Chapter 12: The Pure White City

Li Rui had a dream.

In it, he seemed to transform into a free wind, drifting through a vast forest. Occasionally, he would glimpse various wild beasts—wolves, bears, and a variety of unfamiliar birds. Drawn by their joyful running and soaring, he slipped into their bodies, running with limbs, flying with wings through the endless verdant forest.

When dawn broke, Li Rui noticed something peculiar.

The nails on his hands and feet, along with the small patches of skin around them, had turned a moist, tender green; even the wounds on his chest bore this delicate green hue.

He suspected this was the effect of his "Chlorophyll Skin."

Yet after some thought, he removed the "Chlorophyll Skin" attribute from his active list, storing it as a spare.

He had initially equipped this attribute, anticipating a long stay in the forest and hoping it would enhance his chances of survival.

But as soon as he activated it, he received the "Jay’s Universal Language Memory," informing him that just a journey south would lead him to human territory.

At first, since the "Chlorophyll Skin" hadn’t fully manifested physical changes, he intended to observe how it would take effect.

Now, having witnessed its subtle influence and knowing he was nearing civilization, he feared that turning entirely green like a goblin would mark him as an outcast among humans.

At present, the "Chlorophyll Skin" only tinted a few fingers and his wounds green, something easily concealed by saying, “The color came from herbs used in healing,” avoiding suspicion.

Recalling the information about Jinmai Town from "Jay’s Universal Language Memory," Li Rui felt a surge of hope.

Although he still had nearly two days’ travel to leave the forest—and more if he strayed off course—he was hopeful of returning to civilized society.

Even if that place seemed like a rundown countryside to him, the prospect of seeing his own kind again stirred excitement within him.

Yet after only half a day’s travel, at the height of noon under the blazing sun, a massive city suddenly appeared before his eyes.

It was a city of pure white, shining brilliantly under the fierce midday light.

……This was definitely not Jinmai Town.

Moreover, according to "Jay’s Universal Language Memory," the low-level monster forest where Li Rui now stood had no pure white towns along its outer edge, nor could any vast city without walls, stretching endlessly at a glance, exist within a radius of thousands of kilometers beyond this monster forest.

—A "Territorial Anomaly."

This was news he’d only learned yesterday, yet now, it manifestly confronted him.

Li Rui felt the world had become utterly absurd, as if someone had paused time in a management simulation game and then leisurely reshaped the entire game world into something new.

As someone living within the Endi world, he felt no tremors beneath his feet, no shockwaves or gusts of wind, and no startled forest birds taking flight due to the sudden city’s appearance—everything had simply changed abruptly.

Between the countless pure white buildings and the surrounding forest lay a conspicuous meadow, forming a boundary about a hundred meters wide, ringed like a belt around the city. On this meadow, worn dirt paths bore evidence of long-term trampling.

Li Rui dared not enter the white city directly, for "Jay’s Universal Language Memory" contained pertinent warnings.

Thirty years ago, about two hundred kilometers southeast of Jinmai Town, a "Territorial Anomaly" had occurred: a small grove suddenly appeared between the human settlement of Redwood Town and its logging grounds.

People discovered that this grove was inhabited by handsome elves.

On the first day, Redwood Town buzzed with discussions about the elves; men and women alike were captivated by their beauty.

But on the second day, the elves annihilated Redwood Town, leaving only the town’s priest and a few powerful adventurers to escape and relay the tale to other towns.

These elves, calling themselves Wood Elves, were otherworldly visitors notoriously difficult to handle. Viewing the forest as their ancestral parent, they could not tolerate humans recklessly felling their precious redwoods. Feeling insulted, they secretly prepared and launched a nocturnal assault, reducing Redwood Town to ruins.

The matter was left unresolved, as the Wood Elves retreated deep into the forest after their destruction, abandoning the small grove that had accompanied them into the Endi world. The local lord lacked the strength to pursue them into the mountains.

To this day, rumors persist around the Redwood Town ruins of lumberjacks and hunters vanishing upon entering the forest.

With even such otherworldly beings ready to raze towns at the sight of logging, Li Rui concluded it best to avoid entering the pure white city until he understood the situation better.

Yet…

Gazing upon the enormous city, Li Rui realized that circumventing it would require several more days of travel—if he went slowly, nearly half a month wouldn’t be impossible.

“Sigh, what else can I do?”

He sighed, then set off along the border between forest and meadow.

This low-level monster forest stretched east to west, roughly elliptical in shape; traveling east or west might take one or two months to cross.

Heading north would lead deeper into the forest’s center.

Within this forest dwelled ice magic rabbits—monsters mutated by magical energy—indicating the forest’s heart was the source of the anomaly.

But the anomaly’s source was not solely aquatic; it also had a wind element.

The water-elemental magic favored the common gray rabbits, while the wind-elemental magic favored forest wolves.

Indeed, as many imagined, the famed otherworldly laborers—the Wind Wolves—had appeared!

For an ordinary person lacking the ability to freely harness internal energy or any extraordinary skills, the wind blades spat from a Wind Wolf’s mouth were terrifying magical attacks—too swift and powerful to react to or block. Additionally, Wind Wolves were pack animals.

If not for their preference for lingering near the magic source at the forest’s center, this low-level monster forest would have long been renamed the Wind Wolf Forest.

Li Rui currently possessed no means to defend against wind blades; the mist conjured by the skull talisman was unlikely to scare off Wind Wolves now transformed into magical creatures by the anomaly. Encountering one would spell certain doom.

With east, west, and north impassable, his only option was to head south.

As he walked, Li Rui sensed something amiss.

The pure white city was unnervingly silent.