Theia did not know Lin Gui's past.
She only knew he was a stray child with no family and no friends.
He had been to the Magic City and possessed a ridiculously powerful concealment magic.
That was all.
What she did not know was that during that brief journey to the Magic City...
...Lin Gui had experienced a tragedy he could never forget for the rest of his life.
And that tragedy was intimately tied to him.
Theia did not know any of this.
Naturally, she also did not understand the flash of sorrow that passed through Lin Gui's eyes when he paused.
By the time she sensed something was slightly off...
...Lin Gui had already steered the conversation back without a trace.
“According to Balin the Smith—”
He patted the control lever of the flying vessel.
“The top speed of this thing is about seven hundred kilometers per hour.”
Theia blinked, having no real concept of that number.
Lin Gui added:
“In other words, flying from the City of Bounties to Blackwater City...”
“...would take less than ten minutes if I went at full speed.”
He paused.
“I don't know exactly how fast Shadow Blade Lynn is.”
“But at the very least, this flying vessel can outrun the burst speed of any assassin I've ever seen.”
“Besides, we have two other advantages.”
He held up two fingers.
“First, I can see the spectral demons.”
“Second, the strength of the three of us... is not particularly outstanding.”
Theia raised an eyebrow. “Being weak is an advantage?”
“Yes.”
Lin Gui nodded.
“The intensity of soul fluctuations is directly linked to one's strength.”
He recalled the people he had observed with the 【Eyes of the Netherworld】.
The souls of the commoners at Blackwater Port were like faint fireflies.
Captain Freya's soul was like a steady, bright lamp.
And the soul of Fortress Lord Balin Heavyhammer...
...was practically like a blazing miniature sun.
“It's the same for the demons inside the wall.”
“The brighter the soul, the stronger they are, and the easier they are to be sensed by their own kind.”
He pointed to himself and the two girls.
“Faint glimmers like us, blending into the mist...”
“...are highly unlikely to attract the attention of the big guys, as long as we don't actively provoke them.”
Theia nodded with a strange expression.
Aside from Lin Gui, she doubted anyone else would ever consider being weak an advantage in a Forbidden Zone.
As they spoke, the flying vessel had already arrived at the edge of the Wailing Corridor.
Their journey had been uncannily smooth.
Let alone a demon attack, they hadn't even heard a single sigh.
It was as if they were taking a leisurely stroll in their own backyard.
Lin Gui did not rush in blindly.
He planned to use his eyes to “see” clearly first.
He wanted to see the exact locations of those Epic demons.
The Wailing Corridor was not very large, probably similar in size to the Black Demon Forest.
However, its terrain was very unique—it was a massive, sunken basin.
High around the edges and low in the center, there were very few obstructions.
This meant that as long as they found a high enough vantage point...
...Lin Gui would be able to get a clear view of the entire area's spectral demon distribution.
Then, he could judge their strength based on the brightness and size of their souls.
Finally, he could map out a straight-line path to cross through.
The scouting process was agonizingly slow.
Lin Gui controlled the flying vessel, slowly cruising along the edge of the basin.
His eyes turned gray, scanning the area below without blinking.
The mist churned overhead, and the faint daylight filtering down gradually dimmed.
The sun was setting.
They were about to experience their first night within the Wall of Sighs.
Time ticked away in the dead silence.
Lin Gui changed positions every so often.
Left, right, up, down—there was no pattern to it.
He was like a headless fly, buzzing randomly over the basin.
Theia sat in the back, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
She didn't even dare to whisper to Eve...
...for fear of distracting the deeply focused Lin Gui.
What she did not know was that...
...to penetrate the thick fog and see the finer details further away...
...Lin Gui had already quietly activated his 【Demon Eyes】.
However, his control of the demon energy was so meticulous...
...that even Theia, a member of the true Demon Race, didn't notice it at all.
Not to mention her, even a Legendary Demon Hunter had failed to realize that Lin Gui was a fake demon who possessed demon energy.
Night completely swallowed their surroundings.
Night within the Wall of Sighs was an absolute, suffocating “silence.”
There was no sound of wind, no chirping of insects.
Even the air seemed frozen, sending an icy chill through their lungs with every breath.
Only the faint hum of the hovering flying vessel proved that time was still flowing.
This silent reconnaissance dragged on for an incredibly long time.
Lin Gui's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
The flight path of the flying vessel grew increasingly bizarre.
Sometimes it dashed forward, sometimes it stopped abruptly, and sometimes it turned sharply without warning.
Several times, Theia couldn't hold back and wanted to ask what was going on.
But Eve, sitting in the back, would gently press her shoulder and shake her head to stop her.
Minutes and hours slipped away.
Lin Gui's movements grew slower and slower.
At his longest stretch, he remained completely motionless for a full half-hour.
Theia observed him secretly.
The dark mist in his gray eyes swirled slowly, his eyelids unblinking.
Yet his right hand never stopped, rapidly sketching on the map with a charcoal pencil.
The map, which originally had only a few scattered markings, was now covered in symbols.
Theia leaned closer to steal a glance.
They were all strange diagrams she couldn't understand, resembling squares and circles.
Nearly seven hours had passed since they first arrived at the edge of the Wailing Corridor.
Just when Theia and Eve thought Lin Gui was going to spend the entire night scouting—
—the flying vessel came to a halt above the twisted branch of a dead giant tree.
The branch was bare and grotesque, like a ghostly hand reaching into the fog.
Lin Gui's drawing hand drew a heavy circle around a certain point.
He stopped.
Staring intently at the churning gray mist below, he whispered three words:
“I found it.”
Theia, who had been feeling a bit drowsy, snapped awake instantly.
“You found a safe route?”
Lin Gui nodded, a cold smile curling the corners of his lips.
“More than that.”
“I also found... the real location of Avalon.”
Theia froze.
“The location? Didn't Roger already mark it for us?”
Eve's voice drifted softly from the back:
“He lied to us.”
Lin Gui picked up the map and pointed to the area heavily surrounded by countless red crosses and skull markings.
A tiny blank circle was hidden right in the very center.
It was only a few kilometers away from the spot Roger had marked.
But that difference of just a few kilometers—
—had Lin Gui believed him and plunged straight in...
...he probably would have blundered directly into the lair of some Epic demon.
Lin Gui put down the map and rubbed his tired eyes.
“We really... can't afford to let our guard down.”
Theia's emerald-green eyes instantly went wide, her small face turning red with anger.
She punched her own knee, her silver hair practically standing on end.
“That damn knight!”
“We kindly helped heal his companion, and he actually tried to sabotage us like this?!”
Lin Gui actually smiled, reaching out to pat her ruffled head.
“Alright, alright.”
“This isn't the first time you've witnessed the darkness of the City-State Era.”
“For a stranger we've only met a few times, this action...”
He paused, his tone indifferent.
“...is actually normal.”
Theia gave a muffled huff and turned her face away.
“If I'd known, I wouldn't have let Eve heal that demon woman.”
“We should have just left her to fend for herself.”
Rate on N.U.
