First came the damp.
The dense water vapor in the sewer, stirred only slightly by the temperature difference between inside and out, turned into murky dewdrops visible to the eye.
They seeped out of the air and condensed on the surface of metal rail ladders overgrown with rust and mossy fungi.
A light touch was enough to leave his hand covered in copper-green and rusty red.
Then came the sour, rotten, fishy stench that permeated the air.
The all-around enhancement of his physical qualities had given Xia Nan abundant stamina, keen powers of observation, and balanced, flexible control over his body. He enjoyed the conveniences that came with the increase in his physical attributes.
But accordingly, at certain times, he also had to bear some hard-to-describe side effects brought about by them.
Like, when he was resting late at night, the sound of a bed rocking from the far end of the inn corridor, three or four rooms away;
Or the compound eyes turning and the bristles brushing over the surface of the chelicerae of tiny insects that had just finished enjoying a "feast," their bodies covered in food scraps.
As his chest rose and fell slowly, air surged into his nostrils with each breath.
Xia Nan could clearly smell the faintly sour, greasy, rotten stench inside the sewer.
It made the appetite that had been writhing and growing in his belly suddenly drop.
Come to think of it, he had just ordered a few dishes at the Iron Barrel Toad, but before he could taste them, Wood had dragged him out.
He wondered whether that tavern's Cream Mushroom Soup was any good, and whether it tasted as good as White Tit.
Last came the air around him, suddenly quiet.
It was as if he had arrived in another world.