“The air here is quite nice.”
Little Black took a deep breath, squinting its amber cat eyes.
“It's much better than back in the demon territory.”
Jiang Lin didn't answer, simply continuing forward.
His perception was fully expanded, checking the surroundings for danger.
There were no signs of large predators in the forest, only small animals scurrying through the underbrush with rustling sounds.
“Safe.”
Jiang Lin withdrew his perception and quickened his pace.
The forest was even more vast than Jiang Lin had anticipated.
Starting from the coastline, he traveled through the woods for two full days without seeing any signs of human activity.
The trees here were astonishingly tall, often reaching dozens of meters. Their dense canopies completely blocked out the sky.
Only at high noon did stray beams of sunlight filter through the layered leaves, casting dappled spots on the ground.
The ground was covered in a thick layer of fallen leaves and moss, feeling soft underfoot, like walking on clouds.
The air was filled with the fragrance of vegetation and the slight acidity of humus. Occasionally, the clear, pleasant chirping of unknown birds drifted from deep within the canopy, carrying a strange rhythm.
“This place is way too big.”
Little Black lay on Jiang Lin's shoulder, its amber eyes scanning the surroundings with boredom.
“We've been walking for two days and haven't seen a soul. Do you think we're on a deserted island?”
“It doesn't seem like an island, does it?”
Jiang Lin was a bit uncertain.
“The coastline was so long, and after walking for two days, we're still nowhere near the end of this forest. At our speed, we would have crossed an average island by now.”
Jiang Lin thought for a moment and took the compass out of his spatial ring.
The needle pointed steadily north without any fluctuation.
“And we've definitely been heading west. It's not like we're walking in circles.”
“Then why hasn't there been anyone?”
“Maybe the forest is just too deep.”
Jiang Lin put away the compass and looked up at the sky through the gaps in the canopy.
“If we keep heading inland, we're bound to find a road eventually.”
On the third day, the forest finally began to thin out.
The trees were no longer as tall or dense, replaced by open meadows and low shrubs. Sunlight finally struck the ground directly, tinting the grass a warm golden-yellow.
Jiang Lin stopped in a meadow, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.
The grass here wasn't entirely wild.
In some places, the grass was clearly trimmed or grazed evenly by animals. Further off, he even spotted a faint rut, almost hidden by weeds.
“There's a road.”
He walked over to the rut and knelt to examine it.
The rut was shallow and mostly overgrown, indicating it had been a long time since a vehicle passed through. However, the width and depth suggested it belonged to a wide-axle vehicle with a significant load.
“There's human activity, but not much.”
Jiang Lin stood up and continued following the direction of the rut.
The rut meandered forward, cutting through the meadow, entering a sparse grove, and crossing several crystal-clear streams.
The stream water was sweet and refreshing. Jiang Lin stopped to drink and let Little Black hydrate as well.
“What kind of place do you think this is?”
Little Black crouched by the stream, licking water as it asked.
“Could it be the other side of the demon territory? Or maybe some kingdom we've never heard of?”
“I don't know.”
Jiang Lin shook his head.
“On the map Master gave me, the area east of the demon territory is the Endless Sea. There was no land marked on the other side.”
“So your master doesn't know about this place either?”
“He might, but he didn't tell me.”
Jiang Lin stood up and continued along the rut.
On the fifth day, the rut finally merged into a wider, clearer dirt road.
The road was about three meters wide, the surface packed flat. Dense thickets and scattered tall trees lined both sides. There were clear ruts and hoofprints on the road, and they were fresh—no more than two or three days old.
Whatever was pulling the carts was likely a large beast of burden; the hoofprints were a size larger than any horse Jiang Lin had seen.
“Finally found a proper road.”
Little Black jumped excitedly from Jiang Lin's shoulder, its paws leaving shallow prints on the dirt road.
“If we follow this road, we'll definitely find someone!”
Jiang Lin nodded and continued down the road.
But he didn't let down his guard.
On unfamiliar soil, meeting people wasn't necessarily a good thing.
He picked Little Black back up, quietly expanding his Phantom Step · Shadow Wind perception while suppressing his presence to the minimum.
The road wound forward through one forest and meadow after another.
Occasionally, signs of wild beasts could be seen in the roadside bushes.
There were deer-like creatures with spiral horns, reptiles covered in pale green scales with short, thick limbs, and flocks of colorful birds chirping as they flitted through the trees.
But they all either ignored Jiang Lin or kept their distance.
“The animals here... don't seem very afraid of people?”
Little Black remarked.
“Probably not that they aren't afraid, but that they've never seen a human.”
Jiang Lin speculated.
“Their first reaction upon seeing me is curiosity, not caution. It means there's very little human activity in this area.”
“So there are few people here?”
“Likely.”
On the seventh day, Jiang Lin finally encountered the first group of people since arriving on this continent.
It appeared to be a caravan.
There were five carriages in total, parked in a clearing by the road.
The carriages were common box-style wagons with wooden bodies and iron wheels. They were covered in waterproof tarps that bulged with cargo.
Pulling the wagons were creatures that looked like deer, covered in short, silver-white fur.
They had long, slender limbs, elegant necks, and pairs of backward-curving spiral horns. The horns had faint silver patterns that shimmered softly in the sunlight.
The members of the caravan were resting by the road.
A few people were gathered around one carriage, seemingly checking a wheel.
Their builds were more slender than ordinary humans, with more proportionate limbs and a natural elegance in their movements.
Jiang Lin narrowed his eyes, observing closely.
These people wore well-tailored clothes made of a material that looked light and soft, with a faint pearlescent sheen in the sun.
Their hair colors varied: silver, pale gold, light green, and even a very faint purple.
The most striking feature was their ears.
They were pointed.
Longer and sharper than a human's, poking up through their hair and tilting slightly backward.
“Elves?!”
Little Black's voice rang out in Jiang Lin's mind, filled with disbelief.
“Why are there elves here?!”
“Isn't this demon territory?”
Jiang Lin was equally confused.
“I don't recall any elven power in the eastern part of the continent.”
“Could they be elven merchants living in the demon territory?”
The elves gathered around the carriage were discussing something.
An older male elf pointed at a spot on the wheel, his brow furrowed and his tone sounding anxious.
Another young female elf crouched by the wheel, holding an exquisite tool as she made repairs.
Jiang Lin couldn't understand a single word of their language.
It was a beautiful, song-like language with complex syllables and rich vowels, possessing a natural sense of rhythm.
Occasionally, a few syllables sounded familiar, but overall, it was completely unintelligible.
“That must be Elvish.”
Little Black said.
“Can you understand it?”
“No. I only know human and demon languages.”
“There are too few elves on this planet, and they don't exactly thrive, so I never learned their language.”
Just then, a sharp-eyed elven boy spotted Jiang Lin standing not far away.
“%#......&*?!”
A sharp voice rang out.
The boy looked about thirteen or fourteen, wearing a light brown short-sleeved shirt and trousers, carrying a basket full of fruit.
His hair was pale gold and messy, his ears even longer and sharper than the adults', sticking up high through his hair.
He pointed at Jiang Lin and spoke another string of unintelligible words, his tone rising and his eyes widening.
Hearing the noise, the other elves in the caravan turned their heads.
When they saw Jiang Lin, their faces filled with surprise.
Looking at the way they were staring at him, Jiang Lin felt like an animal that had escaped from a zoo.
It was a complex expression, a mix of surprise, pity, and a certain condescension.
The older male elf frowned and said something to the young female elf beside him.
The female elf nodded, put down her tools, and walked toward Jiang Lin.
Her gait was incredibly graceful, every step seemingly following an invisible beat. Her long legs moved beneath her skirt with almost no sound.
She stopped in front of Jiang Lin and looked down at him.
Jiang Lin finally got a clear look at her face.
It was an exceptionally exquisite face.
Her skin was as white as jade, her features perfectly proportioned. There was a natural coolness and gentleness in her expression, like a forest stream.
Her eyes were pale green, with faint specks of light seemingly swirling deep within her pupils.
Her long silver-gold hair was braided loosely and hung over her chest, with a pale blue crystal tied to the end.
She was about half a head taller than Jiang Lin. She looked down slightly, her pale green eyes studying him.
Her gaze lingered for a moment on his tattered clothes, his boots covered in mud and leaf fragments, and the equally bedraggled black cat on his shoulder.
After trekking through the forest and along the dirt road for seven days, Jiang Lin's appearance was indeed quite unsightly.
His long golden hair was matted with dust and sweat. His once-fair face was covered in grime, hiding his original skin tone.
The already tattered constant-temperature protective suit had gained several more tears from the forest brush, revealing the equally dirty undergarments beneath.
His boots were caked in dried mud and grass bits, making a “shasha” sound as he walked.
He looked like a refugee who had fled from some remote region.
Little Black was no better. Its once fluffy and sleek black fur was matted with seeds and dust, looking gray and dusty like a long-time stray.
The female elf spoke.
Her voice was soft like wind chimes, her tone as beautiful as a song.
“Where are you from? Why are you alone in a place like this?”
Jiang Lin didn't understand a single word.
He could only judge by her tone and expression that she seemed to be asking a question.
Seeing no reaction, the female elf tilted her head slightly and spoke again, slower and more clearly.
“Do you understand me?”
Jiang Lin still didn't understand.
He was silent for a moment before speaking in the Human Common Tongue.
“I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying.”
The female elf's expression clearly faltered.
She turned back and said something to the older male elf.
“What language is he speaking?”
“I'm not sure. I don't understand it.”
“Could he be a provincial with a heavy accent?”
The male elf frowned, walked over quickly, and looked Jiang Lin up and down while speaking a string of more urgent Elvish.
“A human? Why is there a human here? Where did you come from?”
Jiang Lin shook his head.
The male elf switched to another language.
It was a harsher language with shorter syllables, quite different from the beauty of Elvish.
But Jiang Lin still didn't understand.
The male elf furrowed his brow and switched to yet another language.
This time, Jiang Lin finally heard a few familiar syllables.
It was a variant of the Demonic tongue; though the accent was heavy, he could barely recognize a few words.
However, Jiang Lin's command of the Demonic tongue wasn't excellent; he could only tell that the other person was speaking it.
It was like hearing Japanese or Korean in his previous life—though he couldn't understand the content, he could roughly identify the language by the pronunciation.
As for communicating with the demons before, he had used the Common Tongue, which was the most popular and widely used language on the continent.
So he continued to shake his head, keeping a look of confusion on his face.
The male elf sighed and said something to the female elf.
“Complete failure to communicate. No idea which territory he escaped from.”
The female elf nodded, glancing at Jiang Lin again with a hint of sympathy in her eyes.
She said a few more words to the male elf, her tone sounding somewhat reluctant.
“Looking at him, he must have been wandering in the wild for a long time. If we leave him be, he probably won't survive for more than a few days.”
The male elf frowned, seemingly weighing his options.
“But he is a human, after all... and his origins are unknown.”
“It's precisely because he's human that he needs help even more. The teachings of the God of Nature don't say to only help elves.”
The male elf was silent for a moment before finally nodding.
“Fine. Once we reach town, we'll just hand him over to the local shelter.”
Just then, a cold voice drifted from the front-most carriage.
“What's happening?”
The curtain was pulled back, and a slender figure stepped out.
It was a very young female elf, appearing to be sixteen or seventeen, about the same age as Jiang Lin.
She had beautiful pale purple eyes. She wore a pale blue gown with exquisite silver patterns embroidered on the hem, a matching silk ribbon tied at her waist with a crystal-clear, water-drop-shaped pendant hanging at the end.
Her hair was a rare silver-purple, braided loosely and hanging behind her, with an unknown pale blue flower tied at the end of the braid.
Her features were even more exquisite and perfect than the other female elf's.
Her skin was almost transparently white, her expression carrying a natural coolness and ethereality, like mountain morning mist.
......
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