Understood. Thank you," Lin Hui nodded.

"Of course. I wish you a pleasant journey." The guard nodded at Lin Hui, turned back to the stone bridge, and resumed his watch over the passing vehicles.

Lin Hui watched the traffic for a while, then simply walked onto the stone bridge, heading toward the entrance of the Moon Tower just like the other vehicles.

Seeing this, Shixin Jie bowed slightly to him from a distance in a gesture of respect and paid him no further mind.

Soon, he stopped a transport truck and began questioning its driver.

Seeing this, Lin Hui also quickened his pace and walked inward along the stone bridge.

Along the way, he periodically saw strange guards like Shixin Jie by the bridge, watching over the passing trucks.

Occasionally, a lavishly decorated silver carriage would speed past. It would often carry only one or two people, yet be pulled by two to four horses—an extravagant display.

Without exception, the men and women in the carriages were scantily clad, with large amounts of skin exposed. They had lazy expressions, exquisite features, and wore light makeup.

Lin Hui looked around and realized he was the only person walking on the stone bridge, which made him stand out conspicuously.

Just as he was considering whether he should find a vehicle to blend in, a silver carriage slowed down. A delicate gauze curtain in the carriage window was lifted a crack, revealing the turnip-like head of a small child.

The child’s features were as delicate as a doll’s, and it was clear she was a girl, though she had a boyish short haircut.

Her eyes were a beautiful, fluorescent red, like molten lava.

She looked at Lin Hui with curiosity.

"You’re not Original Blood. Walking like this, you’ll die before long, won’t you? Aren’t you scared?"

"I have a permit, so I’m not afraid for now." Lin Hui could see she meant no harm and replied with a smile.

"Even so, you shouldn’t stay long. A lot of the adults are very forgetful. Even if they call you here to do something, they’ll quickly forget and then get angry at you for being here, saying you’re an eyesore before they kill you," the girl advised.

"Does that happen a lot?" Lin Hui asked, taken aback.

"Mhm, it happens every day. I don’t know why, but you seem to have a strange scent on you... it smells nice." The girl looked hesitant. "You should hurry up and go. Don’t let the adults see you."

"Okay, thank you... By the way, what’s your name? Maybe we’ll run into each other again someday," Lin Hui said with a nod.

"My name is Sha Ye. If you come to the Blood Stream often, you can come find me to play. But remember not to get too close to the entrance."

"Okay... thanks for the warning. Is this stream called the Blood Stream? Why does it have ’blood’ in its name?" Lin Hui asked, looking at the silver stream that continuously flowed from the round hole in the Moon Tower’s outer wall, plunging into the dark pit below.

"You don’t even know that? Because it’s the blood of the Fog Dragon from the top of the tower," the girl said as if it were obvious.

"Blood?!" Lin Hui froze.

"Mhm. It’s a Fog Dragon that the Progenitor captured and imprisoned at the top of the tower specifically to provide us with drinking water and water for our crops. It’s been used for over a thousand years. You didn’t know?" the girl asked, puzzled.

Lin Hui shook his head blankly.

"You should really just go. You don’t know anything. If it weren’t for the fact that real visitors mostly enter the Moon Tower from the sky, and those on the ground are usually in trucks or servant carts, wandering around like this is just too dangerous for you."

The girl, Sha Ye, gave Lin Hui a look one might reserve for a pathetic creature, then lowered the gauze curtain and drove away.

Lin Hui took her advice. He didn’t enter the Moon Tower, but instead retreated, walking back off the stone bridge.

He randomly chose a white building and walked to the entrance, intending to greet someone and learn about the Core Area from the residents who lived there.

"Hello, excuse me, is this..."

Lin Hui hadn’t even finished his sentence before he was interrupted by an old man sweeping in front of the building’s entrance.

"What’s a normal person like you doing here? ’Hello?’ Hello my ass! I’ve never seen anyone with such a death wish." The old man cursed, his face grim. "If you want to ask something, make it quick! Then get the hell out. This place is no home for normal people."

"..." Lin Hui paused, then continued, "Sir, I’d like to ask..."

"Sir this, sir that! I’m only sixteen years old!" The man grabbed his broom and swung it at Lin Hui.