Evil Blade Wu Yuan had indeed fled quite a distance.
After all, he was at the Houtian Rank. Even while carrying someone, he wasn't slowed down in the slightest. His qinggong was incredibly fast, and it didn't take him long to descend the mountain after leaving the summit.
He chose a direction and continued running along the valley, eventually reaching the edge of the white mist.
Upon seeing the white mist, he let out an irritated snort.
“I knew it.”
Since he couldn't escape any further, he decided to find a place to rest for a moment.
However... just as he was about to set down the woman slung over his shoulder, he suddenly sensed a very subtle, icy-cold aura.
The aura was incredibly faint, yet it seeped insidiously through his skin and into his bones, causing him to shudder involuntarily.
“Oh no!”
He was no novice player; he was all too familiar with this kind of aura!
It was a specter!
A specter had come after him!
“How is this possible? Why would a specter be pursuing me?!”
Wu Yuan looked around warily, but the freezing chill in the air only grew thicker!
Yet, he couldn't see the specter anywhere.
Still, his sharp senses as a Houtian Rank martial artist were far superior to ordinary people's. He quickly pinpointed the specter's general direction.
However, with Zuo Lin'an concealing his figure, Wu Yuan still couldn't see him at all.
Right then, Zuo Lin'an noticed Wu Yuan's eyes turn a dark gold. His gaze swept over a narrow area in a specific direction.
In less than three seconds, their eyes locked.
Zuo Lin'an was momentarily taken aback when their eyes met, but he quickly realized that this was the special talent, 【Spirit Vision】.
When players activated the Spirit Vision talent, their eyes would turn dark gold, allowing them to see through concealed specters or those with disguise abilities.
He hadn't expected Wu Yuan to possess a special talent.
However, this 【Spirit Vision】 talent was purely utility-based. It posed no threat to Zuo Lin'an.
So what if he was seen?
Then again, the heightened senses of a Houtian Rank martial artist combined with the special talent 【Spirit Vision】 was indeed an excellent pairing.
While activating 【Spirit Vision】 had no cooldown, it consumed mental energy based on how long it was kept active.
Wu Yuan first relied on his perception as a martial artist to narrow down the specter's general direction, and only then did he activate 【Spirit Vision】 to pinpoint its exact location.
This effectively minimized the time Spirit Vision was active, thereby reducing his mental energy consumption.
In Zuo Lin'an's opinion, the 【Spirit Vision】 talent was best paired with long-range offensive specter items to maximize its potential.
He just didn't know if Wu Yuan possessed any such items.
As it turned out, the moment Wu Yuan made eye contact with him, he seemed startled by his crimson slit-pupils. Without a second word, he grabbed the woman on his back and hurled her in Zuo Lin'an's direction.
Of course, he used a bit of clever redirection to ensure the woman wouldn't be killed by the impact.
After tossing the woman, he spun around and fled without looking back.
Watching this, Zuo Lin'an raised an eyebrow.
Talk about a coward.
He didn't see a shred of confidence in Wu Yuan's eyes—not even a hint of resolve.
Because of this, he could be certain of one thing.
Wu Yuan did not have any specter items, or at least none capable of harming specters.
Otherwise, a cold-blooded, murderous Houtian Rank martial artist would never behave so spinelessly!
In that case, there was nothing left to hesitate about.
Ignoring the woman, Zuo Lin'an took a step forward. His figure vanished instantly and reappeared a hundred meters away. With a few more strides, he rapidly closed the distance to the desperately fleeing Wu Yuan.
Feeling the biting chill closing in from behind, a flicker of reluctance crossed Wu Yuan's eyes. He reached into his robes and quickly pulled out the 【Death Doll】.
Seeing this, Zuo Lin'an couldn't help but complain inwardly.
Just as Xu Youyou had said, the 【Death Doll】 really was becoming a dime a dozen!
But just when Wu Yuan thought he was saved, he realized the doll in his hand was completely unresponsive.
An expression of utter disbelief washed over his face.
“This...”
“What's going on?!”
“Impossible! This is impossible!”
After attempting to use the doll, he realized that he wasn't under a Death Lock at all!
Since there was no lock, it meant he hadn't triggered any of the specter's rules.
Then why on earth was the specter still chasing him?
Wu Yuan skidded to a halt, standing frozen in place.
Zuo Lin'an paused for a moment before stopping a short distance away, staring back at Wu Yuan.
Seeing this, Wu Yuan suddenly burst into roaring laughter.
“Hahaha!!”
“Right, right! I knew it!”
He seemed ecstatic.
“I knew it! I clearly didn't trigger any rules, so why would a specter be hunting me down?”
“This specter must just be trying to scare me! I've run into this kind of thing before, how could I have forgotten?”
Many specters would use intimidation, pursuits, and other tactics to terrify players. Panicked players with frayed nerves would then easily make critical mistakes.
And those mistakes were exactly what would lead them to trigger the rules.
Furthermore, some specters could construct illusions, causing players to fall from buildings or plunge into lakes while fleeing, which was essentially indirect suicide.
Just now, he had been tricked by the specter. This entity was undoubtedly trying to make him slip up so he would trigger its rules.
“Phew...”
He let out a long breath of relief.
“That really gave me a fright.”
Wu Yuan casually tucked the doll back into his robes, looking at Zuo Lin'an with a face full of confidence.
Seeing this and hearing those words, Zuo Lin'an fell into a deep, profound silence.
To be fair, Wu Yuan's logic was entirely correct.
The only problem was that he was currently facing Zuo Lin'an, who didn't play by the rules at all.
So... should he make his move now?
Zuo Lin'an made his decision in an instant.
Do it!
Right at that moment, Wu Yuan realized that the pair of crimson slit-pupils in front of him had suddenly vanished. At the same time, an icy-cold aura materialized right behind him.
Before he could even react, he felt his head seized in a death grip by what felt like freezing iron claws, which then slammed his face into the ground with a resounding thud.
Even with his Houtian Rank constitution, the impact was hard to bear.
Was it because his external martial arts training wasn't up to par?
No, no, no. It must have been because the attack was so sudden that he hadn't had time to defend himself.
But it was too late for excuses now.
Wu Yuan's mind was in utter chaos. The slam had clearly scrambled his brain.
Zuo Lin'an had also confirmed his suspicion.
Wu Yuan had no specter items on him. If he did, he would have used them long ago.
Reaching out with his right hand, Zuo Lin'an made a grasping motion in the air. A cold, glinting boning knife suddenly materialized in his palm.
Time to begin!
Up at the summit's bonfire.
The four people with Wang Luoshan suddenly opened their eyes and looked in a certain direction.
“That's a scream!”
Zhou Meng stood up, stepping solemnly in front of Wang Luoshan to shield him.
“It's Wu Yuan's scream. What happened? Did he run into a specter?”
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