Things finally settled down. I let out a sigh of relief and followed the ghosts of Exile Town back.
As soon as we returned to Exile Town, Redmond's subordinates started shouting, calling over the ghosts who knew carpentry, while I took the chance to slip into a nearby alley.
"There shouldn't be any major problems now, right?"
I muttered to myself, when suddenly a cold laugh echoed from behind me. I spun around, startled, and saw a black shadow drifting past the mouth of the alley. Something was off. My heart skipped a beat and I rushed to the alley entrance, scanning both sides. It was already late at night.
The town was brightly lit, with nothing unusual. A large number of ghosts had been summoned and were busy working.
Just then, something caught my eye in the distant night sky. I stared for a while, feeling that the sky looked odd. Near the gate, there were no stars at all—just pitch darkness. All around, though, were scattered stars. The spot I was watching looked like a curtain of blackness.
At that moment, a voice sounded in my mind—it was Noah Grimm, telling me to come over.
I went to the tree by the entrance of Exile Town. There were no ghosts around; Noah Grimm was up in the tree. He climbed down and looked around.
"No one else will come over here."
"Is something wrong, Mr. Grimm?"
"The boss seems to have noticed something."
My heart skipped a beat. I glanced back at everything in Exile Town.
"Could I have been exposed?"
Noah Grimm shook his head.
"It's not you. It's some strange aura inside Exile Town. The boss just mentioned it—something odd has mixed in here. You'd better stay outside the town for now. If anything happens, I'll let you know."
My only destination was Shadowbane Mountain. After parting with Noah Grimm, I passed through Exile Town as if nothing had happened and headed toward the mountain in the night.
What was strange here was that at night there was no fog, but during the day, the gray mist would completely obscure the view.
I leaned against a big tree—no fatigue, no drowsiness. Such things were long gone for me. The surroundings were eerily quiet.
I took out the Purple Crystal Pendant, holding it above my head and quietly gazing at it.
Thinking of Samantha Simons, and Yuna Ji as well—they're really so alike. For the ones they love, they've stayed true for centuries and never wavered.