Zhuang He and Bai Liu were currently hiding under a tree.
“Brother Bai, what should we do now?”
How could Bai Liu know what to do?
He didn't have any specter items in his hands, and his talent was just a common talent called 【Rapid Speed】, which was completely useless against a specter.
However, if the specter did attack, he could use his qinggong combined with his talent to triple his speed. He would definitely run much faster than Zhuang He.
That way, the specter would most likely go after Zhuang He, giving him a chance to escape.
This would buy him at least half-shichen of survival time to think of a way to stay alive.
As for Zhuang He...
He was from Poison Dragon Mountain. Although Poison Dragon Mountain had no conflicts with his own Flying Flower Stockade, they weren't on friendly terms either, so he felt no guilt whatsoever about throwing Zhuang He under the bus.
Bai Liu glanced back at the mountain they had just left. “The two people left on the mountain should be able to delay it for a shichen. But calculating the time, a shichen is almost up.”
In other words, the specter might find them very soon.
Zhuang He couldn't stop sighing. “I hope the specter goes after Lin Deyou's group of three first.”
At first, Bai Liu had felt a bit of relief when he saw Lin Deyou, thinking he could find an opportunity to kill him in this dungeon. But looking at things now, it would have been better if they had never met!
“Hopefully.”
However, it wasn't long before they felt that familiar, freezing cold aura.
The two of them whipped their heads around and saw those exceptionally prominent, crimson slit-pupils in the distance.
“It's the specter! It came for us first!”
Paying absolutely no heed to Zhuang He, Bai Liu activated his Rapid Speed talent, executed his qinggong, and fled.
Qinggong was already fast to begin with, but after being tripled by his talent, his speed became utterly absurd. Before Zhuang He could even react, Bai Liu had already vanished without a trace.
Only Zhuang He was left standing there, entirely alone.
Zhuang He stood dumbfounded. Bai Liu's speed... was actually comparable to a Houtian Rank expert!
How could he run so fast?!
No, now was not the time to think about that.
“Was I... left behind as bait?”
He finally realized his predicament. Immediately turning around, he bolted in another direction, not even having the spare mind to dwell on being abandoned.
Zhuang He believed this was the fastest he had ever run in his entire life, yet every time he looked back, those red eyes were always right behind him, like an inescapable shadow. The distance between them never seemed to widen.
Before long, he came to a halt, stopping his futile flight.
He knew that no matter how fast he ran, there was absolutely no escaping.
He had been locked onto by the specter.
“Why...”
“Why did it target me?”
“Why didn't it go after Bai Liu?”
“Why didn't it go after Lin Deyou and those two women?”
Zuo Lin'an wasn't very far from him and heard his mutterings.
He couldn't help but complain internally.
You're going to die anyway, sooner or later. What difference does it make if you live for another hour or two?
Oh?
Perfect. It was exactly on the hour.
Time to start the execution.
However, just as Zuo Lin'an slowly approached Zhuang He, the man's expression turned grim. His muscles bulged, and his hands clenched into fists. Was he actually trying to fight back?
Immediately after, Zhuang He roared in his direction.
“Hah!!”
With a swift whoosh, his hands turned completely black.
“I don't believe this! There's no way you specter things are truly immune to all attacks!”
Stamping his feet hard against the ground, he launched himself into the air and crashed down toward Zuo Lin'an. With a loud thud, his feet slammed into the earth, leaving a small crater.
“Take my Poison Dragon Hand!!”
Along with Zhuang He's furious shout, his pitch-black palms slammed directly onto Zuo Lin'an's chest.
Except...
Although the strike appeared incredibly fierce, it felt as light as a feather when it connected with Zuo Lin'an's body, carrying absolutely no force.
“No!”
Zhuang He stared at the specter before him in sheer disbelief.
“Impossible...”
Zuo Lin'an suddenly reached out and grabbed the man's wrist.
“What's impossible?”
His sudden voice gave Zhuang He a massive fright.
“You!”
“You actually...”
Zuo Lin'an suddenly felt a playful urge. “I actually know how to speak?”
This time, Zhuang He was genuinely shocked.
“How... how is this possible? Not only can you speak, but you can even converse. You... you possess intelligence! You can think!”
“What on earth are you?!!”
Zuo Lin'an's lips curled into a wide grin.
The cold gaze in his crimson slit-pupils turned into one of malicious amusement.
“Alright, don't overthink it.”
“Don't worry, it'll be over quickly.”
He raised his hand, revealing the gleaming, cold edge of his boning knife.
Zhuang He gasped sharply at the sight. He tried frantically to break free from the grip, but despite exerting every ounce of his strength, he couldn't budge even an inch!
Left with no choice, he resorted to repeatedly striking Zuo Lin'an with his other hand.
“Let go! Let go of me!!”
Even if it was futile, he refused to just sit and wait for death.
Zuo Lin'an felt the sudden surge of strength from the man.
It was just the Colossal Strength talent—utterly mediocre.
“Why struggle?”
If he had quietly accepted his fate, Zuo Lin'an might have knocked him unconscious before killing him.
But now...
Zuo Lin'an plunged the knife directly into the man's elbow joint.
“Ah! My arm!!”
Before the man could even process the pain, Zuo Lin'an stabbed him a few more times, targeting his other arm and both of his knees.
He casually tossed the limp Zhuang He onto the ground.
In his current specter state, Zuo Lin'an was extremely sensitive to certain "auras" emitted by humans.
For instance, murderous intent, malice, and the like.
This Zhuang He before him was definitely no saint.
Not only was he shrouded in murderous intent, but his entire body was also enveloped in a layer of blood aura. It wasn't the actual smell of blood, but rather a blood aura manifested from slaughtering countless people.
If this kind of blood aura emanating from within was dense enough, it could instill instinctual fear in anyone who laid eyes on him, making them feel like they had needles pricking their backs just by standing near him.
If Zhuang He were a soldier on a battlefield, the source of his blood aura would be justified, and Zuo Lin'an wouldn't think twice about it.
But what was Zhuang He?
A mere Third-Rate martial artist and a bandit. How else could he have accumulated such a dense blood aura?
Furthermore, although this man had maintained a polite and courteous facade from the very beginning, a deeply hidden malice constantly flickered in his eyes.
On top of that, the man had just tried to attack him.
Now, Zuo Lin'an wanted to send him on his way with proper care.
Of course, the main reason was the latter. After all, the people Zhuang He killed were from this Wuxia World; what did that have to do with Zuo Lin'an?
Time to begin!
“Ahhh—!!”
Bloodcurdling screams echoed through the dead, silent mountains.
Not to mention Bai Liu, who had just fled, even Lin Deyou's trio, who were far away, could clearly hear the agonizing screams.
Princess Jinyang's voice trembled slightly.
“That's... that's Zhuang He's voice.”
Lin Deyou frowned as he stared outside. The two commoners left on the mountain had likely been killed already.
Rate on N.U.
