Zuo Lin'an was currently hiding in the shadows, quietly watching the three people busily working in the kitchen.
Actually, he could have attacked just now.
But after thinking about it carefully, there didn't seem to be any need to rush so desperately against the clock.
He would let the two of them subconsciously believe that as long as an NPC was present, the specter would not appear to attack.
That way, if they encountered an unmanageable emergency later and couldn't find the path of survival, they would in all likelihood think of looking for an NPC to avoid being attacked by the specter.
If that happened, they might directly seek out Feng Xingyun or even his own living body, which would be no different from throwing themselves straight into a trap.
Zuo Lin'an found the prospect of such a scene quite amusing.
This could also be considered a safeguard.
He checked the time; it was now just after five o'clock in the morning.
The sky was not yet bright, but the lights in the kitchen were very bright.
He took a few more glances before temporarily leaving the mountain peak to hide in a crevice of the cliff.
The corpses hidden here were still the same as before.
With his specter aura clinging to them, they remained as fresh as if they had just been bought, even after all this time.
However, now that his specter body was temporarily leaving the stage, the one who needed to appear next was... his living body.
Inside the room.
Zuo Lin'an lay down for a while longer.
Estimating the time to be around half past five, he finally got up, grabbed his clothes from the side to put them on, and pushed the door open to walk out after a quick wash.
Just as he stepped out of the door, he saw Feng Xingyun walking into the courtyard.
“Young Master, breakfast is ready. It is in the dining room.”
Zuo Lin'an nodded. “Let's go.”
Even if the players were not on the scene, they still had to play their parts.
Moreover, Zuo Lin'an knew that a puppet was currently hiding nearby.
The two walked toward the dining room, one after the other.
Feng Xingyun spoke up, “Young Master, last night, two people who had lost their way...”
He briefly mentioned Chang Sheng and Liu Da's situation, but Zuo Lin'an did not react much.
Meanwhile, inside the dining room.
Chang Sheng touched the large bowl in front of him.
It contained a bowl of noodles.
The same went for Liu Da, who was sitting beside him.
This was the breakfast they had prepared together.
Chang Sheng picked up his chopsticks. “The NPC has gone to find that young master. What did you mean by 'time' earlier? Can you tell me now?”
Liu Da did not turn to look at him, but likewise picked up his chopsticks, preparing to eat his noodles.
“This is information I nearly lost my life to obtain. What are you going to trade for it?”
Chang Sheng frowned. “We can cooperate to clear the dungeon. You've seen my puppets. As long as I have enough materials and time, I can make dozens of them.”
“With so many puppets searching for the path of survival, it will definitely be much more convenient, don't you think?”
Liu Da hesitated for a moment but ultimately compromised.
After all, Chang Sheng was right; to find the path of survival, they would definitely have to rely on a large number of puppets.
He then roughly explained his thoughts, combining them with the deaths of several previous players and the attack they had witnessed right after entering the dungeon.
Of course, he omitted his own talent, claiming only that he had been lucky enough to survive the specter's attack.
Chang Sheng's expression turned grave after listening.
“You mean the specter here can kill one person every time it hits the hour, without the players needing to trigger any Death Rule at all?”
Liu Da nodded with a grim expression.
“Yes.”
Chang Sheng slowly shook his head.
“Impossible.”
Liu Da's chopsticks paused.
“What do you mean, impossible?”
Chang Sheng sighed, recalling some past events.
“Back when I first entered a dungeon, a player told me that although specter dungeons are dangerous and bloody with an extremely low survival rate, they will always leave a slim path of survival for the players.”
Liu Da's eyes widened slightly.
“A slim path of survival?”
He had never heard of this.
Chang Sheng nodded solemnly.
“Yes, he said that as long as you can find a way of survival, you can clear the dungeon. Of course, the way of survival I'm talking about isn't the path of survival, but rather things that can help us clear it.”
“For example, the restrictions of the specter rules, or specter items that can help clear the dungeon, the effects of the players' own talents, the level of their own cultivation, and even...”
He pointed to his own head.
“Even one's brain—meaning intelligence—counts!”
“Aside from that, there are also the player's personality, emotions, and so on. Often, players with calm personalities and stable emotions have a higher probability of clearing the dungeon.”
Chang Sheng spoke with eloquence.
“These include, but are not limited to, everything I just mentioned. They are all factors that influence whether a player can grasp a way of survival.”
At this point, his face gradually darkened.
“But!”
“If what you said is true, and the specter here can kill one person on the hour, then that is truly too terrifying!”
“Think about the two main quests. One of them is to survive for three days. How many hours is that?”
He took a breath.
“Seventy-two hours!”
“A full seventy-two hours. That is equivalent to this specter having seventy-two opportunities to attack!”
“Even if you subtract five or six times, there are still over sixty left.”
Chang Sheng's tone grew slightly agitated.
“There are only the two of us left among the players now. Do you think we can survive three days with our abilities?”
“I can tell you clearly that my talent cannot support me to survive three days.”
“Liu Da, can you?”
Liu Da fell silent.
He couldn't do it either.
But soon, he thought of something.
“Wait.”
“You just said that every specter dungeon has a way of survival. If we speculate based on this, there are only two possibilities before us now.”
Chang Sheng's emotions quickly calmed down, because he knew that tension, anxiety, and anger would not bring him any help whatsoever.
“I know.”
“Two possibilities. First, you guessed wrong, and the specter's rule isn't this.”
“And the second...”
He paused before continuing.
“That is, there is something hidden in this dungeon that can help us clear it.”
In any case, he didn't believe that Liu Da's talent or specter items could withstand such an absurd Death Rule.
“And the things in the dungeon that can help players are, in all probability, specter items.”
Come to think of it, the conjectures of the two were not wrong.
Whether it was the 【Withered Leaf】 or the 【Gold Hairpin Token of Love】, both could actually be considered ways of survival.
One could prevent a person from being attacked for three days.
Completing the main quest to 【Survive for Three Days】 would not be an issue.
As for the other...
If the two of them could obtain the gold hairpin and bind themselves to each other.
If so, Zuo Lin'an would similarly have no way of dealing with them.
After all, according to his Death Rule, he could only kill one person at a time; even using 【Time Acceleration】 would not allow him to kill two people simultaneously.
Therefore, after obtaining the gold hairpin, the two of them would absolutely be able to survive for three days.
Of course, whether they could ultimately clear the dungeon would still depend on whether they could find the path of survival.
Speaking of specter items, a wave of desire welled up in both of their hearts.
A specter item—who wouldn't want one?
Especially Liu Da; he had used a specter item once during the previous specter attack, which was how he managed to escape.
At this moment, his desire for a specter item far exceeded Chang Sheng's!
Rate on N.U.
