The Decaying World

The Fog Area.

In the hazy white mist, it was difficult to determine one’s position without a road to follow.

Relying on the maps from the Rain Palace and the Wang Family, Lin Hui stumbled along, constantly correcting his course, until he finally found the marked area mentioned in the bestiary.

On the dilapidated, grayish-white stone road, Lin Hui looked at the surface ahead, which had been crushed by a massive footprint, and let out a breath.

’The map from the Qingfeng Temple expedition team is pretty much worthless by now. The only one that’s still somewhat useful is this one from the Wang Family...’

He took out the pale yellow parchment map he had consulted many times and confirmed his current position.

’From here, the path leads out to the Bone-Eroding Plain... and past the Bone-Eroding Plain is the Jade Sea... There should be a giant stone crater around here, left behind from a fight involving a previous Palace Master of the Rain Palace... Let me look for it...’

He glanced around, slowing his pace to search in circles on either side of the dead-end road.

Before long, he found a small, dark green pond, over ten meters in diameter and seemingly bottomless.

Standing at the edge of the pond, Lin Hui watched the fragments of white bone bobbing and floating inside and came to a stop.

’I’ve found the stone crater... Now, using the crater as the center, I need to find the landmark left by the Government Office—the Scale Stone Stele.’

He made a circle and immediately spotted a rectangular black stone stele stuck crookedly into the ground at the pond’s edge.

The stele was half a man’s height, most of which was buried in the ground. On the exposed part, the three words "Bone-Eroding Plain" were inscribed in an unknown white pigment. An arrow followed the words, pointing to the stele’s right.

Lin Hui examined it closely and discovered a line of small text carved at the bottom of the stele.

’This marks the boundary. There are no roads beyond this point. Due to the extreme difficulty of maintenance, Scale Stone Steles will serve as guideposts from here on. If a Scale Stone Stele is found to be damaged, please pile the carcasses of slain Fog Area monsters at its base to await repair—Taixu Federation, Tuyue City Government Office.’

’So, beyond this point, it’s no longer the relatively safe area maintained by Tuyue...’ Lin Hui gazed in the direction the Scale Stone Stele was pointing. The fog there was thick, and he could faintly see dense, unknown shadows flitting by like a flowing stream.

The number of monsters was far, far greater than on his side of the stele.

He took out the refined map from the Wang Family to have a look, then compared it with the one Brother Liu Wu Jun from the Rain Palace had given him.

The Rain Palace map also had the text from the Scale Stone Stele marked at this location. But it contained more information than what was on the stele, including a section about the Bone-Eroding Plain.

’Bone-Eroding Plain: Before entering, be sure to seal all water containers to avoid contamination from acid fog and acid rain. Current acid rain cycle in the Bone-Eroding Plain for this decade: once every four to five days, with an average rainfall duration of four hours. Please ensure proper filtration for the mouths and noses of livestock and mounts.’

Clearly, these were reminders from the Rain Palace for its own members, making the map far more detailed than others.

Lin Hui consulted the bestiary again, locating the position of the Purgatory Transformation Race.

’Near a black stone forest in the Bone-Eroding Plain, close to the Jade Sea... The description is a bit vague. Looks like I’ll have to do a wider search.’

The Purgatory Transformation creature this time was from a race called the Oil-footed Deer People. They were originally a semi-humanoid, Non-human Race living in the Bone-Eroding Plain, known for secreting large amounts of oil.

They had once engaged in brief border trade with the Tuyue Outer City. They had their own rudimentary language, but no written script.

Six years ago, they would often collect their excess secreted oil and trade it in a few of the fringe towns of the Tuyue Outer City.

Recently, however, a clean-up team from the Inner City issued a notice confirming that the Oil-footed Deer People had been specially contaminated. Based on the outward manifestations described in the notice, Lin Hui confirmed that it was, in fact, Purgatory Transformation.

Standing by the Scale Stone Stele, he carefully inspected the opening of his waterskin, tying it tightly and sealing it.

Next, he checked his Special Effect, Wind of Surrounding, making sure to gather some normal air to circulate around him. Lastly, he replenished his nearly depleted Ning Xiang.

Holding Ruyi in his hand, he finally strode quickly in the direction the stele pointed.

He had walked less than two hundred meters when he felt the surrounding air become slightly acrid. The road beneath his feet had completely vanished, replaced by semi-dry, pale green mud that gave off a sour stench.

There were no plants or insects. He didn’t even encounter any Fog Area monsters in this direction. As he pressed on, the sour smell in the air grew increasingly pungent.

After continuing for another kilometer or so, Lin Hui’s nose could barely detect any scent other than the sourness.

The intense, sour stench had completely overwhelmed his sense of smell.

Once he grew accustomed to the lack of a road, with only the flat expanse of pale green mud underfoot, he gradually began to speed up.

After several more kilometers, both the Wang Family map and the Rain Palace map on his person began to grow hot simultaneously.

He took them out for a look.

He discovered a faint black arrow appearing on the maps. It pointed to his front right.

’Is this map navigation? A fog version?’ The thought was novel to him.

’So it seems that for those large merchant caravans, when they’re surrounded by fog and can’t tell north from south, the only thing they can rely on are these special maps. There’s a good reason for it...’

Lin Hui had heard such rumors before, and this only confirmed why these maps were all closely guarded secrets, treasured by the major clans and never shared with outsiders.

So, the maps had such a valuable function.

He glanced around. It was the same in every direction. Without the maps, he would have no idea where he was.

And in the vast Fog Area, getting lost was a death sentence.

At times like this, a map was truly the lifeline for large merchant caravans.

Sighing to himself, he accelerated, unleashing his Body Technique and hurtling forward.

The pale green mud flew past under his feet as new patches of it continuously appeared out of the fog ahead.

Lin Hui ran for about a dozen kilometers and soon saw the second Scale Stone Stele.

As he approached the stele, the maps in his robes rapidly cooled. Clearly, there was some special connection between them.

Lin Hui walked up to it and saw that the stele had been knocked crooked by something, leaving a deep gash along its edge.

He placed his hands on either side of the stele and tried to straighten it, but it didn’t budge an inch.

Speechless, he had no choice but to give up.

This new stele also had inscriptions and a directional arrow.

’Facing the stele: Due North—Oilfoot Tribe. Due West—Bone Jade Ruins. Northeast—Jade Sea. Due South—Tuyue City.’

There was much less writing on this stele than the last, and the characters were larger, likely an indistinct copy. Even so, Lin Hui could see clear signs of corrosion around the edges of the inscription.

He thought for a moment, determined which way was due north, and then slowly drew his sword, securing the scabbard on his back.

SWISH!

Unleashing his Body Technique, he even extinguished the Ning Xiang, relying solely on his Wind of Surrounding Special Effect to maintain a supply of clean air to breathe.

To be honest, his most frequent use of this Special Effect so far had been to trap clean air and isolate himself from the outside environment.

As for actual defense, he rarely used it. After all, Lin Hui had yet to meet many who could match his speed, so he hardly needed it.

The sour, stinking wind rushed past him as the fog ahead parted like ocean waves, splitting to either side.

A few minutes later, Lin Hui’s brow suddenly furrowed as he caught the faint scent of blood.

He slowed his pace, tightened his grip on his sword, and suppressed his aura as he moved forward.

After advancing for another half a minute, the fog ahead suddenly dispersed, revealing a small, natural No-Fog Zone.

From a distance, the area looked like an inverted bowl. Inside the cavity, a crude little village built of black rock stood on the pale green mud.

A small, three-story stone fort marked the village center, surrounded by more than ten black stone houses.

These houses were simple rectangular prisms. Four large stones were stacked like building blocks to form a doorless box, which served as the basic structure of a house.

The black stone houses averaged three meters in height. More than a dozen of these houses circled the central stone fort, forming a crude little village.

Unfortunately, the village was now completely devoid of life.

The ground, littered with white bones, proved that living creatures had been here not long ago. But now...

Lin Hui walked into the village and stopped before a wide, three-meter-long skeleton.

The skeleton had the head of a deer and the body of a human. It still clutched a crude black stone club. A layer of dried, tattered brown fur covered the bones, but there was no flesh or blood left underneath.

Lin Hui crouched down to inspect the skeleton.

’No signs of Purgatory Transformation at all...’ He sighed, rising to his feet and walking deeper into the village.

As he went deeper, the roadside and the areas around the houses were littered with the mangled skeletal remains of the Deer People.

By the time he reached the central stone fort, he had counted at least thirty skeletons of Deer People, not a single one of which showed any trace of Purgatory Transformation.

"Weren’t they said to be contaminated?" he sighed softly.

His voice echoed softly, but no one answered. Only the faint sound of the wind whistled through the ruined doorway of the stone fort, making a wailing sound.

He wandered around inside the stone fort. Besides some moldy, unidentifiable meat and bones, there were only the skeletons of even larger Deer People.

Strangely, however, he couldn’t find the remains of a single young Deer Person.

This couldn’t help but spark a thought in Lin Hui’s mind.

He explored the stone fort and found a large room that looked like a study.

Inside the black rock room, a large, irregularly shaped stone table sat on the floor.

Several large, rough, oval-shaped stones served as natural stools around the table.

To the right of the table and stools, on a stone platform resembling a bookshelf, lay two brown leather scrolls. Each was over a meter long and as thick as an adult’s fist.

The scrolls were tied with frayed black rope and placed haphazardly on the stone platform.

Lin Hui stepped forward, gently untied the rope, and unrolled one of the scrolls.

Inside was nothing but crooked black chicken-scratch, which appeared to be a primer for learning the Taixu Text.

’It seems these Deer People were trying to become more civilized. What a pity...’ He suspected someone had used the "contamination" as a pretext to slaughter the entire tribe.

’Even occupying a natural No-Fog Zone couldn’t save them from this terrible fate...’

CLINK.

Suddenly, a small, light purple, rod-shaped, transparent crystal fell from the scroll he had just unrolled.

Lin Hui picked up the crystal and examined it.

’Is this some kind of natural amethyst?’

In the past, he might have just tossed it aside. After all, amethyst wasn’t rare. Even in Tuyue, such minerals were not considered precious.

But at that moment, as he picked up the crystal rod, he suddenly felt an itch on his shoulder.

SWISH.

A speck of purple light suddenly shot out of the crystal rod and precisely entered the second green crystal of the Nine Eyes on his shoulder.

The next second, the second of the Nine Eyes began to glow faintly, indicating that it was fully charged.

’This thing can actually store Ling?’ Lin Hui was astonished. Although he didn’t know the intensity of the Ling that had flown out, the mere fact that this amethyst rod could store it was incredibly rare.

So far, this was the first object he had encountered that could store Ling... no, wait, the second. The first was his own head.

He put away the amethyst rod and inspected the other scroll, but there was nothing hidden inside it. After circling the stone fort a few more times and confirming there was nothing else to find, Lin Hui finally withdrew from the tribal lands.

However, he had not gone far before the No-Fog Zone behind him was silently swallowed by the mist.

’Huh? What’s going on?’ He stopped in his tracks and looked back the way he had come.

’It can’t be a coincidence that the fog began to encroach the moment I arrived. I must have caused some change that allowed it to enter this area...’

At this thought, Lin Hui took out the amethyst rod he had just found.

After a moment’s thought, he activated his Body Technique again and flashed back to the base of the stone fort, but the fog continued to pour in and permeate the area.

Unable to determine the cause, he suspected it had something to do with the Ling, but he had no way to confirm it. To save time, he decided to press on toward the next location of a Purgatory Transformation Race.