Tang Luoshan did not press further, but he keenly sensed that Yao Wenli had wanted to speak, whereas the NPC Xu Youyou was guarded against them.
This person even harbored wariness and hostility toward them.
But why?
Regardless, there was no point in overthinking it now.
Since they couldn't get the information they wanted for the time being, Tang Luoshan and his companions didn't plan on staying long. After exchanging a few casual pleasantries, they stood up and took their leave.
They planned to seek out the other two NPCs first to see if they could get anything out of them.
If that failed, they would look for an opportunity to bypass Xu Youyou later and have a proper private chat with the master of the old residence, Yao Wenli.
After they left, Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou also got up and departed.
They walked toward the withered forest, where a flight of stone steps led down the mountain. The two of them began descending the steps one by one, looking as if they were leaving the mountain.
Tang Luoshan and his two companions stood near the front gate, watching their retreating backs until they finally vanished from sight.
Huang Shiliu turned its head.
“Your Highness, where do you think they're going?”
Tang Luoshan shook his head.
“I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter.”
He slowly raised his hand, and a wisp of pure blood aura emerged from his palm, condensing into a palm-sized figurine made entirely of blood aura.
This was a ghostly art he had mastered.
It allowed him to separate a portion of his own yin qi and condense it into a tiny clone.
Such a clone possessed virtually no combat strength, and the blood aura used to sustain it was like water without a source—once it was depleted, the clone would naturally vanish.
He usually placed these clones in critical locations; if any trouble arose, the blood aura clone would immediately detonate.
This would alert him to exactly where the problem was, allowing him to rush over and resolve it.
In other words, he had previously used this technique purely as a silent security monitor.
As such, it was impossible for him to share his senses or thoughts with it directly.
However, there was a workaround.
He had previously figured out a clever method.
Although he still couldn't establish a mental link, he could forcibly project his consciousness onto the clone.
This was much more convenient, but the drawback remained.
The tiny blood aura clone couldn't bear his consciousness for long, so while he was projected into it, the clone's blood aura would deplete at an extremely rapid pace.
“This amount of blood aura... will probably only last for less than ten minutes.”
“Whatever, I'll try it first.”
The crimson figurine flashed through the air, pursuing the direction Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou had gone.
It caught up to the pair before long.
Hiding in the shadows, it prepared to eavesdrop.
However, the two remained completely silent along the way. Nearly ten minutes passed without a single word.
The blood aura was finally exhausted, and the clone dissipated.
Tang Luoshan opened his eyes, frowning slightly, and slowly shook his head.
“They didn't say anything. Let's go ask the other two instead.”
Right at that moment, two female players walked out from inside.
The two parties happened to run into each other at a corner.
The two women gasped in fright and immediately turned to flee.
Zhao Ying and Huang Shiliu both looked at Tang Luoshan.
“Hmph!”
A flash of displeasure crossed Tang Luoshan's eyes, but he had no desire to lower himself to the level of two ordinary humans. Snorting coldly, he continued forward.
The three of them arrived at the kitchen and found that the other two NPCs were indeed there.
However, the rest of the players were there as well.
Some were still clumsily cooking, while others were already eagerly eating.
A few were helping to clean up.
Several newbies had found an easygoing veteran player and were currently chatting about important things to watch out for.
Meanwhile, a few other veteran players were trying to strike up a conversation with the two NPCs.
But judging by their expressions, they hadn't made any progress.
Growing annoyed by the endless questioning, Feng Xingyun frowned and sighed.
“Honored guests.”
His voice carried a slightly heavier tone.
“If you wish to know anything, you may ask the two young masters.”
“If the young masters are unwilling to speak, it is not our place as servants to say anything more.”
This single brief sentence left the surrounding players looking at each other in dismay.
After some hesitation, they ultimately gave up on pressing further.
They didn't want to draw the NPCs' ire.
Since they couldn't gather any useful information from them, they had no choice but to head out and search for clues themselves.
By this time, Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou had reached a pavilion halfway down the mountain and were sitting down to rest.
The two maintained complete silence the entire time.
But inside the underground secret room of the old residence...
Their specter bodies were currently communicating.
Xu Youyou said, “Brother An, look!”
“Someone is isolated.”
He turned to look at Zuo Lin'an.
“Should we kill two of them first? They don't look like valuable puppets.”
These two players were the very same female players who had just run into Tang Luoshan near the front gate.
They were also the two newbie female players who had slept in the same room as the white-dressed Cheng Luoying last night.
Zuo Lin'an nodded.
“Sure.”
Glancing at the time, he saw that it was just right—less than two minutes until seven o'clock.
“Let's go.”
The specter bodies of the two concealed themselves and left the area.
Even though there were many players inside the old residence, none of them noticed their departure.
Naturally, they made sure to avoid the kitchen, since Zhao Ying, who possessed the 【Spirit Vision】 talent, was currently there.
Two faint, flickering dark shadows appeared in a remote corner of the old residence.
“I didn't expect them to run to such a secluded spot.”
It seemed that running into the Blood-Clad specter Tang Luoshan around the corner earlier had indeed terrified them out of their wits. They had only thought of fleeing, without paying any attention to where they were going.
As a result, they had ended up in this desolate, overgrown courtyard.
The courtyard was choked with weeds. Combined with the gloomy sky and a few stray withered leaves drifting in the wind, the place looked exceptionally eerie and frightening.
Zuo Lin'an patted Xu Youyou on the shoulder.
“This works out perfectly for us. Let's begin.”
Xu Youyou nodded and stepped forward, manifesting his form right behind the two women.
“What are you two doing here?”
Caught completely off guard, the two women gasped in fright and shrieked in terror.
But Zuo Lin'an had already used his specter aura to seal off the entire courtyard beforehand.
Consequently, their screams could not travel outside.
Feeling the two newly formed Death Locks, Xu Youyou's lips curled up as he let out an involuntary chuckle.
Before the two women could even turn around, he placed his hands on their respective shoulders.
Sensing the bone-chilling cold radiating from their shoulders, their screams abruptly cut off. Shaking violently, they slowly turned their heads, only to find a dead face right in front of them.
Xu Youyou expected them to scream again.
But to his surprise, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed directly onto the ground.
They had fainted.
He was somewhat speechless.
“As expected, keeping them around would have been useless anyway. They wouldn't even sell.”
He wanted to complain a bit more.
But right now, business came first.
“Brother An, it's seven o'clock. One for each of us.”
Zuo Lin'an stepped forward and casually dragged one away.
“Sure, let's begin.”
During the execution of the rule, both players woke up.
However, now that they were in the hands of specters, there was naturally no escape for them.
Furthermore, newbies didn't possess specter items.
The only concern was their talents.
But... even after the execution was fully complete, neither of them managed to trigger any talent.
Rate on N.U.
