As Liu Baixu said this, she slowly raised her eyes to look at Zhang Tinglei.
“Master Martial Artist, Zhang Xiaoya appraised him three times, and the young master native's three answers were all lies.”
Zhang Tinglei hadn't originally pinned much hope on her response, but after listening carefully, he realized he had underestimated these ordinary people who were like ants to him.
“So that means the native named An Lin is not here for the first time.”
“Not only is he very familiar with this place, but he even knows the details about the specter here! And finally... he also knows what the novice benefit 【Time】 represents.”
Liu Baixu nodded.
“In this humble girl's opinion, this young master native should be extremely familiar with this place, and might even be... the specter's accomplice in the shadows.”
“I think...”
“If we can find this native, perhaps we can try using some unconventional methods to persuade him to help locate the specter once it respawns.”
“Or, we could simply use him to lure the specter out.”
“As the specter's accomplice, he must have a way to communicate with it.”
Liu Baixu had shared all her thoughts. As for whether this plan would actually work, she had no idea either.
She only said these things because she wanted to leave the dungeon alive.
As for what would happen to the native once Zhang Tinglei captured him?
Imagining the scenes that would follow, she could only silently apologize in her heart.
Zhang Tinglei showed no reaction after hearing her words.
Under normal circumstances, after learning that a native was highly likely to be the accomplice of the dungeon's specter, most players would have the same thought as Liu Baixu.
They would seek help, or use intimidation and coercion to force the native to help them clear the dungeon.
But Zhang Tinglei's first thought was not this, but something else.
One had to realize that the specter here possessed supreme intelligence, even capable of moving without a trace.
If the native chose to help them, who was to say the specter hiding in the dark wouldn't notice?
And once it noticed, would the specter still fall for it?
Certainly not.
And as the specter's accomplice...
Did that mean the native named An Lin could communicate normally with the specter to some extent?
Perhaps the human and the specter had reached some secret transaction.
And they, who entered the dungeon, had replaced the natives sent here in their capacity as players.
Were they themselves... sacrifices offered to the specter here?
Zhang Tinglei sat where he was, constantly pondering what his next steps should be.
Meanwhile, they had absolutely no idea that their entire conversation had actually been witnessed by Zuo Lin'an.
“For a weak woman with no strength to speak of, Liu Baixu has done incredibly well to deduce this much.”
The specter's accomplice?
“To be honest, in a sense, she actually guessed right.”
His living body was indeed the accomplice of his specter body.
Zuo Lin'an then shifted his gaze to the deep-in-thought Zhang Tinglei.
“He doesn't really plan to come find me and try to coerce and bribe me, does he?”
He could certainly use his God's-eye view to avoid the man.
But right now, he was just an ordinary person. Just going down the mountain took several hours. If a Xiantian Rank martial artist wanted to find him, he would most likely be unable to outrun him.
“So... should I hide first?”
Just as he was wondering whether to hide, he suddenly noticed Zhang Tinglei, who had been sitting by the puddle, abruptly stand up.
“You all wait here. I will be gone for a moment.”
Before Zhong Cheng and the others could react, Zhang Tinglei's figure had already vanished from the spot, blending into the distant darkness.
Zhong Cheng frowned slightly as he looked in the direction the man had left.
He remembered that was the direction of the cave.
Four women lived in that cave, and in the withered forest further past the cave, there were three men.
Before long, Zhang Tinglei returned, bringing a total of seven people—both men and women—to the spot.
“Zhong Cheng, watch them.”
Without waiting for Zhong Cheng's reply, he quickly departed again.
This time, he headed in the direction of Jin Youwu's trio.
At this moment, Jin Youwu and Zhou Shan, who had been talking around the campfire, stood up one after another, staring solemnly and with great gravity toward a certain direction.
Before long, a familiar figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
When Zhou Shan saw the man's appearance, his scalp went numb. Without uttering a single word, he turned and ran!
In the blink of an eye, he had already fled into the distant darkness, vanishing without a trace.
Zhang Tinglei chuckled softly.
“You run fast indeed, but what a pity...”
Jin Youwu wanted to run as well, but his father was right behind him.
How could he abandon his father and flee alone?!
Seeing this, Jin Qianwen grew extremely anxious and quickly shouted, “Silly child, he wouldn't dare do anything to me. Leave quickly!”
Jin Youwu knew that given his father's current physical state, even a casual touch could prove fatal, so Zhang Tinglei would certainly not lay a hand on him. Even so, he still hesitated.
And it was this brief hesitation that gave Zhang Tinglei his opportunity.
He unleashed the full, unreserved might of the Xiantian Rank!
He struck a palm directly toward Jin Youwu's chest and abdomen, leaving no room for escape.
Of course, Zhang Tinglei wouldn't kill him; he only wanted to make him a bit more cooperative.
However, when the palm strike landed on the body, an anomaly suddenly occurred. The body belonging to Jin Youwu actually shattered into pieces, while Jin Youwu himself was already nowhere to be found.
Yet, after sensing carefully, he could still detect two familiar auras rapidly moving away in two different directions.
But what a pity...
The moment they entered the dungeon, the very first time he saw them, he had already judged them as guilty. No matter where they fled, he would know.
Instead of immediately pursuing the two, Zhang Tinglei first brought Jin Qianwen and the food here back to the vicinity of the puddle.
After dumping the old man to Zhong Cheng, he went back to capture the two who had fled.
A half-shichen later, Zhong Cheng saw Zhang Tinglei once again.
He was slowly approaching, carrying an unconscious person in each hand.
Zhong Cheng looked closely. Who else could the two people in his hands be but Jin Youwu and Zhou Shan?
Only, both of them were currently unconscious, and their auras were extremely chaotic.
From his experience, their dantians had likely been shattered.
Zhong Cheng couldn't help but think of himself.
Fortunately, he had made the right choice back then. Otherwise, there would be one more person lying here right now.
Zhang Tinglei did not linger. “Only the last two left...”
After leaving, he flew toward the edge of the white mist, found two somewhat numb-looking players, and brought them back.
These two were, of course, the female disciples of Mount Yinxian who had been missing all this time.
Zhong Cheng looked at the two women thrown onto the ground by Zhang Tinglei, then scanned his surroundings and did a careful count.
A total of sixteen players.
All the players who were still alive should be here now.
“Senior, you are...”
Zhang Tinglei did not explain much.
“I am going to find the native. Keep a close eye on these people for me. I have a great use for them!”
Doubt filled Zhong Cheng's heart, but he could only force it down.
He wondered if it was just his imagination, but ever since Zhang Tinglei first left until now, a sense of crisis had been lingering in his heart.
“Am I overthinking things?”
Rate on N.U.
