Variable I

The sky was growing dark.

Lin Hui put away his wooden staff, wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel, and walked quickly toward the communal dormitory.

The dormitory was located to the right of the martial arts training grounds; at a glance, it looked like a blackened intestine laid out horizontally across the ground.

The ridges along the exterior of the "intestine" were the individual partitioned rooms. Each room could sleep at most a dozen people.

Lin Hui lived in a relatively clean and well-ventilated room on the far right.

He pushed the door open and stepped inside, glancing at the Tuyue Jade Talisman hanging on the wall. Everyone else in the room had returned; two people were playing cards, while the others were silently practicing movements with small wooden sticks at their respective spots, most of them focused and earnest.

"A-Hui, you're back?" Chen Zhishen looked over and rolled out of bed to approach him. "You weren't here earlier, but some people were discussing how the uncles from the temple caught a monster today. You didn't see it—that monster's claws, a single arm was at least as tall as one of us!"

He looked somewhat excited and agitated.

After all, most people living in the city had never seen what a monster looked like.

Those legendary monsters were almost all hidden within the Mist outside, mysterious and unfathomable.

They were said to be cruel, savage, and insane, possessing unimaginable toxins and diseases.

The vast Mist completely isolated them from humanity, as if they were two different worlds.

"A monster? I've been practicing martial arts all day and didn't notice anything else." Curiosity was piqued in Lin Hui's heart as well.

To be honest, having grown up in Xinyu Town in the Outer City, he had never seen a monster either. Those monsters rarely seemed to intrude into the city limits; they only attacked pioneers, caravans, and messengers who ventured into the No Fog Zone.

But pioneers were mostly death-row inmates who had committed heinous crimes, and only large trading firms had the capability to build inter-city caravans. As for messengers, they were top-tier existences that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

Those who could travel between major cities alone were absolutely the most elite experts.

"They say that monster was over four meters tall, covered in black scales, with no eyes or nostrils, just a giant mouth taking up its entire face. It was terrifying!" Chen Zhishen whispered.

"You're just imagining things because you've read too many storybooks, aren't you?" A thin man with glasses nearby sneered.

"What storybooks? I saw Mingde with my own eyes dragging that monster past the temple before it was taken away by the yamen. Fewer than ten people saw the whole thing, and I was one of them!" Chen Zhishen retorted indignantly.

"Then do you know, among us martial artists, besides being guards or bodyguards, what other path exists? Or rather, have you thought about why a monster corpse would appear in the No Fog Zone where monsters don't dare to enter? Why would Mingde drag a monster corpse here for no reason?" The thin man pushed up his glasses and asked in a low voice.

"W-why?" Chen Zhishen was taken aback; he truly hadn't thought about these questions. He was just an ordinary farm boy who barely knew how to read, and his greatest source of knowledge was this Qingfeng Temple.

Lin Hui, standing to the side, was also drawn in by the man's words. It wasn't just him; the other students nearby also quietly turned their attention to the thin man.

Realizing that the topic he had raised had captured everyone's attention, the thin man felt a surge of pride. He didn't hold back any longer, rubbing his nose as he spoke.

"Because the main force for exploring the Mist has always been us martial artists."

He sighed.

"The Three Greats in the Inner City and the various major factions below them are all actually exploring the surrounding Mist. While there are monsters in the Mist, there are also all kinds of rare medicinal herbs, precious mineral deposits, and even mysterious ruins filled with treasure."

"Ruins? Isn't it impossible for anyone to live or survive in the Mist?" a boy with a gentle face couldn't help but ask.

"Nobody lives there now, but that's just now. In the past, some places were also No Fog Zones, but they turned into Mist for various reasons." The thin man whispered mysteriously. "Besides, I heard from my uncle that the ruins most common in the Mist weren't actually left by us humans, but by other unknown creatures."

Unknown creatures!

These words immediately piqued the interest of all the boys nearby.

"Unknown creatures can leave ruins too? Does that mean they, like us humans, can build houses, farm the land, and raise livestock for meat?" the boy who had asked earlier continued.

"I'm not sure, but they must be able to, otherwise how could they leave ruins behind?" the thin man laughed. Seeing more and more people gathering around, he became even more enthusiastic and began to describe in detail how he had learned this information.

It turned out his uncle had once been a martial artist who explored the Mist. He was powerful, but after many expeditions, he was accidentally crippled and severely injured, eventually having to rely on his past savings to retire at home and wait for death.

All this information about the Mist was told to him by his uncle as stories during his spare time.

Lin Hui listened, mesmerized; he had never been exposed to these things before.

Through the thin man's words, his understanding of the world seemed to have its curtain slowly drawn back.

According to him, this world was not just inhabited by the human race; there were many humanoid races and some non-humanoid ones as well.

Some of these humanoid races had even secretly snuck into the No Fog Zone within the city, living there under disguised identities. Some races would even engage in friendly trade or intermarry with humans. In the Inner City, these were not particularly big secrets.

Finally, seeing the mist outside growing thicker, it was time to extinguish the lights.

The thin man concluded with one sentence.

"Alright, alright, I've said so much my throat is dry, and I didn't even get any tea money. If you're really interested, you can go to Liefeng Town on the edge when you have time. They say there's a garrison there, and because humanoid races called the Yun Clan appear there, many of the residents in Liefeng Town are mixed-bloods of us and the Yun Clan."

Liefeng Town...

Lin Hui secretly committed this name to memory.

Hoo.

The oil lamp was blown out, and everyone lay down in their spots. But regardless of who they were, they were all so excited by the thin man's words that they couldn't sleep at all.

Lin Hui was the same; he kept replaying everything the thin man had described in his mind. His impression of the Mist gradually shifted from a forbidden zone of pure danger to a place where danger and opportunity coexisted.

The night passed in silence, with only the sound of the wind whistling outside, making the door panels rattle.

The next day.

As soon as dawn broke, most of the boys in the room were up, and Lin Hui was no exception.

Just like every other day, he fetched water, chopped wood, and then practiced his sword.

He finished his training just before noon, but this time, he had a different plan in mind.

After listening to the skinny boy's account yesterday, Lin Hui decided to go to the edge of the No Fog Zone himself during the day to take a look.

If he were still back in Xinyu Town, he wouldn't have been able to run that far. But here at Qingfeng Temple, they were already close to the edge of the No Fog Zone, and there was even a small path through the fog area that merchant caravans often used, so walking there and back was actually feasible.

Once his mind was made up, Lin Hui immediately returned to his dormitory to pack his things. He grabbed his water skin, checked the direction, and decisively headed out through the side gate of the temple.

To the north of the temple lay the massive Tuyue City. To the south was a vast, grayish-white expanse of Mist.

From the side gate to the edge of the Mist, the distance was less than three hundred meters.

After exiting the side gate, Lin Hui found a large tree and climbed it to survey the terrain from a height.

The shortest route to the boundary from here was to follow the small river running alongside the temple.

This river was called the Chang River. As the name suggested, it was a small, winding river that looked like an intestine. Its source passed through Xinyu Town in the Outer City, snaking all the way to Qingfeng Temple, before cutting through a dense forest and finally disappearing completely into the vast, endless Mist.

Lin Hui's departure didn't attract the attention of the gatekeeping acolytes; after all, the most common task for students like them was to go out and chop firewood.

The surrounding area was also frequently patrolled by the temple's masters to avoid any risks.

As for the monsters known as Door-Breaking Ghosts, at least up until now, they had never seen any monster actively break into the No Fog Zone.

With his water skin on his back, Lin Hui, dressed in a short gray tunic and holding a sharpened thick wooden stick, walked briskly along a faint, overgrown path toward the fog area.

The sky was overcast and sunless, with thick clouds piled up and the wind whistling; it could rain at any moment.

Lin Hui walked alone along the narrow, weed-choked forest path.

All around him were thick, straight, gray-black trees.

The lush, dark green grass and shrubs were waist-high, completely obscuring everything except for the small path.

Snap.

Snap.

Lin Hui carefully pushed forward, and soon, following the path, his line of sight gradually caught the gray mist leaking out from the forest ahead.

That thick gray fog, like a wall, connected the sky to the earth, slicing the forest in two.

At the same time, Lin Hui's footsteps came to a halt, because he saw an old man in a black Taoist robe sitting cross-legged at the base of a large tree by the side of the path.

The old man had a kind expression, white hair and beard, a sturdy build, and a pitch-black longsword strapped to his back.

Hearing footsteps, he slowly narrowed his eyes and looked toward Lin Hui.

"Every few days, some curious kid comes by to gawk. Can't you lot just settle down?"

Lin Hui recognized the markings on the old man's robe; it was the style of Qingfeng Temple, and he knew the man was stationed there specifically to maintain safety.

He immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully to the man.

"Disciple Lin Hui greets the master."

"I am Ming Chen. Although no monsters come in or out of this place, you shouldn't come looking for trouble for no reason. If you ever enter the Mist, you'll surely die without a corpse left to bury," the old man warned.

"This disciple understands. I was just curious and wanted to take a look at the edge. I will definitely not enter," Lin Hui replied earnestly. That was what he thought, and that was what he would do.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically sought out a path already trodden by others.

"That's good. Once you've seen enough, go back," the old master Ming Chen nodded, no longer looking his way, and returned to sitting with his eyes closed.

The rushing wind made the leaves rustle.

From time to time, 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 was inside.

Swish.

Vaguely, he saw a gray shadow, about the height of a person, flash through the mist at high speed.

"Might I ask, Master, why don't the monsters in the fog enter our territory?" Lin Hui asked softly.

Old master Ming Chen remained motionless, as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Seeing this, Lin Hui knew the man had no intention of engaging with him. After a moment of silence, he scanned his surroundings and felt that just running back like this was a bit boring. So, he simply took his sharpened wooden stick and forcefully carved a line of text into the trunk of a tree nearby.

"Lin Hui was here."

"..." Hearing the commotion, Ming Chen opened his eyes, took one look, and was left speechless.

After doing this, Lin Hui turned around, intending to head back. But after taking only two steps, he lowered his head and bent down, picking up a black-purple fragment of something unknown from the grass.

The fragment felt cold to the touch; it seemed to have fallen off the edge of some piece of equipment.

Having secured his souvenir, Lin Hui walked back to the temple, feeling satisfied.

Seeing this, old master Ming Chen was once again left speechless. That fragment was nothing more than a scrap of skin or horn left behind by a fog monster when it moved in or out at night. It was completely worthless. Yet, the kid was acting like he'd found a treasure.