Fang Zhen felt an intense sensation of being watched.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Avera, who was walking ahead, stopped and asked, puzzled.
"Nothing. Just changing a piece of gear," Fang Zhen replied.
He put down the Holy Garnt case, took out a thermal imager, and attached it to his Plate Armor Helt.
"...This is getting stranger and stranger," Avera comnted, watching him.
Fang Zhen remained impassive and offered no explanation.
He pulled down the eyepiece and scanned his surroundings.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.
Through the thermal imager's lens, he saw five or six human-shaped heat signatures in the jungle behind him, following in an orderly fashion. They were only thirty or forty ters away.
"What is it? What's the point of wearing that weird thing?" Avera asked.
Fang Zhen's expression didn't change, as if he hadn't seen a thing. "It's a ritual from my hotown. If you encounter spirits or the like, you put this on. It helps you tell who's human and who's a ghost."
"In the legends from my ho, ghosts disguise themselves as humans, hiding among people to cause harm."
"Haha, you don't need to be so cautious," Avera said. "The appearance of a phantom is quite distinct; it's impossible to mistake one for a human."
"But it's true that phantoms can harm people. Especially phantoms of those who were powerful in life. They're said to possess a formidable Power of Curse. If left unchecked, even a Gold-tier Crystal Bone Master could be cursed to death. They must be sealed in special locations to be suppressed."
"I actually didn't know that," Fang Zhen said. "Are there many stories about phantoms in this world?"
"Quite a few. I read a myth once that claid our world is one of many, and a special one at that—a transit point for souls. Many souls from other worlds stop over in ours," Avera said.
Fang Zhen didn't continue the conversation.
His attention was still on the figures following them.
'There are only a few factions on the island. The people tailing
must be from either the Night Shadow Family or Black Garden, the assassin organization of the northern barbarians.'
"Of the thirteen families you ntioned before, you didn't go into detail about the Night Shadow Family. What are their abilities?" Fang Zhen asked.
"I didn't ntion them?" Avera thought for a mont. "The people of the Night Shadow Family have a powerful ability to rge with the darkness at night, allowing them to move stealthily and conceal their presence."
"Sounds like they'd be perfect assassins," Fang Zhen said aningfully.
"You're right. When Lansit was founded, the Night Shadow Family served as the assassination squad under Legendary King Anlun," Avera said. "The Lei Ming Family was the vanguard, and we of the Fei Niao Family were the ssengers."
Fang Zhen nodded.
He still didn't tell Avera they were being followed.
He didn't completely trust Avera.
'Besides, if the Night Shadow Family's ability is just to hide in the dark, they aren't much of a threat to .'
'Hiding in the night might be a difficult problem for the people of this world, but for , a thermal imager solves everything.'
'This piece of equipnt completely counters the Night Shadow Family's assassination techniques.'
It was his habit not to reveal information or abilities he could keep to himself.
As they spoke, Fang Zhen and Avera continued to move forward.
"We're here!" Avera suddenly stopped.
Fang Zhen stopped his vehicle and looked ahead.
Ahead of them was what looked like a natural wellspring, large enough for four or five people to pass through at once. It was pitch-black and bottomless, like the entrance to an abyss.
"We can enter the Path of the Dead from here, but once we're in, it'll be difficult to return the way we ca. We can only exit from the front, the place the Sea Tide Family was guarding earlier," Avera said, pointing to the natural wellspring.
Fang Zhen took a look.
The natural shaft was likely two or three hundred ters deep. Even with a rope, it might not be long enough to reach the bottom. Climbing back up with a rope was theoretically possible, but neither he nor Avera had that kind of stamina.
It wasn't just them; it was unlikely any normal person could climb two or three hundred ters with just a rope.
"How do we get down?" Fang Zhen asked.
"I have a way, but it's one-way only. Down, not up," Avera said.
"Fine. My vehicle will have to stay here," Fang Zhen said.
He stepped out of his vehicle, slung the Holy Garnt case onto his back, and looked ready to enter the Path of the Dead with Avera.
Suddenly, at that very mont.
In the dark of night, a faint, almost nonexistent shadow flitted past, pouncing silently toward Fang Zhen's back.
The best way to hide a drop of water is to rge it with the ocean, and the best way to hide in the night is to rge with the darkness.
The shadow was ethereal. It flickered once, seemingly becoming one with the night, and by the ti it reappeared, it was less than three ters from Fang Zhen.
The shadow, like a black silhouette, faintly revealed the shape of a triumphant smile.
However, in that exact instant.
Fang Zhen, his back still to the shadow, had sohow drawn his Desert Viper Handgun. He used his body to create a blind spot for the shadow, and in that sa mont, aid the gun backward from under his left arm.
CRACK!
The gunshot wasn't loud, but it sent a nine-milliter bullet flying.
The shadow pouncing from the darkness was stunned. Its body seed to go numb, and a cloud of blood mist exploded in the air, followed imdiately by a woman's scream.
The space behind Fang Zhen rippled slightly, like an illusion of a moon on water shattering in mid-air. A woman dressed entirely in black suddenly materialized from the faint shadow and collapsed to the ground.
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