Chapter 13: The City
Cultivation was simply like this. It could not always go smoothly; all kinds of difficulties would inevitably arise. Especially since Ye Qin had been feeling his way through every aspect of cultivation—he had not been born with all knowledge.
No one was perfect. Even sages made mistakes and felt confused.
Fortunately, Ye Qin had a good mindset and was not troubled by it. Perhaps all he lacked was the right opportunity.
Reaching this point had already far exceeded Ye Qin's expectations. He had practically picked this life up off the ground. Even if his cultivation stopped here in the future, he would still have profited.
Thinking of this, Ye Qin suddenly saw the light.
He glanced outside the cave. After a night of torrential rain, puddles of all sizes were scattered everywhere.
Low-lying areas had already been flooded, and quite a few field mice and small animals could be seen searching the ground for new homes.
The cave was situated on favorable terrain, with no standing water, so Ye Qin did not need to worry about being flooded. Otherwise, he would probably have to find a new place.
Perhaps he had already grown accustomed to this place. If Ye Qin were made to move somewhere else, he might genuinely struggle to adapt.
Besides, where else could he find such a concealed yet spacious cave?
Most importantly, it was inside this cave that he had cultivated and comprehended the Dao, recovering his life in the process. It was practically where he had been reborn, so unless absolutely necessary, Ye Qin did not want to leave.
The cave would be his lair from now on—his base camp.
Although he was a snake now, certain human habits remained, such as not wanting to get wet on rainy days.
Ye Qin could not be bothered to go outside. He hid in the cave and cultivated, hoping to break through his bottleneck and find the direction of his future cultivation.
After several consecutive days of heavy rain, the weather finally cleared.
Looking at the long-awaited sunlight emerging in the sky and dispersing the gloom and dark clouds of the past days, Ye Qin decided to go out and clear his mind, while also hunting for food.
Perhaps because of cultivation, his appetite had grown larger, and he needed to consume more energy and nutrients.
The moment he crawled out of the cave, he smelled the earthy tang rising from the soil after the heavy rain, along with the fresh fragrance of green leaves.
"Hm?"
Ye Qin seemed to have discovered something. Seeing a reflective object in the distance, he quickly crawled over.
It was a small puddle—or, more accurately, a footprint with a shallow layer of standing water in it.
Because of the several days of heavy rain, the soil had become extremely soft. Whenever a person or a relatively large animal passed by, an imprint would be left behind.
"Could someone have passed through this area?"
Judging from the traces of the footprint, it had probably been formed not long ago.
An idea stirred in Ye Qin's mind. He had no positioning or navigation system now, and leaving these deep mountains and forests would be extremely difficult. But if someone could lead the way, things would be different.
Perhaps I can follow him and find the way out of the mountains.
Ye Qin had only just crossed over. He was completely blind to the world, not even knowing where he was. This was the perfect opportunity to figure out his current location.
Besides, he had already planned to enter the city once and learn more about the world.
His tongue flickered back and forth in the air. The trail's scent ultimately disappeared toward the southeast, so Ye Qin immediately followed it. Sure enough, he soon saw more footprints.
Ye Qin followed the footprints onward. More than half a day passed, and the vegetation around him grew increasingly sparse. His view broadened, and an asphalt highway appeared in the distance.
Several cars occasionally sped past, and Ye Qin felt the ground beneath him tremble violently.
"Beep—beep—"
Hearing the long-lost sound of car horns, he felt as though he had crossed into another lifetime.
The familiar means of transportation from his previous life now looked to Ye Qin like enormous steel monsters, capable of crushing his current body into a strip of snake meat with ease.
Ye Qin sighed wistfully, then quickly withdrew his gaze. As long as he continued along this main road, he should be able to enter the city.
A blue traffic sign in the distance told Ye Qin where he was.
This was the border between Fog City and Tianfu Province. The surrounding area was mountainous, with ranges of verdant hills stretching without end and layer upon layer of peaks. Among them were steep, extraordinary summits, where countless creatures lived and grew.
The rich, fertile land provided them with nourishment, resulting in rich biodiversity and a decent ecological environment.
Wild animals occasionally appeared on mountain roads like this.
Ye Qin followed the main road. Whenever he grew tired, he found a relatively concealed place to cultivate and meditate, recovering his essence, qi, and spirit before continuing onward.
By the following morning, when the sky had just begun to pale like a fish's belly, he finally reached his destination.
Fog City was surrounded by mountains on all sides, with rivers winding around it. Mount Ba stretched through the city, while the Yu River crisscrossed it. Together with the surrounding high-rise buildings, they formed a unique skyline.
The sky had only just brightened. There was still plenty of morning moisture that had yet to evaporate, and a gauzy veil seemed to drape over the entire city, adding several touches of hazy beauty.
This was where Fog City had earned its illustrious name.
Although it was still early, the city had already awakened. Street vendors shouted their calls, and amid billowing steam, a handful of white flour was sprinkled into boiling soup, beginning an ordinary person's busy day.
The city was like a forest of steel, its streets packed tightly together, its roads intersecting like a chessboard, and its laborers rushing about to make a living. To Ye Qin, everything was so familiar yet so strange.
Because once, he had been one of those people.
And things that had once been his size had suddenly been magnified several times. For Ye Qin's current tiny body, they were fraught with danger.
Never mind cars—even a bicycle, or a passerby's foot, could injure him.
Fortunately, his earlier experience living in the wilderness had already accustomed him to this giant's-eye view. The only thing he was not used to was that the mountains were open and spacious, with little obstructing him beyond some plants.
Here, however, things were different. All kinds of buildings and densely packed crowds were crammed into a single city, making it seem rather congested.
Ye Qin did not want to expose himself and risk being beaten to death. After all, he had only just begun cultivating and was still far from possessing divine abilities or spells. He could only make his way through the surrounding greenery or along pipes.
Although snakes were not quite like rats crossing the street, hated and hunted by everyone, modern people did not welcome them. Most were still afraid of them.
A breeze from somewhere carried over a sheet of paper. It was unmistakably a map of the city's layout.
"This really is fate's arrangement..."
Ye Qin was rendered speechless, wondering whether fate truly existed.
He had been worrying over not knowing which way to go and had planned to wander around the city first. But this timely rain had arrived, so he studied the map before him carefully. In the end, his gaze landed on the location of the Mist City Library.
These past few days, he had been troubled by questions about cultivation but had been unable to resolve them. The library contained many books, and perhaps he could find some answers there. Even if he found none, he could at least resolve part of his confusion.
Although going online might have been more convenient, no one could expect a snake to turn on a computer and type on a keyboard. And if someone happened to see him, he might even be captured as a monster.
After considering it from every angle, going to a place like a library seemed slightly more useful after all.
Ye Qin was so absorbed in studying the map that he failed to notice the movement not far away.
(End of Chapter)