Chapter 811: Chapter 808: The Invisible City

Fenna had been trekking along this road for a very long time–so long that she could no longer remember when or why she had embarked on this seemingly endless journey; so long she had forgotten where she started and what she was traveling for.

She only knew that the world was desolate, with only the yellow sand swirling in the sky and the collapsing ruins of lost cities atop the Gobi Desert, along with ancient relics buried beneath the dust. She passed through the ruins shrouded in desolation as if tracing her way through time forgotten. Occasionally, she would pause among those ruins, but soon, she would leave them behind–when the sun rose the next day, she would forget the exact appearance of those ruins, only vaguely remembering that she had once been there, seen some broken and collapsed walls.

Wind blew from afar, howling across the desert, lifting the sand into the air and between the boulders, creating a sharp and terrifying sound reminiscent of the wails of specters. Amid that piercing howling, Fenna heard another sound, a noise that she always heard during this journey:

“Ding… Ding… Ding…”

It sounded like metal striking against stone or the workings of a blacksmith’s shop.

Fenna stopped in the middle of the sandy road, squinting at the distance. She knew that whenever such “ding ding ding” sounds were heard, it meant that there were new ruins or artifacts nearby.

But she did not know why it was, or from where exactly these sounds came.

A hazy silhouette of buildings abruptly appeared against the backdrop of the yellow sand-filled sky, just like countless scenes she had witnessed during her journey.

Fenna looked at the suddenly emerging group of buildings, and after a brief moment of hesitation, she started walking towards them, pressing forward into the increasingly chaotic whirlwinds of sand and dust.

At that moment, a young woman’s voice suddenly appeared beside her: “Where have you come from?”

Fenna looked around in astonishment, turning towards the source of the voice, but all she saw was billowing sand; no one was there. It seemed just like an illusion.

She furrowed her brows, feeling as if the sandstorm had even blown into her mind, making her thoughts increasingly unclear. She shook her head and decided to continue moving forward.

The voice spoke up again from beside her: “Why don’t you respond to me?”

Alongside the voice seemed to be the faint sound of another’s footsteps walking through the desert–very close by.

Fenna abruptly stopped again, staring intently at the spot next to her. She still couldn’t see the speaker, but she could faintly sense the presence of someone… an “atmosphere.”

There was an invisible traveler walking alongside her, attempting to strike up a conversation.

Was this normal? Did such phenomena exist in this world? Was there really an unobservable race living in this world?

Fenna felt a moment of haziness in her mind, absurd and strange thoughts bubbling up, but soon these messy ideas receded from her heart. She hesitated for a second, then spoke uncertainly: “…I don’t remember where I came from.”

“You forgot where you came from?” The unseen companion’s voice rose again, sounding a bit lifted, “Ah, that’s not good, it’s hard to go back if you forget where you came from… But it doesn’t matter, after all, your situation is not uncommon here.”

“Here? Not uncommon?” Fenna looked up in surprise, “Are there others here?”

“Yes, many,” the voice said cheerfully, seemingly pointing in a certain direction with its tone and content, “Over there, that city is full of them.”

Fenna couldn’t see the invisible companion’s gesture, but instinctively looked towards the silhouette of the buildings faintly visible through the sandstorm, curiosity in her voice: “That city…”

“Yes, that city,” the cheery voice continued, “Everyone comes here from all over. Some still roughly remember where they came from, some have even forgotten their names, but that’s not important. The journey is like this, from one distant place to another. Sometimes you stop for a while, sometimes when you stop, you can no longer move–and when you can’t move, wherever you stop, that’s the destination…Yep, that’s what my brother told me.”

Fenna frowned, hesitating briefly before stepping towards the blurred group of buildings again. She heard another set of footsteps almost instantly by her ear, and the faint breath followed behind her.

“Your brother?” Fenna asked casually, “Do you have a brother?”

Conversing with an invisible traveler felt very strange, but somehow, it seemed like an obvious thing to do–after all, having another person to talk to on this long journey wasn’t bad.

“Yep, I have a brother, he’s six years older than me,” the cheerful voice replied immediately, “But I haven’t seen him for many years. He went to Vislan to study and never sent any word.”

Fenna’s eyebrows knitted slightly, feeling like she had heard a familiar word… Vislan? What place is Vislan? A city?

“Are you worried about him?” she asked subconsciously.

“Not worried,” the voice beside her responded, “Many of us haven’t received any news from the outside world for a long time, nor have we sent any out. There’s nothing bad about that…”

The voice carried by the wind suddenly became distorted, as if the distance suddenly expanded, followed by a series of chaotic noises. Fenna couldn’t make out the last few words the other party said, and then silence fell beside her.

She stood still for a few seconds, but she never heard the invisible companion speak again. Hesitantly, she surveyed her surroundings and broke the silence: “Are you still there?”

Her only response was the sharp, strange howling of the desert wind, accompanied by the occasional “ting ting ting” of clinking sounds.

It seemed as if the companion had vanished into the wind.

After a while, Fenna shook her head and continued taking steps toward that distant city.

She trekked for a long time and finally completed this particularly grueling journey before the sky darkened once more. She saw the “city” the companion mentioned. Not surprisingly–there was no bustling city or inhabitants, only ruins and walls broken and buried in the sand, the remnants of buildings abandoned for who knows how many years.

Fenna found an opening in the broken city wall that resembled the remains of a gate. She peered through it to check the condition of the city ruins before stepping into the “city.”

However, just as she was about to cross through that “gate,” a stern and commanding voice suddenly emerged from thin air: “Halt, stranger–where did you come from?”

Fenna was startled.

An invisible guard… was posted at the gate?

She had dealt with Heretics in the sewers, and disposed of monsters that thrived in darkness, but she had never encountered such a situation before.

She stopped, looking bewildered in the direction of the empty space. After a brief pause to think, she decided to converse with the other party in a “business as usual” fashion: “I am… traveling, but I can’t remember where I came from.”

She remembered, the invisible companion had told her that this “city” housed many “residents” who, like her, had forgotten their origins. Surely, her answer wouldn’t seem too suspicious here, would it?

The “guard” remained silent, apparently scrutinizing something, or perhaps had vanished into the sandstorm in that moment. Fenna patiently waited for a while, and just as she was about to give up waiting and step directly into the city, a familiar and cheerful voice suddenly came from the side–

“Ah, you’re here!”

It was that abruptly disappeared “invisible companion.”

“I thought you had gotten lost,” the voice said happily to Fenna, “There are many forks in the road along the way, especially those little paths in the forest. If you get distracted by the berry bushes by the roadside and enter a small path, it might take you a whole day to get back out…”

Forests? Paths? Berry bushes by the roadside?

Listening to the babbling voice, Fenna looked up in bewilderment at the way she came–naturally, there was nothing there but sand and rocks, no sign of any forest or berry bushes.

And in the moment of her distraction, the guard’s voice appeared again, speaking with the “invisible companion”: “Is this your friend?”

“Yes, we met on the road,” the young woman’s voice swiftly replied, “She has come from a far place and is new here, not yet familiar with this place. I’m taking her to stroll around the city.”

“… Then you may enter, but don’t wander off. Night is approaching, and the forests outside the city are not peaceful.”

“Hey! Thank you!”

The cheerful voice thanked the guard, then turned to Fenna: “We can go in now.”

Fenna immediately took her gaze away from the desert outside the city and nodded toward the direction of the voice: “Okay.”

She stepped into this “busy city,” walking on a broad but desolate avenue facing the city gate–sand covered the ruined walls on both sides of the road, and broken flagstones were chaotically strewn about. Occasionally, she would hear some vague sounds, seemingly of vendors hawking their wares, people conversing, and the rattle of wheels on roads. But those vague noises would almost immediately dissolve into the wind, leaving no chance to discern any clear words.

“How about it? It’s bustling here, isn’t it?” the young and lively voice said next to her, as if pointing out the shops along the road and the stream of carriages and horses, “I’ve been living here for many years, this city is the most bustling place on the entire continent!”

… Continent? What was that?

Fenna felt a moment of dizziness, as if some knowledge, out of “common sense,” suddenly invaded her awareness, trying to seep into her brain.

But the next second, her resolved will dispelled the sense of dizziness.

The knowledge didn’t seep in.