The route Fang Pingyuan had planned for Yang Jia already included a stop at Cuckoo City. After all, the place was unique, with scenery and products that were completely different from other places, and it demanded special attention. Now that Yang Jia was interested, he simply made it the first stop.

Cuckoo City is located at the northernmost tip of the entire Chinese region, backed by the towering Tianfeng Mountains. The climate is extremely cold, and half of the year is covered in cold winds, ice and snow.

It was December when Yang Jia arrived, naturally the coldest time of the year here. The weather was icy and windy, freezing everything to ashes. As soon as Yang Jia stepped onto the land, she instinctively hunched her neck and wrapped herself tightly around her thick cotton coat. When Fang Pingyuan had prepared these clothes, she had been somewhat puzzled. Even if it was freezing, she now wished she had more layers.

The cold wind felt like a sharp knife, scratching painfully on the face. Yang Jia squinted her eyes and looked around, only to see snow and ice everywhere. She paused for a moment before she understood what Fang Pingyuan meant by "strange."

The houses in the entire city are built with ice!

Although there was no sun, the entire ice and snow city reflected dazzling light under the sunlight, which was magnificent and looked like a palace in heaven.

"Even though this isn't my first time here, I'm still shocked by this scene." Fang Pingyuan sighed softly beside her.

Yang Jia came to her senses. The breathtaking feeling she'd felt had gradually faded, but a lingering excitement still lingered. She turned to Fang Pingyuan and asked, "Can we walk around here?"

"Of course." Fang Pingyuan nodded. "But it's best not to stay there for too long. It's very likely to cause frostbite on your feet and exposed skin."

The natural environment of Cuckoo City is so harsh that it is unknown when the road leading here will be built.

Although there weren't many dangers outside the city, staying outdoors for long periods of time could result in freezing to death. Therefore, while the road was being built, several rest stops had to be constructed along the way. Furthermore, the freezing weather made construction difficult. Breaking through the ground with machines was dozens of times more difficult than elsewhere, and the workers operating the machines had to change shifts frequently within a short period of time, otherwise they wouldn't be able to hold out.

So this time they came here through the underground passage.

Compared to his previous experience, Yang Jia could clearly feel the changes in the underground passage. Not only did the number of people and goods that could be transported each time decrease, but the transportation time was also longer. It took Yang Jia three full days to travel from Phoenix City to Ostrich City, and another day and night from Ostrich City to this place.

After emerging from the underground passage, they were in the heart of the city. Yang Jia glanced around, chose a direction, and headed forward. Fang Pingyuan and a few others followed, while the others had to make arrangements first.

The world of ice and snow is indeed beautiful, but staying in such an environment for a long time is likely to cause snow blindness. Moreover, the ice wall constantly reflects and refracts various lights, which is also a considerable burden on vision. In addition, it is really too cold to stay outside, and soon the whole person is frozen from the inside out. So Yang Jia only walked for a short while, and under Fang Pingyuan's persuasion, he agreed to take a car to the City Lord's Mansion to settle down.

After getting in the car and feeling the air conditioning, Yang Jia felt like he was alive again.

For some reason, at that moment, an image suddenly flashed through his mind, and a sense of extreme familiarity arose. Yang Jia felt as if he had been to a world of ice and snow before, and felt this bone-deep cold.

But this feeling was fleeting and I couldn't recall it no matter how hard I tried.

After all, Yang Jia was not here for tourism, so after resting on the first day, he started to get busy on the second day.

The first step was to meet the NPCs and players living here, especially the management. Yang Jia was surprised to find that the number of players in the entire Cuckoo Bird City was very small. At first, she thought it was because the city lord was an NPC, but later she realized that it was probably because the environment here was too extreme, making it difficult for ordinary people to adapt, and they had all left.

However, those who stayed did well. Players had broader horizons, quicker minds, and were often able to offer radically different ideas and suggestions on many matters, earning them the trust of the NPC city lords and naturally commanding a high status.

Yang Jia also discovered that the NPCs and players here get along much better. Often, with everyone wrapped up in their cotton-padded jackets, it's difficult to tell which is the player and which is the NPC. This is something that simply doesn't happen in other cities. Even the other five cities under the Spark Guild can't achieve this.

Very interesting.

Although Yang Jia had previously thought that in the face of disaster, the so-called identity issue would be downplayed to the minimum, until no one cared, it was only a speculation after all. And now everything in Cuckoo Bird City confirmed her speculation.

Perhaps one day in the future, in the process of facing natural disasters and man-made disasters together, the players and NPCs in this world will become indistinguishable from each other and live in harmony.

Only then will Yang Jia's idea of preserving this world and allowing more people to live better be realized.

The way of heaven never ends. No matter how difficult the situation is, there is always a way out. Yang Jia firmly believes in this view and is full of hope for future development.

Yang Jia took a lot of photos of the icy city with her phone, ready to show them to Li Bai when she returned. Although they weren't together now, as long as they cared about each other, knowing that the other was working just as hard as she was to be together forever, she wouldn't feel lonely.

It's a rare opportunity to come here, so Yang Jia naturally wants to take a look at the production environment of various materials to prepare for taking over in the future.

Before leaving, Pingyuan had brought her a set of the kind of clothing the locals wore when traveling. She was thoroughly armed from head to toe, practically ready for battle. After Yang Jia put it on, she felt like she had suddenly gained twenty pounds. If it weren't for the in-game enhancements, she might not have been able to handle it.

The explanation for this plain is, "There's no other way. Most of the roads haven't been repaired yet, so we have to walk. If we don't take the right precautions, we'll probably freeze to death along the way. The cold is more terrifying than any wild animal."

Yang Jia said she understood. She had no experience in this area, so she followed instructions exactly, doing whatever she was told and never making trouble.

Even so, because he was not used to the environment here, Yang Jia's feet were still frostbitten after running around outside the city for two days. The injury was not serious, and he received timely treatment and protective measures, so it was not a big problem, but according to the treatment staff, it was expected to leave sequelae.

Yang Jia quickly understood the horrors of frostbite. It might not seem serious, but it's itchy and painful, severely impacting mobility and even disrupting sleep. It's uncomfortable when it's cold, and uncomfortable when it's hot, and he constantly wants to scratch.

This made it difficult for Yang Jia to convince himself to treat it as a rare experience, after all, it was too torturous.

Fang Pingyuan comforted her and promised to find a cure for her condition once he returned to the city. Chilblains, if not properly treated, would naturally disappear with the arrival of spring, but they would then take root and reappear every winter, which was extremely frustrating.

While Yang Jia was getting impatient, the team hurried along and finally completed all the routes. During this process, Yang Jia saw the magical species here and filled in all the relevant species in his atlas.

Just as he was picking the last plant, Yang Jia had an idea and took out his ID card.

Sure enough, on the back of the card, where there had been no content for a long time, a new task appeared: collect the atlases of eighty-eight cities.

According to Yang Jia's previous experience, every quest on the card ultimately advanced the game's progress, bringing immense benefits to herself. The first time, she changed her identity, becoming both an NPC and a player, laying the foundation for everything that followed. The second time, she gained basic wealth, staying one step ahead, and Phoenix City always stayed ahead of everyone else. The third time, she secured her status as the City Lord of Phoenix City.

So even though this mission was a bit bizarre and very difficult to complete, Yang Jia quickly decided to complete it.

Now she knew that she was always being monitored by the system. In this case, this task was like a hint. Before she knew whether the system was a friend or an enemy, it would be better to follow its arrangements.

That night, Yang Jia did not sleep well for the last time he spent the night outside the city.

She was woken up in the middle of the night. Fang Pingyuan stood at the door of the tent, somewhat excited. His low voice was filled with undisguised excitement, "City Lord Yang, come out and see the aurora!"

Yang Jia wrapped his clothes tightly, moved to the door and looked outside, and saw a brilliant light in the sky that was constantly changing and flowing. The beauty at that time was beyond the limits of human cognition and imagination. It was dazzling and at the same time, it could evoke all feelings and yearnings for beauty.

Under such extremely beautiful light and shadow, Yang Jia suddenly couldn't help but miss Li Bai.

She suddenly remembered a poem she had read many years ago:

It’s a pity that the song of white snow has not found a soulmate.

I was in a panic in the army and wasted my time on the coast of the Huai River.

The trees by the stream are soaked with morning rain, and the mountain birds chirp in the lingering spring.

I have a jug of wine to comfort me.

It’s a beautiful scene and a great time, but my beloved is not here.

It turns out that the ultimate beauty is actually sad.

Because nothing in this world is perfect. Any trace of regret or remorse will be infinitely magnified in such beauty, turning it into a pale and empty void that cannot be filled.

The author has something to say: The author of the quoted poem is Wei Yingwu, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty. The poem is called "A Letter to Lu Zhi", which means "A letter to Lu Zhi (zhi)".

I don't know who this Lu Zhi is. Poetry appreciation says he is Wei Yingwu's nephew, but there seems to be no evidence. Wei Yingwu wrote four poems to Lu Zhi, the content of which is either missing him or feeling lonely when he is away. [Meditative]