Upon hearing Lin Gui's words, the surrounding Night Elf spirits fell into an even deeper sorrow.
But soon, a strange, peculiar feeling began to mingle with their grief.
They stared at the “disfigured elf” before them who claimed to be of their own kin.
Why did it feel as though...
...his tone made him sound so much like an outsider?
“Aren't you... also a Night Elf?”
A young spirit could not help but mutter in a whisper.
“To speak so indifferently about the tragic fate of your own race...”
“Why does it feel... a bit...”
The elf cast a suspicious look at Lin Gui.
Clotina's soul shadow trembled violently.
She immediately cried out in Lin Gui's mind:
“Mr. Lin Gui, your tone is too calm!”
Lin Gui was instantly jolted back to reality.
Damn.
He had almost forgotten his current “identity.”
To be honest, the plight of the Night Elves was indeed tragic.
But Lin Gui had seen far too much suffering in his life.
So much so... that it was difficult for him to summon any genuine grief or indignation.
He cleared his throat and quickly adjusted his tone.
“I apologize... I am just... so deeply saddened that I find myself at a loss for words.”
He lowered his eyes, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“Actually, the reason I risked coming here today...”
“...is because I have a favor to ask of you all.”
The elves' attention was successfully diverted.
Their curious gazes refocused on him.
An elderly elf asked softly.
“We are already departed souls...”
“What business could possibly find its way to us?”
Lin Gui drew the thick stack of letters from his messenger bag.
“I have brought you...”
“...letters from Blackwater City and your other compatriots.”
He paused, his voice softening.
“They... still miss you.”
These words were like a stone dropped into a tranquil lake.
The soul lights of the elves flickered in unison.
Surprise, bewilderment, followed by a cautious...
Hope.
Lin Gui began to read out the tongue-twisting full names of the elves one by one.
With each name he read, he weighed a letter down with a small stone and laid it on the ground.
Unlike those at Deepwood Outpost, most of the elves here were commoners without any soul power.
They could not physically handle the letters themselves.
They could only gather around, leaning down curiously.
They used their eyes to trace the elven script on the yellowed pages.
“This... this is my sister's handwriting!”
“The nickname mentioned in this letter... only my mother and I knew it...”
“Is this... written to me by my child?”
One surprised gasp after another echoed through the clearing.
In his mind, the system's delivery confirmation prompts began to ring rapidly.
【Ding! Letter delivery rate has reached 10%】
【Ding! Letter delivery rate has reached 12%】
【...】
While continuing to lay out the letters, Lin Gui quietly reached out.
He clasped Clotina's glass bead.
While all the elves were immersed in the contents of the letters...
...he slowly backed away.
One step.
Two steps.
He quietly vanished into the deep shadows of the trees.
...
An elf holding a letter suddenly frowned.
“Strange... this letter says that the messenger was a ‘black-haired, black-eyed human mage.’”
“It also says he is very kind and only charges seven coppers...”
An elf nearby also looked up.
“The one I have also mentions that human.”
“But... wasn't the one who delivered the letters one of our own kin?”
Gradually, more and more spirits began to realize.
They raised their heads and looked around.
They wanted to find that “disfigured Night Elf compatriot” to ask him directly.
However, in the center of the clearing...
Only scattered letters remained on the ground.
They lay quietly under the faint shimmer of the fluorescent moss.
That “Lin Shadow”...
He was already nowhere to be found.
The elves gathered around the scattered letters, reading them one by one.
Descriptions of the “human messenger who delivers letters for seven coppers” were repeatedly mentioned in more and more letters.
Some letters even described his appearance in detail—black hair, gray eyes (written as black eyes in the letters), and always wearing a worn-out, old magic robe.
Gradually, their initial suspicion turned into certainty.
That disfigured compatriot who called himself “Lin Shadow”...
He was actually a human.
And what surprised them even more was that Clotina had actually helped a human lie.
But the strange thing was...
This human had not done anything bad to them.
He had simply delivered the letters and quietly departed.
He had not even asked for any compensation.
“Perhaps... he truly had a compelling reason?”
A young elf whispered.
“At least, he helped bring us news of our loved ones...”
“That is enough.”
The other elves fell silent, tacitly accepting this self-consolation.
After all, in this dead city forgotten by the world...
To receive even a few words from afar was already a miracle.
They thought they might never hear of this human messenger again.
However...
A sudden, familiar, and terrifying aura abruptly descended!
The gray mist surged, and the glow of the fluorescent moss instantly dimmed.
Every elven spirit trembled in unison, looking toward the entrance in terror.
The young elves screamed and hid inside the ruins of the vine treehouses, while the adult spirits concealed themselves.
Only the oldest elven elder forced his soul body forward, drifting to the front.
He gazed at the pale purple soul shadow that was slowly manifesting.
He looked at her face, which remained gloomy, her eyes frozen with frost and mockery.
Opening his mouth, he spoke in a dry voice:
“Lynn Celine Aethel Shadow...”
“Is that you?”
“How could you...”
Shadow Blade Lynn did not care about his words at all.
She vanished into thin air.
A few seconds later, she abruptly reappeared in front of the elder.
She had thoroughly swept the entire Gloomlight Forest with her soul power.
He was not here.
She raised her head, looking down at the elder with a cold voice:
“Where did that black-haired human go?”
The elder was taken aback. “A black-haired human? What is...”
Shadow Blade Lynn's finger pointed to the scattered letters at the elder's feet.
“The human who delivered the letters.”
“Where is he?”
A terrifying soul power pressed down like a physical weight, causing the elder's soul body to fluctuate violently, nearly dispersing.
Only then did he realize that she was looking for the one who had disguised himself as a Night Elf and appeared alongside Clotina...
The human messenger.
“What... do you want with him?”
The elder asked with difficulty.
Shadow Blade Lynn's expression became extremely complex.
It was a mixture of anxiety, anger, and even a trace of...
An indescribable urgency.
“That is none of your business.”
Her voice grew even colder.
“Tell me!”
“Where did he go?”
The elder answered truthfully:
“I do not know.”
“He disguised himself as an elf of the Shadow Clan, delivered the letters to us...”
“And left when we were not paying attention.”
Shadow Blade Lynn's gaze darkened, and she turned to leave.
“Wait!”
The elder hurriedly called out to stop her.
“Mad Blade—no... Lynn Shadow.”
He looked at her back with a complex expression, recalling what the fake elf had said.
Hesitating repeatedly, he finally asked:
“Why... did you rejoin the Elven Forest?”
“Could it be for...”
Shadow Blade Lynn whipped her head back.
She sneered.
There was no warmth in her smile, only bone-deep mockery.
“To shelter the survivors of our clan?”
“To protect... our compatriots who suffered this catastrophe?”
She drifted a step closer, her pale purple eyes staring intently at the elder.
“Do not flatter yourselves.”
“The moment you clung like dogs to those stubborn, damnable elders of the Elven Forest...”
“...allowing them to manipulate you at will...”
“...you ceased to be my people!”
Her voice suddenly rose, each word like an icicle:
“You pride yourselves on being the most devout believers of Elune...”
“...yet you dare not use a sharp blade to defend the dignity of the night!”
“All of you!”
“...are nothing but useless trash!”
Her voice faded.
She did not spare the elder another glance. Her soul shadow transformed into a stream of light, merging into the gray mist.
She vanished.
Leaving behind only a dead silence.
And frozen upon the faces of countless spirits...
...was shock, humiliation, and deep sorrow.
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