After leaving Whitecliff City, Lin Gui switched to the flying vessel.
It was the same flying vessel, charred black and with a cracked exterior from the demon fire pillar.
The surface was heavily damaged, but core components like the wind pressure cannon inside were unharmed.
It could still fly at high speed.
In the night, the flying vessel became a blurry black shadow, silently streaking across the sky.
Below them was Wind-Whisper Canyon.
The valley was long and narrow, with towering rock walls on both sides.
The wind rushed in from the canyon mouth, colliding and swirling between the rock walls, creating a whistling sound.
It sounded as if countless people were whispering.
This was the origin of the name "Wind-Whisper Canyon."
Demon activity in this geographical area was not low.
But the flying vessel's speed was too fast.
Before those demons even had a chance to look up, the black shadow had already swept across the sky.
Disappearing into the distant night.
In a short time, they had crossed dozens of kilometers.
Lin Gui slowed down, consulting the Golden Route map to find a safe outpost at the end of the canyon terrain.
The map was clearly marked.
Each outpost was theorized and marked by the pioneering team based on the local demon activity levels.
In theory, these outpost locations guaranteed safety for a certain period.
The flying vessel slowed to a normal speed.
Lin Gui reached out and took the four wooden boxes out of his storage space.
Freeing up the storage space.
Then he put the entire flying vessel into it.
He stepped onto his oak staff and reached out to catch Elvia, who looked utterly bewildered.
“Let’s go.”
The staff floated up, flying towards the outpost marked on the map.
They drifted along, eventually arriving at a corner of a cliff.
It was a patch of green grassland, covered with short wild grass, glowing faintly silver under the moonlight.
Next to it was a giant rock that had fallen from the cliff, leaning diagonally against the cliff face, forming a natural crevice.
Lin Gui surveyed the terrain and nodded.
He waved his hand.
Novice magic, Soil Loosening.
The soil began to loosen and sink.
Stones were pushed aside, and grass was overturned.
Under Lin Gui's continuous mana output, an underground pit quickly formed.
Six meters deep, ten meters wide.
That was enough.
The four giant wooden boxes were the first to be put inside.
Lin Gui brought Elvia floating in.
Then he raised his hand and cast Grass Growth.
The soil at the entrance of the cave began to solidify again, and grass spread, completely covering all traces.
Glimmer lit up.
A soft white light illuminated the entire cave.
After everything was set, Lin Gui looked around and began taking things out of his storage space.
Beds.
Two of them.
Soft quilts, pillows.
Pots, pans, and dishes neatly stacked in the corner.
Washing supplies, towels, soap pods, a wooden comb.
Folding tables and chairs, unfolded and placed in the center.
For aesthetics, he even had a grass blanket grow inside the cave, covering the earthen walls.
Tender green grass leaves extended from the walls, swaying gently in the dim light.
Lin Gui snapped his fingers.
Novice magic, Flower Growth.
A few unknown small flowers bloomed among the grass blanket.
White, yellow, purple.
Scattered like stars on the green background.
The cave instantly gained a touch of wild charm.
Elvia stood aside, staring dumbfounded.
She had seen Lin Gui perform this trick before.
In Molan Hills, he had created a cave shelter in the same way.
But...
She looked around.
Beds, quilts, tables and chairs, pots and pans, washing supplies.
Grass-covered walls, scattered small flowers.
And those two neatly folded quilts, with a small bouquet of dried flowers even placed by the pillows.
Back then, he wasn't this extravagant.
It was almost as lavish as those themed hotels where nobles 'experience life.'
A Wilderness Hotel?
Elvia's mouth twitched.
She recalled the journey following that tough female adventure group, from Dragonbone City to Whitecliff City.
They walked the entire way on foot.
Carrying heavy burdens, their shoulders chafed raw.
To avoid demons, they deliberately detoured.
A straight-line distance of less than a thousand meters, yet they had circled for over a hundred times that distance.
They walked day and night.
Tired, they would nap under a tree; hungry, they would gnaw on hard, dog-killing black bread.
When it rained, there was nowhere to hide, so they just got drenched.
When demons came, there was nowhere to hide, so they just ran.
And Lin Gui...
In one night, in just three hours, he had traversed a distance that would have taken them a week to cover.
And he did it flying on a flying vessel.
Upon arriving, he even had a bed to sleep in, a blanket to cover himself, and hot food to eat.
Elvia felt an extreme imbalance in her heart, yet also immense gratitude.
She thought, I really followed the right person; now I finally don't have to endure that torturous way of travel anymore.
Lin Gui sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed, recovering his mana.
He opened his eyes and glanced at Elvia, who was secretly tearing up:
“I still need to recover some mana.”
“If you’re tired, just rest directly.”
He paused.
“Oh, and if you’re bored...”
“There are storybooks on the low cabinet.”
“And other books too.”
“You can use them to pass the time.”
He pointed to the low cabinet that had appeared out of thin air in the corner.
On the cabinet, a row of books was neatly stacked.
There were novels, travelogues, miscellaneous essays, and thick books on magic.
Thick and thin, over a dozen books.
Elvia inwardly praised Lin Gui.
Even a boring journey could be enjoyed by reading.
It seemed that once she reached the next city-state, she needed to buy more things for her own enjoyment.
Elvia chuckled softly and found her own supply box.
Inside the box were the clothes she had asked Lin Gui to procure in Whitecliff City, neatly folded.
She pulled out a silk nightgown from it.
Under the moonlight, the silk fabric shimmered faintly with a pearlescent sheen.
Turning her back to Lin Gui, Elvia smiled alluringly.
She rustled as she changed.
Her movements were light, but in the quiet cave, every subtle sound was clearly audible.
The sound of fabric rubbing against skin.
The sound of ties being gently tightened.
She turned around.
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the grass curtain overhead, falling upon her.
The silk nightgown clung to her body, outlining her slender waist and soft curves.
The neckline was cut low, revealing delicate white skin below her collarbones.
Her golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, glowing softly in the dim light.
Her face appeared exceptionally delicate in the moonlight, her eyes holding a lazy, charming allure.
Elvia walked to the other bed and pulled back the covers.
The quilt was one she had bought at great expense.
Hand-stitched by the best tailors in Whitecliff City, filled with goose down imported from the North.
One quilt cost three thousand gold coins.
The pillows were even more expensive, five thousand for a pair.
The mattress was filled with horsehair, wrapped in soft cotton fabric, and lying on it felt like sinking into clouds.
She had used this kind of bedding back in the Carter Royal Capital.
She was used to it.
Lin Gui's bed, however, had commoner bedding.
Rough cloth, stiff and lumpy to lie on.
The quilt was so thin it was almost transparent, and the pillow was flat as a pancake.
Elvia didn't understand why Lin Gui refused to improve his living conditions.
Many of his belongings were incredibly old.
That coarse mage robe, washed countless times, had frayed cuffs.
That oak staff, used for an unknown number of years, had been polished shiny.
She had gone through Lin Gui's clothes.
Most were incredibly old.
Completely unlike what one would expect of a High-tier High Rank mage.
After her relationship with Lin Gui began in Whitecliff City, she had even suggested buying him some comfortable clothes.
Lin Gui refused.
What was his reason again?
"I'm used to wearing them."
Just that one sentence.
Elvia didn't understand.
She guessed that it might be some kind of psychological abnormality of his.
Just like those who climbed from the bottom, they always carried obsessions that others couldn't comprehend.
After comfortably lounging on her bed for a while,
Elvia got up from her bed.
Now that they were in the wilderness, there was no one for several kilometers around.
It was time to ask him some of the questions she had kept hidden in her heart.
Barefoot, she stepped on the soft grass blanket.
Elvia walked to Lin Gui's bed.
Lin Gui sat cross-legged, eyes closed, meditating.
His breathing was steady, his chest rising and falling slowly.
Elvia climbed onto the bed and lay across his folded legs.
Her head rested on his knee.
Her movements were natural, as if she had done this many times before.
Lin Gui didn't open his eyes.
Nor did he dodge.
The cave fell silent.
Only the buzzing sound of the Glimmer spell and the distant, faint sound of the wind from Wind-Whisper Canyon could be heard.
Elvia looked up.
A few strands of moonlight filtered through the gaps in the grass curtain.
Fine and silvery-white.
She stared at those moonbeams for a long time.
Then she spoke, her voice very soft:
“Lin Gui.”
“Hmm?”
“We’re in the wilderness now; no one can hear what we say to each other.”
She paused.
“So, can you tell me?”
“Your goal, our plan to overthrow the Alliance...”
“And your... trump card.”
Her voice was very calm.
But it carried a careful earnestness.
She had kept these questions hidden for a very, very long time.
Lin Gui's letter-delivering actions back in Caran City had been exceptionally strange.
She had met many people with odd personalities and bizarre hobbies.
But this was the first time she had seen someone like Lin Gui, who carried out letter delivery to such an extent.
He took enormous risks to deliver letters to bottom-tier people who held no power.
What exactly was his purpose?
If he were delivering letters to merchants, or even adventurers...
She could find a motive for Lin Gui's actions, like "courting the lower strata of society."
Just as she had done in the Carter Royal Capital.
But...
Lin Gui's targets were refugees, commoners.
The truly bottom-tier.
During the letter collection process, she could see Lin Gui's regard for them.
To put it bluntly...
His attitude towards those people was far better than his attitude towards her.
Yet...
She knew all too well the status of refugees and commoners in the apocalyptic city-states.
With their restricted range of activity, their output simply couldn't match the city-state's consumption of food.
Nobles called them "city-state parasites" and "worthless weeds."
Though exaggerated and insulting.
If one only considered profit and disregarded human morality...
It was indeed true.
They consumed food but produced no equivalent value.
They occupied space but could not provide sufficient protection for the city-state.
They just lived, merely existing.
Without any rights, without any power.
Simply being alive was already the city-state's greatest mercy.
Why would Lin Gui take such great risks for these people?
Elvia couldn't understand.
She had too many questions.
So many that even though she had joined Lin Gui's team and intended to help him achieve his goals...
Even now, she didn't know what Lin Gui's plan was.
She buried her face in Lin Gui's lap, her voice muffled:
“I’ve given my body to you.”
“I’ve given my life to you too.”
“So...”
She looked up, gazing at Lin Gui’s profile.
Moonlight fell into her golden eyes, reflecting a small, blurry shadow.
“Lin Gui.”
“I want to hear your honest answer.”
The cave remained silent for a long time.
The light of the Glimmer spell flickered gently in the corner.
The wind outside the grass curtain drifted in, sometimes near, sometimes far.
Lin Gui opened his eyes.
He looked at the cave's ceiling, at the earth covered by the grass blanket.
The few small flowers were still gently swaying.
He didn't look at Elvia.
He remained silent for a very long time.
So long that Elvia thought he wouldn't answer.
Then he spoke.
His voice was very soft and calm.
He didn't answer Elvia directly.
Instead, he asked a seemingly unrelated question:
“In your opinion...”
“Why did the Spark Revolution fail?”
Elvia was stunned for a moment.
Then she chuckled.
Her smile carried an air of self-evident disdain:
“Why would it fail?”
“How could an organization without even a single Legendary resist the mighty Alliance?”
Afterward, she had investigated that revolution which had shaken the entire Alliance.
She found that the Spark organization’s weakness was surprising to her.
It was only slightly stronger than Caesar’s rebels.
Elvia sighed:
“I don’t even know why the Alliance dispatched the Black Dragon Army for this...”
She stopped mid-sentence.
Suddenly, she froze.
That’s right.
Why?
Since the enemy was so weak,
Why did they go to such great lengths, like a lion hunting a rabbit?
To crush it, they mobilized the Alliance’s strongest military force—the Black Dragon Army.
Then they purged countless people, wave after wave.
Even now, three years later, they were still relentlessly pursuing and annihilating them.
It was like a lion dealing with a rabbit.
Killing it with all its might.
And not only reducing it to dust, but also throwing all its shredded flesh into the lava, obliterating all traces.
For a lion to go to such an extreme...
There could only be one reason.
The lion perceived a threat in the rabbit?!
Elvia’s eyes widened dramatically.
She shot up, her voice changed pitch:
“You mean...”
“The Alliance, regarding the Spark Revolution...”
“Saw the risk of its own downfall?”
Her voice was somewhat broken.
Looking at Elvia's shocked face, Lin Gui gave a cold smile:
“Yes.”
“They perceived it.”
“And I perceived it too.”
“Only those who started that revolution...”
“Failed to notice.”
Lin Gui’s eyes held a hint of elusive melancholy.
Elvia gulped, swallowing hard:
“Then... then what was it?”
Lin Gui leaned in.
He moved close to Elvia’s ear.
His lips almost brushed her earlobe.
He whispered something.
The sound was very soft.
And as Lin Gui spoke, when she heard what the Alliance truly feared,
Elvia’s pupils constricted violently.
She froze completely.
Motionless.
As if under a Stasis spell.
Lin Gui finished speaking and pulled back.
He leaned against the headboard, watching her.
Elvia sat there, her entire body pale.
Cold sweat seeped from her forehead and streamed down her cheeks.
Her fingers trembled, clutching the corner of the blanket, her knuckles turning white.
Her gaze was fixed on Lin Gui as if he were a monster, a madman.
Lin Gui smiled faintly:
“So, Elvia...”
“Do you understand now why I opened a post office?”
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