The sky was growing dark.
Lin Hui stowed his wooden staff, wiped the sweat from his face with a cloth, and headed briskly toward the communal sleeping quarters.
The communal quarters lay to the right of the martial drill grounds. At a glance, the structure resembled a blackened large intestine stretched horizontally across the earth.
The "folds" on the intestine's surface marked the divisions between separate rooms. Each room could sleep up to a dozen people.
Lin Hui lived in a relatively clean and ventilated room on the far right.
Pushing the door open, he glanced at the Tuyue Jade Talisman hanging on the wall. Everyone else in the room had returned. Two were playing cards, while the rest sat silently in their spots, holding small wooden sticks and gesturing through moves with focused, serious expressions.
"A-Hui, you're back?" Chen Zhishen looked over, rolling off his bunk and approaching. "You weren't here earlier—people were discussing how the Martial Uncles caught a monster and brought it back to the temple during the day. You should've seen it; that thing's claws... a single arm was at least as tall as one of us!"
He looked somewhat excited, agitated even.
After all, most people living in the urban areas had never seen what a monster actually looked like.
Legends claimed they were cruel, savage, and mad, carrying unimaginable poisons and diseases.
The colossal mist completely isolated them from humanity, as if separating two different worlds.
"A monster? I was training all day—didn't pay attention to anything else." Lin Hui's curiosity was piqued.
To be honest, having grown up in Xinyu Town in the Outer City, he had never seen a monster's true form either. Those creatures seemed to rarely intrude into the city limits, usually only attacking pioneers, trade caravans, and couriers who ventured out into the mist zone.
But pioneers were mostly death row inmates who had committed grave crimes. As for caravans, only the massive trading houses had the capacity to forge inter-city convoys. And couriers—they were top-tier existences unimaginable to ordinary people.
Anyone capable of traveling solo between the great cities was absolutely an elite among elites.
"They say the monster was over four meters tall, covered in black scales, with no eyes or nostrils—just a giant mouth occupying its entire face. Terrifying!" Chen Zhishen whispered.
"You just imagined that after reading too many storybooks, didn't you?" A thin youth wearing glasses nearby sneered.
"What storybooks? I saw it with my own eyes! Martial Uncle Mingde dragged that monster past the Daoist temple, and then people from the government office took it away. There were fewer than ten people who saw the whole thing, and I was one of them!" Chen Zhishen retorted, instantly displeased.
"Then do you know—for us martial artists, besides working as guards and escorts, what other path is there? Or rather, have you ever thought about why a monster's corpse would appear in the mist-free zone, where monsters supposedly dare not enter? Why would Martial Uncle Mingde drag a monster corpse here for no reason?" The thin youth pushed up his glasses and asked in a low voice.
"Wh... why?" Chen Zhishen was bluffed into silence; he really hadn't thought about these questions. He was just an ordinary farm boy who barely knew a few characters. His greatest source of knowledge was this Clear Wind Temple.
Lin Hui was also drawn in by the other's words. It wasn't just him; several other students nearby quietly shifted their attention to the thin youth.
Realizing his topic had captured everyone's attention, the thin youth felt a surge of pride. He didn't keep them in suspense, rubbing his nose as he spoke.
"Because the exploration of the mist... the main force has always been us martial artists."
He sighed.
"The three major powers of the Inner City, and the large factions in the districts below them, are actually all exploring the surrounding mist zones. Although there are monsters in the mist zones, there are also all kinds of precious medicinal herbs, rare mineral deposits, and even mysterious ruins and hidden treasures."
"Ruins? Isn't the mist zone uninhabitable?" A boy with gentle features couldn't help but ask.
"Uninhabitable now. But in the past, some places were also mist-free zones. They only became mist zones later due to various reasons," the thin youth whispered mysteriously. "Besides, I heard from my eldest uncle that the most numerous ruins in the mist zone aren't actually left by us humans, but by other unknown entities."
Unknown entities!
This phrase instantly ignited the interest of all the surrounding youths.
"Unknown entities can leave ruins, too? Does that mean they're like us? Can they build houses, farm, raise livestock, and eat meat?" the boy who asked earlier continued.
"Not sure, but probably. Otherwise, how could they leave ruins?" The thin youth laughed. Seeing more and more people gathering around, his spirits rose, and he began to describe in detail how he had learned this news.
It turned out his eldest uncle used to be one of the martial artists who explored the mist. He had been highly skilled, but later, during one of the many explorations, he was unfortunately crippled and heavily injured. In the end, he could only rely on his past savings to live out his days at home, waiting for death.
This information about the mist zone was all told to him as stories by his eldest uncle during his free time.
Lin Hui listened, entranced. He had never come into contact with these things before.
Through the thin youth's mouth, the curtain covering his understanding of this world seemed to be slowly pulled back.
According to the other party, this world was not inhabited by humans alone. There were many humanoid races and some non-humanoid races.
Some of the humanoid races had even secretly infiltrated the mist-free zones within the city long ago, disguising their identities to live among humans. Some races would benevolently trade with humans and even intermarry. These were not particularly huge secrets in the Inner City.
Finally, seeing the mist outside growing thicker and thicker, it was time to extinguish the lights.
Only then did the thin youth summarize with a final sentence.
"Alright, alright, that's enough. My mouth is dry from talking so much, and I haven't even seen a coin for tea. If you're really interested, you can go to Rift Town on the edge when you have time. It's said there's a garrison there because a humanoid group called the Mistborn appears frequently. Quite a few residents of Rift Town are mixed-bloods of us and the Mistborn."
Rift Town...
Lin Hui silently committed this place name to heart.
Puff.
The oil lamp was blown out. Everyone lay down in their spots, but no matter who it was, they were all too excited by the thin youth's words to sleep.
Lin Hui was the same. His mind constantly replayed everything the thin youth had described. His impression of the mist zone gradually shifted from a death trap of pure danger to a place where danger and opportunity coexisted.
The night passed without conversation. Outside the door, only the howling wind continued, rattling the door planks.
The second day.
Just as the sky brightened, most of the youths in the room got up. Lin Hui was no exception.
As usual: draw water, chop wood, then practice the sword.
By the time practice finished, it was nearly noon. This time, however, he had a different plan.
Having listened to the thin youth's story yesterday, Lin Hui intended to personally visit the boundary of the mist-free zone during the day to take a look.
If he were back in Xinyu Town, he wouldn't have been able to run that far. But this was the Clear Wind Temple, which was already close to the edge of the mist-free zone. There was also a small path leading to the mist zone that caravans often used, so he could actually walk there and back on foot.
Mind made up, Lin Hui immediately returned to the communal quarters to pack his things. He brought a waterskin, checked the direction, and decisively exited through the temple's side door.
Directly north of the Daoist temple was the colossal Tuyue City. To the south lay a vast expanse of gray-white mist.
From the side door to the mist boundary, the distance was less than three hundred meters.
Lin Hui exited the side door and found a large tree to climb, surveying the terrain from a high vantage point.
The closest route to the boundary was to follow the small river beside the Daoist temple.
This river was named the Intestine River. As the name suggested, it was a small river twisted like an intestine. Its source passed through Xinyu Town in the Outer City, winding and flowing all the way to the Clear Wind Temple, then passing through a dense forest before finally entering the massive, endless mist.
Lin Hui's departure didn't attract the attention of the gatekeeping young Daoist attendants. After all, what these students did most often was go out to chop wood.
The temple's seniors also frequently patrolled the surroundings to avoid any risks.
As for the door-breaching ghosts—at least so far, they hadn't seen any monsters actively breaking into the mist-free zone.
Carrying his waterskin, Lin Hui wore a set of gray short tunics and gripped a sharpened, thick wooden stick in his hand. He walked briskly along a blurred path toward the mist zone.
The sky was gloomy and sunless. Clouds were piled thick and high. The wind howled, threatening rain at any moment.
Lin Hui walked alone on the overgrown forest path.
Surrounding him were thick, straight, gray-black trees.
Lush, dark green grass and shrubs grew up to waist height, completely obscuring everything outside the small path.
Snap.
Snap.
Lin Hui moved carefully. Soon, following the path, his vision gradually caught sight of the gray mist emerging from the forest ahead.
That thick gray mist was like a wall, connecting heaven and earth, slicing the forest apart.
At the same time, Lin Hui's footsteps paused. He saw an old man in a black Daoist robe sitting cross-legged at the foot of a large tree beside the path.
The old man had a kind face, white hair and beard, and a sturdy build. A pitch-black longsword was strapped to his back.
Hearing footsteps, he slowly narrowed his eyes and looked toward Lin Hui.
"Every few days, some curious brat comes to see the novelty. Can't you lot settle down?"
Lin Hui recognized the style and markings of the Daoist robe the old man wore—it was the Clear Wind Temple's design. He knew the man was stationed here specifically to maintain safety.
Immediately, he stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"Disciple Lin Hui greets the Senior."
"I am Mingchen. Although no monsters come in or out of this place, don't go looking for trouble when there is none. If you enter the mist zone, you will inevitably die without a whole corpse," the old Daoist warned.
"Disciple understands. I was just curious and planned to look from the edge. I absolutely will not enter," Lin Hui replied seriously. That was what he thought, and that was what he did.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically chosen a small path trodden by predecessors.
"That is good. Go back after you've taken a look." Old Daoist Mingchen nodded, no longer looking his way, and resumed his silent meditation with closed eyes.
The rushing wind rustled the leaves.
Occasionally, a few leaves drifted down onto their heads.
Lin Hui stared intently at the wall of mist not far away, his eyes trying to pierce through the fog to see what exactly was inside.
Whoosh.
Vaguely, he saw a gray shadow, about the height of a person, flash past within the mist. It was extremely fast.
"Dare I ask the Senior, why do the monsters in the mist zone not enter our side?" Lin Hui asked softly.
Old Daoist Mingchen remained motionless, as if he heard nothing.
Seeing this, Lin Hui knew the other party had no desire to pay him any attention. After a moment of silence, he scanned his surroundings. Feeling it would be boring to just run back like this, he simply took his sharpened wooden stick and carved a line of words forcefully into the tree trunk beside him.
'Lin Hui was here.'
"..." Hearing the commotion, Mingchen opened his eyes to look, his face instantly revealing speechlessness.
After doing this, Lin Hui turned around, intending to return. But after taking only two steps, he bent down again, picking up a black-purple fragment of unknown material from the grass.
The fragment was cold to the touch, appearing to be a piece that had fallen off the edge of some equipment.
Having obtained a souvenir, Lin Hui returned to the Daoist temple with satisfied, brisk steps.
Old Daoist Mingchen watched this, once again speechless. That fragment was nothing more than a scrap of horn or skin left behind by a mist monster passing through at night. It had zero value. Yet that brat picked it up and acted as if he'd found a treasure.