Ryan and his team sprinted for their lives.
Under normal circumstances, they would have carefully controlled their speed and the bumpiness of the ride. After all, they were carrying dying old men on their backs, and violent shaking might cause them to breathe their last prematurely.
But now, they couldn't care less about any of that.
The desire to survive overrode all reason.
Mana and battle force were deployed one after another without any regard for consumption.
Everyone was like a rabbit being chased by a fierce beast, moving so fast they almost left afterimages behind.
In the flying vessel above...
Lin Gui steadily controlled the vessel to follow them while simultaneously using Levitation to manipulate the heap of abandoned supplies below.
He made them follow behind the flying vessel like a group of silent ghosts.
In the back seat of the flying vessel, Theia and Eve both poked their heads out, looking down at the scene below.
Watching the terrified bounty hunters sprint into the distance, the expression on Theia's face gradually shifted from initial surprise to a sort of indescribable numbness.
She saw with her own eyes how Lin Gui let out that bone-chillingly terrifying female voice.
She saw how he used Wind Guiding to manipulate the air currents and mist, creating an atmosphere of flickering ghostly shadows.
She saw how he used Levitation to whip up the dead leaves and herbs from the ground.
She watched as those experienced bounty hunters were scared out of their wits, abandoning their equipment in their frantic flight.
She slowly turned her head to look at Lin Gui's side profile, which remained focused and calm.
Her lips moved, but in the end, no sound came out. She just reached out and silently patted Eve's leg.
Eve followed her gaze, a hint of wry amusement flashing through her eyes.
They had both seen that Ryan and the others intended to flee.
Theia had even taken Azure Echo in her hand, the bowstring slightly tensed, prepared to stop them by force.
Eve had looked at Lin Gui curiously, wondering how he would handle the situation.
In the end, neither girl had expected Lin Gui to put on such a... horrifying "performance."
Having witnessed the entire process, the corner of Theia's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
She lowered her voice and whispered to Eve:
"Say... isn't this routine of his a bit too perfect for playing the part of a ghost?"
Levitation, which could make objects float in mid-air.
Wind Guiding, which could stir up currents of wind.
And that Voice Mimicry that sounded exactly like the real thing...
These seemingly low-tier novice magic spells, when combined in his hands, had become a "disturbing secret art" used to toy with people's minds and incite panic.
Upon hearing this, Eve sighed softly, a complex sense of understanding mixed with her wry smile.
She remembered back in the Royal Capital mining pit, where he had won his gamble against the Legendary Assassin using a similar, convention-defying method.
"Perhaps..." she responded softly.
"What he is best at has never been direct confrontation."
"It's achieving his goals in the most unexpected ways possible."
Theia blinked, looking down at the bounty hunters who were running in absolute terror.
Then she looked at the "culprit" in front of her who still looked calm and focused.
In the end, she silently put Azure Echo back onto her back.
Well... this method might be a bit unethical.
But... it seemed surprisingly effective?
Below the flying vessel...
Under the total dominance of fear, Ryan and the others reached an unprecedented peak of speed.
They abandoned all caution.
They didn't even bother trying to avoid the spectral demons that occasionally bumped into them "blindly" within the wall.
They only buried their heads and charged forward with everything they had.
What left Theia and Eve most speechless was—
To "help" them run a bit faster...
Lin Gui would, from time to time, mimic that shrill ghostly female voice to "urge" them on unexpectedly from behind.
"Too slow... faster..."
"Or is it that you want me... to stay in this mist forever?"
"Or perhaps... you'd like to stay and keep me company?"
That voice sometimes sounded ethereal and distant, and at other times felt like it was breathing right against their ears.
Every time it rang out, it was like a whip lashing against Ryan and the others' nerves.
It caused them to explode with even more potential, despite their already extreme speed.
They gasped for air, their eyes bloodshot, running as if they were exhausting their very lives.
Relying on this staggering speed born from being chased by a "ghost," they rapidly traversed the pale and eerie Forest of Sighs.
They continued their dash, crossing over the edge of the jagged Blackwater Mountains.
A perilous journey that should have taken over half a day was forced through in less than two hours.
When the blurred outline of a massive city-state gradually emerged from the mist ahead, Ryan and the others almost collapsed from exhaustion.
They had reached Blackwater City.
Ryan and his team slumped against the base of the cold city wall.
Their chests heaved violently as they wheezed like broken bellows.
Sweat drenched their armor, dripping continuously from their foreheads.
Their legs were so weak they could barely stand, relying entirely on the wall for support.
The two old men had already fallen into a deep sleep during the long-distance dash, and the Priestess girl did not forget to use magic to monitor their vitals.
Along the way, the extreme terror and the frantic sprint had drained them of all their strength.
Aboard the flying vessel, Lin Gui and the others looked up, curiously observing this legendary city of the dead.
First to enter their sight was an exceptionally tall city wall.
Its majesty was not inferior even to the outer wall of the Carter Royal Capital.
The wall bricks were a dark gray, covered in moss and marks of wind erosion.
Some of the battlements had collapsed, but the main structure was remarkably intact.
There were no large-scale signs of destruction or the claw marks of rampaging demons.
What stunned Lin Gui the most was that when he controlled the flying vessel to move a bit closer...
The thick mist ahead suddenly churned violently and receded to the sides.
A beam of blinding sunlight pierced through the gray-white without any warning, shining directly onto the ancient city wall.
Lin Gui subconsciously narrowed his eyes.
When his vision cleared, he was stunned.
Above the top of the high wall, the sky that had always been obscured by the thick mist was now a clear, crystalline blue.
No gray fog, no gloom.
There was only a pure, washed blue sky silently shrouding the ruins.
It was as if the mist of the Wall of Sighs was being held back here by some invisible force, forming a strange "pure land."
Lin Gui steered the flying vessel upward along the towering city wall.
They had arrived at Blackwater City.
A universally acknowledged safe point within the Wall of Sighs.
He no longer had to worry about being attacked for leaving the range of a guide.
They had already entered one of the seventeen dead cities that made up the Wall of Sighs.
This was a rare region within the Wall of Sighs that was "safe" by default.
So safe... that living people had taken up permanent residence here.
The flying vessel nimbly cleared the mottled high wall and arrived above the observation platform where guards used to scout.
From the flying vessel, Lin Gui, Theia, and Eve took in the entire sight of Blackwater City.
The city-state was massive in scale, with well-organized street planning.
Stone houses stood in neat rows, with most of their structures still intact.
Although the roof tiles were covered in dead leaves and dust, they were rarely damaged.
Wide main avenues led toward a central plaza.
The sculptures and fountains on the plaza still stood upright.
There were no messy traces of battle or disaster within the city.
Everything felt as if it had been set to a standstill, eerily clean.
The only abnormality was the total lack of people.
There were no signs of any living creatures moving about; it was deathly silent.
However, in certain street corners or at the edges of the plaza, one could see the residual ash of campfires and repaired sections of walls.
This proved that people had indeed stopped here, and some even lived here.
The former Blackwater City, now the Blackwater Ruins.
Rate on N.U.
