Inside the post office, the light was dim.
Shadow Blade Lynn sat relaxed on a guest chair, her posture easy as if she were the master of the place.
Her long legs were crossed, fingertips lightly tapping out a rhythm against her knee.
Eve sat beside Lin Gui, her body slightly tense.
Her purple eyes were lowered, resting on their joined hands.
Even now, Lin Gui had not let go of her hand.
Lin Gui held it tightly, his knuckles even turning somewhat white.
Shadow Blade Lynn's gaze lingered on their hands for a moment before she suddenly smiled.
“I truly didn't expect this...”
She dragged out her voice, her tone laced with playful teasing.
“For the Holy Saintess of the Holy Church of Light to actually fall for...”
Her eyes shifted toward Lin Gui, her smile deepening.
“...a little mage who hasn't even reached Transcendent rank.”
“You know, the requirements in the Holy Scripture of Light for a Saintess to 'remain pure and chaste'...”
“...are written out quite clearly.”
She tilted her head, her tone exaggerated with mock surprise.
“Among all the past Saintesses, which one wasn't famous for being as pure as ice and clean as jade?”
“Even us elves might not measure up to that.”
“To let a man hold your hand like this...”
She chuckled softly.
“...already says everything, doesn't it?”
Eve didn't look up; her fingertips merely curled in slightly.
Yet Shadow Blade Lynn suddenly shifted the topic, her gaze falling upon Eve's chest.
As a spirit, she could clearly see it.
There, what should have been a complete heart-soul was missing a massive piece.
“However...”
Her voice lowered, carrying a conviction that bordered on cruelty.
“You probably don't have much longer to live, do you?”
“Especially after drawing upon the power of the Hall of Heroic Spirits to fight me.”
“You might have had another ten-plus years originally.”
“But now... three years at most.”
As she spoke, she turned to look at Lin Gui with a teasing expression.
She wanted to find shock, pain, or anger on his face.
Any of the reactions she anticipated.
However, Lin Gui merely stared back at her expressionlessly.
His voice was as calm as if discussing the weather.
“Can we talk business now?”
Shadow Blade Lynn raised an eyebrow.
Immediately after, she met the gray eyes that were fixed upon her.
Understanding dawned in her mind.
How could someone who could clearly perceive soul forms...
...fail to notice the anomaly in his girl's chest?
She stretched slightly and leaned back into the chair.
“Don't humans usually exchange pleasantries before talking business?”
She chuckled softly.
“Looks like our little mage is quite impatient.”
“Fine then.”
She sighed, her tone casual.
“Sigh, do you have any idea how far I had to travel just to find you?”
“From Shadowmoon City to Gloomlight Forest, and then to Mirror-Shadow City...”
“I couldn't catch you anywhere.”
“I thought that rather than searching blindly, I might as well head directly to the source of the letters—Blackwater City.”
“And sure enough, before long, you two came back on your own.”
Lin Gui cut in:
“Did you kill Alyia?”
Shadow Blade Lynn paused, caught off guard.
Then, looking at Lin Gui, a wide grin broke across her face.
“That's right.”
She gave a crisp answer, laced with a hint of boastful malice.
“I killed Alyia.”
“I killed all the elven spirits in Shadowmoon City.”
“I killed those elven slaves who were branded with marks of shame.”
“I killed every single coward in Gloomlight Forest.”
She paused, adopting a tone of regret.
“Too bad time was tight; otherwise, those back at Deepwood Outpost...”
“...I wouldn't have spared a single one of them either.”
The bloody aura in her words was almost overwhelming.
However, Lin Gui wasn't frightened at all.
Because in all probability, these were all lies.
Shadow Blade Lynn likely hadn't realized...
...that Lin Gui and Eve had doubled back later.
From the flying vessel, he had witnessed with his own eyes the scene of the elves in Gloomlight Forest welcoming their kin back.
Therefore, Shadow Blade Lynn's claims about killing all the spirits were complete nonsense.
Furthermore, if the old man's account of the Night Elves' plight was true...
...and combined with the rumors, the "Mad Blade" before him...
...might not be as purely bloodthirsty as she appeared on the surface.
Lin Gui nodded, his tone flat:
“Fine then. So after going to all this trouble to find me, what exactly do you want?”
Shadow Blade Lynn gave a small smile.
She glanced out the window.
Outside, rows of glass beads were crowded together, "peeking" inside.
Swept by her gaze, the soul beads hurriedly pulled back.
Then, feeling there was no need to be afraid, they leaned back over one after another.
They all "stared" back at her coldly in unison.
Shadow Blade Lynn withdrew her gaze.
“How do you view...”
Her fingertips tapped lightly against her knee.
“...these 'neither dead nor alive' spirits outside?”
“And what about the soul beads that can bestow a 'second life'?”
Lin Gui looked at the floating soul bead in her palm—the one belonging to her.
“All I know is that these vessels capable of preserving complete souls...”
“...all originate from that Demigod who triggered 'The Silent End.'”
Shadow Blade Lynn's smile deepened.
“Then what do you think...”
She leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping lower.
“...that demon deity's goal was in doing this?”
“What was the purpose?”
“No purpose.”
Lin Gui answered flatly.
He had actually tried overlaying various conspiracy theories onto the situation before.
However, the sheer existence of a Demigod outweighed all suspicion.
An entity at that level had zero reason...
...to do such a thing to commoners who hadn't even reached Transcendent rank.
Beside him, Eve, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly recalled something.
She remembered the Soul-Devouring Lord in the Wailing Corridor who had charged at the enemy to escort them.
She remembered the numerous inexplicable oddities within the Wall of Sighs.
The mist had never invaded the city-states, nor had spectral demons ever set foot inside.
She remembered how, when the Dark Tide descended, glass beads silently rained down upon every citizen.
A conjecture involuntarily slipped past her lips:
“Could it be... that the Demigod of 'The Silent End'...”
“...actually didn't want to harm the people?”
“So...”
Before she could finish her sentence, even she paused.
A trace of bewilderment rose in her eyes.
This Dark Tide that resulted in the deaths of tens of millions across seventeen city-states...
...wasn't it triggered by that very Demigod?
Benevolence?
Using such a word for a being that brought destruction...
...even she found it absurd.
Yet Eve's nearly outlandish remark did not meet with the expected refutation.
Because Lin Gui... actually thought the exact same thing.
And Shadow Blade Lynn merely smiled, her expression turning somewhat strange.
“The truth... might really be just that.”
She spoke in a low voice, her tone impossible to tell whether it was mocking or serious.
Lin Gui dragged the topic back on track.
“So, what does this have to do with you tracking us down?”
Shadow Blade Lynn looked up, putting that smile back on her face.
“The connection is...”
She opened her palm, where the pale purple soul bead floated quietly.
“Whether it's me, the spirits outside, or the spectral demons wandering within the Wall...”
“...we are all trapped inside these tiny beads.”
“Once the bead shatters, the soul dissipates.”
She paused, her voice softening slightly.
“Even for someone like me, who has cultivated to Transcendent rank...”
“...it's the exact same.”
“And these beads originate from a demon Demigod.”
She looked at Lin Gui, a faint haze flickering deep within her purple eyes.
“I know nothing about Him. That is the risk.”
“What if one day, sleeping deep within the Voiceless Abyss, He...”
“...suddenly remembers us 'small fry'...”
She didn't finish her sentence, but Lin Gui understood.
“So you want to break free from your reliance on the bead?”
Yet Shadow Blade Lynn shook her head.
She stared at Lin Gui, her smile gradually fading away.
In those eyes that were always soaked in mockery and cold arrogance...
...for the first time, a nearly naked, pure longing surfaced.
“No.”
She said softly, pronouncing every single word clearly.
“I... want to live.”
“Like you, possessing a body of flesh and blood, freely exercising the right to control my own life.”
“Rather than entrusting my existence... to a bead whose safety no one can guarantee.”
She leaned forward slightly, soul light flickering in her eyes.
“I want...”
“...Resurrection.”
Rate on N.U.
