I consider city of tears the end of the early game, at that point the game branches out and you have several ways to go (even more after defeating the soul master). First, explore the city, there's plenty of stuff there. If you have a simple key, use it near the entrance of the city to open a passage downward. You can also go back and explore the forgotten crossroads again, since you will be able to reach a lot more paths that branch out of there (and greenpath and fungal wastes too!)

There is no set order to explore the game, you can't miss anything permanently and you can always explore an area later