It had to be said that Xuan Liu was truly worthy of being a member of the Dark Dragon Guard.
“Lord Zeng has already used his only life-saving item and no longer has any value. Rather than wasting precious trump cards to save him, it is better to abandon him.”
“This can only be attributed to his bad luck. Your Highness must prioritize your own safety and need not concern yourself with irrelevant people.”
Tang Wanrong said, “Just now, the 【incense ashes】 were already scattered on the specter. This means that the specter only dragged him away and cannot kill him right now...”
This meant that Zeng Qiuning could still be saved, and the specter would not attack anyone else within half-shichen.
Therefore, even if Xuan Liu went to save him, she would be perfectly safe.
Beneath his mask, Xuan Liu's expression registered a trace of surprise. “Does Your Highness mean to have this subordinate save him?”
At this point, there was no one else who could save him besides Xuan Liu.
With Zhuang Feiyin's death, Xuan Liu was the only martial artist left.
Tang Wanrong weighed her options back and forth before ultimately letting out a sigh.
“Forget it. I would be fine, but the child in my womb belongs to His Majesty, and nothing must go wrong. It is simply Lord Zeng's poor luck.”
She said all this not because she actually wanted to save him, but because she didn't want to appear too cold-blooded.
After all, once they returned, Xuan Liu would undoubtedly report everything that transpired here to the Emperor, word for word.
She didn't want to be despised by the Emperor because of her cold-blooded behavior.
Furthermore,
even if the specter couldn't kill right now, it could still capture people. What if the specter ambushed her while Xuan Liu was away, dragging her off and hiding her?
With so many mountains around, if it hid her in a secluded spot, Xuan Liu might never find her!
She would never gamble with her life and her future.
As for Zeng Qiuning, if he died, he died.
Tang Jianghe, however, noticed a major issue. “Just now, Lord Zeng was attacked by the specter. This timing does not align with Lord Xuan Liu's deduction.”
“What I mean is, the rule of the specter attacking to kill once every half-shichen might not be entirely correct.”
Xuan Liu, of course, had also noticed this.
“It seems the 【time】 referred to in the novice benefits is not the timing of the specter's killings, but points to something else.”
It was just that they had no idea what it meant for the time being.
“If Master Tang has any thoughts on the specter's rules, please share them. If we can deduce the correct rules, all of us might survive.”
For experienced players, as long as they could figure out the specter's rules, they could consciously avoid triggering them, which would drastically increase their chances of survival.
Tang Jianghe pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
“I do not know. The existing clues are too few and disorganized. It is impossible to deduce any useful information from them.”
Zeng Qiuning hadn't done anything unusual from start to finish.
As for the two who had died previously, they knew even less.
They hadn't even met the first person, let alone conversed with them. As for the second to die, Zhuang Feiyin?
Because she was a figure of the martial world, she had been subtly marginalized by them. They had barely spoken to her, leaving them without a single clue as to how she had triggered the rule.
While they were discussing the specter's rules, time quietly slipped closer to 2:00 AM.
Only after Zuo Lin'an confirmed that Zeng Qiuning would not wake up anytime soon did he leave the cave.
This time, his target was Li Tie.
A freezing chill filled the air once more, enveloping the mountain peak.
Xuan Liu stood up abruptly, his eyes sweeping the surroundings like lightning as he stood on high alert.
Zuo Lin'an paid them no heed.
With a clear target in mind, he took a few casual steps. His dark silhouette flickered and materialized directly behind Li Tie. He reached out, clamping his hand around the man's neck, and vanished from sight in the very next instant.
Yet in the next second, Li Tie's figure unexpectedly appeared dozens of meters away, scrambling back toward the bonfire.
“My lord!”
“Lord Xuan Liu, save me!!”
“Please save me!!”
“Save—”
Everyone stared at Li Tie as he fled for his life, but at that moment, they all saw a pair of crimson eyes silently materialize behind him.
The dark figure reached out once more to grab Li Tie, and then vanished again.
With their departure, the freezing specter aura gradually dissipated.
This time, even Xuan Liu was starting to lose his composure, a thread of unease rising in his chest. However, he still could not leave Tang Wanrong's side.
After all, the specter was incredibly elusive. If he wandered too far—even just a few steps—it could instantly materialize behind Tang Wanrong.
When he first accepted the mission, he knew that entering the dungeon with Tang Wanrong would tie his hands, but he had never expected to be constrained to this degree!
Wails of agonized screams echoed through the mountains.
Tang Wanrong, who had initially believed that she could easily pass this One-Star dungeon under the protection of the Dark Dragon Guard, now felt an intense sense of crisis.
“Xuan Liu, what on earth is going on?”
“Is a One-Star dungeon supposed to be this difficult? I feel like something is wrong.”
Xuan Liu shook his head. “No, One-Star dungeons are very simple. There is something wrong with this dungeon!”
Tang Jianghe grasped his daughter's hand.
“Rong'er, we might have encountered a special dungeon.”
Tang Wanrong frowned. “Father, what is a special dungeon? What does that mean?”
“Sigh!”
Tang Jianghe let out a heavy sigh. “Even for dungeons of the same difficulty—like a One-Star dungeon—the actual difficulty of passing varies depending on the specter's rules.”
“Some rules have extremely strict activation conditions, making it possible for the specter to fail to kill a single player, allowing everyone to clear it.”
“But other specter rules are incredibly easy to trigger and extremely brutal. Players can end up wiped out shortly after entering the dungeon.”
“We were extremely unlucky this time and encountered the latter. You must realize that we entered the dungeon barely over a shichen ago, and three people are already dead!”
Tang Jianghe's expression was grim. Perhaps this time, he wouldn't make it out of the dungeon alive.
“Wait, that's not right!”
He suddenly recalled the 【incense ashes】 that Zeng Qiuning had scattered earlier.
“Lord Xuan Liu, did Lord Zeng's 【incense ashes】 have no effect? He said that after hitting the specter, it wouldn't be able to kill anyone for half-shichen. Yet, the time that has passed is far less than half-shichen.”
Xuan Liu frowned, his tone solemn.
“The effects of specter items are absolute. Therefore, there is a high probability that Zeng Qiuning lied. The 【incense ashes】 do not restrict the specter for a full half-shichen.”
As for why Zeng Qiuning lied, they all understood.
It was nothing more than trying to inflate his own worth so he wouldn't be treated as a disposable pawn.
They didn't dwell too much on this. As veteran players, they had witnessed such behavior many times.
Tang Wanrong turned to Xuan Liu. “Xuan Liu, what should we do now? Do you have a plan?”
Xuan Liu shook his head. “This subordinate has no solution.”
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
For instance, asking him to protect her father and herself.
But after careful consideration, she abandoned the thought.
After all, even if she didn't say it, Xuan Liu would still do so.
If she appeared too desperate and made a fool of herself, only for him to report it to the Emperor, wouldn't the losses outweigh the gains?
Rate on N.U.
