At this moment, Zuo Lin'an had no idea what Zhang Tinglei was thinking. He was merely pondering his next steps.
Was he really going to let him go?
As the dungeon boss, was he truly obligated to keep his promise and let a player leave?
Right now, he was a specter, cast in the role of a true villain.
Forget it, forget it.
His specter body hadn't even fully respawned yet, so there was no point in overthinking. He would wait until the three-day limit was up before deciding.
Hmm?!
Zuo Lin'an suddenly noticed that Zhong Cheng, who had already departed, was currently standing at the foot of the mountain where they had first started.
A dark, withered finger had appeared out of thin air in Zhong Cheng's hand, looking as if it had been snapped directly off a mummified corpse.
Before long, the finger slowly drifted up from his palm and began to rotate.
What was going on?
It looked like... it was pointing the way?
Zuo Lin'an suddenly felt that something unexpected was about to happen.
After spinning twice, the fingertip pointed directly toward the summit of that very mountain.
What was up there?
At this moment, the unsolvable specters had already manifested and were pursuing Wu Zhao in the direction he had fled. It was obvious that Wu Zhao would soon meet his end.
Meanwhile, Zhang Tinglei was sitting right beside him.
In other words, there was not a single player on the mountaintop right now, and even the native was currently at the foot of the mountain.
That meant the only thing left up there was...
The specter item!
His specter item!
Only the specter item remained on the mountaintop!
No way, right?
Could the specter item finger in Zhong Cheng's hand actually guide him to the location of other ownerless specter items?
Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain.
Zhong Cheng frowned as he looked at the specter item finger in his hand.
“Sigh...”
“A single-use item that can point the way to anything I desire... I wonder if it's worth using it just to find a consumable specter item in this One-Star dungeon...”
Hearing his murmurs, Zuo Lin'an's eyes slowly widened.
It's absolutely worth it!
How could it not be!
It is incredibly worth it!
Now, only two players remained in the entire dungeon.
Zhang Tinglei and Zhong Cheng.
Zuo Lin'an certainly couldn't do anything to Zhang Tinglei, which meant that once his specter body respawned, the most he could do was kill Zhong Cheng.
But now...
He thought of the specter item he had configured, the Withered Leaf.
It could block a specter's lethal attack once and guarantee a complete escape from the next strike.
Sigh...
It seemed he might have to let two players escape this dungeon after all.
Though he felt slightly dissatisfied, he ultimately came to terms with it. After all, he now had fourteen unsolvable specters under his control.
This amount was more than enough for him to gather one hundred Contribution points.
Oh, wait, that wasn't quite right.
There was still Zhang Tinglei.
He might choose to use his talent to summon the divine fire and kill Zhong Cheng right before clearing the dungeon, leaving only himself to survive.
Zuo Lin'an secretly observed Zhong Cheng.
He noticed that Zhong Cheng was indeed dashing toward the mountaintop at top speed.
Right at that moment, Zhang Tinglei, who was sitting nearby, slowly raised his head. He cast a glance in Zhong Cheng's direction, his eyes shifting slightly.
“My young friend, I shall step away for a moment.”
Zuo Lin'an raised an eyebrow. “Oh.”
He watched as Zhang Tinglei executed his qinggong, his figure becoming blurry and elusive. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the darkness.
However, Zuo Lin'an possessed a God's-eye view and could monitor both of them.
As for Wu Zhao, who was currently being hunted down and slaughtered by over a dozen unsolvable specters on the other side, he couldn't attract even a shred of Zuo Lin'an's attention.
“His speed is quite impressive!”
Even though Zhang Tinglei was currently using a secret technique to force his strength back to the Houtian Rank, his foundation as a Xiantian Rank expert was still there!
The speed he displayed after executing his qinggong was far beyond anything Zhong Cheng could match.
Not to mention, as a general, Zhong Cheng was not particularly skilled in the arts of qinggong.
On top of that, Zhang Tinglei could use his talent to track the other's location in real-time.
With all these factors combined, he quickly caught up to Zhong Cheng. He simply hid nearby, quietly tailing him without releasing any of his aura.
Zuo Lin'an let out a soft chuckle at the sight.
“It seems... Zhong Cheng was moving a bit too fast just now, which aroused Zhang Tinglei's suspicion.”
Let's see.
Who will ultimately lay hands on that specter item?
Acting as a third party, Zuo Lin'an watched the two of them through his God's-eye view.
Zhong Cheng was completely unaware that he was being followed by Zhang Tinglei, and he continued sprinting toward the mountaintop.
After a short while, Zhong Cheng reached the summit. He stood right where they had lit the campfire earlier, though it had already gone out.
There was no flame left, not even a single spark.
Zhong Cheng withdrew his gaze and, following the guidance of the specter finger in his hand, walked step by step to the tallest tree on the summit.
He looked up, but failed to notice anything at first.
Hesitantly, he reached out to touch the withered tree in front of him, but no dungeon notification appeared.
“Nothing?”
That was impossible.
He knew that a specter item would never guide him incorrectly. Since there was no reaction, it meant he had either searched the wrong spot or overlooked something.
Zhong Cheng looked up once more and examined the branches carefully. Sure enough, he spotted something.
“That is...”
He squinted his eyes to identify it.
“A leaf?”
It suddenly dawned on Zhong Cheng. It was a leaf!
Come to think of it, since entering the dungeon, this was the very first time he had seen a leaf growing on a tree. After all, every single tree here was completely bare.
The moment he realized the leaf was the specter item, the specter finger in his hand suddenly shuddered. It then dissolved into fine sand, slipping through his fingers.
The sand trickled down from the gaps between his fingers, gradually vanishing.
Zhong Cheng clenched his fists, a brief pang of distress flashing in his eyes. However, he quickly composed himself and nimbly climbed up the tree.
He reached his hand toward the highest branch, about to pluck the leaf. But right at that moment, a small pebble flew in from the distance.
With a sharp snap, the branch holding the leaf was shattered by the stone, and the leaf fell along with the broken branch.
Zhong Cheng was startled. Casting all else aside, he leaped down, lunging to grab the falling branch before it could hit the ground.
Just then, a figure swiftly approached from nearby with a whoosh, a palm striking directly toward Zhong Cheng's head!
Having no choice, Zhong Cheng was forced to retreat.
But he didn't just back away passively. As he retreated, he unleashed a fierce whip kick.
Just as the whip kick was about to strike the shadow's head, the figure turned his palm into a fist. The collision sent both of them stumbling backward.
Zhong Cheng roared in anger, “You old thief! It really is you!”
The newcomer was indeed Zhang Tinglei.
He merely let out a cold snort, remaining silent.
Old thief, dog thief—it didn't matter.
As long as he could achieve his goal, he didn't mind being called a few names.
Zhang Tinglei's gaze swept over the ground ahead.
The branch with the single leaf lay quietly right between them.
He had already guessed earlier that this leaf was highly likely to be the specter item of this dungeon.
Even though he didn't know what kind of special effect the leaf possessed, he absolutely could not allow Zhong Cheng to obtain it.
Rate on N.U.
