Chapter 165 · Volume 1

【Wuxia World】 Suspicion

Xu Youyou followed up on Zuo Lin'an's words.
“As for me?”
“Everything I just said was told to me by my aunt. I was just born when she slaughtered the village, so I didn't know anything. I don't really feel much about it.”
Gu Hedao stared blankly at the two before him.
Now, he suddenly felt his previous suspicions were somewhat ridiculous. The two before him had their own consciousness, their own pasts, their own life paths, and their own joys and sorrows!
They were not dungeon puppets.
They were normal dungeon natives!
After all, dungeon puppets wouldn't have such vivid facial expressions, nor would they...
But!
How could one explain Xu Youyou putting his head back on to restore it after it fell off?
This was certainly not something a normal native could do.
Could it be because of the National War Dungeon?
Zuo Lin'an noticed his expression was a bit off. “What's wrong?”
Gu Hedao shook his head. “It's nothing. I'm finished. Please, carry on.”
He stood up, quickly left the cafeteria, and headed toward the academic building.
Xu Youyou said, “He was a bit strange just now. What do you think he was thinking?”
Zuo Lin'an shook his head. “I don't know. It doesn't matter what he's thinking.”
While they were eating, someone carrying a tray of food sat down next to Zuo Lin'an.
“Hello, classmates. Mind if we get to know each other?”
Zuo Lin'an turned to look.
Huh?!
He looked very familiar!
He just couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
But Xu Youyou's eyes lit up, clearly recognizing the person. Still, he asked, “Who are you?”
Although the newcomer wore the school uniform, his long hair flowed elegantly, and he looked incredibly handsome and dashing.
Quite a few female players and even female NPCs around them were secretly stealing infatuated glances at him.
Only then did Zuo Lin'an realize who it was.
No wonder he looked familiar, even down to his hairstyle. It was Ming Ruofeng, the young master who was extremely popular on the forums and had advanced to the Houtian Rank at just twenty-two years old.
The one who possessed the unique special talent 【Demon-Slaying Sword】.
Upon closer inspection, Zuo Lin'an noticed a wooden sword tucked into the man's waist. It was roughly the length of a forearm, narrow and crude, likely made by hand.
“I am Ming Ruofeng. May I have the pleasure of introducing myself to you two?”
Zuo Lin'an's attitude was somewhat cold.
“Sure. Do you need something from us?”
This Ming Ruofeng was incredibly handsome! Even the female NPCs were attracted to him!
If he wanted to ask for information about the dungeon, he should have chosen those female NPCs who fancied him. Why seek them out?
Was it because they had been staying close to Gu Hedao and the Emperor, Xuan Jingyuan?
Had he not approached them before simply because he didn't have the chance?
And now that Gu Hedao had left, he finally came over?
Ming Ruofeng smiled and nodded. “Indeed, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you two.”
Zuo Lin'an said, “Go ahead.”
Ming Ruofeng wore a relaxed and pleasant smile.
“It's actually nothing much. I just wanted to ask about earlier at noon. This classmate's head seemed to... yet now you look completely fine. Is there some special method behind this?”
Zuo Lin'an frowned slightly, but quickly realized his intent!
Ming Ruofeng suspected Xu Youyou had a specter item!
Or perhaps, Xu Youyou knew where a specter item was hidden, such as the infirmary.
He recalled reading in the information that the permanent specter item of the Lingyang First High School dungeon was supposed to be in the principal's office.
But unfortunately, those people had ransacked the office and found absolutely nothing in the end.
However, that 【Talent Advancement Stone】 had been successfully taken by someone.
What was his name again?
Right, Yan San.
He didn't know if Yan San would enter the Scarlet Dream tonight. If he did, Zuo Lin'an would find an opportunity to kill him and retrieve the 【Talent Advancement Stone】.
Zuo Lin'an remained expressionless. “If your head falls off, you just go to the infirmary and have the doctor sew it back on.”
Ming Ruofeng shook his head unhurriedly. “No, no, no. I mean his head fell off, yet he could still speak. I'm not talking about the infirmary.”
As for the infirmary?
Not just him, but other players had already searched it countless times and found absolutely nothing.
Therefore, Ming Ruofeng was certain the item had to be on Xu Youyou.
Xu Youyou put down his chopsticks and sized Ming Ruofeng up, his tone laced with a hint of impatience.
“Is speaking with a severed head really that rare?”
“Why do you keep asking?”
“Isn't everyone like this?”
Of course not.
Such a situation would, in all likelihood, only occur in Human-Specter Symbionts.
A living body would die from such an attack.
While a specter facing such an attack would either be immune to all physical damage or simply get pushed back.
Ming Ruofeng glanced behind Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou.
Sitting behind them was a delicate-looking female player, her long hair held up by a wooden hairpin. Her gaze swept over Ming Ruofeng, a faint blush appearing on her face, before she slowly shook her head.
He lied.
This female player was someone Ming Ruofeng had specially recruited by using his charm. She possessed the 【Lie Detection】 talent, and her head shake just now was to tell him that Xu Youyou was lying.
Xu Youyou had lied.
However, Ming Ruofeng didn't plan to probe deeper right now. He only needed to know whether Xu Youyou's words were true or false, and that was enough.
If it were true, it would mean this was just a unique trait of the natives, unrelated to any specter items.
But since he lied...
Then Xu Youyou's regenerative ability was highly likely related to a specter item.
At this thought, his smile grew deeper and more captivating. The women who had been secretly watching him stared blankly, clearly unable to resist his charm.
Just as Xu Youyou was about to chase him away, Ming Ruofeng suddenly stood up.
“Apologies for interrupting your meal. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first. I hope we can chat again when we have time.”
Xu Youyou watched him leave in utter bewilderment as the man quickly walked away.
“Is... is he sick in the head?”
Zuo Lin'an shook his head. He couldn't speak openly here, so he merely tapped his backpack.
Xu Youyou stared blankly for a moment.
What did that mean?
The backpack? What about the backpack?
Wait, inside Zuo Lin'an's backpack... there seemed to be two things hidden.
Three cards and a specter item gold hairpin.
Zuo Lin'an definitely wasn't referring to the cards, so it had to be... the specter item?
No matter how slow Xu Youyou was, he finally caught on.
A specter item?!
That guy just now suspected he had a specter item on him?
“Huh?”
Xu Youyou wrestled with it for a moment, and in the end, could only ask a soul-searching question.
“Do I really look like...”
Do I really look like someone who has a specter item?
But he didn't have anything on him. Only Zuo Lin'an was carrying a backpack.
“Wait, you...”
Zuo Lin'an nodded, indicating he understood.
Those martial artists had excellent eyesight. After looking a few more times, they would easily confirm that Xu Youyou had nothing unusual on his person.
And once they couldn't find any specter items on Xu Youyou, they would undoubtedly shift their attention to him—the close friend who was always hanging around with him.
When that time came, his backpack might truly be in danger.
These people would only need to send a single random martial artist to easily snatch the backpack from his hands.
Therefore, whether it was the cards or the specter item gold hairpin, he had to find a more reliable place to hide them.

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