The moment they stepped into the wall of mist, all surrounding sounds abruptly vanished.
Even the sound of the wind was completely cut off, leaving only an oppressive, deathly silence.
Beneath their feet was soft, damp soil, mixed with the heavy scent of decaying leaves.
Only a few minutes had passed.
Eve, having inhaled a bit of the mist, was the first to speak. Her voice sounded somewhat distant.
“My vision... it’s a bit blurry.”
Lin Gui turned his head to look at her.
“Can you hold on?”
Eve gently shook her head and chuckled softly.
“I’m fine.”
“It seems the mist is just as Blackbeard said; it can disturb the mind.”
She curiously reached out her hand, her fingertips moving toward the grayish-white expanse spreading before her.
The mist touched her skin—cool and moist—and dispersed upon contact.
Lin Gui, however, raised his hand at that moment.
【Wind Guiding】 was quietly activated.
The airflow swirled soundlessly, gathering threads of the surrounding mist to the tip of his nose.
Eve looked at him in confusion.
Why was Lin Gui proactively coming into contact with the mist?
She remembered clearly the glimpse she caught before they entered—
He didn’t seem to have drunk any potions.
He was exposing himself to the mist without any protection.
Yet, at this moment, Lin Gui’s expression was normal, and his eyes were clear and lucid.
...Could he have secretly drunk it while she wasn’t paying attention?
While Eve was pondering, Lin Gui accelerated his movements.
His other hand traced empty shapes in the air, and the wind began to flow and swirl around him.
The mist surrounding his body became thicker and thicker, churning and surging.
It almost completely swallowed the silhouette of his figure.
Even so.
Lin Gui’s mind remained exceptionally clear, his thinking sharp.
Instead of being eroded, on the contrary...
Because of this dense mist, he felt even more focused.
His entire body felt light, and his consciousness was remarkably sharp.
Just as Lin Gui confirmed that the Clarity spell was effective and relaxed his mind slightly—
Suddenly.
A chorus of sighs echoed around them.
Those voices were raspy and long, like the final breath squeezed from a decayed chest.
They bored into his ears, making his spine tingle and sending a sudden chill through him.
Lin Gui immediately waved his hand to disperse the thick fog around him.
He tightened his grip on Eve’s hand and pulled her behind him to protect her.
Within his eyes, a gray, spectral light suddenly flickered.
【Eyes of the Netherworld】 were activated to their full extent, his vision piercing through the grayish-white.
The Wall of Sighs earned its name precisely because of these omnipresent, eerie sounds.
And when the sounds drew near, according to Blackbeard—
It meant the invisible spectral demons were approaching.
The oak staff behind him flew in front of him.
Lin Gui sat sideways on it with Eve, hovering a few inches off the ground.
He stared fixedly in the direction the sighs were coming from, his entire body tense.
Eve subconsciously gripped the edge of Lin Gui’s mage robes.
She looked around, a hint of nervousness appearing on her usually indifferent face.
This was because those sighs seemed to be coming from all directions.
Yet, as far as her eyes could see, there was only the empty, churning gray mist.
“Should we... retreat?”
Eve asked in a low voice, keeping her tone very light.
“We don’t have a guide.”
“Neither magic nor physical attacks can harm them.”
“Most importantly, we can’t see them.”
Lin Gui didn’t shift his gaze and replied calmly,
“No, I can see them.”
Eve looked at him in shock.
He could see them?
She suddenly recalled the scene back in the Carter Royal Capital—
Lin Gui used blood to create a soul doll to combat the Legendary assassin.
There was also the scene at the bottom of the Silent Sea, where he had been talking to himself toward that bead.
She blurted out,
“Mr. Lin Gui, you can see souls?”
Lin Gui nodded without saying anything more.
He gripped Eve’s hand tightly, the steady warmth of his palm transferring over.
Eve was right; they lacked the means to combat spectral demons.
At this moment, they were like children who had wandered into a wolf pack’s territory.
They could only hide or turn and run.
They weren't far from the lakeside exit; they could even vaguely see the silhouette of Theia peering in.
Lin Gui was confident that if he sensed danger approaching—
He could rush out of this wall of mist with Eve within five seconds.
He focused his gaze in the direction of the sighs, his pupils shrinking slightly.
The mist could not block the observation of the Eyes of the Netherworld.
However, under his highly alert gaze...
The sighs suddenly vanished.
In Lin Gui’s vision, the horn of a pale blue spectral demon had just poked out slightly.
Then, as if startled, it trembled violently and quickly retreated into the mist.
It was gone without a trace.
Lin Gui was stunned, then he abruptly turned his head.
He looked toward another direction where a faint ripple had occurred.
Within the gray mist, a pale blue specter with a blurry figure was "looking" over.
Its outline resembled a twisted human figure, but it had no facial features.
At the position of its head, there were only two hollow depressions facing Lin Gui eerily.
Lin Gui’s mana instantly condensed, ready to be unleashed at any moment.
He adjusted the angle of his staff slightly, prepared to burst with speed to retreat.
But in the next second—
That spectral demon actually trembled all over, as if struck by lightning.
It let out a short, piercing, weird shriek:
“Aaow—!!”
This sound was the exact opposite of the previous sighs.
It was sharp and panicked, exactly like a stray cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Then, it turned around abruptly, scrambled, and plunged into the depths of the thick mist.
It disappeared without a trace.
Lin Gui: "???"
Eve was also startled by that weird shriek, her shoulders hunching slightly and her eyelashes trembling.
She looked at Lin Gui blankly, her eyes full of confusion.
“What was... that sound just now?”
Lin Gui was silent for a long time, not knowing how to describe this scene to Eve.
The heavy narration from Blackbeard, the warnings from the scholar Eli, and the solemn instructions from Balin flashed through his mind.
In their words, the demons of the Wall of Sighs were so terrifying.
One couldn't see them, touch them, or hit them.
No matter how strong one was, they would be helpless.
Those eerie sighs would constantly echo in their ears.
And now.
Lin Gui hadn't even truly witnessed their terror.
They actually just... ran away?
And it was a very standard, very human-like flight?
“What the hell?”
Lin Gui frowned and muttered.
Could it be that they were afraid of him? But he was only a High Rank mage.
Or was he carrying some powerful item that made the spectral demons feel fear?
But he didn't have anything rare on him.
With his doubts, Lin Gui turned to look at Eve.
“Eve, are you carrying anything special?”
“Something that would make spectral demons feel fear?”
Eve shook her head, her tone serious.
“If I had something like that, I wouldn’t hide it from you, Mr. Lin Gui.”
Left with no choice, Lin Gui could only put this bizarre scene aside for now.
His purpose for entering the Wall of Sighs for the first time had been achieved.
He had confirmed that his Clarity spell could indeed resist the erosion of the mist.
There was no need for him to stay long in this Forbidden Zone filled with the unknown.
Before leaving, Lin Gui glanced once more in the direction where that spectral demon had fled.
Then, leading Eve, he stepped out of the wall of mist in a few strides.
They returned to the lakeside, where sunlight fell upon them and the sound of the wind reached their ears.
Theia, who was waiting outside, immediately jogged over, her emerald eyes full of concern.
“How was it? Are you all right?”
Lin Gui nodded and let go of Eve’s hand.
“We’re fine, everything is good.”
“The potion provided by Blackbeard was indeed useful.”
“The problem with the mist inside the Wall of Sighs is basically solved.”
Theia breathed a sigh of relief, then followed up with another question.
“Then, what about those demons?”
“Those invisible demons, did you encounter any?”
At the mention of this, Lin Gui’s expression became a bit strange.
He paused for a moment before replying.
“I saw them.”
“But they might have had things to do at home; they took one glance at us and left.”
Theia: “...Huh?”
She blinked, not reacting for a moment.
Then, she looked at Eve, seeking confirmation.
Eve shrugged; she wasn't too sure either because she couldn't see them.
She only heard a... terrified scream.
As if... they’d seen a ghost?
Rate on N.U.
