Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

The oak staff glided silently through the night.

After crossing a brightly lit street, we finally landed in front of the post office.

A wooden sign hung on the door, which read, "Service suspended due to mail delivery."

Lin Gui got off his staff, rubbed his sore shoulders, and pushed open the door of the post office.

Warm yellow light spilled out from inside the door, carrying a faint scent of lavender.

Several packed boxes were piled up in the living room, and the corner counter was also cleaned up.

Levy was squatting on the ground, carefully and quietly stuffing the last few books into a cloth bag.

Hearing the door open, she looked up, saw it was Lin Gui, stood up, and gave a slight bow.

"Young Master Lin, you're back."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Lin Gui was stunned for a moment.

This was the first time he had ever been treated this way.

The "Thank you for your hard work" came naturally and smoothly, carrying a sense of well-trained thoughtfulness.

He blinked slightly, a little uneasy, and then nodded.

"Um... thank you."

He paused, then added.

"No need to call me Young Master, just call me Lin Gui."

"I am not a nobleman, but just a wandering mage."

Levy didn't answer immediately, but just gave him a quiet look.

Then her gaze fell on him, on his old, dusty robe.

I naturally wanted to go forward and help him change his clothes.

Lin Gui sidestepped half a step.

"No."

"Thanks."

"I'm not used to being waited on."

Levy's hand froze in mid-air before she withdrew it and let it fall to her side.

She nodded without saying anything more.

Lin Gui stood in the living room, looking at the girl dressed in a black and white maid outfit.

He never returned after that day when he went to the Ring Tower.

This was the first time he had ever truly spent time with this half-witch maid.

I remember that I almost missed out on the Starry Sky Racing Team back then.

The other person reached out from the prison van towards him, signaling that he wanted to die.

Finally, his wrist was broken by the transport team.

His gaze fell on her wrist.

A dark, old scar was visible where the cuff of the sleeve was slightly rolled up.

When Levy noticed Lin Gui looking at her wrist, she stiffened slightly.

Then she put her hands behind her back and lowered her gaze.

It's as if she doesn't want those traces to be seen.

Lin Gui was silent for a moment, then spoke.

"Feel sorry."

"I've been too busy these days and haven't had time to take care of you."

Morgan and the others clearly told me to take good care of you.

His tone was sincere and down-to-earth.

Levy lowered her head and gently shook it.

"There's no need for that."

"I... am just a half-demon."

"You don't deserve to be treated like this."

Lin Gui looked at her, then raised his hand and pointed to himself.

"My wife is also a half-demon."

Levy suddenly looked up.

Her pupils contracted slightly, as if she had been struck by something.

Surprise surged in those usually calm, crimson eyes.

Lin Gui smiled and continued speaking in a relaxed tone.

"Maybe someday I'll have a half-demon child too."

"So don't talk about yourself like that."

"A half-demon..."

He paused for a moment, as if considering his words.

"They are the kindest race I have ever seen."

"I'm so glad I met you in this desolate wasteland."

He meant it sincerely.

Perhaps in order to be accepted by humans, half-demons are generally quite kind.

After he finished speaking, he smiled, patted Levy on the shoulder, and walked past her toward the stairs.

Levy stood rooted to the spot, as if she were nailed to the spot.

She stared with her mouth slightly agape as Lin Gui's figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

Go upstairs.

The door to the second-floor bedroom was ajar.

When Lin Gui pushed open the door and walked in, Elvia was standing in front of the mirror.

She was wearing a light gold long dress.

The neckline and cuffs were adorned with delicate lace trim, and the hem of her skirt swayed gently as she turned.

She turned her head to the side, examined herself in the mirror for a while, and then tugged at the creases on her waist.

Hearing the door open, she turned around, saw Lin Gui, and a slight smile curved her lips.

"You're back?"

"Perfect timing, help me see how this one is."

She took two steps back, her arms slightly outstretched, like a bird spreading its wings.

"Is this appropriate for my date tomorrow?"

Lin Gui did not answer immediately.

He walked past her, went to the bedside, and collapsed onto the bed.

The mattress bounced him up slightly, then caught him firmly.

He lay on his back and let out a long breath.

"……fine."

"This one will do."

Aside from the initial slacking off in the Heart of Elements.

In the following days, Lin Gui barely got any rest.

After finishing everything, a feeling of exhaustion suddenly overwhelmed me.

All he wants to do right now is get some rest.

Seeing how tired he was, Elvia didn't want to make things too difficult for him.

She turned around and continued adjusting the position of her skirt in front of the mirror.

Lin Gui lay down with his eyes closed for a while.

Then he turned his head and his peripheral vision fell on a few treasure chests in the corner.

The box is made of fine dark wood.

The edges are covered with copper sheet, and the clasp is plated with a light gold luster.

Elvia's bedroom is also Lin Gui's bedroom.

Lin Gui clearly remembered that there didn't seem to be this thing in the room.

"That is?"

Elvia didn't turn around, her tone casual.

"Sent by the Eli family."

"They said it was an apology from the Windsor family."

"Power is wonderful."

"One offense, and a thousand towers of nobles have fallen."

Elvia continued speaking while adjusting her collar in front of the mirror.

"I heard that the matriarch of the Windsor family, Victor's mother, has just been stripped of her noble status."

"The current head of the House of Windsor has been sentenced to exile, and all of his property has been confiscated."

"Victor's siblings were all stripped of their inheritance rights."

"None of the nobles who used to associate with them stood up to speak for them."

"That lady knelt at Eli's door all afternoon, begging."

"It's said that they knelt until their knees were chafed raw, and the door remained closed."

In the end, no one came out to see her even once.

She paused here, her tone carrying a complex sigh.

"Shouldn't you say it?"

"That woman, Luna, truly lives up to her reputation as someone who fought her way up from the bottom."

"This level of ruthlessness far surpasses any of the political opponents I've ever encountered."

"I just left the Pagoda Ring Road, only 3 hours ago."

"Winnie's apology has been delivered to me."

"And Winnie was also expelled from the aristocratic circle of Thousand Towers."

Her tone even carried a hint of mutual appreciation.

Lin Gui lay paralyzed on the bed, not responding.

He raised his hand and waved it lightly in the air.

The dark, gauze-like garment silently unfurled, enveloping the entire room.

Although he had taken many precautions to prevent eavesdropping.

But the safest option is still the Night Gauze Robe.

Once it unfolds, no matter what earth-shattering things he and Elvia say.

No one will hear it.

After the spell is cast.

Lin Gui spoke, his voice muffled as if buried in a pillow.

"So you're making me take the risk to lure that fool in."

"Just to get Winnie's fortune?"

Elvia smiled at herself in the mirror.

"No, I didn't expect that woman to be so ruthless."

"I never expected that fat guy to speak rudely to me."

"That's why we did it."

"I just had an itch to do it."

"Since we discovered that guy's existence while gathering intelligence, why not use him to try and incite factional infighting within the Thousand Towers?"

"Now it seems that the results have even exceeded my expectations."

"pity--"

She turned her head and looked at Lin Gui on the bed.

"I can no longer see it."

Lin Gui remained silent.

Elvia lowered her skirt and turned around.

Leaning against the edge of the dressing table, I looked at the person lying paralyzed on the bed.

"After the date, you're planning to leave Qianta, right?"

Lin Gui closed his eyes and spoke in a low voice.

"right."

"I'll be heading north to resume my duties in a few months, to Dawn City, to participate in the Warrior's Conquest."

"There's no time to waste."

"And I also want to get to Dawn City ahead of time, to Eve, to find that thing that seems to be related to spatial magic."

Elvia nodded, turned around, and began trying on another dress.

The room was quiet for a while.

She looked at Lin Gui in the mirror and said in a calm tone.

"Lin Gui"

"Um?"

"Just now, the Kuroshio frontline investigation team sent back first-hand information."

"Regarding the 21st Kuroshio Current."

Lin Gui opened his eyes.

Elvia's tone was flat.

But the words she spoke carried a heavy weight.

"They went to the border regions to investigate."

"Based on the traces left by the Kuroshio Current, we can determine the extent of its devastation over the past few months and its ultimate trajectory."

"Born from a withered rift valley."

"Then they marched west and razed the capital of Carter to the ground."

"Heading north."

"They did not head north from Duan Gu Pass."

"Instead, it directly pierced through the towering Dragon Bone Mountain."

"That demigod demon, which no one has ever witnessed, directly blasted a huge gap in that mountain."

"The Kuroshio Current then crossed the western part of the tundra in the southern part of the northern mountains. According to the survey team, its direction should be towards the Evergreen Forest in the northwest."

Lin Gui's gaze sharpened slightly.

Evergreen Woodland......

To the north of the Wailing Wall lies Evergreen Woods.

The Elf Forest, the home of the elves, is located there.

Unexpectedly, the black tide from the borderlands has headed towards the elves' homeland.

Elvia continued.

"The investigation team has been to Carter's capital."

"It is said that only broken tiles remain of the capital, not even a single bone can be found."

Lin Gui remained silent for a moment, then offered words of comfort.

"This is not your fault."

Elvia paused for a moment, then smiled.

"I'm not saying this because I'm saddened that King Carter's city was trampled."

"I'm not that fragile."

"Moreover, the position I have achieved now is far greater than that of King Carter."

"King Carter's status in the entire league is not even comparable to that of the Windsor family."

"The reason I brought this up is that—"

She looked at Lin Gui in the mirror, her voice steady and clear.

"The Kuroshio Current has already moved towards the northwest Evergreen Forest."

"It didn't go through the bone-breaking stage."

"..."

"Actually... we don't need to take such a huge risk to get back to Karan through the red desert."

"The Mountain-Breaking Dragon is now in our hands."

"We can go back the way we came."

"At your speed, you can easily cross the Broken Bone Pass, return to the capital of Carter, cross the Withered Rift, and return to the city of Kalan within a month."

"Just like back then, Shia, you, and I, when we went from Kalan to the capital of Carter."

Lin Gui remained silent for a long time.

He did not respond.

Elvia looked at him in the mirror.

She asked the question that had been weighing on her mind ever since she came from Tongmen City.

"Lin Gui"

"The real reason you want to retrace the path you took back to the City of the New Testament—"

"What is it?"

"Why do you want to go back to Graygaze, Moltenlight, Annabelle?"

Graygaze City, Meltinglight City, Annabelle City.

They also had another name three years ago.

Sparks fly over three cities.

They are not on the path of the forest ghost.

But if you want to enter the red desert, you must start from there.

Because that's where Lin Gui returned to the City of the New Testament.

Lin Gui remained silent for a long time in response to Elvia's question.

So long that Elvia thought he was asleep.

Then he spoke in a deep voice.

"To find someone."

Elvia paused for a moment.

"You should know that no one survived that massacre."

"No one will escape the subsequent pursuit of Xinghuo."

"Except for you."

"You are the sole survivor of that revolution."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Lin Gui fell silent again.

And just then...

A timid voice rang out from the corner.

"revolution?"

"spark?"

"……that……"

"Are you... the people Miss Fox asked me to wait for?"

Elvia and Lin Gui froze simultaneously.

Elvia's hands froze instantly.

Lin Gui's fatigue vanished instantly.

The voice continued speaking, with a cautious, tentative tone.

"Black hair...black eyes...a dark night-blooming veil..."

"You... are you the little brat Miss Fox was talking about?"

"Simpson?"

The air suddenly froze.

Lin Gui and Elvia's pupils contracted sharply at the same time.

Elvia's reaction was so fast it was almost invisible.

She didn't even turn her head to check the source of the sound before her body moved.

A sharp gust of wind from a punch exploded in the small room.

The unfamiliar sound stopped abruptly, followed by a dull thud.

A petite figure was sent flying by a punch, her back slamming hard against the wooden wall with a dull thud.

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs came from downstairs.

The door was suddenly pushed open.

Levy held a staff, her crimson eyes shining brightly in the dim light, her voice filled with urgent tension.

Her gaze swept across the room—

Elvia stood by the bed, her fist still in the position she had just thrown.

Lin Gui had already sat up in bed, holding an oak staff, his eyes darker than the night.

In the corner, by the wooden wall, a petite figure was slowly sliding down the wall.

He was foaming at the mouth and his eyes were rolling back, as if he had already fainted.

Before Levy could ask any more questions, she saw Elvia turn around, walk to the bedside, bend down, and pull a slender short sword from under the bed.

She gripped her sword and exchanged a glance with Lin Gui.

The two men, one on each side, walked toward the figure slumped against the wall, their faces filled with murderous intent.

Lin Gui crouched down and reached out to lift the other person's hood.

The moment the hood slipped down, the face revealed made both of them freeze in their tracks.

It was a pale yet delicate little face.

A pair of crooked, round-framed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose.

Her chestnut-brown short hair was messily plastered to her forehead, and a trace of white foam clung to the corner of her mouth.

Lillian Nialld.

Lin Gui's hand froze in mid-air, his expression shifting from murderous intent to disbelief.

Elvia lowered her sword, her brow furrowed.

"...Why is it her?"