Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Lin Gui manipulated his staff, slowly descending among the low hills on the edge of the wasteland.

The team landed.

Elvia jumped off her staff and dusted off her robes.

Morgan approached them, leaning on his staff.

Cedric and Freeman each put down their heavy bags and stretched their shoulders.

Hewlett stood on the perimeter, scanning the surroundings to make sure it was safe.

Lin Gui put away his staff, stood still, and scanned the group of people with his gaze.

Let's part ways here.

He looked at Hewlett, took a package from his pocket, and handed it to him.

It was the messenger bag that Elvia gave him.

"Please have Lord Hewlett deliver the letter inside."

"This is very important to me."

Hewlett took the messenger bag and glanced down at it.

The package was bulging and stuffed with yellowed letters.

Some of the lettering on the cover is blurred, while some is still clearly legible.

The recipients' addresses are all located in four places.

Dragonbone City, White Cliff City, Watchtower Fortress, and Deadwood Town.

I recalled the mail delivery route map hanging outside the post office.

Out of curiosity, Cedric asked Elvia about the post office and why the Forest Ghost had attacked the local nobles.

He looked up at Lin Gui, his expression somewhat complicated.

Now that he is the new tycoon known as the Undying Sun, all the merchants and nobles in the alliance want to curry favor with him, he is still focused on delivering letters to these refugees.

Hewlett chuckled softly.

"In the name of the knight, I will deliver it to them."

He slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and nodded to Lin Gui.

After explaining the matter of the letter, Lin Gui's gaze passed over Hewlett and landed on the black-haired figure beside him.

Eileen.

She didn't stand on the opposite side, but stood beside them.

He held the staff in his hand, his expression calm, as if he had never intended to go in Hewlett's direction from the beginning.

"Miss Eileen, are you planning to come with us?"

Eileen nodded.

"My magic can help you."

"Furthermore, once you arrive in Thousand Pagodas, you'll need a local to assist you, and I'm a good fit for that role."

Lin Gui looked at her and remained silent for a moment.

"You finally escaped from there, are you sure you want to go back?"

"Moreover, you are now a member of the Undying Sun, and the news will soon reach the Thousand Towers."

"If you come with us, the Ross family might use this against you."

He paused for a moment.

"Or do you mean... you want the Dragon King to return?"

Eileen tilted her head, her dark eyes filled with confusion.

"What is the Dragon King?"

Lin Gui coughed awkwardly.

"Ahem... In short, if you go back, the Ross family will treat you as an honored guest and will do everything they can to keep you here."

"Are you sure you still want to come with us?"

"And actually, I also stayed in Qianta for a period of time before."

Eileen was silent for a moment, frowned and thought for a while, and finally sighed.

"All right."

She looked up at Lin Gui, her tone serious.

"Please make sure to rescue Levy."

Lin Gui nodded.

"I will."

After dealing with Hewlett and Irene, Cedric stepped forward.

He patted Lin Gui on the shoulder.

When that rough, large hand landed on Lin Gui's shoulder, it carried a heavy warmth.

"I've been in such a rush that I haven't had a chance to properly thank you for your kindness."

He smiled, a rare gentleness in his blood-red eyes.

"When we meet again, let's have a good drink, Brother Lin Gui."

Freeman stood to the side and, unusually, smiled.

Although the smile was faint, and the corners of his mouth only twitched slightly, he spoke, his voice not loud, but very clear.

"Just like him."

Lin Gui laughed too.

"Yes."

He paused for a moment, as if he was seriously thinking about something.

"Perhaps by the time you arrive in Dragonbone City, I will have already cleared Dragonbone Mountain."

It sounded like a joke, but everyone present wore a subtle expression upon hearing it.

One morning I flew from Kumu Town to Tongmen City, and one night I flew from Tongmen City to Dongti Fort and back.

Lin Gui's jokes, when applied to him, were surprisingly convincing.

Cedric scratched the back of his head and chuckled dryly.

"Then it seems we need to speed things up."

He patted Lin Gui on the shoulder again, this time a little lighter than before.

Cedric turned around and waved to Freeman and Hewlett.

"Let's go."

The three of them turned around, each shouldered their luggage, and started walking north.

After taking a few steps, Cedric stopped and looked back at the silver-haired figure beside Lin Gui.

Morgan.

Morgan looked up at him.

Cedric's lips moved slightly, and then he uttered the words.

"Take care of yourself."

Freeman and Hewlett also stopped.

Freeman didn't turn around, but just slightly turned his head, as if he had memorized those two words.

Hewlett turned around, placed his right hand on his chest, and gave Morgan a brief knightly salute.

Morgan stood beside Lin Gui, his short, silver-white hair fluttering in the wind, his blood-red eyes reflecting the silhouettes of the three people.

He smiled.

"You are the same."

Cedric withdrew his gaze, turned back, and then left with Eileen and the other two.

The four figures gradually receded into the distance at the edge of the wasteland, growing smaller and smaller until they finally disappeared behind the undulating outline of the low hills.

I watched them leave.

Lin Gui withdrew his gaze and looked at Morgan beside him, the half-demon leader who had been silent all along and should have been leading Cedric and the others away.

"Mr. Morgan, you shouldn't have stayed."

His voice wasn't loud, but his tone was very firm.

"I've already had Elvia investigate Levy's situation."

"The route of the Morning Star caravan has been confirmed. I will rescue her with Elvia in the city-state where they are staying."

"There's plenty of time."

Morgan turned her head to look at him, but did not reply.

Lin Gui continued.

"Although that caravan's route did not overlap with ours, the distance between the city-states that eventually approached the Thousand Towers was not far."

Morgan paused for a moment, then smiled.

The smile was faint, like a thin mask.

"Now that Levy has been rescued, someone needs to escort her to catch up with Leia and the others, right?"

This reason was not convincing to Lin Gui.

You could easily switch to another legendary escort.

Freeman can, and so can Cedric.

The most suitable candidate is Hewlett, who is human.

Anyone is fine, but Morgan is the only one who cannot be.

Even if they catch up with Levy, they will be very close to the Thousand Towers.

Morgan's identity is too special. Even though he is a member of the Undying Sun, he still tries to avoid the Thousand Towers as much as possible.

Lin Gui and Elvia exchanged a glance, both seeing the same confusion in each other's eyes.

Morgan has been acting strangely ever since he came out of the Deadwood Wasteland.

It was hard to describe the feeling, but the way he spoke, the rhythm of his actions, and the length of time he would sometimes space out all revealed something unusual.

What's even more odd is Cedric's tone when he said goodbye.

It felt like... a final farewell.

Lin Gui didn't ask any further questions, but just looked at Morgan.

Morgan offered no explanation.

He turned around and started walking.

"Let's go, I'll lead the way."

Lin Gui and Elvia followed him.

After taking a few steps, Lin Gui frowned.

He glanced at the direction, then at the distant horizon, and spoke.

"Mr. Morgan, you've come to the wrong place."

"This isn't the way to Duskwood."

Morgan did not turn back.

He neither quickened nor slowed his pace, maintaining the same rhythm as he walked north.

Lin Gui paused for a moment, then followed.

Elvia's hand was already on the hilt of her sword, her golden eyes sweeping back and forth between Morgan's back and the Forest Ghost.

But she didn't say anything, she just silently followed closely.

Morgan walked ahead, through a patch of low bushes, around a few scattered boulders, and across a dry riverbed.

The wasteland stretched to the horizon in the afternoon sun, with withered yellow grass and grayish-white pebbles interspersed.

Then Lin Gui realized something was wrong.

It's too quiet.

There were no insects chirping, no birds singing, and most importantly...

There are no demons.

Lin Gui slowed his pace.

He looked around.

As far as the eye could see, there was no trace of any demonic activity.

There were no footprints, no feces, and no remains of gnawed plants.

This wasteland was so clean it looked as if it had been carefully cleaned by something.

The wilderness surrounding Tongmen City, while not a high-risk area, shouldn't be so desolate.

Even the weakest low-level demons should have a few roaming around nearby.

There was nothing there.

Elvia noticed it too.

Her gaze fell on the desolate wasteland, her lips slightly pursed.

The only thing capable of creating this demonic vacuum is...

She looked at Lin Gui with a questioning look in her eyes.

Lin Gui shook his head, his voice very low.

"There can't be any epic demons nearby."

"This is the wilderness outside Copper Gate City."

But his fingers had already gripped the staff at his waist.

A chilling sensation grew closer, like a thin needle slowly moving along his back.

Morgan remained ahead, his pace and direction unchanged.

He ventured deep into the wilderness, crossed a scree slope, and circled around several twisted, withered trees.

They finally stopped in front of a relatively flat open space.

A person was sitting in the open space.

Lin Gui's gaze passed over Morgan's shoulder and landed on that figure, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Sitting there was the Deputy Chief of Staff, Aldrick.

He sat cross-legged on a flat rock, his hands resting on his knees, gazing calmly ahead like a silent statue.

He didn't look at Morgan, nor at Lin Gui; his gaze was fixed on something further away.

Then Lin Gui saw it.

There was another person sitting opposite Aldrick.

An old man.

He was wearing a simple gray-white robe without any decoration.

His hair and beard were all white, his face was aged, and the wrinkles on his face were crisscrossed like a dried-up riverbed.

His eyes were slightly closed, as if he were asleep.

Elvia squinted and stared at that face for a few moments, then her expression suddenly changed.

Fear, like a venomous snake, crawled up her spine to the back of her neck.

Her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

But she was completely tense, like a bowstring stretched to its limit.

Lin Gui reacted even faster than her.

He moved almost instinctively.

He grabbed Elvia's wrist with his right hand and grabbed Morgan's shoulder with his left.

Magic surged into the storage space in an instant, and the black scroll with twisted runes was already in his palm.

My fingertip was already pressing against the roll seal; just a little more pressure and it would tear open.

The moment he saw the old man, his body's sense of danger was instantly heightened.

He didn't even think about who the other person was.

It was just a calm aura, without any sense of oppression.

The feeling of being unable to breathe while sitting there naturally prompted his body to make the fastest judgment.

escape!

His fingers were already applying pressure.

"It's alright, Lord Lin Gui."

Morgan's voice came from ahead, not loud, but with a reassuring calm.

"He won't hurt you."

"His target is me."

Lin Gui's fingers stopped.

The hand holding the reel hung in mid-air, the knuckles white from the force.

Morgan turned his gaze back to the white-haired old man.

"...Right, teacher?"

teacher.

This word was like a needle, piercing Lin Gui's ear.

Morgan's teacher?

This identity did not make Lin Gui lower his guard; on the contrary, it made the hairs on the back of his head stand on end.

His gaze shifted from Morgan's face and returned to that aged countenance.

Just then, Elvia suddenly clenched his sleeve.

Her voice trembled, and each word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

"I...I've seen him in the newspaper..."

Her breathing became rapid, and her pupils contracted slightly.

"He, he, he... he is a great sage."

The enemy she thought she wouldn't encounter for a long time has now appeared before her without any warning.

The other party did not show much obvious intimidation, and did not even look at her.

But that silent presence made her feel that death was imminent, like a knife hanging over her head, just waiting to fall.

Her legs felt weak, her knees bent slightly, and her breathing became rapid and shallow.

Just as she was about to collapse, Lin Gui turned to the side and pulled her behind him.

The action was natural, without any unnecessary words.

He simply reached out and pulled the knight, who was always in the habit of protecting others, behind him.

Elvia was stunned.

Her hand was still on the hilt of the sword, but she froze for a moment.

She looked at Lin Gui's back; the faded gray robe blocked her view, obscuring the presence that made her feel suffocated.

The fear hadn't disappeared, but it was being suppressed by something.

She snapped out of her daze and quickly leaned close to Lin Gui's ear, speaking in a very low voice.

"run."

Lin Gui did not move.

He still held the scroll, his gaze fixed on the Great Sage, then sweeping over Aldrich beside him.

The arrival of the great sage was unexpected.

But at the same time, the fact that the deputy chief of staff was present made him realize something.

Something seemed to have happened without my noticing.

I recall the unusual way Leah, Cedric, and the others said goodbye to Morgan.

An idea suddenly popped into my head.

Is Morgan planning to... give up on himself?