Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Blackwater City, West Third District, the seventh household in Qingshi Lane.

To the right of the door is a brass mailbox.

This is the address written on the letter.

Lin Gui sat sideways on his staff, skimming low over the broken walls and ruins.

Eve sat quietly behind him, her hands still gently clutching the hem of his robe.

Blackwater was once a prosperous city, but now it is in ruins, though the basic structure of the city is still faintly discernible.

Many of the directional landmarks are legible, though I can barely make out the characters.

Lin Gui checked the address on the envelope and began searching street by street, following the blurry landmarks.

With his staff barely a meter off the ground, Lin Gui rode it through the large city-state of Blackwater.

And this search took almost two hours.

In terms of size, Blackwater was almost four times larger than King Carter.

After all, the border region is not known for the capital of Carter.

The Blackwater Corridor is named after the city of Blackwater.

Its unique location advantage means that it cannot be ordinary.

It borders the Dwarven capital to the north and the Elven Forest to the east.

It is located on the west side of the sea and is a natural harbor.

It can be described as the hub of hubs.

Unfortunately, they encountered the Kuroshio Current.

Finally, it was a once-prosperous city-state that ranked among the top 5 in the continent of Akara.

And so, it became a dead city under the crushing force of the Black Tide.

After searching for a long time, Lin Gui finally found the West Third District in the southwest.

A civilian settlement.

Now all that remains are collapsed houses, overgrown stone paths, and an omnipresent deathly silence.

The staff moved nimbly through the narrow alleyways.

Lin Gui's gaze swept over the rusted, deformed, or simply vanished doors.

They were searching for that "copper mailbox" that might also no longer exist.

"Is there a letter to be delivered to Blackwater City?"

Eve leaned forward slightly, and her voice came from behind her ear.

Eve knew where to send most of Avalon's letters.

I don't recall sending any letters to Blackwater.

Lin Gui nodded, his gaze still sweeping downwards.

"Yes. They appeared on the counter just when I went to the treehouse to look for you."

Eve thought for a moment, then suddenly realized:

"Ah... the one you were planning to 'peek' at?"

The staff suddenly swung!

Lin Gui stumbled and nearly fell.

He steadied himself and retorted seriously:

"That wasn't peeping!"

Eve tilted her head, a sly glint in her purple eyes:

"That's... openly looking?"

Lin Gui knew that this saintess was deliberately teasing him again.

He paused, then suddenly smiled, and said without turning his head:

"Yes."

"Just like you, Eve, who 'blatantly' stood by and 'watched' me and Shea being intimate the whole time."

Perhaps Miss Saint lacks experience in this area.

Sometimes, even Lin Gui felt that she was too much of a third wheel.

Shouldn't you blush and go out to keep watch if something like that happens?

Eve just stood there, covering her eyes with her hands.

However, the gap between them and those striking purple eyes had already exposed her self-deception.

The most bizarre thing is that Xia was in this situation with her best friend right next to her.

He actually used brute force to...

Looking back, it's really hard to know what to say about them.

Is it because of a deep friendship that she doesn't mind, or because she already considers the other person as family?

Lin Gui had just finished speaking.

"..."

There was complete silence behind me.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Gui sensed it.

The hand that had been gently wrapped around his waist suddenly released its grip as if it had been burned.

Eve's fair cheeks flushed bright red in a flash.

Even the tips of her ears were tinged with a light pink.

The scene that morning had a profound impact on her pure heart.

When I was a child, I didn't feel much when I heard the nun talk about her impurity.

But after actually witnessing it with my own eyes...

Eve instinctively released her grip and leaned back slightly.

As if afraid that the person in front might suddenly pounce like a wolf...

...To be precise, like Shia...

"I...I didn't, I didn't peek!"

She argued softly, but her voice lacked conviction.

Lin Gui smiled silently and stopped teasing her.

The staff lowered its height again.

He squinted and looked into the depths of the alley ahead.

Beside a half-collapsed wooden door.

A rusty object, yet its shape is still vaguely discernible...

Copper mailbox.

It hangs quietly on the right side of the crooked door frame.

Lin Gui did not land immediately.

He manipulated his staff and slowly flew around the house once.

The house was low, the roof was mostly collapsed, and the walls were covered with cracks.

Wild grass sprouted from the window frame and the cracks in the bricks, growing to be half a person's height.

He circled back to the main entrance and found a crooked doorplate.

The wood had long since rotted away, and the numbers on it were blurred and difficult to identify.

However, the street sign was lying on the ground, and the three characters "Qingshi Lane" could still be vaguely seen.

The address should be correct.

Lin Gui lowered his staff and came to the half-collapsed wooden door.

He raised his hand, flicked his fingers, and gently knocked on the door.

"knock."

Just this once.

The door groaned under the weight, and then—

"Splash!"

The entire door collapsed inward, raising a cloud of accumulated dust.

Lin Gui silently raised his hand, casting a [Wind Summoning] spell to sweep the smoke and dust aside.

The interior of the building is clearly visible.

Empty and dilapidated.

The roof beams hung askew, and broken tiles and dirt were piled on the ground.

Spiderwebs were growing in the corner, and there was no furniture or signs of life on the wall.

"Looks like we've come to the wrong place."

Eve's voice came from some distance behind me.

She pointed to the remains of a wooden table inside the room, completely covered in dust and almost rotten.

"This place has clearly been uninhabited for a long time."

"No one lives here, so who should the letter be sent to? And how should it be signed for?"

Lin Gui was also quite puzzled.

He had thought that there might still be a few survivors hidden in the ruins of Blackwater.

But along the way, they encountered no other trace of human presence.

Even the church where bounty hunters used to gather is now deserted.

Compared to this, Lin Gui suddenly noticed something else.

He turned to look at Eve.

The other person was standing by the broken wall, a good twenty meters away from him.

"..." Lin Gui couldn't help but complain, "Why are you standing so far away from me?"

Eve looked very serious:

"This is a safe and respectful distance that beautiful women deserve."

Lin Gui rolled his eyes:

"At this distance, if something happens, it's difficult for me to go and protect you."

Eve smiled slyly upon hearing this:

"Maybe... I should be the one protecting you, little mage."

Lin Gui: "..."

"So, those of lower rank have to be called 'junior mages'?"

Lin Gui shook his head helplessly.

This nickname has almost become his exclusive moniker.

However, Eve was right just now; there are no signs of life here.

He probably went to the wrong place.

The system requirement is to "deliver it to the recipient".

If the recipient is a "person", then they must be a living person.

But there are no living people here.

Lin Gui could only control the staff and prepared to search the vicinity again.

Just then—

"Thump."

A dull, soft sound.

Suddenly, it came from inside the deathly silent house.