Should he use force to make them comply?
That would require Theia to use her demon energy, and Lin Gui was absolutely unwilling to expose her identity.
Besides, they hadn't done anything out of line to him.
Lin Gui couldn't possibly kill them over this.
So, there was only one option left—
Block their retreat.
Lin Gui's mind raced, and a rough plan quickly took shape.
He looked down at the few people below who had been gripped by fear, silently apologizing to them in his heart.
At that moment, Blade's Edge was already preparing to retreat.
In a near-panic, they discarded all the heavy equipment that would slow them down.
This included their precision mapping instruments, and the extremely expensive Image Recording Stones and Transmission Stones.
They even abandoned their camping tents, along with a large amount of food and drinking water.
They only wanted to travel light, to run as fast as they possibly could.
Just as they turned and took their first steps to bolt back the way they came—
A voice rang out from right behind them, without any warning.
It was an incredibly bizarre female voice.
High-pitched and screeching, it sounded like fingernails scratching against an old metal plate.
Every word was drawn out and distorted, carrying an inhuman emptiness.
It pierced directly into their minds, making their scalps tingle with terror.
“...Are you... leaving already?”
The voice sounded extremely close, as if whoever was speaking was breathing right against the back of someone's neck.
“!!”
Ryan and the others shuddered violently, their blood freezing in their veins.
A massive wave of horror washed over them like ice water, freezing them instantly in their tracks.
Cold sweat instantly drenched the fabric on their backs.
But the instincts of seasoned bounty hunters were still intact.
Almost the very instant he froze, Ryan roared out:
“Defensive formation! Back-to-back!”
The four of them instinctively clustered together, shielding the elderly guide in the center.
Their weapons unsheathed in unison, shields raised, as they scanned the thick fog with panicked and suspicious eyes.
Though the hands holding their weapons were still trembling slightly.
They assumed a combat stance, even though they had no idea where the enemy was.
The priestess closed her eyes to concentrate immediately.
Pale blue magical ripples rippled outward from her, sweeping through the surrounding mist.
Yet, the feedback brought only emptiness and nothingness.
There was no trace of life or energy at the spot where the voice had originated.
It was as if the voice had simply materialized out of thin air.
“I can't... I can't sense anything!”
She cried out with a trembling voice, the last trace of color draining from her face.
It wasn't a person, but an imperceptible spectral demon.
“W-Who... who are you?!”
Ryan roared, trying to suppress his terror, but his voice shook uncontrollably.
That raspy, bizarre voice definitely didn't belong to a living person.
Yet the words were exceptionally clear and logically sound.
They had been inside the Wall for years and had never encountered such an “existence.”
A terrifying thought wormed its way uncontrollably into Ryan's mind—
Could it be that the dead silence along the way...
And the collective disappearance of those spectral demons that should have been shadowing them...
Were all because of... this “thing”?
Had it driven away or devoured everything along their path?
The mere speculation chilled him to the bone.
“Who am I... hahaha... Who am I?”
The shrill female voice rang out again, her laughter like the screech of a night owl, piercing and sharp.
A bone-chilling coldness bled through the raspiness, as if echoing from the depths of a tomb.
“Listening to my voice... do you still not know who I am?”
Every word sounded as if it were squeezed out of a ruptured throat, carrying an inhuman, hollow echo.
Ryan's pupils shrank.
Before he could speak, the voice continued on its own, its tone suddenly turning resentful and drawn-out.
“I am... Shadow Blade Lynn.”
As the words fell, even the thick fog seemed to freeze for a moment.
Ryan and his team members gasped, their hearts nearly skipping a beat.
Shadow Blade Lynn! The Epic Night Elf who had led teams in and out ten times, only to ultimately perish within the Wall!
But amidst his shock, Ryan's remaining sanity caught a trace of something unusual.
He and Shadow Blade Lynn had actually joined the bounty hunters around the same time.
As a mere Mid-tier Transcendent, he naturally had no connection with a Title Rank expert.
But... Ryan had heard her speak at a rally hosted by Blackbeard.
Even after all this time, Ryan would never forget that aloof, chilling tone.
And the voice of this ghost claiming to be Shadow Blade Lynn... sounded nothing like it.
Forcing down his fear, he squeezed a dry question out of his throat:
“But... but I remember Lady Lynn's voice... It didn't seem to sound like this...”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the surroundings fell into a dead silence.
There was even a slightly awkward atmosphere.
But Ryan and the others did not notice this oddity.
The voice vanished, and the thick fog rolled silently.
At this moment, the silence was far more unnerving than any answer.
A few seconds later, the mournful female voice echoed faintly once more.
But it carried a newly added layer of thick, inescapable sorrow and malice.
“Yes... how many years has it been...”
“Soaked in this all-consuming mist for far too long...”
“My voice... has long since turned into this half-human, half-ghostly state...”
The despair and hatred laced within her words.
Made Ryan and his team's hair stand on end, and they dared not ask another question.
Seeing Ryan and the others silent as cicadas in winter, the voice of “Shadow Blade Lynn” drifted out once more.
It carried a heavy resentment and endless exhaustion.
“I cannot enter reincarnation... the Netherworld Sea refuses to take me in...”
“This mist is my cage.”
The voice paused, then suddenly became urgent and sharp, as if filled with a certain yearning.
“Forward... keep moving forward!”
“Go to the Blackwater Ruins... you must reach that place!”
Ryan's throat felt dry as he asked with difficulty,
“W-Why? What is there?”
The voice suddenly grew cold and forceful, leaving no room for doubt.
“Find the person with black hair and black eyes...”
“Tell him to go to my burial place.”
“Only he... can break my shackles.”
“Otherwise...”
The voice suddenly stretched out, turning into a shrill wail that echoed through the mist.
The thick fog seemed to churn along with it, carrying a bone-chilling cold.
“You... will all stay here to keep me company.”
Before the mournful trail of her voice had completely faded.
The wailing twisted, stretched, and reverberated through the fog.
It felt as though it were coming from all directions, yet simultaneously whispering right next to their ears.
The withered leaves and dust scattered on the ground stirred without any wind.
They slowly swirled and rose around Ryan and his team.
This formed a small, eerie, grayish-black vortex.
The thick fog was also churned by some unseen force.
It rolled and condensed right before their eyes.
Vaguely, it outlined the blurry, agonizing face of a woman.
It vanished in a flash.
At this sight, Ryan was scared out of his wits and said in a trembling voice,
“W-We... we will do as you say! D-Don't come any closer!”
The instinct for survival overrode everything else.
The team members hoisted the guide onto their backs, turned around, and bolted toward the Blackwater Ruins.
They no longer cared about conserving energy or maintaining formation.
They simply buried their heads and dashed forward, desperate to escape the death-claiming whispers of the “ghost” behind them.
Panic-stricken, they never once looked back.
And thus, they failed to see.
The mapping instruments, Image Recording Stones, and tents they had abandoned on the ground...
Were rising into the air, one by one.
As if lifted by countless invisible hands.
They drifted lightly in the direction the team was fleeing for a short distance.
And then, they vanished into thin air.
Rate on N.U.
