Blade's Edge was moving extremely fast.
They had already covered half of the nearly hundred-kilometer distance to their destination.
And this had taken them less than two hours.
Although Blackbeard had given a rough estimate of when the dying person would draw their last breath, the accuracy was not high.
An old man who seemed relatively sturdy on the surface might tilt his head and pass away the very next second.
This was also why hunters entering the Wall of Sighs would secure at least two guides.
If one of them passed away unexpectedly beforehand, the other could still lead them out of this perilous place.
For this very reason, they were sprinting through the mist with all their might.
Time was so precious to them that every second counted.
Although they were fast enough, Theia—who had long since lost all concept of speed due to Lin Gui—gradually began to feel bored by this relatively sluggish pace.
Ahead of her, Lin Gui was still staring intently at the two old men, completely absorbed.
His focus and the excitement sparked by his thirst for knowledge might make an outsider think he was gazing at some peerless beauty.
As for Eve behind him, something seemed off; her eyelids were slightly lowered, and she looked deeply troubled.
Theia didn't want to disturb her.
Under normal circumstances, all sorts of bizarre whispers should have been echoing in her mind by now.
Those were auditory hallucinations caused by the mental erosion from inhaling the mist.
Even an Iron Will potion could not completely block it.
Theia had actually been quite curious about what that experience would feel like.
But after Lin Gui cast a Clarity spell on her, let alone hallucinations, her mind was currently so clear it felt as if it had been thoroughly washed and formatted, completely transparent and clean.
It was as if the top of her skull had been pried open.
Bored, Theia could only reach out and pat Lin Gui on the shoulder.
“Lin Gui, can you help me grab the novel from my wooden chest?”
“I want that one... 《The Domineering Magic Dragon's Sweet Little Wife》.”
Without even turning his head, Lin Gui simply waved his hand backward casually.
With a soft click, the small wooden chest sitting in the corner of the flying vessel opened.
Its lid automatically lifted to reveal a crack.
A book with a pink cover and slightly curled edges floated out from among the clothes and miscellaneous items.
It glided gracefully through the air, landing steadily into Theia's already outstretched palm.
《The Domineering Magic Dragon's Sweet Little Wife》 was a novel that Theia had been reading lately.
The plot was not complicated.
The domineering magic dragon, who stood at the pinnacle of the dragon race, found its daily life utterly boring.
It saw that other dragons were always going to human kingdoms to kidnap princesses.
Then, humans would dispatch Heroes to launch campaigns against them, putting on a grand show.
If the Hero won, they would bring back the princess, and the dragon would also gain bragging rights.
Over their long lifespans, this had become a popular 'recreation' among the dragon race.
The domineering magic dragon felt it should try it too, lest it seem out of touch.
So, it also went to a human kingdom and casually kidnapped a princess.
But that princess seemed to have already been secretly drugged by someone.
In the magic dragon's lair, the two of them unexpectedly consummated their relationship.
Afterward, the princess discovered she was pregnant. Feeling deeply humiliated, she wanted to end her life.
The magic dragon, however, acted completely out of character and began to treat her in all kinds of overbearing yet clumsy ways.
Thus began a tangled tale of 'child first, love later.'
Actually, Theia was not very interested in this kind of story trope.
She preferred romances between strong, brave girls and gentle, introverted men.
But for some reason, this novel had firmly caught her eye.
Probably because... she faintly saw herself in it.
The magic dragon loved the princess deeply, but due to racial differences and her own mission, the princess ultimately left.
Before long, she might experience something similar.
Except, she was not that princess who was forced to leave.
Instead, she was the magic dragon... who could only watch helplessly as the one she loved departed.
As for the princess...
Naturally, it was that 'heartbreaker' who would one day part ways with her.
She gently turned the pages.
When she read the passage where the magic dragon repeatedly took the young dragon to persistently chase down and bring back the princess, Theia's eyes shifted slightly, her gaze quietly lifting from the pages and ultimately fixing upon Lin Gui's oblivious back ahead.
Within her emerald eyes, complex and inscrutable emotions swirled.
There was a hint of sorrow over their inevitable future separation, a bit of stubbornness like the magic dragon in the book who refused to let go, and deeper down, a small determination that she herself had not yet fully understood.
Her gaze lingered on his back for a long time.
Then, she curled her lips slightly and gave a mischievous smile.
“Just a weak little High Rank mage.”
“Want to run? It won't be that easy...”
Completely different from the 'peaceful' atmosphere on the flying vessel, within the thick fog of the Wall of Sighs, the four members of Blade's Edge had long since turned pale.
Cold sweat constantly seeped from their temples, sliding down into their collars.
Even their breathing grew heavy with suppressed dread.
Ryan, the leader, had more than once entertained the thought of retreating.
The other members also showed terror in their eyes, only able to grit their teeth.
They tried to use the exhaustion and sweat of running for their lives to mask the mounting sense of strangeness in their hearts.
And that was... the complete absence of sighs.
As veterans who had spent years struggling in this Forbidden Zone, Ryan and the others had never encountered such a situation.
During their first deep venture, if they couldn't hear that eerie sound for a moment, he would celebrate his good luck, thinking he had chosen a 'clean' route or that the guide had happened to ward off the nearby demons.
But now... it had been a full two hours and over fifty kilometers!
Other than the sound of the wind and their footsteps, there was only dead silence.
The omnipresent sighs and hisses that usually felt pressed right against their ears had not sounded even once.
This completely overturned all of Ryan's experience.
The dying could absolutely not possess such a massive range of deterrence.
They were like a tiny spark of firefly light in the dark, only able to illuminate a few paces around themselves and disperse the immediate threats; it was utterly impossible for them to make the 'darkness' of the entire region recede completely.
This feeling, this terrifying silence, made it seem as though they were being followed by an incredibly dreadful devil.
One that caused all the hideous spectral demons, who had torn countless bounty hunters to shreds, to shrink back in fear.
“...What on earth is going on?”
The scout carrying the guide spoke with a trembling, dry voice.
If it weren't for the chaotic hallucinations appearing in his mind from inhaling the mist, he would have thought he was already lost in this fog, and that everything he was doing was just a final flashback before death.
He couldn't help but look back repeatedly, as if something were silently tailing them.
Yet within the thick fog, nothing could be seen.
This unknown, absolute 'quiet' was far more hair-raising than facing demons head-on.
Ryan gripped his weapon tightly, his knuckles turning white.
Overhead, Lin Gui, who noticed the extreme unease of Ryan and his team below, was highly perplexed.
He carefully scanned their surroundings with his Eyes of the Netherworld once more.
Within the grayish-white mist, there were only a few scattered, extremely faint blue halos.
They lingered in the far distance, and then... seemingly sensing the approach of the dying person on Ryan's back, they fled with a whoosh.
Other than that, there was indeed no sign of any spectral demon activity within his field of vision.
Lin Gui couldn't help but mutter in confusion:
“There's nothing here at all.”
“What on earth are they so afraid of?”
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