Zhong Cheng was confident in himself. As a Houtian Rank martial artist with a powerful constitution, even if he encountered extreme conditions, he could survive for two or three days on a single rabbit as long as he had enough water.
Furthermore, he could continue searching for food later on, and he would always be able to find something, more or less. Whether it was meat or something else.
As long as he was still alive when the main quest was completed, no matter what state his body in the dungeon ended up in, he would fully recover after returning. Therefore, he wasn't worried in the slightest.
Zuo Lin'an watched them getting along harmoniously, his heart feeling a bit heavier.
However, none of this was the most important thing to him. The most important thing was... the player he had previously knocked unconscious and abandoned in the dead grass while being pursued by Zhang Tinglei had finally woken up!
Waking up wasn't actually a big deal. It was only normal. An entire day had passed, and the other party was a Third-Rate martial artist whose constitution was far superior to that of an ordinary person. Zuo Lin'an actually found it quite mind-boggling that the man had stayed unconscious for so long.
What worried him, however, was that this person had already returned to the tallest mountain. He kept pacing around the foot of the mountain, occasionally looking up at the summit.
Zuo Lin'an knew he was looking for the campfire on the summit. However, there was no longer anyone on the summit, so naturally, there was no firelight.
If he had gone straight up the mountain, Zuo Lin'an would have breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the man didn't run into other players, the secret he knew wouldn't be exposed. But things didn't go as hoped.
Perhaps having noticed something unusual about the summit, the other party chose not to head up. Furthermore, while wandering around the foot of the mountain, he spotted a faint glimmer of firelight in the distance.
As for that location... Zuo Lin'an frowned. That was exactly where the puddle was, which meant it was where Zhang Tinglei and Zhong Cheng were currently staying.
“Sigh...” Zuo Lin'an let out a sigh. This was the very last thing he wanted to see.
However, sometimes, one truly couldn't make a final judgment until the very last moment.
Just as the man was considering approaching the direction of the firelight, a wild pheasant suddenly darted out of the nearby grass and ran up the mountain right before his eyes.
The man didn't even have time to react. He immediately cast the firelight from his mind, his eyes lighting up as he chased after it.
Zuo Lin'an watched as the man was run around in circles by a wild pheasant.
“Is this guy... for real, or is he just acting?”
Could the rock he used to bash the guy's head earlier have damaged his brain? No matter how useless he was, he was still a Third-Rate martial artist. Catching a wild pheasant should have been a walk in the park.
Under his bewildered and skeptical gaze, the man slowly ran up the mountain while chasing after the bird.
“Phew... well, that works too.”
Though it was somewhat hard to believe, at least he didn't have to worry about this guy crossing paths with Zhang Tinglei and the others anytime soon.
Only after confirming the status of all the players in the dungeon did Zuo Lin'an finally put his mind at ease.
He took out his phone to see if there were any messages. The moment he turned it on, he saw messages from Xu Youyou—there were over thirty unread notifications.
“What's going on? Why did he send so many messages?”
He opened the chat window.
The first message was from around 1:40 AM. Zuo Lin'an recalled that the time he was repelled by Zhang Tinglei seemed to be around 1:30 AM. What an unfortunate coincidence.
He scrolled all the way to the top.
【Xu Youyou: Brother An! Brother An, save me!】
Zuo Lin'an was completely speechless. The two of them were in separate dungeons, so how was he supposed to save him?
A few minutes later, another message came.
【Xu Youyou: Brother An, are you there? I'm doomed!!】
Another ten minutes or so passed.
【Xu Youyou: Brother An, I've got good news. I'm fine! Fortunately, I'm smart enough. But Brother An, why aren't you replying? Did you get repelled? Or did you not bring your phone?】
...
The messages after that were all asking him what had happened. Eventually, Xu Youyou seemed to have concluded that Zuo Lin'an hadn't brought his phone into the dungeon this time, and began to mock him.
【Xu Youyou: Brother An, your phone wasn't stolen by a player, was it?】
...
【Xu Youyou: Sigh! It's fine. Even if they stole your work phone, they wouldn't be able to use it anyway.】
Messages like this were sent at regular intervals.
“As expected of Xu Youyou, what a great brother of mine.” So he was just mocking him like this? Fine, just you wait.
As a result, right now, Xu Youyou had sent him another cry for help.
【Xu Youyou: Help me, Brother An, hurry up and help me!】
Zuo Lin'an felt rather helpless. Why was he still sending him messages for help? Whatever, he would send a reply.
【Zuo Lin'an: Stop asking for help. Your Brother An can barely look after himself right now.】
Xu Youyou replied instantly.
【Xu Youyou: Brother An, I knew you were there! I saw you posting on the forum earlier! What on earth is going on on your end?】
Zuo Lin'an let out a soft sigh and gave a brief summary of what had happened earlier.
【Zuo Lin'an: And that's how it went. I only just got my phone back.】
It took Xu Youyou several minutes to reply.
【Xu Youyou: Oh my god, a unique special talent? Heavenly Punishment Divine Fire?】
【Xu Youyou: With such a ridiculously powerful special effect, he's basically leaving you no way to survive. You probably won't be able to keep him in the dungeon this time, right?】
【Zuo Lin'an: Actually, if I want to keep him here, there is still a way.】
【Xu Youyou: Are you planning to stall for time and starve him to death? But didn't you say he has three rules, and he even took in a player with a Perception talent?】
【Xu Youyou: Once your specter body respawns, he can use that Perception talent to roughly pinpoint your location. When he gets close, he'll find a way to make you violate his rules. That way, he'll judge you as guilty again.】
【Xu Youyou: Once you're judged guilty, you'll be repelled just like before.】
Of course Zuo Lin'an knew this. However, there was a prerequisite for him being repelled previously. The prerequisite was that he had to be judged guilty by Zhang Tinglei.
And at that time, the only thing that could link back to him was the corpse of the player who had transformed into an unsolvable specter after death. It was only after touching the corpse that Zhang Tinglei discovered his location.
So once his specter body recovered, he would just take the corpses with him every time he killed a player. Since Zhang Tinglei wouldn't be able to touch the corpses, he naturally wouldn't be able to determine his location.
As for the Perception talent? For him, avoiding such a common talent was incredibly simple.
【Zuo Lin'an: It's fine, I've already thought of a way.】
He would avoid Zhang Tinglei and try to create unsolvable specters. If that didn't work, he would kill again. However, he didn't want to dwell on this topic any longer, so he quietly shifted the conversation.
【Zuo Lin'an: By the way, why do you keep asking me for help? How are things going on your end?】
Xu Youyou immediately went into venting mode.
【Xu Youyou: Brother An, I'm just like you. I've already been repelled once, just moments ago.】
Zuo Lin'an stared at the message. No wonder Xu Youyou hadn't mocked him after finding out he had been repelled once. Well, then. They were truly partners in misfortune, neither of them in any position to talk.
Rate on N.U.
