In other words, in Yuan Shan's eyes, the dungeon's specter was actually crouching there, carefully inspecting the players' condition.
He could even guess that he and the three women had been brought here by this very specter. Naturally, his mind was filled with immense confusion.
Zuo Lin'an hesitated for a moment but decided to ignore him, pretending he hadn't heard a thing.
After all, strictly speaking, it wasn't entirely impossible for a specter to crouch down and inspect players. However, if he actually spoke and responded, that would truly expose how different he was from other specters.
Although Yuan Shan was already a dead man in Zuo Lin'an's eyes, he didn't want to do anything unnecessary to avoid any unexpected complications.
Fortunately, Yuan Shan only asked that one question. When he received no response from the specter, he stopped speaking.
In truth, he also found his own behavior rather strange. Why had he suddenly spoken to a specter? Even though the specter's actions just now had been somewhat peculiar, he didn't actually believe it possessed sentience.
Moreover, the only things he could move right now were his eyes and mouth. At most, he could turn his head to look around, and he couldn't even use any specter items.
While he could still use his talent, his common talent 【Perception】 possessed absolutely no lethality against specters.
Therefore, Yuan Shan could only lie there and wait for death. Of course, if possible, he hoped the specter would delay killing him; he wanted to witness Wang Luoshan's death with his own eyes!
“Big brother specter, how about we strike a deal?”
Zuo Lin'an still did not respond.
But Yuan Shan began talking to himself, as if praying to the heavens.
“Oh Heavens, please tell big brother specter that it would be best if he saves me for last. I really want to see how that old bastard Wang Luoshan ends up.”
He mumbled and rambled quite a bit.
Hearing this, Zuo Lin'an's heart tightened slightly. Devoid of any mercy, he instead resolved never to leave Yuan Shan for last.
What a joke. What if the effect of his specter item was that the specter couldn't attack him when he was the only player left in the dungeon?
As time ticked by, Zuo Lin'an waited until it was about five minutes before two in the morning.
Taking a step forward, he vanished from the mountaintop.
He intended to test the hidden Zhou Meng to see if the man possessed any items specifically designed to counter specters. If he did, it would be best to draw them out first.
However, he returned shortly after.
Standing near the four players, his crimson eyes darted back and forth as if he were making a selection.
Ultimately, he decided to kill Yuan Shan first.
However, Yuan Shan was still conscious. If Zuo Lin'an made direct contact with him, it might give him an opportunity to use a specter item.
Thus, Zuo Lin'an made his move. Under Yuan Shan's shocked gaze, he knocked him unconscious and then casually picked him up.
But taking just one didn't feel like enough, so he randomly grabbed one of the unconscious women as well.
If possible, Zuo Lin'an planned to use some minor tricks to get Zhou Meng to kill these two. Of course, even killing just one would suffice.
By then, not only could he acquire one or two more unsolvable specters, but he could also have those specters kill Zhou Meng. He wouldn't even need to risk making direct contact with him.
Of course, all of this depended on how things unfolded. For now, bringing two players along was merely a precaution.
If Zhou Meng didn't take the bait, refused to kill the players, and couldn't be baited into revealing his talent and specter items, then Zuo Lin'an would save Yuan Shan for himself. He would serve as his target for the 2:00 AM kill.
As for the woman, he could just dump her anywhere; she would come in handy later anyway.
By this time, Zhou Meng had already hidden himself somewhere, believing he was well-concealed. Unfortunately for him, even hiding underground would be useless against Zuo Lin'an.
A chilling aura gradually began to spread.
Although Zhou Meng, as a First-Rate expert, lacked a perception as keen as Wang Luoshan's, he could still sense the specter's approach.
“Is it coming for me?” He frowned deeply.
“I knew it. How could avoiding a specter be that simple?”
Realizing he couldn't afford to stay there any longer, he emerged from his hiding spot, channeled his internal strength to its absolute limit, and utilized his qinggong to flee at top speed.
Yet... no matter how far or how fast he ran, he felt as though the chilling aura behind him was not falling behind at all, but was instead drawing closer.
Zhou Meng gnashed his teeth. “That damned native!”
At this moment, he harbored a deep, burning hatred for that native.
If it hadn't been for the words that native spoke before being carried off by the specter, Yao Qianhe wouldn't have realized what was happening in time, and the subsequent events would never have occurred.
Had things gone differently, the specter item used to kill Wang Luoshan could have been saved to deal with the specter! Once the specter was repelled, everyone would have been able to leave the dungeon alive.
Then, he and Lord Wang would only have had to kill everyone else in the final moments before the dungeon ended.
But now, everything was ruined!
Shaking with fear, he instinctively glanced back. Sure enough, he saw a pair of crimson eyes flashing continuously in the darkness, closing in on him.
“No! I absolutely cannot die here.”
Reaching into his robes, he pulled out an item—the 【Death Doll】.
Seeing this item once again, Zuo Lin'an had already grown accustomed to it.
Such was the nature of this ancient world. The high ruled over the low, and all the best items were reserved for those at the very top.
Zuo Lin'an estimated that those players who had openly revealed their special talent, 【Substitute Puppet】, had undoubtedly been divided up and imprisoned by the various major factions.
These people were likely kept solely to manufacture 【Death Dolls】 for them.
Factions like the imperial court, the Martial Alliance, various members of the royal family, and major organizations within the martial world.
He suspected that every seven days when the dungeons opened, these factions would dispatch high-level players to carry these precious individuals through the dungeons, using this method to refresh their talent cooldowns. After all, a player's talent would refresh every time they entered or cleared a dungeon.
He just wondered if there were truly that many players with the 【Substitute Puppet】 talent.
Upon seeing the pair of crimson eyes behind him and confirming that the specter was keeping a steady pace, neither too close nor too far, Zhou Meng shuddered and accelerated once again.
This sudden burst of speed was three times faster than before.
Oh?
Zuo Lin'an raised an eyebrow. This was the common talent 【Rapid Speed】. “Not bad.” As long as it wasn't a special talent capable of repelling specters, it was fine.
Feeling somewhat reassured, he continued his pursuit. After all, it wasn't 2:00 AM yet.
Meanwhile, after activating his talent to boost his speed, Zhou Meng's mind settled slightly, allowing him the spare mental capacity to recall the scene from just moments ago.
He quickly sensed that something was amiss. The moment he had looked back at the specter earlier, he seemed to have spotted something on its body.
Unsure of what he had seen, he glanced back once more. This time, however, he failed to catch sight of the specter's figure, spotting only a fleeting flash of crimson.
He sighed inwardly, not daring to look back too frequently. After all, doing so would inevitably hinder his running speed, and if the specter caught up to him, he would certainly face a swift death.
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