Before, Zuo Lin'an had killed a player the instant the dungeon opened. Because he was extremely cautious, he wasn't discovered by the other players, and the corpse had quickly disappeared.
So, these players had always believed that nineteen of them had entered the dungeon this time.
Furthermore, based on their stereotype of having completed more than one One-Star dungeon, they assumed this One-Star dungeon would be just as simple.
And simple dungeons always followed certain predictable patterns.
For example, the specter wouldn't show up at the very beginning, nor would it attack the players. The players would have a certain amount of time to adapt to the dungeon after entering.
If Zuo Lin'an rushed to attack, he might catch them off guard in the early stage and even score a few kills, but it would also instantly put the remaining players on high alert.
This wouldn't be beneficial for his subsequent plans.
It was better to lie low for now.
He would observe the players' reactions and adjust his plans based on the situation.
“Eh?”
Zuo Lin'an suddenly noticed that the chase between Zhang Tinglei and Zhong Cheng seemed to have taken a turn.
Two female disciples from Mount Yinxian, dressed in white dresses and holding torches to search for food, were unlucky enough to run straight into them.
The moment Zhong Cheng saw them, he changed direction and dashed toward them.
It looked like he intended to divert the trouble to them.
But these two female disciples were only at the Third-Rate Rank. Facing these two powerful old men, they could neither fight nor escape. They could only shrink behind a withered tree, hoping to slip through unnoticed.
However, Zhong Cheng didn't let them off. As he passed by, he directly grabbed the one closer to him and threw her backward amidst her sharp screams.
Seeing this, Zhang Tinglei casually threw a palm strike.
He didn't use much force at all. His palm didn't even make contact with the woman. Just the palm wind he swept out sent her flying.
Before the woman even hit the ground, the two men had already disappeared into the darkness ahead.
“Ah!”
The woman fell heavily to the ground. The bamboo hat on her head rolled aside with a crisp chiming of silver bells, while her face turned deathly pale and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Senior Sister!”
Zuo Lin'an's attention wasn't on the sisters, but on the torch that had been sent flying.
“He's not going to set the forest on fire for me, is he...”
After observing carefully, he breathed a sigh of relief.
As it turned out, Zhang Tinglei's palm wind not only sent the person flying, but also extinguished the fire on the torch, leaving not even a single spark.
“Good.”
Only then did he have time to observe the injured woman.
She was being supported and held in her junior sister's arms, who was constantly channeling true qi into her.
After a long while, her breathing finally stabilized.
However, Zuo Lin'an could tell that Zhang Tinglei had definitely held back, though this person's control over true qi was still inferior to Feng Xingyun's.
Back at school, Feng Xingyun had effortlessly swept a palm strike and pushed away everyone surrounding Xuan Jingyuan.
That gentle force hadn't harmed them in the slightest.
“Junior Sister, I... I'm fine.”
“Senior Sister, don't speak. I'll take you somewhere else to hide first.”
Zuo Lin'an's eyes darted around.
Speaking of which, these two probably wouldn't go to regroup with the others anymore, right?
In that case, whether they lived or died wouldn't attract the attention of other players, would it?
How about killing them first?
Since he could quietly reduce the number of players, Zuo Lin'an would definitely not pass up the opportunity.
However, now was not the time.
After all, Zhang Tinglei was still chasing Zhong Cheng. Who knew if they would loop around and run back, see him, and blast him with a Heavenly Punishment Divine Fire?
Wouldn't that be the end of him?
After confirming Zhang Tinglei's and Zhong Cheng's positions, Zuo Lin'an began checking the status of the other players.
That old guy Jin Qianwen was still at the mountaintop, staying with his living body. He was quietly roasting by the fire, with no intention of chatting with him.
On the other hand, the ordinary people who had left together earlier without practicing martial arts had already given up, returning to the bonfire empty-handed one after another.
Come to think of it, the mountains here were different from mountains where people frequently walked.
These were all barren mountains with no paths at all. Let alone going down, if ordinary people wandered around, they could fall off the mountain and plunge to their deaths at any moment.
Even in a better scenario, they would likely get lost.
Besides, it was the middle of the night. Even with torches, they couldn't see the surroundings clearly.
Having no choice, they wandered around outside for over twenty minutes, staying near the bonfire and not daring to go too far, and ultimately found nothing.
After discussing among themselves, they could only return in defeat.
“Nine ordinary people, all of them came back.”
Zuo Lin'an only observed briefly.
He originally wanted to see what the three people from the Martial Alliance were doing.
But just as he was about to shift his attention, he noticed that these nine people seemed to be quietly looking at his living body.
“Oh? Could it be...”
Zuo Lin'an understood.
They probably felt that since the other martial arts experts were away, this was a good opportunity. So they started paying attention to Zuo Lin'an, thinking of communicating with him to get some useful information.
“Young Master?”
Zuo Lin'an heard a woman's voice and turned his head.
These nine ordinary people were divided into two groups.
One of four and one of five.
The five were all women, while the other four were all men. Looking at them, they clearly didn't get along, meaning they probably knew each other.
Or rather, some of them knew each other, and their relationship wasn't good.
The one who spoke to him just now was one of the five women.
From the clothes she wore, it was obvious that this woman came from a moderately wealthy family. She wore a silver hairpin on her head and a silver bracelet on her wrist.
If her family were exceptionally rich or had status, her jewelry would definitely be made of gold or jade.
The other four women didn't look as well-off as she did.
One woman even had patches on her clothes, though they were washed clean until they were fading. She must be someone who usually loved cleanliness.
“Is something the matter?”
The woman with the silver hairpin was probably striking up a conversation with a strange man for the first time, looking a bit reserved.
“May I ask if Young Master knows about the situation of the specter here?”
Zuo Lin'an's tone was flat.
“I was thrown in here by others, and it's my first time here, so naturally I'm not familiar with it.”
He stared at her with his dark eyes, making her scalp tingle under his gaze.
“Then may I ask if Young Master knows anything about the specter here?”
Zuo Lin'an shook his head.
“I only know that no one thrown in here has ever made it out alive. I don't know anything else.”
The woman summoned her courage and asked again.
“Then does Young Master know what the word 'Time' means?”
Zuo Lin'an still shook his head.
“No.”
Among these five women, there must be a newbie.
Otherwise, she wouldn't know about the novice benefits.
After the three questions, the woman stopped speaking.
They huddled together and turned away.
Rate on N.U.
