Walking forward along the tree branches, Chiya gradually noticed what looked like broken bluish-gray brick slabs on the ground.
The farther in he went, the clearer it became. At first there had only been shattered stone slabs, but eventually a complete stone road slowly emerged.
The road was badly cracked, with vines and glowing mushrooms sprouting from the gaps.
Chiya crouched and brushed aside a patch of vines.
Beneath them were several faint carvings.
"People really used to live here."
He rose to his feet and followed the stone road onward.
Before long, abandoned buildings appeared on both sides.
Some houses had already collapsed halfway, while the remaining walls had been split apart by tree roots. Several stone pillars had also fallen by the roadside, covered in symbols he could not understand.
Still, it looked as though this place had been abandoned for a very long time.
Vines had tangled the houses into one mass, while massive roots pierced through the rooftops, as though swallowing the entire ruin back into the underground forest.
Chiya walked along the vine-entangled stone road for a long time before finally reaching its end.
Abandoned houses lay everywhere along the way.
Most of the stone walls had collapsed, enormous roots had forced apart the doorways, and blue-violet glowing mushrooms filled the cracks in the walls. Some houses still contained stone tables and stools, though they were covered in dust and moss.
There really had been traces of human life beneath Shikkotsu Forest.
At the end of the stone road stood a small shrine.
Compared to the collapsed buildings outside, this shrine was remarkably well preserved. The surrounding vines all curved around it, as if they did not dare approach.
Two stone pillars stood before the shrine.
Mysterious symbols were carved into them.
As Chiya approached,