Tang Luoshan glanced at Zhao Ying, who was gagging not far away. He didn't care and spoke calmly.
“You should know.”
“Almost all specters in a dungeon are converted not long before the players enter.”
Huang Shiliu was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.
“Ah, right... wait!”
It remembered!
“That NPC, Steward Feng, said they only arrived here recently.”
“And these two players died in different ways, which directly proves there are two specters here.”
“Since specters are converted a few days before we enter the dungeon, when the NPCs first arrived, there weren't four of them—there were six!”
“Two of them died recently, and they were tortured to death!”
The way a specter died in life can be directly inferred from the deathly state of the two unlucky players in the room.
They were essentially the same.
“The two NPCs who died must have suffered inhuman torture before their deaths.”
“That's why they turned into specters after dying, and even inherited such a cruel method of execution.”
Tang Luoshan let out a cold sneer.
“Exactly.”
“So, among the four NPCs currently in the old residence, one, two, three, or perhaps all of them are the killers of those two NPCs.”
“If we want to find the path of survival, we must uncover the identities and life stories of those two deceased individuals, and even confirm the identity of the murderer.”
Huang Shiliu thought back to their previous interaction with those two outside.
“Your Highness, I don't think all four of these NPCs are the killers.”
Tang Luoshan nodded.
“I think so too. What I said earlier was just a reasonable hypothesis.”
“From our brief interaction with them earlier, we can confirm their identities: one is the current master of the old residence, Yao Wenli, and the other is his friend, Xu Youyou.”
“When I spoke, Yao Wenli intended to tell us what happened.”
“But Xu Youyou interrupted him.”
“Moreover, the look in that man's eyes when he looked at us was full of wariness.”
“What does that bring to mind?”
Huang Shiliu's small eyes darted back and forth.
“Well...”
“Could it be that Xu Youyou killed the two of them, and he doesn't want outsiders like us, who appeared halfway, to interfere?”
Tang Luoshan shook his head.
He wasn't denying it; he just couldn't be certain yet.
“Based on the limited information and clues we have, it's impossible to confirm the killer's identity for now.”
“I actually suspect the real killer hasn't been exposed yet. In fact, the deaths of the two who turned into specters might not have been confirmed by any NPC other than the killer.”
“In other words, in the eyes of the other NPCs, the two who are already dead should still be considered missing.”
“Yao Wenli wanted to tell us, perhaps because he wanted us to help find them.”
“Xu Youyou didn't want to tell us and even harbored hostility and wariness toward us. This should be because he suspects that our sudden appearance is related to their disappearance.”
Tang Luoshan's lips curled into a sinister smile.
“After all, we players appeared suddenly in these remote mountains right after two NPCs went missing.”
“It would be stranger if we weren't suspected.”
Huang Shiliu suddenly realized.
“I see! That makes sense!”
“No wonder Xu Youyou was hostile toward us.”
“So, one wants us to help find people, and the other suspects we're the killers or kidnappers, which is why he's hostile... Does that mean neither of them is the killer?”
As it spoke, it began to shake its head.
“No, no, those attitudes could also be faked. We can't be sure.”
Tang Luoshan said, “So, the topic returns to the beginning.”
Huang Shiliu sighed.
“Yeah, we have to figure out exactly what happened and the specific details.”
“We still need to find an opportunity when Xu Youyou isn't around to talk to Yao Wenli alone.”
“Otherwise, no matter how much we speculate, it's just empty talk.”
At that moment, Zhao Ying had regained her composure and walked back.
Tang Luoshan looked at her.
“Better?”
Zhao Ying was taken aback.
“Huh?”
“Oh... yes, I'm better.”
“I'm so sorry about earlier. I wasted your time, Your Highness.”
Regardless of the situation, it was never wrong to apologize first.
Tang Luoshan waved his hand.
“It's fine. Come inside with me again.”
Zhao Ying's eyes widened.
“What?!”
Why?!
Tang Luoshan looked at her.
“Use your Spirit Vision talent to help me confirm where residual specter aura remains in the room.”
The specter aura swirling around the old residence was all claimed.
He couldn't touch it.
However, the residual specter aura left behind in the room when the specters killed the players was unclaimed.
He could extract it directly and then refine it for his own use.
Zhao Ying didn't know why he wanted to do this.
But Tang Luoshan had spoken; could she possibly refuse?
In the end, she could only steel herself and follow him into the room.
Fortunately, observing the residual specter aura with Spirit Vision didn't take much time.
She only activated her talent for a few seconds before confirming the locations of all the residual specter aura.
In truth, if it weren't for the dense specter aura permeating the air, Tang Luoshan could have vaguely confirmed the locations of the residual aura through his own perception, even without seeing it.
In the real world, he did exactly that; he didn't need Spirit Vision at all.
He carefully gathered the residual aura, then sat cross-legged on the spot to refine and absorb it.
Because the amount was small, the entire refining process took only about ten minutes.
As time passed, the corpses and bloodstains in the room completely vanished.
Huang Shiliu watched the entire process, marveling inwardly.
“Your Highness, how do you determine if specter aura is claimed or unclaimed?”
Tang Luoshan, having just absorbed pure yin qi, was in a fairly good mood.
He offered a brief explanation.
“To tell if it's claimed or unclaimed, you only need to look at one thing.”
“Specter aura that dissipates when the specter leaves is claimed.”
“Conversely, the aura that remains in place even after the specter leaves is unclaimed residual aura, which can be absorbed and refined.”
Huang Shiliu understood.
“No wonder Your Highness has remained indifferent to the vast amount of specter aura filling the old residence.”
So those were all claimed.
“But...”
It was still somewhat puzzled.
“Your Highness, after we players enter a specter dungeon, no matter what changes our bodies undergo, they seem to revert after we clear it.”
“Is it really useful for you to absorb and refine residual specter aura here?”
Maybe he wouldn't be able to take it out at all?
Regarding this, Tang Luoshan was actually not entirely sure.
He only knew that all injuries sustained in a dungeon would be fully healed after clearing it.
However, whether benefits gained would also disappear was yet to be confirmed.
After all, until now, no player had been able to obtain any benefits in a dungeon other than specter items.
Rate on N.U.
