Time quickly reached 1:30 AM.
Zuo Lin'an stood up and headed toward where the players were gathered.
He couldn't wait to test whether he could actually trick them into using their specter items or talents.
By the bonfire on the mountain peak.
Xuan Liu sat quietly by Tang Wanrong's side, but at that moment, the surroundings suddenly turned freezing cold.
Everyone widened their eyes in tension, looking around anxiously.
None of them knew where Zuo Lin'an was, except for Xuan Liu, who could faintly sense his location.
At this moment, Zuo Lin'an was constantly releasing his specter aura. Even the bonfire's warmth and brightness were subtly affected, causing the light on the peak to dim significantly.
On top of that, he was concealing his figure.
Even so, Xuan Liu's gaze would sweep toward his hiding spot from time to time. Fortunately, Xuan Liu could only determine a general direction and was unable to pinpoint Zuo Lin'an's exact position.
Just then, Xuan Liu suddenly spoke up. “Lord Zeng, please use your talent, 【Perception】.”
Zeng Qiuning shuddered before quickly responding.
“Alright, no problem!”
Zuo Lin'an immediately felt as if something was peering at him. It was Zeng Qiuning utilizing his talent.
He didn't do anything unnecessary. He simply waited for the sensation of being watched to vanish before taking a step to the side, covering a distance of over a hundred meters in an instant.
Only then did Zeng Qiuning point in a certain direction and speak.
“Lord Xuan Liu, it's in this direction, about fifteen zhang away.”
Xuan Liu did not respond; his gaze had already shifted to another direction.
But Zuo Lin'an could feel that Xuan Liu still hadn't pinned down his location.
After speaking, Zeng Qiuning noticed Xuan Liu hadn't replied and looked at him in confusion.
Xuan Liu slowly withdrew his gaze, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes.
“I see.”
Feeling the chilling air around him, Zeng Qiuning rubbed his arms instinctively. He wanted to get closer to Xuan Liu, but with Tang Wanrong there, he didn't dare approach too closely.
Zuo Lin'an scanned the group back and forth, ultimately deciding to test Zeng Qiuning first.
This man possessed a consumable specter item: the 【incense ashes】.
If he were to be splashed by the incense ashes while in his specter form, he would be unable to attack players for the next hour.
For him, that would mean wasting an opportunity to kill on the hour.
Of course, it wasn't that he didn't want to target someone else.
It was just that Tang Jianghe was right next to his daughter, Tang Wanrong, and Xuan Liu was right beside them as well.
With the three of them huddling so closely together, he really couldn't find a good opportunity to strike.
Meanwhile, Li Tie was useless and had nothing on him.
After weighing his options, his only choice was to see if he could trick out Zeng Qiuning's 【incense ashes】 first.
Furthermore, Zeng Qiuning didn't dare offend Tang Wanrong, who was Consort Rong. Although he wanted to get closer, he was still keeping some distance from the bonfire.
However, as time ticked by, Zeng Qiuning's sense of danger grew heavier. He was already itching to draw closer to the bonfire. Zuo Lin'an felt that if he delayed any longer, the man would probably put aside his shame and huddle over anyway.
In any case, Zeng Qiuning definitely knew that players couldn't kill one another inside a dungeon.
Therefore, there was a high probability that Xuan Liu wouldn't do anything to him.
Not to mention, surrounded by the freezing cold air, Zeng Qiuning's nerves were stretched to their absolute limit. Upon closer inspection, one could see his right hand was clenched into a tight fist, as if he were clutching something.
He was likely holding the 【incense ashes】 in his hand.
Zuo Lin'an made up his mind immediately. He reached up to mess with his hair, which had grown noticeably longer, using it to cover his eyes and most of his face before taking a step forward.
Then, his figure vanished instantly.
In the next split second, he materialized right behind Zeng Qiuning.
Because the bonfire's brightness had dimmed significantly under the influence of the specter aura, the area around Zeng Qiuning was poorly lit and extremely dark.
Moreover, Zuo Lin'an had appeared behind him soundlessly, with his figure mostly shrouded in shadow. As a result, no one noticed him for a moment.
Hidden in the darkness, Zuo Lin'an swiftly reached out toward Zeng Qiuning's shoulder, seizing the opportunity to rapidly switch to his living body form.
Since the hair over his forehead covered his eyes, no one noticed that his crimson irises had turned black.
Immediately after, Zuo Lin'an's hand landed squarely on Zeng Qiuning's shoulder.
Already extremely tense, Zeng Qiuning was startled out of wits.
He let out a bloodcurdling shriek and threw his clenched fist backward, scattering the ashes behind him. Then, screaming at the top of his lungs, he scrambled to his feet and bolted toward the bonfire.
It worked!
He had successfully tricked out the 【incense ashes】!
Having been showered by the ashes, Zuo Lin'an wasn't affected by the specter item's special effect at all, because he was currently in his living body form.
Now that the special effect of the ashes had already been triggered and spent, Zuo Lin'an had bypassed the item's active window. He could now safely switch back to his specter form.
In an excellent mood, he had no intention of leaving immediately.
Although he had been scaring Zeng Qiuning just now, eighty percent of his attention had actually been focused on Xuan Liu. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed that the man had no intention of intervening in order to protect Tang Wanrong.
In that case, he wouldn't hold back.
Before Zeng Qiuning could break free, the hand that had just landed on his shoulder clamped down like a vise. Zuo Lin'an instantly switched back to his specter form.
Then, with a satisfied grin, he vanished from the spot along with Zeng Qiuning.
“Help!”
“Lord Xuan Liu! Your Highness! He—”
Before he could even finish his cry, Zeng Qiuning realized he was no longer on the mountain peak. In fact, he had left the mountain entirely.
He found himself standing in a valley, and could even see a faint glow of fire on the peak of the mountain far in the distance.
Was that... the bonfire?
He blinked blankly before turning around with trembling limbs, only to find a pair of crimson vertical pupils staring at him from mere inches away.
At the sight, Zeng Qiuning didn't even have time to scream. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Looking at the unconscious Zeng Qiuning, Zuo Lin'an couldn't help but twitch his lips, muttering to himself.
“Am I really that terrifying?”
Well.
Specters were indeed terrifying.
He pulled out his phone and checked the time. There were still about twenty minutes until 2:00 AM. It wasn't time yet, so he couldn't kill him for now.
Besides, Zuo Lin'an didn't plan on killing this guy first. He had already set his sights on Li Tie, so he decided to leave Zeng Qiuning alone for the time being.
Grabbing Zeng Qiuning by one arm, he dragged him into a cave he had discovered the last time the dungeon was opened, dumping him inside.
Zuo Lin'an then casually sat cross-legged on the ground, continuing to observe Xuan Liu and the others using his God's-eye view.
Xuan Liu said, “Lord Zeng has already used the specter item, the 【incense ashes】. Your Highness need not worry about any specter attacks for the next half-shichen.”
Tang Wanrong let out a sigh of relief, though she still frowned slightly.
“Leaving him to be carried off by the specter just now, isn't that a bit...”
Xuan Liu's gaze remained indifferent, his voice calm. “If I had intervened to save him, I would have had to expend some of my trump cards. That would have severely compromised Your Highness's subsequent safety.”
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