Two days later, deep within the Black Demon Forest.
Squelch—
A sharp dagger was pulled from the imp's sticky neck, trailing a string of dark red blood beads.
Lin Gui ducked low, retreating back into the depths of the thick grass.
He nimbly pulled out a handful of dry wood ash and spread it evenly over the corpse.
It suppressed the nauseating, heavy scent of blood.
The entire process was silent, handled as cleanly as if by a phantom.
He curled up in the shadows like a stone statue, his sharp gaze constantly scanning the surroundings.
Only after confirming multiple times that there were no other demons nearby did he move.
He then slid out of his hiding place as silently as a startled civet cat.
The wood ash could only delay the inevitable for so long.
Before long, the scent of blood would draw even more bloodthirsty demons.
Not wanting to be surrounded by a demon pack that had caught the scent, Lin Gui took a risk and left the temporary shelter where he had been lurking for three hours.
He hadn't managed to leave even after five days, despite the journey originally being expected to take only a few.
He was now deadlocked, trapped within this increasingly strange Black Demon Forest.
The reason was simple...
Some idiotic adventure group from who-knows-where had teamed up to invade the Black Demon Forest to hunt a Legendary demon.
That commotion had stirred up every demon in the entire forest.
Now, the sounds of demons were everywhere in the Black Demon Forest.
Sprinting from one thicket to another, he used the cover of the dense weeds.
With that bulging, heavy backpack on his back, Lin Gui carried out one thrilling relocation after another.
Near his ear, a faint blue, thumbnail-sized magic circle was weakly pulsing and rotating.
With the enhancement of the High Rank Wind-element technique, Wind Listening, all sounds within a hundred-meter radius were amplified, filtered, and delivered clearly into his ears.
At the same time, the weak air currents of Wind Walk coiled around his legs, making his footsteps light and swift.
The sounds of demons scurrying about rang out incessantly.
He relied on the sound of the wind to capture every movement.
After determining a brief interval of safety, he would immediately burst into a full sprint.
Sweat soaked through his mage robe, sticking tightly to his back.
This continued until he reached a sloping valley area.
A chorus of cries, desperate curses, and the bone-chilling sounds of something being chewed and torn reached his ears clearly through the wind.
Lin Gui's heart skipped a beat, and he came to a sudden halt.
To make matters worse, just as he was about to turn and change his route, a set of cluttered and urgent footsteps came from behind, rapidly approaching!
The sound grew louder and more concentrated, closing in fast on his position.
Lin Gui furrowed his brow, his teeth clenched tight.
He knew very well that to certain powerful demons with keen senses, simply hiding in the grass at this distance was no different from ostrich-like self-deception.
The sounds behind him suddenly accelerated; the enemy seemed to have discovered him and was charging!
It was already too late to run.
In a flash, he lunged to the side.
He rolled beneath the gnarled roots of the nearest giant ancient tree.
Simultaneously, he reached back and pulled out that seemingly unremarkable staff.
Suppressing his breathing, he stayed nearly flush with the ground and rapidly chanted in a low whisper.
"Hide in the intersection of light and shadow, melt into the cracks of reality..."
The moment the incantation was finished, a thin, constantly fluctuating membrane of shadow energy emerged from the shadows beneath his feet, rapidly enveloping his entire body.
In the next instant, his figure completely faded and vanished within the shadows of the ancient tree, as if he had never existed.
This was his masterpiece, a self-created High Rank concealment spell: Veil of the Gloomy Night.
Almost at the exact second his figure disappeared, a foul-smelling gale and a slight tremor of the ground arrived.
A pack of High Rank Tempest Wolf Demons with pitch-black fur, four horns on their heads, and protruding fangs charged to a halt nearby.
They lowered their heads to sniff, their crimson eyes scanning the surroundings warily as they began to search the area.
Leaning against the tree trunk, cold sweat dripped down Lin Gui's face.
One of the massive, red-eyed wolf heads almost brushed against his mage robe.
The stench was overwhelming. Lin Gui closed his eyes, his nerves strained to the breaking point.
The Shroud of the Gloomy Night was a top-tier concealment spell he had created by combining his previous knowledge of optics.
It was his strongest trump card and his main reliance for traversing the wilderness.
It could absorb all energy fluctuations emitted by his body, including body temperature, breathing, heartbeat, mana ripples, and even scent.
This made him nearly impossible to capture through biological senses or magical detection methods.
Its concealment was extremely powerful; even a Legendary mage in the Magic City had failed to directly sense his presence.
But while this spell was powerful, it had one fatal flaw.
During its execution, Lin Gui could not make any large movements.
If this pack of wolf demons refused to leave and continued to loiter here until his mana was exhausted, Lin Gui would be discovered.
Just as Lin Gui was losing his patience and considering dispelling the magic prematurely to risk a run for it, a loud explosion erupted in the distance, drawing the giant wolves away.
Lin Gui let out a long sigh of relief as his figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the tree trunk.
If this had dragged on any longer, he would have had to see if he could outrun those wolf demons.
He looked toward the valley in the distance where a fierce battle was taking place, his mood frustrated.
That pack of wolves had originally been heading there, but they had stopped halfway because they had caught a trace of the scent he had left along the way.
Incidents like this had played out countless times over the past few days.
If there were only one source of commotion, Lin Gui could have used the chaos to slip through easily; the problem was that fires were breaking out everywhere.
Now that all the demons in the Black Demon Forest were rioting, nowhere was safe.
By the time Lin Gui realized the severity of the situation, it was already too late to retreat.
At the moment, the best plan was to find a safe place and wait for this riot to die down.
Threading silently through the forest, he pushed his perception to the limit, carefully avoiding all danger.
Before long, Lin Gui found a natural hiding spot.
It was a hollow formed by dense bushes, weeds, and stunted trees, providing excellent concealment.
This was much better than the temporary shelters he had found previously.
He quickly crawled inside, but as soon as he raised his head, he saw a person.
Someone was already crouched inside, hiding.
No, more accurately... looking at the pair of long ears she couldn't hide, it wasn't a person, but an elf. A white-haired elf.
"Hello there, human."
The white-haired elf held her knees, tilted her head, and gave him a wave with a sweet, greeting smile.
Her appearance was completely without warning, as if she had been there the entire time.
Lin Gui's expression froze. He gave a nod in response and immediately backed out...
Not long after, he backed in again with a grim expression.
A few demons happened to be patrolling past.
The sounds of demons running whistled by right outside.
Lin Gui looked at this elf, who had escaped his perception, with a wary gaze.
Ever since embarking on the path of a mage, he had specialized in concealment and perception spells.
While his attainment in perception wasn't as high as his concealment, it shouldn't have been so low that he couldn't sense a living being at such close range.
Either the opponent's concealment skills were on par with his, or their strength far exceeded his.
Regardless of which it was, it wasn't good news for Lin Gui.
Incidents of killing and looting in the wilderness were extremely common.
"No need to be afraid. I'm a good elf. I'm a Gold Rank adventurer registered in Caran City."
The elf seemed to see through his wariness. She pulled out a Gold Rank adventurer's badge and gave it a little shake.
She pointed at her two small dimples and gave a sweet smile.
"Besides, seeing how beautiful I am, do I look like a bad person?"
The beauty of elves was famous throughout the Akara Continent.
In slave markets, a female elf could fetch an astronomical price, which had led to the rise of specialized capture teams that hunted elves.
Lin Gui had seen other elves in the Magic City, but compared to them, the beauty of the white-haired elf before him was even more peerless.
Her silver hair was like a waterfall, and her skin was as white as snow.
Even Lin Gui, whose guard was fully up, was momentarily dazed by her exquisite features.
Furthermore, she had a pair of red pupils, which were different from all other elves... The color and shape of those pupils...
Lin Gui blinked. If he wasn't mistaken, those eyes belonged to the Demon Race.
"Are you... from the Demon Race??"
Lin Gui's voice carried an almost imperceptible hint of tension.
In this world, the Demon Race was a synonym for evil and chaos.
"Not at all~ This is just a red-eye condition. It's hereditary."
The elf tilted her head, her smile unchanging, her tone as relaxed as if they were discussing the weather.
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