Watching his master's back, Lin Hui narrowed his eyes, hesitated for a moment, then followed.
As he stepped into the white light, his eyes were momentarily dazzled, but they quickly adjusted.
An endless plain, predominantly brown and white, unfolded before him.
He appeared to be standing on a gray, shovel-shaped precipice.
Looking out from this vantage point, he realized the color of the plain below came from vast, dense arrays of alternating brown and white buildings.
The buildings stretched like weeds to the horizon, their numbers impossible to count.
Between the buildings, neatly planned white roads divided the architecture into blocks, like pieces of tofu.
"This way down," Master Mingde reminded him from the side. "The permit allows us to stay in the Inner City for two hours. We must leave when time is up, or our bodies will suffer damage."
"Right." Lin Hui followed his master, joining a line of cargo vehicles heading down the mountain path to their right.
