Theia did not know about Lin Gui's past.
She only knew that he was a wanderer with no family and no friends.
He had been to the Magic City and possessed a ridiculously powerful concealment magic.
That was it.
What she did not know was that during that brief trip to the Magic City...
Lin Gui had experienced a tragedy he could never forget for as long as he lived.
And that tragedy was closely tied to him.
Theia did not know any of this.
Naturally, she did not understand the sorrow that flashed through Lin Gui's eyes after he paused.
By the time she noticed something slightly unusual...
Lin Gui had already shifted the topic back without a trace.
"According to what the smith Balin said—"
He patted the flying vessel's control lever.
"The top speed of this thing is about seven hundred kilometers per hour."
Theia blinked, having no real concept of that number.
Lin Gui supplemented:
"In other words, flying from the Bounty City to Blackwater City..."
"If I go at full throttle, it won't even take ten minutes."
He paused.
"I don't know the exact speed of Shadow Blade Lynn."
"But at the very least, this flying vessel can outrun the burst speed of any assassin I have ever seen."
"Furthermore, we have two other advantages."
He held up two fingers.
"First, I can see spectral demons."
"Second, the strength of the three of us... isn't particularly noteworthy."
Theia raised an eyebrow. "Weakness is also considered an advantage?"
"It is."
Lin Gui nodded.
"The intensity of a soul's 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 in Blackwater Port were like faint fireflies.
Captain Freya was like a steady lamp.
As for the soul of the Fortress Lord, Balin Heavyhammer...
It was simply like a scorching miniature sun.
"The demons inside the wall are the same."
"The brighter the soul, the stronger the strength, and the easier it is for their own kind to perceive them."
He pointed at himself and the two girls.
"For 'shimmering lights' like us, mixed into the mist..."
"As long as we don't actively provoke them, it's very difficult to attract the attention of the big guys."
Theia nodded with a strange expression.
She estimated that aside from Lin Gui, no one would think that being weak was an advantage in a Forbidden Zone.
During their conversation, the flying vessel had arrived at the edge of the Wailing Corridor.
The journey had been eerily smooth.
Let alone a demon attack, they hadn't even heard a single sigh.
It was as if they were taking a stroll in their own backyard.
Lin Gui did not rush in blindly.
He intended to first use his eyes to see things clearly.
To see the specific positions of those Epic demons.
The Wailing Corridor wasn't large; it was estimated to be roughly the same size as the Black Demon Forest.
However, the terrain was very unique, being a massive sunken basin.
It was high on all sides and low in the center, with few obstacles.
This meant that as long as he could find a sufficiently high vantage point...
Lin Gui could take in the entire distribution of spectral demons in the area at a single glance.
Based on the brightness and size of the souls, he could judge their strength.
Finally, he would plan a path that could cut straight through.
The reconnaissance process was extremely slow.
Lin Gui piloted the flying vessel, slowly cruising along the edge of the basin.
His eyes turned gray as he scanned below without blinking.
The mist churned above, and the faint skylight filtering down gradually grew dim.
The sun was disappearing.
They were greeting their first night within the Wall of Sighs.
Time trickled by in the deathly silence.
Lin Gui changed positions every once in a while.
He went left and right, up and down, without any discernable pattern.
He was like a headless fly, bumping around aimlessly above the basin.
Theia sat in the back, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
She didn't even dare to whisper to Eve.
She was terrified of disturbing the fully concentrated Lin Gui.
What she didn't know was...
In order to penetrate the thick fog and see more distant details...
Lin Gui had already quietly activated his 【Demon Eyes】.
It was just that his control over the demon energy was so meticulous and subtle...
...that even Theia, who was of the true Demon Race, didn't notice a thing.
Not just her; even a Legendary Demon Hunter would never have discovered that Lin Gui was a 'fake' demon who possessed demon energy.
Night completely swallowed their surroundings.
The night of the Wall of Sighs was a form of absolute 'stillness.'
There was no sound of wind, and no chirping of insects.
Even the air seemed frozen, feeling like ice when inhaled into the lungs.
Only the faint hum of the levitating flying vessel proved that time was still flowing.
This silent reconnaissance continued for an immensely long time.
Lin Gui's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
The flying vessel's movement trajectory also became increasingly strange.
At times it would charge forward, at times it would stop abruptly, and at times it would turn without any warning.
Theia couldn't hold back several times and wanted to open her mouth to ask.
However, she was stopped each time by Eve in the back seat, who gently pressed her shoulder and shook her head.
Minute by minute, time passed.
The frequency with which Lin Gui moved the flying vessel became slower and slower.
During the longest interval, he remained motionless for a full half hour.
Theia observed him secretly.
The black mist within his gray eyes swirled slowly, and his eyelids didn't blink once.
His right hand, however, never stopped; he held a charcoal pen and scribbled rapidly on the map.
The map, which originally only had sparse markings, was now covered in symbols.
Theia leaned in to catch a glimpse.
They were all strange graphics she couldn't understand, appearing like various squares and circles.
Nearly seven hours had passed since they arrived at the edge of the Wailing Corridor.
Just as Theia and Eve thought Lin Gui would scout all through the night—
The flying vessel stopped above the twisted branches of a dead, giant tree.
The branches were bare and hideous, like a demonic hand stretching toward the mist.
Lin Gui's hand, which was recording, drew a heavy circle on a certain point.
He stopped.
He stared fixedly at the gray mist churning below and whispered three words:
"I found it."
Theia, who was starting to feel a bit drowsy, instantly perked up.
"You found a safe route?"
Lin Gui nodded, and then a cold smile curled on his lips.
"More than that."
"I also found... the true location of Avalon."
Theia was stunned.
"The location? Didn't Roger already mark it for us?"
Eve's voice drifted gently 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 markers.
A tiny blank circle was hidden in the very center.
It was only a few kilometers away from the point Roger had marked and that he had seen before.
But it was precisely this difference of a few kilometers...
If Lin Gui had believed him and charged right in...
...he would have likely blundered straight into the nest of some Epic demon.
Lin Gui set down the map and rubbed his stinging eyes.
"One really... can't be careless."
Theia's emerald eyes instantly went round, her small face flushing red with anger.
She hammered a fist onto her own knee, her silver hair almost bristling.
"That damned knight!"
"We were kind enough to help him treat his companion, yet he actually tried to harm us like this?!"
Lin Gui instead gave a slight smile and reached out to rub her bristling head.
"There, there."
"It isn't the first time you've witnessed the darkness of this City-State Era."
"Toward a stranger he had only met a few times, this method..."
He paused, his tone flat.
"...is actually normal."
Theia gave a sullen huff and turned her face away.
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have let Eve treat that demon woman."
"I would have left her to fend for herself."
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