Chapter 36: The Wooden Building

In just a single night, Xia Nan gained more information from the half-elf and Wood than he had in all the previous days combined. Deep in the wilderness, neither time nor space allowed him to truly begin training and learning new combat techniques. Yet, he now had a goal to strive for: master two more combat techniques and attain a professional rank. Even if he were to leave the adventuring life behind in the future, the status of a "professional" would act like the technical certifications of his past life, ensuring he could live comfortably in this world.

The half-elf, Haian, had already agreed that once the mission concluded and they returned to Neum, he would help Xia Nan find a suitable mentor to assist him in his training. From a cold, pragmatic perspective, this favor provided Xia Nan—a newcomer to this world—with access to channels and resources that would otherwise be far beyond his reach. While he had not considered it from that angle, there was no doubt that this exchange was a profitable one for him.

Driven by the desire to absorb as much knowledge as possible, Xia Nan sat by the campfire and questioned the two about "professions," "combat techniques," and "adventurers," delving into the supernatural forces of this world. They only ended the conversation when the moonlight deepened and the mist grew thick. This was no cozy, safe tavern; they remained in the treacherous Mist Forest, and a long journey awaited them tomorrow. They arranged a watch and settled in to rest.

***

They were nearing the location where the wooden sign had been discovered. At the first light of dawn, the group packed their gear and pressed forward into the forest, pushing through the mist. Unexpectedly, even as they ventured deeper into the outskirts of the Mist Forest—where the frequency of danger should have increased—they encountered not a single monster throughout the entire morning.

The only moment of excitement was a passing black panther with golden eyes, the size of a calf. Its body was ink-black, its fur sleek, and its paws moved silently across the meadow. No fight broke out; the panther merely cast a glance at the party from afar, concluded they were not suitable prey, and slowly retreated into the shadows of the dense woods. Had it not been for Wood’s warning, Xia Nan and the others might not have even noticed this small interruption. Later, Wood explained that the four rusted monsters from the previous day had likely caused the weaker creatures in the vicinity to clear out, allowing them to travel so smoothly.

"Hiss!"

A long snake with yellow-spotted scales was driven out of the grass by a battered one-handed hammer. Its slender body coiled and slithered away, vanishing into the depths of the bushes.

"Another one! Did we wander into a snake pit?" Larry wiped the sweat from his forehead and grumbled. The one-handed hammer in his hand, stained with the venom of the rusted monsters, was no longer fit for combat, so he used it as a probe to ward off snakes and insects. However, the weight of the metal hammer seemed to be draining his stamina as he swung it, and he was already breathing heavily. Yet, he did not suggest a break, as the pace of the entire party had slowed significantly.

Just as the sandy soil becomes moister and more fertile the closer one gets to an oasis, or the air grows heavy with humidity near a lake, the closer they drew to their destination, the more frequently strange objects—like that carriage from before—appeared. Xia Nan counted the remains of a thatched hut, a collapsed mud-brick house, and even a five-story wooden building. Although they were all in ruins, the remaining details clearly displayed a distinct, rich Eastern style, identical to that of the tokens and the carriage.

Under Wood’s guidance, they had cautiously inspected the ruins. While they found many traces of sentient life, they discovered no bodies. Moreover, these severely damaged structures appeared to be lost relics, yet the building materials themselves looked new, showing almost no signs of erosion by time.

"Snap."

A branch broke. Walking through the misty forest, Xia Nan kept his gaze fixed ahead, his mind focused and alert to the dense brush and tall grass. His left hand, hanging naturally at his side, clutched a smooth, cold object he had found in the ruins: a fragment of porcelain. It was hard to imagine that in this fantasy world, he would encounter such a delicate, translucent, and elegantly glazed traditional artifact. At the time, he had been so surprised that he had instinctively picked it up from the rubble.

Feeling the smooth texture against his fingertips, his mind drifted back to the judgment Wood had given regarding the ten-meter-tall, half-collapsed wooden building they had passed earlier: "Based on the degree to which these wooden materials have been affected by the mist, this structure could only have been built in the Mist Forest a month or two ago. Of course, considering the resources and labor required, and the dangerous environment, I don't believe anyone would truly settle here."

This statement had been met with disagreement from Haian and the others. After all, if no one lived there, what was the point of building it?

Xia Nan held a different view. Unlike the other members of the party, who were born and raised in this world, the soul within his body came from another. His knowledge and memories of the modern world, combined with the familiar details scattered throughout the ruins, allowed him to recognize the purpose of that towering structure at a glance: it was a restaurant.

It felt increasingly bizarre. Who would patronize a restaurant built deep in a forest filled with dangerous monsters? Furthermore, judging by the density of the buildings along the way, even if every ruined hut and house were occupied, the population would never be enough to support a dining and lodging establishment of that scale.

Moreover, in Xia Nan's view, anyone with even a shred of urban planning knowledge would not have arranged these buildings as he had seen them: a dilapidated shack from a slum one moment, and an exquisite tile-roofed house for the nobility two steps later, scattered one after another without any rhyme or reason.

It did not feel as though someone had come to the forest specifically to settle down. Instead, it felt as if some invisible hand had reached across the barriers of space and time, plucked a handful of buildings from a city in a world with a completely different aesthetic, and tossed them carelessly into the Mist Forest.