The final notes of the prayer, like the last ray of moonlight, softly dissolved into the air.
Eve slowly opened her eyes.
And the sight before her made Lin Gui's pupils contract slightly.
The small, ruined house was now packed to the brim.
Faint blue, translucent faces were pressed against the windows.
Layer upon layer of glowing halos floated above the floor.
Wisps of soul thread hung down from the holes in the roof.
Even the air was filled with a dense crowd of floating points of light, like a swarm of eerie blue fireflies.
The entire space was completely filled by these silent “existences.”
“So many... ghosts?”
Lin Gui muttered to himself, feeling his scalp tingle.
At the very front, several spirits dressed in old priest robes and nun habits still maintained their respectful kneeling posture.
Leading them was an elderly priest ghost.
He raised a translucent hand and drew a standard, solemn Sign of Light across his chest.
His movements were slow but meticulous.
Then, he raised his head, his cloudy, spectral eyes filled with incomparable awe, and his voice trembled with emotion:
“Such pure power of Light...”
“Honored one, who exactly are you...?”
Eve did not answer immediately.
She stood up gently, her calm gaze sweeping over the countless...
Glass beads.
Finally, following her judgment.
She looked at the bead closest to her.
And slowly opened her eyes.
At that very moment, all the light in the room seemed to gather in the depths of her eyes.
That unique, deep, and mysterious...
Purple.
“Purple eyes...”
The old priest shook violently, his spectral form flickering like a candle in the wind.
Behind him, all the clerical ghosts let out soft, disbelieving gasps at the same time.
“The... the Saintess?!”
“Is she the contemporary Holy Saintess?!”
Following the gasps was an even deeper silence.
Then, led by the old priest, all the spirits who had once been believers bowed deeply in unison, adopting the most devout posture.
It had nothing to do with the physical body; this was absolute reverence on a spiritual level.
Eve quietly accepted their salute.
Only after a few seconds did she speak, her voice clear and calm, carrying the gentle yet unquestionable majesty of the Saintess:
“In the name of Light.”
“Please rise, lost lambs.”
“I am not here on a pilgrimage.”
“But as a witness.”
Her gaze gently fell upon Lin Gui.
“To bear witness for this man.”
“He is not a messenger from the Netherworld, but a messenger running to deliver cherished thoughts.”
Among the surrounding ghosts, a young nun's spectral form couldn't help but speak up timidly:
“But... but his eyes...”
Her gaze, along with the “eyes” of many other spirits, fell upon Lin Gui's gray eyes, which filled them with instinctive dread.
Seeing this, Lin Gui took a step forward of his own accord.
“These are not the eyes of a Netherworld messenger.”
He explained calmly.
“It is merely a spell modeled after their eyes.”
“If you don't believe me, look.”
With a slight thought, he deactivated the spell.
The gray light swirling in his eyes receded like the tide.
Revealing his original, pure black pupils once more.
The invisible pressure originating from the soul level also vanished into air.
“!”
The surrounding spirits fluctuated in unison, letting out silent gasps of admiration.
They “felt” carefully, confirming that the trembling aura had indeed disappeared.
Replacing it was merely a High Rank mage with ordinary mana fluctuations.
However, having deactivated his Eyes of the Netherworld, Lin Gui looked at the scene before him, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.
The entire room...
...was floating with a dense crowd of glass beads.
This scene was even more bizarre and surreal than seeing a sky full of ghosts.
Lin Gui cleared his throat, taking the lead to break the silence.
“Um... I heard from Troy.”
“It seems you all want to send letters to your distant relatives?”
“Or... confirm if they are doing well?”
As his voice fell.
The glass beads floating all over the room suddenly froze.
Immediately after—
“Re-really?! Is it really possible?!”
“I... I want to write to my mother...”
“My younger brother... is he still alive...”
“Please! Please help me pass on a message...”
Countless tiny, excited voices, mixed with hope and timidity, suddenly erupted!
Like pouring a ladle of cold water into boiling oil.
The glass beads that had been floating quietly instantly lost all order!
They came from all directions.
From windowsills, the roof, corners, and the air.
As if drawn by a magnet, they surged toward Lin Gui in a frantic, dense swarm!
In the blink of an eye, Lin Gui was surrounded by a sea of shimmering, eerie blue beads.
Above, below, left, and right, everywhere he looked was filled with slightly trembling glass beads.
The scene was spectacular to the point of being a bit terrifying.
Lin Gui even subconsciously took half a step back.
He absolutely did not dare to activate his Eyes of the Netherworld again.
He was terrified that the moment he opened them, he would be suffocated by the layers upon layers of translucent human faces crowding right in front of him.
“Wait! Everyone, calm down! One at a time!”
He tried to maintain order.
But how could the longing and desire that the ghosts had bottled up for over a decade be easily suppressed?
Instead of backing away, the glass beads pressed even closer.
A few excited ones almost shoved themselves right into Lin Gui's face.
One of the smallest beads almost got squeezed into his slightly open mouth.
“Pfft.”
A soft chuckle that couldn't be held back came from beside him.
Eve pursed her lips, her eyes filled with amusement.
Then, her expression softened slightly, and her voice rang out warm and clear:
“Please quiet your minds, everyone.”
“Do not disturb the Messenger.”
Though her voice was soft, it seemed to carry a peculiar soothing power.
The restless “sea of beads” paused slightly.
Then, the glass beads reluctantly and slowly backed away a short distance.
But they still remained suspended in midair.
Hundreds of “gazes” locked onto Lin Gui.
Even without activating his Eyes of the Netherworld, Lin Gui could feel those invisible, burning stares.
They made the back of his neck tingle.
“Ahem...”
He composed himself and raised his voice:
“Um... everyone.”
“Please hand over all the letters you want to send.”
“As long as the destination isn't ridiculously far...”
“I will do my best to deliver them for you.”
The moment he finished speaking.
The entire room of “people.”
No, the entire room of ghosts fell silent.
Lin Gui's heart skipped a beat.
Did he say something wrong?
Just then, Troy's tiny voice drifted out from the pile of beads:
“Um... big brother...”
“Actually... we can't write letters.”
Lin Gui was stunned. “You can't write them? Why not?”
Troy's voice sounded a bit embarrassed:
“Because... we are ghosts.”
“We can't affect physical objects.”
“Our hands would pass right through paper and pens...”
Lin Gui grew even more confused:
“Then who wrote ‘Blackwater City, West District Three, Bluestone Alley, Seventh House’ on the envelope?”
Troy's voice grew even quieter:
“Well... when I was alive, I learned a bit of breathing techniques from Uncle Cluny, so I was... a very, very weak cultivator.”
“After turning into this, I can still barely muster a little strength to affect reality a tiny bit.”
She paused, her tone carrying a hint of resentment:
“Ever since I saw the sign for your post office...”
“I've been trying hard to ‘write’ the address.”
“Those few words on the envelope... actually took me a whole week.”
“But most of the ‘residents’ left behind from that great disaster back then...”
“The vast majority of them aren't cultivators.”
“They can't even budge a single flower petal...”
“Much less... pick up a pen to write a letter.”
Lin Gui's mouth fell open.
An extremely ominous premonition crawled up his spine.
“So... what you mean is...”
He didn't finish his sentence.
Every single glass bead in the room tilted slightly forward in unison.
Countless tiny voices merged into a cautious, almost pleading wave of sound:
“Could you... please...”
“...write them down for us?”
Lin Gui took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
He looked around the room.
They were densely packed, but looking closely, there were only about a hundred beads.
Though it was a lot, it was still within an acceptable range.
“Fine...”
He rubbed his temples helplessly.
“But don't make them too long. I can't stay here for more than a few days...”
Before he could finish his sentence.
From outside the window, a slightly raspy, apologetic middle-aged male voice suddenly cut in:
“Um...”
“There's also ours...”
“Could you... also write them down for us?”
Lin Gui froze.
That ominous premonition in his heart instantly exploded.
He leaped up, took a few strides to the door, and yanked open the half-collapsed wooden door.
Then, he froze completely in place.
The scene outside made him completely dumbfounded.
On the ruined streets.
On the broken roofs.
On the withered treetops.
In every single corner within his line of sight...
...floated, piled, layered, densely packed, and boundless...
...glass beads.
The faint, eerie blue glow joined together like a reversed galaxy, completely submerging the entire district.
Thousands upon thousands.
No, perhaps... tens of thousands, or even more.
Inside every single bead, there seemed to be a pair of longing eyes.
Right now, these countless “eyes” were all focused directly on him.
Rate on N.U.
