Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

"According to your statement..."

Lin Gui put away the scroll and looked at Eve.

"You seem quite confident in surviving the 'Sign of the Warrior'?"

His tone was calm, yet he pointed out a chilling truth.

"Since the Demon God descended to earth, there have been nineteen Black Tides and nineteen heroes."

"Nearly a hundred elites from various races embarked on their journey to the Demon God's Fortress."

"In the end, fewer than ten people returned alive."

He paused, his gaze falling on Eve's face.

"And the saintess... is the primary target."

"The survival rate has been alarmingly low throughout the years."

"I remember that out of the nineteen attempts, only one saint returned alive."

"The first Saintess, Cecilia."

Eve listened quietly, her face remaining expressionless.

Lin Gui continued, his voice carrying a hint of inquiry:

"And that first saintess, it seems, later... disappeared without a trace."

"Rumors say that she went into seclusion after her return, while others say that she has already passed away."

"Her identity and fate became taboo within the church."

Eve simply smiled gently after hearing this.

That smile lacked the ethereal quality of a saint, and also her usual cunning.

There was only an almost stubborn, icy calm.

"Without witnessing it firsthand..."

She slightly raised her eyes, and there seemed to be an undercurrent flowing in the depths of her purple eyes.

"Before you trample that Pope under your feet..."

She spoke clearly, word by word.

"I will not die."

"Then you'll probably have to wait a long time."

Lin Gui shook his head and put the scroll away.

The Pope of Light, mid-tier Epic strength.

The problem wasn't him personally, but the vast and deeply entrenched power behind him.

When Lin Gui is finally strong enough to fight against an epic, he will face far more than just one epic.

However, that's a story for another time.

The mission was bizarre, but the reward was already in hand.

Lin Gui was not the kind of person who would delve into the details of things.

He turned around, ready to leave the ruins with Eve.

Just as he stepped out of the door—

A sudden chill ran down my spine.

Lin Gui looked up in astonishment.

A dusty, gray brick with old stains on its edges.

He fell straight down through the gap in the half-collapsed roof beam above him.

Precisely, she met his raised face.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

The brick made intimate contact with his forehead.

Lin Gui couldn't even utter a cry of surprise.

Suddenly everything went black, and countless golden stars exploded before my eyes.

Then, consciousness sank into darkness.

"thump."

He fell straight backward, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

The dizziness was swift and decisive.

He had been in a deep sleep for an unknown amount of time.

In his dazed state, Lin Gui heard Eve's worried whisper.

There were also some... random, subtle noises.

It sounded like a child trying to suppress a laugh, an adult speaking in a low voice, and even a few soft meows.

He rubbed his throbbing forehead and slowly opened his eyes.

My first thought was: This is outrageous.

He's always the one who hits people with bricks, but today he was actually knocked down by a brick that fell from who-knows-where?

What's even stranger is that he had thoroughly investigated the area using Wind Listening and Magic Perception before he collapsed.

There was no other living creature in or outside the house except Eve and him.

Did this brick... appear out of thin air?

It can't be a coincidence, can it?

He rubbed his forehead, which was swollen with a bump, and struggled to sit up.

Only then did I realize that I was resting my head on a soft, warm thigh.

A faint, sweet fragrance, belonging to Eve, lingered around my nose.

"You're awake?"

Eve's voice came from above, carrying concern, and a hint of... barely concealed strangeness and unease.

"Um... we have 'business' coming in."

Business?

Lin Gui was completely bewildered.

The post office is in Avalon, so where would business come from in this godforsaken place like Blackwater?

However, he began to hear some faint "sounds".

Chirping and chattering, fragmented and chaotic:

"It's him! He's the one who brought me here!"

"He also opened a post office to deliver mail for people, earning only 7 copper coins!"

"Wow, this is the first time I've ever seen a human with black hair and black eyes! How amazing!"

"Everyone, please be quiet! If you scare him, we won't be able to ask him to deliver the message for us..."

"Didn't you all notice? This human woman is so beautiful, more beautiful than any girl I've ever seen..."

"His purple eyes are like those of a starry sky."

"She seems to be a pastor. Could we ask her to perform a ritual for us?"

"......."

Lin Gui looked around in astonishment.

It was late at night, and only the [Glimmer] spell emanating from Eve's fingertips dispelled the limited darkness.

Ruins, broken walls, and deserted streets.

There wasn't even a ghost in sight!

Where are these sounds coming from?!

He suddenly remembered that in Bounty City, the dwarven envoy Blackbeard had casually mentioned something—

Blackwater City is said to be haunted.

At the time, he thought it was just a silly rumor, but now...

Lin Gui frowned, no longer hesitating.

A gray light flickered in his eyes, and the [Eye of the Netherworld] was instantly activated!

The instant the field of vision shifts—

"Aaaaaahh ...

"It's a messenger! The messenger from the underworld has arrived!!"

"Run!!"

A series of terrified, shrill, and horrifying screams suddenly erupted!

Immediately afterwards, Lin Gui saw it.

Several pale blue, semi-transparent humans in various shapes were huddled behind the broken window frame opposite.

The moment he "saw" them, they jumped up like startled rabbits.

Transforming into blurry streaks of light, they disappeared into the walls, floors, and shadows outside with a few "whoosh" sounds.

They vanished without a trace.

Only a few tiny fragments of soul light, like the tails of fireflies, remained, slowly drifting away.

Lin Gui: "..."

He remained frozen in place, his Netherworld Eyes still activated.

Holy crap, this is unbelievable.

"After it got completely dark..."

Eve's voice was soft, tinged with lingering confusion.

"And then they appeared."

She looked down at Lin Gui, who was resting his head on her lap, and began to recount what had happened after he fainted.

"At first, I felt 'being watched'."

"Many... curious, cautious 'gazes'."

"Look over from the cracks in the wall, the holes in the floor, the shadows outside the window..."

Then, I heard a sound.

"It was those... hushed whispers from just now."

"At first it was blurry, like the wind blowing through a crack."

"Later, it became clearer and clearer."

She paused, seemingly still processing the strange feeling.

"They seem to be... talking about you."

"Let's discuss your post office, your letters, and your... hair and eye color."

"It also mentioned... 'delivering a letter' and '7 copper coins'."

Actually, Eve wasn't afraid when she first heard the voice appear out of nowhere.

She thought they were some wandering ghosts.

Within the Wailing Wall, ghosts are all too common.

But the problem is...

These 'ghosts' are ridiculously intelligent.

They were just like real, living people.

Just then.

"It was...it was me who told them."

A weak, childlike, and somewhat timid female voice suddenly came from the direction of the window frame in the ruins.

"Don't be angry..."

"They just...want to ask you for help."

Lin Gui and Eve turned their heads to look at the same time.

A pale blue, semi-transparent little girl's figure could be seen cautiously peeking out half of her head from behind the broken windowsill.

She looked about seven or eight years old and had two thin braids.

She was wearing a faded, outdated floral dress.

At this moment, her eyes, which were also gleaming faintly, were secretly glancing at Lin Gui.

His eyes were filled with undisguised fear.

Especially when her gaze met Lin Gui's ghostly eyes, which still shimmered with a gray light.

She visibly trembled, like a frightened little animal.

But she stubbornly refused to back down.

He repeated it again in a voice barely audible:

"They...are not bad 'people'."

"real."