Seeing that the other party had noticed him, Lin Gui did not shy away.
His primary reason for coming here was so that Ryan and the others could "find" him.
Sitting in the dim corner, his fingers reached toward his waist.
Then, a silver coin flicked from his fingertips.
Tracing a subtle arc, it landed accurately in the ceramic bowl in front of the bard.
With a crisp "ting," it collided with the scattered gold coins in the bowl.
The bard lowered her gaze and caught sight of the silver coin, the corners of her mouth curving imperceptibly.
She looked up and gave Lin Gui a deep look, a flash of realization crossing her eyes.
Immediately after, her fingers danced across the strings, and the melody and song took a sudden turn.
A new story, colored with adventure and marvelous encounters, began to flow between her lips and the strings.
The melodious tune and narration filled the entire cathedral once more.
However, just as the singing circled through the air—
A figure suddenly lunged through the half-closed door of the cathedral without warning!
They moved so fast that only a blurred afterimage and a faint sound of breaking wind remained.
The moment the figure entered the dim cathedral, they immediately merged into the deepest shadows of the corner.
They vanished without a trace.
The surrounding adventurers were still immersed in the images painted by the bard.
Only a few seemed to sense something, turning their heads in confusion to look around.
They found nothing.
But Lin Gui’s eyes had already sharpened.
His gaze quickly swept across the ground by the door—several drops of fresh blood were particularly jarring against the dust.
Following that, his gaze locked firmly onto the shadows behind a large, discarded pillar deep within the cathedral.
Under normal circumstances, based on the speed and concealment ability displayed by the other party, their strength should be at least one full major rank higher than his, and they were extremely proficient in hiding.
Although Lin Gui’s regular perception was excellent, it was difficult to quickly lock onto such a target.
However, he had the [Eyes of the Netherworld] bestowed by the system.
These eyes, which could see through the Shroud of the Gloomy Night, flickered with a faint gray light at this moment.
They easily pierced through the physical shadows and visual disguises.
He "saw" her.
The figure huddled behind the pillar, struggling to suppress their panting and trembling.
It was the demon hunter he had briefly encountered at the inn in the Bounty City not long ago.
Cass's daughter—Rosa.
Within the vision of the Eyes of the Netherworld, her condition was miserable.
There were at least four or five deep lacerations on her body, her leather armor was ruined, and blood had soaked through her clothing.
The most severe wound slashed diagonally from her shoulder blade to her waist, so deep that the bone was visible.
Lin Gui carefully examined the wounds, and his brow furrowed even tighter.
The edges of those lacerations were clean, possessing the characteristics of a certain sharp weapon.
They didn't look like they were caused by a demon's claws or spells.
Instead, they looked more like... wounds caused by a person.
But in the Bounty City, there were ostensibly only two Legendary experts.
Blackbeard, and her father, Cass.
With Cass around, who could have wounded her like this?
And where was Cass himself?
Just as thoughts swirled through Lin Gui’s mind,
The bard's singing stopped abruptly without warning.
The strings suddenly went silent.
At the same time, the steady, heavy, and stiff sound of footsteps from outside the cathedral clearly reached the door.
The sudden interruption of the song caused all the intoxicated hunters to wake with a start.
"Bang!"
The heavy wooden door was kicked open, slamming against the wall.
The sunlight from outside flooded in, revealing the silhouettes of a group of people.
Several impatient hunters showed expressions of joy at the sound and hurried forward to meet them.
"Is it a new party?"
"Do you have a guide? Take us—"
Before they could finish, a hand that was excessively pale reached out from the group.
It grabbed the shoulder of the person in the lead and pushed them aside carelessly.
The hunter stumbled back several steps and landed hard on their rear.
They were filled with shock.
The figures in the mist gradually walked into the range of the firelight.
The one leading was a young girl with an indifferent expression and eyes that were far too calm.
It was Jesse.
Following behind her were two men.
One had a handsome face that didn't look human, and a playful smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.
The other had hollow eyes and emitted a cold, deathly aura.
And finally, the team of "knights" stepped into the cathedral.
Their iron boots hit the ground with a rhythmic, eerily uniform clanking.
But the gazes of all the hunters were currently frozen on the blood-soaked figure being held between two gray-robed figures.
It was Cass’s son, Maren.
His hands were tied behind his back, his face was covered in bruises, and blood leaked from the corners of his mouth.
His eyes were filled with humiliation and rage, yet he could not move an inch.
What truly caused everyone to gasp, however,
Was the object being dragged by another gray-robed figure behind Jesse.
No, that wasn't an object.
It was a person.
That person was being held by the back of the neck by a single hand of a gray-robed figure, dragged on the ground like a sack of grain.
His dark brown hunting gear was already tattered and soaked in dark red.
His exposed skin was covered in hideous wounds, some deep enough to reveal bone.
The most horrific part was his right arm, which was twisted at a bizarre angle.
It was clearly broken.
His head hung low, and his pale gold hair was clumped together by blood and filth.
His aura was so weak that it was almost undetectable.
But when the firelight swept across his bowed face,
Someone recognized those hard-lined features, which were now as pale as paper.
"Lord... Lord Cass?!"
Startled cries broke out, followed immediately by a deathly silence.
Inside the entire cathedral, only the crackling of the bonfire remained,
Along with the heavy and suppressed breathing of the crowd.
In the corner, the moment Jesse stepped in, the Shroud of the Gloomy Night had already silently covered Lin Gui’s entire body.
His figure completely vanished into the darkness.
He manipulated his staff and quietly floated up into mid-air.
His gaze was locked firmly onto the dragged figure below.
It was indeed Cass.
The Low-tier Legendary Rank demon hunter who had stayed in the Bounty City for eight years.
Now, he was being dragged on the ground like a dead dog.
Lin Gui’s eyelids twitched as he cursed internally.
He just wanted to come and confirm a certain matter. If he’d known, he should have just left.
Why did he keep bumping into these persistent bastards?
Just as Lin Gui held his breath and prepared to quietly retreat,
Below, the pale and handsome man beside Jesse suddenly raised his hand.
A trace of extremely faint blood-red glimmer wound around his fingertips.
Like a living thing, it meandered and slithered through the air.
In the next instant, that blood-light suddenly turned.
It pointed straight toward the shadow behind that massive, discarded pillar deep in the cathedral!
"Found you."
A cold smile curved at the corners of the man's mouth.
The captured Maren’s pupils shrank.
He looked up abruptly toward the pillar, all color draining from his face.
"Sis...!"
He hoarsely shouted a single word before his throat was viciously squeezed by the gray-robed figure behind him.
He could only make a gasping sound, his eyes turning red.
Cass, who was being dragged on the floor, also began to struggle violently at this moment.
He forced his head up, his vacant eyes staring fixedly toward the shadows.
A low roar like a wild beast’s issued from his throat.
His broken arm twitched weakly, and blood gushed from the wound.
Seeing this from above, Lin Gui sighed silently.
He spread the fingers of his right hand and pressed down.
The effect of the [Shroud of the Gloomy Night] quietly extended.
Like a layer of invisible twilight, it completely enveloped the huddled figure behind the pillar.
Almost at the exact same moment,
The blood-red light from the pale man’s fingertips slammed accurately into the shadows.
However, it ended up hitting nothing but air.
It circled the area aimlessly twice before finally dissipating without a sound.
The cold smile on the man's face froze instantly.
"...Strange? Clearly..."
He muttered to himself, a flash of shock and confusion crossing his eyes.
Just a moment ago, his Blood Tracing spell had been clearly pointing right there.
But now it had suddenly cut off, as if the girl had evaporated into thin air.
Jesse also knit her brows.
She closed her eyes, and her massive magical perception spread out like a tide.
It carefully swept through every corner and every inch of shadow in the cathedral.
Behind the pillar, there was nothing.
No breathing, no heartbeat, no energy fluctuations.
There wasn't even a trace of lingering blood scent.
It was as if no one had ever existed there.
She slowly opened her eyes and turned her cold gaze toward the side.
"Modo, what about yours?"
The hollow-eyed Modo pulled at the corner of his mouth upon hearing this.
His gaze swept aimlessly through the upper reaches of the cathedral.
Eventually, he shook his head and spoke in a flat voice.
"My perception only works on my own kind."
"In this regard, I am not much stronger than you."
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