Over the next few hours, Zuo Lin'an set a simple plan for himself.
He would kill one person roughly every ten minutes.
This ten-minute window might have seemed a bit loose, but in reality, Zuo Lin'an had plenty of things to do.
First, he had to observe the surroundings of each house to ensure there was no one else nearby.
He also had to assess the condition of the house itself. If it was too difficult to slip in quietly, he would have to find a different target to avoid making a scene.
Second, he had to confirm how many people were inside. After all, his assumption that everyone lived alone was just a guess. Some might have guests over, or close friends might even sleep in the same room.
Finally, he had to make sure they were fast asleep.
He had to remember that he had only entered Sin Hunter City with his living body. While his physical attributes were indeed much better than an average human's, he would still be in deep trouble if a mob of criminals surrounded him.
Only after confirming his target was asleep could he begin executing his rule.
A few times, ten minutes wasn't even enough.
But there were also times when things went exceptionally smoothly, saving him a few minutes.
Several hours slipped by quietly.
Soft whimpers echoed from a small shack once more, but they quickly faded into silence.
Not long after, Zuo Lin'an pushed the door open and stepped out.
By now, his brand-new prison uniform was speckled with blood.
“Thirty-one.”
He dusted off his clothes and casually flicked the blood off his hands.
The criminal he had just killed possessed some martial arts skills. However, after Zuo Lin'an quietly crippled his legs and took away his initiative, the man ultimately died by his hand.
“Next...”
It had been over four hours since he entered Sin Hunter City. The time was now past two in the morning, drawing close to three.
He still had nineteen targets left.
“Almost there.”
It seemed that obtaining an auxiliary rule was much easier than he had imagined.
He mused silently to himself before hurrying to the next location to make the most of his time.
Meanwhile, back at the training base outside Sin Hunter City.
Zuo Lin'an's specter body noticed a message notification on his phone.
He picked it up and unlocked the screen.
【Xu Youyou: Brother An, my dungeon is over.】
Zuo Lin'an raised an eyebrow. He waited for a moment, but no second message arrived.
Did he...
【Zuo Lin'an: Did you fail?】
At that moment, Xu Youyou was still lying face-down in the white mist of his dungeon's inner ring, staring blankly at the slowly dissipating corpse in front of him.
The corpse's eyes were wide open, its entire face contorted into a grotesque, twisted mask of resentment and unwilling anger.
It was as if he had died in the most frustrating way possible.
【Xu Youyou: No, I succeeded. I wiped out the players.】
Zuo Lin'an was rather surprised.
【Zuo Lin'an: How did you manage that?】
Xu Youyou recalled what had happened earlier.
He felt utterly exhausted just thinking about it.
【Xu Youyou: It was nothing, really. I couldn't think of any other way, so while they weren't paying attention, I quietly filled in the puddles!】
【Xu Youyou: Then I released the wild chickens and rabbits they had caught. I had my specter body catch them, slaughter them all, and bury them in a hole.】
Reading this reply, Zuo Lin'an thought that while it was a bit underhanded, there was nothing wrong with doing so.
【Zuo Lin'an: Is there a problem with that?】
As a dungeon boss who stopped at nothing to achieve their goals, this was perfectly normal behavior.
【Xu Youyou: They noticed what I did pretty quickly, so my attempt to play an NPC failed. And then... they killed my living body!】
This actually surprised Zuo Lin'an.
When Zhang Tinglei had killed his living body, it was because he mistook him for a Specter Master, believing that killing him would reveal the specter.
That was somewhat understandable. Zhang Tinglei had even calculated the time needed to clear the dungeon so he wouldn't be targeted by any unsolvable specter that might appear.
But what was the deal with Xu Youyou's situation?
【Zuo Lin'an: Even if they suspected you were connected to the specter, they shouldn't have killed you, right? Don't they know that if a player kills an NPC, that NPC can turn into an unsolvable specter?】
Xu Youyou, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly sat up.
【Xu Youyou: They knew!】
【Xu Youyou: That's why they chose one person to do the deed. They even made a solemn oath that if the others made it back alive, they would take good care of his wife and children.】
【Xu Youyou: But after they killed me, no unsolvable specter appeared. And just like that, my cover was blown.】
Zuo Lin'an roughly understood the crux of the issue.
Since Xu Youyou's living body was killed, he didn't transform into an unsolvable specter.
This meant that even if the players didn't know about Human-Specter Symbionts, they would still realize the native in front of them was a fake.
【Zuo Lin'an: So they assumed your living body was some kind of illusion created by the specter?】
【Xu Youyou: Exactly.】
【Xu Youyou: After my living body was killed, I didn't dare to move at all. I just played dead on the ground, and I've been doing that until now.】
After all, there were so many players with the unique talent 【Heavenly Thunder Talisman】.
He didn't dare risk letting his specter body come over to retrieve his living body.
【Xu Youyou: Fortunately, thanks to my living body's flawless sabotage earlier, they ran out of food. Only two of them had two wild chickens on them.】
【Zuo Lin'an: Did they start fighting among themselves?】
【Xu Youyou: Yes. They wanted to plan ahead, after all.】
【Xu Youyou: If they waited until all the food was gone, there wouldn't be anything left to fight over even if they turned on each other. Everyone wanted those last two wild chickens as emergency rations, so they got into a massive brawl.】
【Xu Youyou: They were a bit cautious at first, but as the fight dragged on, they really lost their tempers. Several of them were severely injured and couldn't even get back up.】
【Xu Youyou: I knew that was my chance!】
【Xu Youyou: You know what? I ambushed those players while they were heavily injured and killed several of them in one go. Since they had already triggered my rules, I could kill them however I wanted.】
Zuo Lin'an nodded inwardly.
Still, regardless of the infighting, there should have been at least one or two survivors at the end, right?
【Zuo Lin'an: What about... the last one?】
Xu Youyou glanced once more at the spot where the player's corpse had just vanished. There was nothing left now.
【Xu Youyou: The last one? He got ganged up on by several people, so even though he won, he was also critically injured. But I didn't touch him.】
【Zuo Lin'an: His Heavenly Thunder Talisman was still unused, right?】
【Xu Youyou: Exactly. His Heavenly Thunder Talisman was still active, so I didn't dare get close.】
Reading this, Zuo Lin'an finally relaxed a bit.
【Zuo Lin'an: It's good that you're fine. By the way, how many unsolvable specters did you get this time?】
【Xu Youyou: Three. Not too bad, I guess.】
After sending so many messages, Xu Youyou seemed to have regained his usual energy.
【Xu Youyou: What about you, Brother An? How many unsolvable specters do you have?】
Zuo Lin'an hesitated for a moment.
Should he tell Xu Youyou that he was already in Sin Hunter City?
Well...
Just now, he had killed his thirty-fifth criminal.
“I might as well tell him. It's not like I can keep it a secret anyway.”
【Zuo Lin'an: I'm in Sin Hunter City.】
Rate on N.U.
