Lin Gui looked at Eve’s current attire.
He glanced at the rough wooden staff she had found to use temporarily and then finally at her simple traveler’s dress, which was entirely different from a sister’s habit.
His eyes were filled with obvious skepticism.
The Holy Saintess of Light in his memory—
She would be draped in magnificent holy robes and wearing a mithril crown, with a soft, inviolable halo flowing around her.
One look was enough to see her exalted status, her holiness, and her mystery, making one instinctively hold their breath.
And the Eve before him now…
While she still possessed a somewhat reserved and elegant temperament, the mysterious aura that had initially enveloped her had long since quietly faded during their long journey and shared experiences of life and death.
At this moment, she looked more like a quiet, clever, and occasionally a bit mischievous ordinary girl.
“In your current state…” Lin Gui said hesitantly, “if you say you’re the Saintess, will they believe you?”
Eve did not answer immediately.
She only smiled faintly, took two steps forward, and stood on a relatively clean patch of open ground amidst the ruins.
Then, she made a simple movement—
She gently closed her eyes.
With her eyes lowered, her long eyelashes cast faint shadows beneath them.
She slowly raised her hands, crossing them in front of her chest and pressing them together.
Her fingertips touched lightly, her posture natural and devout.
No magnificent robes, no crown, and no attendants.
But at the moment she pressed her hands together, an indescribable aura of stillness quietly diffused outward with her as the center.
Holy Saintess Eve in Prayer
She did not chant any grand liturgy.
Her lips simply parted slightly as she began to whisper the opening of the most basic yet most ancient 《Hymn of Light》 in an extremely light yet exceptionally clear voice.
Her voice was not loud, yet it seemed to carry a unique rhythm.
Every syllable was like a drop of morning dew falling into a silent pool, causing subtle and real ripples to spread out.
Even more striking—
As she chanted, strands of extremely faint yet purely warm glimmer quietly emerged from the gaps between her pressed fingers and the tips of her lowered eyelashes.
That light was not blinding; it flickered in and out like breathing.
Yet it carried an unquestionable sense of holiness and purity.
The cool moonlight happened to spill through the gaps in the ruins, enveloping her.
It gilded the faint glimmer around her body with a silver edge.
Dust seemed to stand still around her.
In this moment, having stripped away all external decorations, she instead revealed a more essential holiness rooted in her inner faith.
Serene, beautiful, and undeniable.
Even Troy, floating to the side, was dazed by the sight.
Her semi-transparent little mouth hung slightly open as she forgot to close it.
It turned out…
Magnificent robes and a scepter weren't needed.
The Saintess was, in herself, the light.
Eve’s voice rang out.
It wasn't a simple recitation but a long, elegant chant.
Somewhere between singing and chanting, every syllable carried a wonderful rhythm and sense of breath.
She used the ancient Language of Light, and Lin Gui was no stranger to the lyrics:
“Light is born of chaos, soothing creation’s scars.”
“Providing paths for the lost, and stars for the long night.”
“Consoling mortal suffering, cleansing the soul's dust.”
“This is where my faith leads, this is where my heart dwells…”
This was exactly the opening passage of the 《Basic Hymn of Light》.
As the liturgy of the continent’s premier church, its reach was incredibly vast, and Lin Gui had heard it countless times already.
The unison chanting of church sisters was solemn and majestic, while the silent prayers of believers were devout and humble.
But compared to Eve’s current chanting, they all seemed… dull.
Her voice itself seemed to carry a certain power.
Clear, gentle, and piercing straight to the heart.
Lin Gui instinctively held his breath.
A grey light flickered in his eyes as his Eyes of the Netherworld quietly activated.
In his specialized vision—
The rhythms lingering in the air actually transformed into extremely fine, warm golden light-dust.
They drifted with the song, landing on Troy nearby.
The little girl’s originally flickering soul silhouette, whose edges were slightly uneasy due to fear, became stable and serene at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It was as if she were being gently brushed by a pair of invisible, tender hands.
Even Lin Gui felt a tight string deep within his own heart quiet down, loosening slightly as it was touched by the song.
This wasn't just a psychological effect.
Her song…
Truly was soothing the soul.
Eve’s song seemed to be carried by an invisible power.
It pierced through the deathly silence of the ruins, crossed over the broken walls, and spread out leisurely through the empty streets and alleys of Blackwater City.
That voice was gentle and holy.
Like a gurgling warm current, it flowed into this land that had been frozen for over a decade.
At first, there was a subtle commotion.
The “residents” hiding in the cracks of walls, beneath the floorboards, and deep in the shadows all poked their “heads” out.
They “listened.”
A long-lost, peaceful throbbing resonated from the depths of their souls.
That was the Hymn of Light.
It was the faith from when they were alive, the familiar melody engraved in their memories.
Skepticism, curiosity, nostalgia…
Various subtle emotional fluctuations were transmitted through the invisible soul network.
The song grew deeper and more elegant.
Like a mother’s nocturne soothing an infant.
Several “existences” dressed in old priest robes or sister’s habits, whose soul bodies had relatively solid outlines, were the first to be moved.
They “looked” toward the direction from which the song came.
A look of shock and realization seemed to emerge on their blurred faces.
One ghost in the appearance of an old cleric tremblingly “raised” his hand.
Manipulating the glass bead that housed his existence, he slowly floated up toward the source of the song—the ruined residence from which the glimmer was leaking.
He floated slowly and respectfully, like the most devout pilgrim.
Once there was a first, there was a second, a third…
The souls who were once believers all followed behind, each manipulating their “true form” glass bead.
Under this silent attraction, the other ghosts who were hesitating and watching finally left their hiding places as well.
One point, then two…
More and more pale blue points of light emerged from every corner of Blackwater City.
Like a swarm of fireflies startled by a breeze on a summer night.
Slowly yet persistently, they converged toward the same direction.
Under the illumination of the cool moonlight.
Hundreds and thousands of points of spectral “starlight” floated through the ruined streets.
They drifted past withered treetops.
Quietly, they surged toward the small house whose windows emitted a warm glimmer.
They converged into a silent and breathtaking river of souls.
The singing was as elegant as flowing moonlight.
Inside this abandoned residence, changes were happening in every crevice.
In the cracks of the walls, beneath the holes in the floor, behind the collapsed beams…
Point after point of pale blue light quietly emerged like condensed night dew.
Those were translucent soul-shadows.
They cowered at the edges of the shadows, instinctively fearing Lin Gui’s eyes that glowed with grey light.
When many soul bodies “saw” Lin Gui, they visibly shuddered and shrunk back.
But in the next second, their “gaze” was firmly captured by the scene in the center of the room.
Eve remained kneeling under the cool moonlight.
Her eyes were lightly closed, her hands pressed together before her chest.
Holy glimmer enveloped her like a veil, fluctuating gently with her low-voiced chanting.
That light was not blinding, but it carried a warm and pure power.
It seemed capable of dispelling the accumulated cold and unease from the depths of their souls.
The ghosts quieted down.
Their fear slowly loosened, replaced by a long-lost, almost greedy longing.
A longing to draw close to that light.
A longing to be soothed by that song.
From their hiding places, they drifted out bit by bit, cautiously.
Like moths drawn to light.
Silent and devout.
They surrounded the kneeling, praying Saintess.
Floating, listening.
They formed a silent and breathtaking ripple composed of souls.
Rate on N.U.
