Zuo Lin'an was in the weeds, using his God's-eye view to observe Zhang Tinglei's next move.
“Strange.”
Now that he had gathered all the players, why was he still... Hm?
Just as Zuo Lin'an was wondering, he noticed the other man was heading straight toward his location.
“Is he coming for me?!”
Zuo Lin'an quickly got up, muted his work phone as fast as he could, and found a random spot nearby to hide. He kept his ordinary phone on him.
Then, he returned to his original spot and sat there, pretending to rest.
He really hadn't expected that his living body would also be judged as guilty by the other party.
But fortunately...
Although his living body and specter body were actually a single entity, the other party's judgment of guilt was separate.
If his living body being judged as guilty meant his specter body was also deemed guilty, then he wouldn't even need to hide.
“I wonder what exactly the rule Zhang Tinglei set is...”
“Forget it, it doesn't matter.”
“What matters is... what on earth does Zhang Tinglei want with me now?”
Time slipped by quietly in the silent waiting.
Zuo Lin'an watched Zhang Tinglei's figure rapidly approach until he finally appeared right before him.
He opened his eyes to look at the newcomer, remaining silent.
And Zhang Tinglei merely took a deep look at Zuo Lin'an.
“Found you.”
Zuo Lin'an frowned slightly, looking somewhat surprised and a bit puzzled.
“Are you looking for me?”
Zhang Tinglei stroked his beard.
“Indeed, I am looking for you. I didn't expect you wouldn't be on the mountain. Why did you come down? Didn't you say before that you would stay on the mountain the whole time?”
Instead of answering, Zuo Lin'an asked back, “How did you know I was here?”
Zhang Tinglei had no intention of explaining.
“I have my ways.”
Zuo Lin'an asked, “Then what do you want with me?”
Zhang Tinglei verified, “I recall your name is An Lin, right?”
“So what if I am?”
Zuo Lin'an's attitude was very cold, just as before.
However, Zhang Tinglei seemed completely oblivious to his cold demeanor. He casually sat on the ground, facing Zuo Lin'an, with only a distance of several meters between them.
“So, you are the executioner, right?”
Zuo Lin'an had still been pondering what exactly Zhang Tinglei wanted to say to him.
He just hadn't expected the man to suddenly blurt out such a line.
The executioner?
What executioner?
These few words completely shattered all his previous conjectures and thoughts.
“What did you say? The executioner?”
At this moment, Zhang Tinglei wore a confident expression, as if he knew everything.
“There's no need to pretend anymore.”
“Since I already know your identity, no matter how well you act, it won't shake my conviction.”
Zuo Lin'an was speechless. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what the other party meant by "executioner."
Soon, he thought of a possibility.
Could it be...
Previously, Zuo Lin'an had told the players that this place was where certain great clans and powerful factions disposed of "useless waste," and those thrown in here could absolutely never leave alive.
So, the people thrown in here were bound to die.
Therefore, did Zhang Tinglei mistake him for the executioner sent here to dispose of the "waste"?
But...
For the players, wasn't it the specter doing the killing?
Why would he consider him the so-called executioner?
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Ignoring Zuo Lin'an's attitude, Zhang Tinglei continued.
“I've met people like you before.”
Zuo Lin'an was bewildered.
“People like me?”
Zhang Tinglei narrowed his eyes slightly, concealing the sharp gleam within.
“Yes, people like you... Specter Masters.”
Hearing these words, Zuo Lin'an's eyes widened slightly. He was truly surprised to hear this term from a player's mouth!
And these words were being spoken to a native, of all people.
But with this, he finally understood the conjecture in Zhang Tinglei's heart.
So that was it.
This man had actually mistaken him for a Specter Master!
Specter dungeons indeed included types where a Specter Master served as the dungeon boss, and such dungeon bosses possessed immense flexibility and lethality.
After all, they were Specter Masters.
They were a combination of cunning, malicious, and intelligent humans with specters that possessed rule-based powers. Once players encountered this type of dungeon, the casualties were bound to be extremely high.
A total party wipe was practically a regular occurrence.
However, the number of such dungeons was extremely small. He hadn't expected that Zhang Tinglei had actually encountered a Specter Master-type dungeon boss before.
Talk about luck!
“Is that so?”
Zhang Tinglei reminisced briefly.
“I still remember him.”
“He was an incredibly powerful, perfect Specter Master. After fusing with a specter, he could conceal all of his specter aura and could even let the specter leave his body for remote control.”
As far as he knew, a player had to possess at least two permanent specter items to become a Specter Master.
And that was merely using the power of the specter items to suppress the specter inside their bodies.
They absolutely could not conceal all of their specter aura, let alone let the specter leave their body.
Thus, back when he first learned that Specter Masters existed among the dungeon's natives—and such perfect Specter Masters at that—he had been utterly shocked!
Zhang Tinglei snapped out of his memories.
“This way, even if his actual body is conversing with me, he can simultaneously control the specter to ambush and kill others elsewhere.”
“And you...”
His gaze fell upon Zuo Lin'an.
“You were sitting on the mountaintop earlier and never left, but in truth, you were secretly controlling the specter to attack us, weren't you?”
Zuo Lin'an felt a bit of a headache coming on.
What was he supposed to say?
The logic was completely wrong, but the conclusion was spot on?
“So? Why are you telling me all this now? What do you want to do?”
“Do you think I'm deeply wicked and want to kill me?”
He definitely wouldn't kill him.
After all, in the eyes of the players, he was a native.
If Zhang Tinglei, as a player, really killed him, then he would have to face him transforming into an unsolvable specter.
Of course, it was impossible for him to actually turn into an unsolvable specter.
But Zuo Lin'an was certain that Zhang Tinglei would never take such a risk.
One had to know that players were completely unaware of the concept of a Human-Specter Symbiont.
Facing Zuo Lin'an's questions, Zhang Tinglei wore a look that practically said, I knew I guessed right.
“Not at all. You are an executioner and a Specter Master. If I were to kill you, I would probably lose all hope of ever leaving this place.”
Zuo Lin'an felt he had a rough grasp of what Zhang Tinglei was thinking.
“So, what do you mean?”
Zhang Tinglei's face was full of smiles.
“I already know about the things you did while controlling the specter earlier. Though I don't know why you did them, don't you think it's a bit too difficult relying solely on yourself?”
Zuo Lin'an remained impassive.
“Do you want to help?”
Zhang Tinglei nodded. “If you don't mind, I'm willing to lend a hand. It's just...”
Zuo Lin'an thought of his Contribution points and didn't reject him outright.
“What do you want?”
Without a second thought, Zhang Tinglei said, “I want to leave this place.”
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