Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Elvia was no longer listening to what Lin Gui was saying.

When that word "yes" came out, she froze on the spot.

Looking at the blood-red hills, as red as a black rock volcano, and at those castle-sized behemoths and hundred-meter-tall blood crows.

It's an epic, fucking epic.

It really is true that every mountain has its own epic story...

Completely unexpectedly, Lin Gui's words were actually stating an objective fact.

She swallowed.

epic……

epic……

An epic demon is so powerful that a sneeze could kill her, let alone a whole horde of epic demons.

And what's even more deadly is...

The Crying Blood Hill is not the most terrifying thing.

Well, actually, witnessing these bleeding mountains, this eeriness, this power, this despair was enough to scare her so much she wet her pants.

And this is only the first forbidden area.

and so……

Do they really have to get through this godforsaken place?

The thought that there are dozens of similar forbidden zones in the red desert waiting for them to traverse is daunting.

That mountain peak also houses an epic overlord that's even bigger than Starry Mountain...

Elvia smiled dismissively.

Then, with great firmness, he placed his hands on Lin Gui's shoulders and looked directly into his eyes:

"Lin Gui"

"I think we can go back the way we came and reconsider our options."

"We've walked that passageway once, we know it well, it'll be at most a week before we go back."

"At worst, we'll just have to go around the capital of Carter and spend a little more time, but it's still better than feeding demons here."

"Look at the three of us: one is at the initial stage of the Transcendent Realm, and the other two are high-level junior mages."

"What kind of setup do they have? Epic items are everywhere, Legendary items are practically worthless, and there's even a ruler with the name of the Blood God perched on that hilltop!"

"If we go over there like that, we'll be trampled to death like ants!"

"and......"

She pointed to the distant, gigantic creatures clinging to the mountainside, sucking up the red liquid.

"And how could you bear to let such a beautiful, attractive woman like you, with such a great figure, feed that kind of thing?"

"Still feeding maggots!"

Lin Gui's mouth twitched:

"That's a leech, not a maggot."

"Besides, don't even think about leaving. I won't do that."

Elvia's face darkened, and she adopted a coquettish tone.

"I also prepared a lot of my own clothes that I haven't worn to show you yet."

"How can you be so heartless?"

Lin Gui rolled his eyes at her.

"Heartless."

Elvia: "..."

Lillian stood silently to the side, shrinking her neck.

She was indeed deeply curious about this almost spectacular geography.

But she has to go among a bunch of epic demons.

Lillian can't do it.

She was just a high-level minor mage, a little witch.

She knew all too well that the veil of darkness could not block the gaze of the epic.

This is just going to your death.

After a long silence, she mustered up a great deal of courage and then weakly said with tears in her eyes that she did not want to die.

The two girls each offered a variety of reasons, insisting that they had no intention of going over.

Lin Gui sighed.

"If we go back the way we came, we'll waste a week just traveling through the tunnel."

"And there's a very good chance we'll run into the vampires of Molten Light City."

Even excluding these reasons, at the speed of the airship, it would take at least a month to get back to Dragonbone City.

"Once we arrive in Dragonbone City, we can't just start digging right there."

"The noise from the Mountain-Breaking Dragon splitting the mountain is quite loud; I have no way to completely cover up the sound of it working."

"The designated location for breaking through the mountain is not far from Dragonbone City, making it extremely risky."

"So we still have to go back to Karan via the Broken Bone Pass."

"If we go around the capital of Carter, it will take at least another month."

"Time simply doesn't allow us to do that."

"Therefore, crossing the red desert is our only way."

Elvia's face was extremely pale.

Almost everything Lin Gui said made sense.

She opened her mouth, still trying to struggle.

"I……"

Lin Gui glanced at her.

"However, there is one way."

Elvia's eyes lit up.

"What method?"

Lin Gui pulled a brick out of the storage space.

He weighed it in his hand, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"I knocked you both unconscious, and then led you through many forbidden areas."

"At my intermediate level, I can cross the red desert alone, and I can do it again now, so I don't really need your help."

"You can avoid facing the horrors of the forbidden area and just sleep your way through."

"When I wake up, I might already be out of the red desert."

"How about this method?"

The brick in his hand gleamed with a simple luster under the dark red light of the sky.

Elvia: "..."

Lillian: "..."

The two exchanged a glance.

Finally, Elvia slumped her shoulders in despair, and Lillian shrank her neck and sighed resignedly.

They were afraid.

I'm afraid that once I fall into a coma, I might never wake up again.

It's better to witness firsthand how you feed the devil.

With hearts heavy as if visiting a grave, Lillian and Elvia boarded the Forest Ghost's flying boat.

The airship silently rose into the air and headed towards the Bloodstained Hill.

The closer you get, the stronger the smell of blood in the air becomes.

The smell, a mixture of rust and a cloying, rotten sweetness, filled my nostrils and made my stomach churn.

As they got closer to the giant objects, the two girls' fear grew stronger.

At close range, the leech's face is clearly visible.

Their mouthparts resemble a blooming fleshy flower, with densely packed, tooth-like protrusions along the edges.

It is deeply embedded in the cracks of the mountain, absorbing the red liquid.

The body contractes and undulates segment by segment.

The rough scales gleamed with a sticky sheen under the dark red sunlight.

The combination of ugliness and sheer size created a suffocating sense of oppression.

But Lin Gui spoke up at that very moment.

Are you interested in how they eat?

"Should we stop and take a look?"

Elvia cried out in despair.

"Run!!!"

Lin Gui smiled and was about to speed up.

In that instant, the Blood Leech King closest to them stopped eating.

Its massive body slowly twisted and turned, like a small mountain turning slowly.

Then it raised its head and looked in their direction.

A huge head with two tiny, black bean-like eyes stared blankly at the people on the airship.

Lillian's breathing stopped instantly.

Elvia clung tightly to Lin Gui's arm, her nails almost digging into his flesh.

Lillian clung tightly to Elvia's waist, muttering incessantly.

"It's all over, it's all over, it's all over..."

"I still don't know the true structure of the Illusionary Landscape Technique and the Night Veil..."

"I still haven't figured out the mystery the stingy old man left me with..."

"If I die, who will solve that problem...?"

She spoke faster and faster, becoming incoherent, with a string of last words about magical theories gushing from her mouth.

"I tried seventeen different solutions for that model, and none of them worked... I was just one step away..."

"Just one step away..."

The airship hovered in mid-air.

Lin Gui, Elvia, and Lillian faced each other directly at the Blood Leech King.

The Blood Leech King's two black bean-like eyes looked particularly comical on its enormous head.

It even tilted its head slightly in an attempt to see these tiny creatures more clearly.

The movement carried an awkward curiosity, like a giant pet eyeing a fly as it flew by.

Lin Gui raised his hand and waved at it.

It's like greeting an acquaintance.

Elvia's heart was pounding in her throat.

The next second—

The Blood Leech King snorted, as if confirming something.

Then it looked away and buried its head back into the crack in the mountain.

He continued to inhale the ever-seeping red liquid.

His movements were calm and composed, as if nothing had happened.