Zuo Lin'an had, of course, overheard their conversation.
Xuan Liu wanted Tang Jianghe to use his talent, 【Speak into Reality】, in half a shichen—which was exactly when he was scheduled to attack them.
This seemed like they had seized upon his weakness, but in reality, they didn't even have a watch or clock to keep track of the time.
In other words, if he went to attack them a few minutes early, they wouldn't even be able to tell if his killing window had actually opened yet.
He could still bait out the players' trump cards.
Still, he really did need to watch out for Tang Jianghe's 【Speak into Reality】 talent.
After all, an effect like preventing a specter from attacking someone was something he couldn't immune even if he switched to his living body state.
“Forget it, I'll worry about that later.”
“Then again, I've already harvested quite a bit just now.”
He had baited out Xuan Liu's 【bamboo-leaf throwing knife】, forced Tang Wanrong to use up her 【Withered Leaf】, and even acquired Tang Jianghe's 【Life-Buying Coin】.
Clink!
He lightly flicked the copper coin into the air and caught it as it fell.
With this coin in hand, his chances of wiping out the players had increased significantly.
However, the coin was precious. He wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary. As long as he still had time and leeway, he would try to make the kills himself.
Time passed slowly. Ten minutes before four in the morning, Zuo Lin'an set off for the mountaintop once again, ahead of schedule.
This time, he intended to see exactly how Tang Jianghe would use his talent.
As the familiar, terrifying chill crept in, Xuan Liu and the other two knew the specter had returned!
It truly was not giving them a single moment to breathe.
Tang Jianghe reflexively scanned his surroundings and quickly spotted the crimson slit-pupils glowing in the darkness.
He took a deep breath and spoke.
“For the next ten shichen, the specter cannot attack the three of us.”
It would soon be four in the morning, meaning they had been in the dungeon for about two shichen. By that calculation, wasn't their remaining survival time exactly ten shichen?
That was twenty hours.
If this succeeded, wouldn't the three of them be able to clear the dungeon directly?
Hearing this, Zuo Lin'an found it laughable. How could that possibly work?
Sure enough, after Tang Jianghe finished speaking, his talent showed no reaction whatsoever.
Tang Jianghe immediately adjusted his words.
“For the next five shichen, the specter cannot attack the three of us.”
Five shichen was ten hours.
Ten hours was neither too long nor too short. Zuo Lin'an wasn't entirely sure if it would work.
Yet Tang Jianghe remained energetic and did not fall asleep.
In other words, the talent still hadn't been triggered.
Seeing this, Tang Jianghe grew anxious.
“Why is it still not working?”
He subsequently reduced the time to four shichen, then three shichen, but there was still no response.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and completely changed his phrasing.
“For the next ten shichen, the specter cannot attack Tang Wanrong.”
Xuan Liu did not react to this statement; he felt it was only natural.
But Tang Wanrong's eyes widened in shock.
“Father!”
Tang Jianghe ignored her. Seeing that the talent still hadn't triggered, he reduced the time once more.
“For the next nine shichen, the specter cannot attack Tang Wanrong.”
Still nothing!
“Father! Wait!”
Tang Wanrong immediately stood up and walked over, intending to stop him.
Tang Jianghe stubbornly persisted, continuing to reduce the duration.
Finally...
“For the next five shichen, the specter cannot attack—”
But right at that moment.
“Father!!”
Tang Jianghe instinctively looked at her, only to find that she had somehow removed a gold hairpin from her head, pressing its sharp tip against her own neck.
“You!”
“What are you doing?!”
Tang Wanrong's expression was resolute. “If Father insists on doing this, I will have no face to go on living alone.”
She then warned Xuan Liu.
“Don't think of stopping me. There will always be a moment when you can't watch over me!”
Xuan Liu immediately abandoned any thought of snatching the gold hairpin from her hand and turned to look at Tang Jianghe instead.
“Master Tang, let us do as Her Highness wishes.”
Tang Jianghe sighed in exasperation. “You... why must you do this!”
Tang Wanrong simply ignored him. After all, Tang Jianghe hadn't listened to her earlier either.
In the end, Tang Jianghe compromised.
“For the next two shichen, the specter cannot attack the three of us.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he closed his eyes without warning and fell fast asleep!
Tang Wanrong let out a long breath, tossed the gold hairpin aside, and began to carefully tend to the sleeping Tang Jianghe.
Others might not understand, but she knew very well.
Her father was the person who treated her best in the entire world!
She absolutely could not let him die for her sake.
Standing not far away, Zuo Lin'an quietly watched the entire scene unfold.
For the next two shichen—which was four hours—he would be unable to attack these three players.
Indeed, he could sense that he was completely unable to select them as targets.
He looked at the deeply asleep Tang Jianghe.
Calculating the time, this sleep would likely last for a full twelve hours. He wondered if Xuan Liu's promise to protect Tang Jianghe was actually true.
Just then, Xuan Liu suddenly turned his gaze toward where Zuo Lin'an was standing.
Knowing there was no point in staying, Zuo Lin'an didn't linger. He took a step back and vanished into the darkness.
The chilling aura on the mountaintop dissipated along with him.
After leaving the mountaintop, he retrieved his phone.
It was 3:55 AM.
He had four hours of free time ahead of him.
This meant he wouldn't be able to make another move until 7:55 AM, and he could only resume hunting players at 8:00 AM.
“Sigh...”
Feeling a bit bored, Zuo Lin'an walked over to the cave. He glanced inside at the four players lying on the ground; none of them had woken up yet.
Since that was the case, he might as well play on his phone for a bit.
Of course, while playing on his phone, he didn't forget to keep a covert eye on the mountaintop.
But just as he pulled out his phone, he noticed that Xu Youyou had sent him a message.
【Xu Youyou: Brother An, um... how are things on your end?】
Zuo Lin'an raised an eyebrow. Why was Xu Youyou asking this?
Xu Youyou should be well aware of his situation.
He could only kill one person per hour.
It was only around 4:00 AM now. Even if things went perfectly smoothly, he couldn't have killed many players.
Besides, his tone sounded a bit guilty.
Something must have gone wrong. If he had already wiped out his players and finished his dungeon, he would definitely be bragging excitedly right now.
【Zuo Lin'an: What? Did something happen on your end?】
【Xu Youyou: There's a tiny problem. I wanted to ask the all-powerful Brother An for some advice!】
Seeing this, Zuo Lin'an knew it was definitely not a "tiny" problem.
【Zuo Lin'an: Tell me.】
【Xu Youyou: Well, it's like this. Things were going pretty smoothly at first, but then the players figured out my rules. I wanted to end the dungeon as quickly as possible, so I got a bit impatient.】
【Xu Youyou: Now, there's only one player left. But this player is completely ignoring me. What should I do?】
Zuo Lin'an sighed. He knew it!
Rate on N.U.
