The Blade's Edge's almost-overflowing, eerie unease forced Lin Gui to raise his vigilance to the maximum.
He reached out and took the novel from Theia’s lap.
“Stop reading. Something isn't right. Stay alert.”
Theia was stunned for a moment, then she raised an eyebrow, the playful look in her eyes vanishing instantly.
Her sharp gaze scanned the thick fog like a hawk, and her body tensed slightly.
But a moment later, her shoulders slumped, and she looked a bit discouraged.
“I can't see those ghostly things anyway. How am I supposed to stay alert?”
“I can't even hear the sighs they make when they move... Not even now.”
Lin Gui sighed helplessly, then leaned over her to speak to Eve in the back seat.
“Eve, activate a Light Barrier.”
“Soul-type entities are mostly afraid of light.”
“Though Light Magic is hard-pressed to deal actual damage to them, it can at least serve to disperse them and act as a warning.”
Eve nodded without asking any questions.
She closed her eyes and lightly clasped her hands over her chest.
A faint golden glimmer emerged from her fingertips, and her low chant was smooth and clear.
“...May the Light disperse the shadows and protect our path forward.”
As she finished, a soft, steady halo of milky-white light rippled out from her as the center.
It formed a hemispherical transparent barrier, enveloping the entire flying vessel.
The halo wasn't blinding, but it carried a comforting, warm power.
After the barrier formed, Lin Gui focused his mind and scanned the surroundings again.
He didn't activate Wind Listening to catch sounds.
Because the sighs emitted by spectral demons were essentially mental fluctuations, not physical noises.
And so, carrying a faint layer of unease, the flying vessel followed the sprinting team below, continuing deeper into the wall.
The West Ridge chosen by the Blade's Edge was a relatively safe ancient path.
The team first moved along a stretch of rolling, sparsely-vegetated grayish-white hills.
Then, they entered the region of the Forest of Sighs.
The Forest of Sighs was massive, spanning almost the entire Wall of Sighs. The forest on the outskirts of the Bounty City was actually part of the Wall of Sighs as well.
It wasn't just the Forest of Sighs; the Blackwater Mountains they would have to cross later were also exceedingly vast.
The peak where Shield City was located was a part of the Blackwater Mountains.
And their first objective this time was the core of the former Blackwater Corridor: Blackwater City.
Its status in the Blackwater Corridor was once like that of the Carter Royal Capital to the borderlands.
It was the former transport hub of the region.
Unfortunately, the Dark Tide had consumed it, and the once-vibrant city-state was now just one of many dead cities.
The resource-rich Blackwater Mountains and Forest of Sighs had also become a forbidden zone for the living.
Notably, unlike other city-states consumed by the Dark Tide, Blackwater City, along with the other sixteen city-states that fell during that incident, had their primary structures remain eerily intact.
High stone walls still stood, though covered in moss and rust.
The frames of the residential buildings in the city were mostly preserved, their windows staring hollowly into the fog.
The signs of the commercial district were still faintly discernible, and rusted iron buckets still hung by the stone railings of the wells.
According to Blackbeard, these buildings had suffered zero structural damage.
Normally, when a Dark Tide passed through, under the trampling and devastation of nearly a hundred million demons, let alone the overall structure, even the ruins were often unrecognizable afterward, leaving only crumbled earth.
However, the Dark Tide that created the Wall of Sighs was exceptionally unique.
It was as if an invisible Death God had quietly brushed across that vast land, precision-killing every living being within range in absolute silence.
No houses fell, no walls collapsed, and even the demons didn't riot.
Post-event investigations revealed that the demons within the affected range had also dropped dead where they stood.
If the signature thick mist of the Wall of Sighs hadn't suddenly risen a few days later, completely blocking key transport arteries like the Blackwater Corridor, the City-State Alliance might not have even realized right away that the Dark Tide had ended.
Seventeen city-states across an area of over nine hundred kilometers.
Every living being—whether human, elf, dwarf, or even demon—had perished collectively and silently within those few days.
This was the most bizarre Dark Tide in all recorded history of the City-State Era.
The Alliance Council had given it a name, calling it The Silent End.
Fortunately, the Wall of Sighs did not expand slowly like the Silent Sea.
It remained like a frozen scar, following the trajectory of those seventeen dead cities, firmly fixed in the Blackwater Corridor and its surrounding areas.
The members sent by the Dwarven Royal City to various outposts beyond the wall, like Blackbeard, actually had another hidden mission besides exploring routes and pioneering paths.
That was to continuously monitor the Wall of Sighs for any anomalies.
After all, not far from the other side of this high wall was the Dwarven Royal City itself.
Among the city-states consumed by The Silent End, a total of four belonged to the dwarves.
In addition, three were elven settlements.
And the northeastern end of the Wall of Sighs bordered Theia’s former home, the Elven Forest.
It was also the place Elvia had tried to trick Lin Gui into visiting earlier.
The reputation of the Wall of Sighs was too terrifying.
Elvia believed it was impossible for Lin Gui to cross it.
After all, this was a place even the dwarves, with the full power of their entire race, had failed to punch through.
Truth be told, Lin Gui himself would never have set foot in such a desperate place if he had a choice.
But the system’s route pointed here.
Eve’s prophecy also clearly anchored in this mist.
Lin Gui could only grit his teeth and venture into this dead land.
He really didn't understand what the members of Blade's Edge below were so afraid of.
In his eyes, the surroundings were clearly empty.
But he didn't have time to delve into their psychology.
Because a more pressing problem was right in front of him—the Blade's Edge intended to turn around and retreat.
“Let's... let's retreat, Leader!”
The Priestess girl’s voice was tearful, her face as pale as paper.
She gripped the holy symbol on her chest so hard her knuckles were white.
That two-hour-long silence, which completely defied common sense, was far more destructive to her mental state than facing the roars of demons directly.
In this forbidden zone that had claimed countless lives, encountering an anomaly was the greatest terror of all.
In all thirty-six times Blade's Edge had entered the Wall of Sighs, they had done so while enduring the rasping, horrific voices of spectral demons.
Without exception. Yet now, the entry path was unbelievably smooth and frighteningly peaceful.
It was like the calm before a typhoon.
“This is too eerie... This definitely isn't normal!”
The scout carrying the other guide also spoke up gruffly, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
“We've never encountered this before, not once.”
“Something terrifying must be happening in here!”
The leader, Ryan, pursed his lips, his gaze sweeping over the terrified faces of his teammates.
He knew their morale was on the brink of collapse.
“If we retreat now, the money we paid the guides will be completely wasted.”
He tried to stabilize the situation, but his voice was a bit dry.
“Our mission isn't finished yet...”
“Mission?” The Priestess girl shook her head violently, her voice turning shrill.
“If we stay any longer, we'll all become the Voiceless!”
“Just like those hunters who fell in the mist!”
“We'll be lost in this fog forever!”
“I don't want to become an ugly, soulless Voiceless one.”
Her emotions spiraled completely out of control, and tears began to roll down her face.
Above, Lin Gui listened, baffled.
What exactly was scaring them so much?
The two major threats Blackbeard had mentioned—the mist’s hallucinations and the spectral attacks—they hadn't actually run into either of them yet.
Could it be that there was a danger even the Eyes of the Netherworld couldn't see?
An invisible thing chasing them?
But if something was truly chasing them, why hadn't he noticed?
And how did they know?
Doubts churned in Lin Gui's mind, but he didn't have time to think too deeply.
He had to find a way to steady this team right now.
He couldn't let them retreat just like that.
There was no telling how long it would be until the next selection meeting, and he didn't have the time to run to other city-states looking for guides.
The problem was, if he went down there now, their group of hitchhikers on the roof would be exposed.
Rate on N.U.
