They looked at each other, seeing the eagerness in each other's eyes.
Everyone wanted to go first and no one wanted to yield; after all, nobody knew when the next specter would be delivered.
However, with His Majesty currently upstairs, they certainly couldn't argue or make a scene, lest they displease him.
Seeing this, Xu Beilin frowned slightly. “We don't have much time, make a decision quickly!”
Fortunately, they knew what was at stake and ultimately decided to let the one with the strongest martial arts go first. “I'll do it.”
Xu Beilin didn't care who it was, as long as a candidate was chosen. “Time's up, get ready.”
In the dark, Zuo Lin'an felt the restriction of the mirror on him vanish. In other words, he could leave at any moment now.
He lowered his head, using his bangs to cover his eyes and most of his face.
Then, Zuo Lin'an turned around and quickly reached his hand toward the mirror surface in front of him.
His fingertips slowly approached the mirror surface floating in the darkness. When he touched it, a cool sensation spread from his fingertips.
Before he could fully process the sensation, he found himself outside. “Do it!”
The player who had just stepped forward already had a specter item prepared in his hand.
It was a stone specter item.
He had obtained it in a One-Star difficulty dungeon; it was a murder weapon used by a certain native.
It was stained with a lot of dark red blood.
This was a consumable specter item. As long as this stone struck the head of another person or specter, it could directly kill or repel them.
And this kind of specter item was exactly what Zuo Lin'an had repeatedly emphasized to Xu Youyou—one that targeted both living bodies and specters simultaneously.
It was fortunate that it was Zuo Lin'an.
If it had been Xu Youyou, even if he switched to his living body state, he wouldn't have escaped being beaten to death.
The opponent's timing was extremely precise.
They had timed it perfectly for the exact moment Zuo Lin'an emerged from the mirror, when he would have no time to leave or conceal his figure.
The stone flew through the air, smashing directly into Zuo Lin'an's head.
Logically, the moment the stone struck his head, Zuo Lin'an's figure should have shattered into a blood mist.
But to everyone's shock, the specter in front of them seemed completely unfazed. Taking advantage of their dazed state, he vanished directly before their eyes.
At this sight, everyone froze.
Then, Xu Beilin suddenly realized something. “Oh no, it's Zuo Lin'an!!”
Hearing the name Zuo Lin'an, everyone braced themselves as if facing a formidable foe. “Quick! Protect His Majesty! He must be coming for His Majesty!”
After the previous incident in Academic Building No. 5, where the specter Zuo Lin'an had transformed into killed Xuan Yi right in front of His Majesty, they all knew he was immune to repel effects.
Although they didn't know how many times he could immunize himself, they didn't dare gamble with His Majesty's life.
Xu Beilin shouted to the person behind him. “Go tell Lord Tang to bring everyone back to protect the Emperor!”
“Yes, sir!”
Although doing so was a bit unfair to those who hadn't completed their repel tasks yet, compared to His Majesty, losing twenty or thirty players was a trivial matter.
The guard who received the order immediately turned and sped away.
Meanwhile, Zuo Lin'an had already concealed his figure and reached the first floor of the administrative building. Without pausing, he headed straight for the second floor.
However, the surrounding players reacted extremely quickly. Furthermore, the people stationed here to guard the Emperor were Houtian Rank at the very least—after all, even the guards outside the administrative building were First-Rate martial artists.
Even if Zuo Lin'an suppressed all of his aura and concealed his figure, he couldn't easily withstand being surrounded by so many high-level martial artists.
Fortunately, his speed was superior, allowing him to dodge many players.
However, there were still players with 【Spirit Vision】 present. “Over there, by the stairs!”
Everyone swarmed forward, but it was useless unless they could force Zuo Lin'an to reveal himself.
Yet, just as he reached the stairs on the second floor, he was suddenly attacked.
【A player has used the special talent Imprisonment. This can imprison a random specter within a ten-meter radius around them for ten seconds. During the imprisonment, the target cannot move or conceal themselves.】
【You have been imprisoned for ten seconds and cannot conceal your figure!】
Zuo Lin'an thought to himself that this was bad.
He hadn't expected that a player with the special talent 【Imprisonment】 would be lurking around Xuan Jingyuan.
The special effect of this talent was actually incomparable to other special talents, but it had one advantage that no other talent could match.
And that was its cooldown time.
Special talents generally had a cooldown of two to three days, but this 【Imprisonment】 talent only required two hours!
One had to know that even the most common talents like 【Colossal Strength】 and 【Rapid Speed】 had cooldowns of five hours.
And among all known special talents, with the exception of 【Spirit Vision】 which had no cooldown, 【Imprisonment】 had the shortest cooldown.
However, using 【Spirit Vision】 consumed mental energy, and one could easily overexert themselves, falling into a state of mental exhaustion or even a coma.
This could be considered an alternative form of cooldown, whereas 【Imprisonment】 required no extra consumption.
And now, Zuo Lin'an had just been hit by 【Imprisonment】.
If this had happened at any other time or place, it wouldn't have mattered if Zuo Lin'an got hit, but under the current circumstances, it was a bit...
“It's Zuo Lin'an.”
“It really is him.”
At this moment, Zuo Lin'an's figure was revealed, standing stiffly at the top of the stairs. Many people gathered around, though none of them rushed to attack.
After all, having gone through many dungeons, they knew long ago that their true qi and martial arts were completely useless against specters.
From the corner of his eye, Zuo Lin'an saw Gu Hedao, his familiar figure walking out of the principal's office.
“What are you standing there for? The 【Imprisonment】 talent only lasts for ten seconds. Prepare your follow-up control methods first. Remember, do not use talents or specter items with repel effects; they are useless against him. Make absolutely sure he doesn't escape our control. Use this time to transfer him outside first.”
“Yes, sir!”
The ten seconds were up.
But the players' follow-up measures had already been deployed.
【A player has used a specter item. You have been frozen for five seconds.】
Zuo Lin'an sighed inwardly. He knew this would happen.
It seemed this surprise attack was going to fail.
Fortunately, he had drawn their attention. The search on Tang Zhen's end would likely be disrupted by the commotion here, which would buy some more time.
Just then, he suddenly felt a flurry of living auras rapidly converging toward this location from outside.
Was this... the other players returning to protect the Emperor?
Gu Hedao had clearly noticed this as well. Frowning, he walked to the second-floor window and looked down.
“What are you all doing back here?”
His tone was calm, yet it carried an attitude that brooked no argument.
“Go back and continue searching for the two-headed specter!”
The time left for them was already scarce.
Now that Tang Zhen had withdrawn all his men, their previous efforts had completely gone down the drain. To find the two-headed specter, they would have to start searching all over again.
After all, with everyone pulled back, specters were highly likely to hide again in the areas they had already searched.
Rate on N.U.
