Light Fortress

Evil Ghost Mask?

Wutuo squinted his eyes, carefully observing the figure at the foot of the mountain.

For some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity, yet also a sense of strangeness...

Wutuo said expressionlessly, "Betrayal... is an act that comes after belonging to someone. I have never belonged to the East Continent, so how can there be talk of betrayal?"

"The Judgement Institute has treated you well."

The evil ghost replied in a gloomy voice, "Even if you wanted to leave Changye, you could have just said so. Why fabricate excuses and cruelly kill off your last innocent teammates?"

"...Sorry, do you seem to care a lot about these ants?"

Wutuo laughed, "Actually, I didn’t want to do it, but they insisted on sending me off, so I had no choice but to kill them."

Wutuo’s original plan was to apply for a solo mission outside and use the opportunity to leave Changye.

But it so happened that teammates wanted to follow, and he couldn’t shake them off.

At the last minute, time was tight, and he had no choice but to kill all those teammates... only then could he smoothly board the giant ship heading to Southampton City.

With those words.

The area both above and below the mountain fell silent.

The fierce wind blew as the figure of the evil ghost suddenly rushed up the mountain at breakneck speed.

In the next moment.

The desolate mountain at night was illuminated. The barrier of [Holy Day] that Wutuo had set in advance was triggered, enveloping a hundred meters in countless scorching rays of light.

The evil ghost, climbing rapidly, started to burn all over...

But the latter had no intention of stopping, charging into the [Holy Day] barrier with remarkable speed, raising his hand to fire!

Bang!

A Blue-silver Bullet shot out swiftly!

Wutuo, expressionless, took a step back, simultaneously waving his hand, and the brilliant light in the [Holy Day] barrier rose into a massive wall.

Boom!

The moment the Blue-silver Bullet hit the giant wall, a violent explosion erupted at the top of the small mountain!

This was no ordinary bullet; it was imbued with the user’s "Spirit," and this "Spirit" had an explosive domain effect!

"?!"

Wutuo frowned, feeling somewhat familiar with this domain ability.

After the [Holy Day] light wall was shattered, the evil ghost had already reached the mountain top.

Blue-silver Bullets fired in succession.

Wutuo countered with [Holy Day], and the entire small mountain constantly collapsed under their fierce bombardment, dust and Light Fragments flying everywhere. One retreated while the other advanced, but the distance between them steadily closed!

It wasn’t that Wutuo was at a disadvantage.

During the waiting time, his arrangements were exceptionally meticulous.

Just relying on the barrier, he could easily exhaust the opponent.

He deliberately retreated now, waiting for the target to get close... After the encounter, Wutuo realized that Yao Jin might have overestimated that so-called "behind-the-scenes person" from the East Continent.

Indeed.

The Donglai family’s case caused the Church a hefty loss, losing an entire secret line.

But the "evil ghost" appearing now didn’t seem that much stronger; perhaps the opponent had great strategy, but their actual strength wasn’t as feared.

"Get a little closer..."

"Get a little closer..."

Wutuo continuously manipulated [Holy Day], creating the illusion that he was losing and retreating.

He fixed his gaze on the approaching evil ghost.

"This guy’s strength... doesn’t differ much from mine. At this distance, using the [Red Phoenix Crossbow] might directly kill him!"

His thought settled.

He raised his sleeve directly.

Amidst the chaotic gusts, a straight golden line pierced through the barrier, shattering [Holy Day]. The commotion and chaos of the small barren hill ended at this moment. The arrow of the [Red Phoenix Crossbow] still resonated with a high-pitched phoenix cry, halting the evil ghost’s steps. He lowered his head to look at his shoulder.

A large stream of blood flew into the air, then burned into ashes!

A chill ran down Wutuo’s spine.

When he raised his sleeve, the opponent’s body bizarrely trembled once—

This caused his crucial arrow to miss the heart!

"This arrow... did I really miss?!"

Before Wutuo could react.

The evil ghost immediately retreated, sweeping down the mountain, simultaneously throwing a single-use seal item. A mass of dust and sand swirled madly in the night. Wutuo wanted to fire a second arrow, but his spiritual power was obstructed by the dust. After a second, he charged out of the night, but the evil ghost was already gone without a trace.

...

...

A moment later.

On the small barren mountain, the sound of the wind subsided.

Yao Jin sat in a wheelchair, arriving at the scene of the battle. On his shoulder hung a [Lantern] whose burning light illuminated the entire mountaintop like daylight.

The just-finished battle was not without intensity. The [Holy Day] barrier was shattered. Despite the sweeping wind, the mountaintop still carried the scent of blood.

"...The events probably happened like this."

Wutuo chuckled, "Mr. Yao, you overestimated that so-called ’behind-the-scenes person.’ From the skirmish just now, this guy is only so-so."

"The bloodstains... all burned clean."

Yao Jin looked down at the wild grass on the barren mountain.

He wanted to use a [Profile] to look for traces... but the other was an expert in this field, leaving no clues to search.

"You’re saying the opponent’s strength is not much different from yours?"

Yao Jin looked up and asked.

"Without the [Red Phoenix Crossbow], they probably wouldn’t have killed me."

Wutuo recalled briefly, speaking earnestly, "If it came to a real fight, it’s hard to say who’d win... This person indeed has some skill, but not to an extent that warrants such caution."

Yao Jin asked again.

"If that’s the case, why didn’t you just shoot him dead when you were fully prepared?"

"I..."

Wutuo was momentarily stunned.

He didn’t know how to answer. The scene at that time was indeed strange. After he shot that arrow, the opponent’s body suddenly trembled, as if it had received a prior warning, and actually dodged the vital area.

"Even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses all its strength."

Yao Jin calmly said, "Although I don’t know the strength of that ’puppet master’, I still sought the Red Phoenix Crossbow for you. Such mistakes should not happen."

"I... I’m willing to accept punishment."

Wutuo spoke in a low voice, then anxiously said, "Although I didn’t kill him, the person has been hit by the Red Phoenix Crossbow. We can track him through the ’mark’... we should be able to find him."

"Hmm."

Yao Jin nodded and said, "You don’t have to worry about the remaining matters. Leave it to me. After tonight, you’ll have to return to the West Sea and wait a few more days."

He sat in the wheelchair, slowly turned around.

The lantern light on Little Wild Mountain swayed, and the bright aura pointed to the depths of the night...

That was the location of the Red Phoenix Crossbow’s mark.

...

...

The cold wind howled, sharp as a knife.

The intense pain brought Zhong Fan back to consciousness. He looked down at the fresh blood flowing from his shoulder, and his entire vision was dizzy and blurred.

In front of him was a faint glimmer of light.

A man stood in front of him. Due to excessive blood loss, in Zhong Fan’s eyes, the "man" was made up of countless overlapping shadows, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing, flickering unpredictably.

"Who... are you?"

Zhong Fan gritted his teeth wanting to sit up.

"Changye Court, Fourth Judge, Zhong Fan."

The responding voice sounded emotionless. The person did not answer the question but directly recited his identity.

Zhong Fan wanted to see the face of the man in front of him.

But...

He couldn’t.

All he could see was the man’s face hidden in the warm firelight.

"Are you the one who just saved me?"

Zhong Fan spoke hoarsely. Just as the golden-threaded crossbow arrow was shot, his body inexplicably trembled, veering ten centimeters off course.

It was this ten centimeter deviation that saved his life.

That arrow was aimed straight for his heart!

"You shouldn’t waste words with him."

Gu Shen extended his hand, and the blood-stained ghost mask of Zhong Fan flew into his palm.

Seeing this ghost mask, Gu Shen’s heart was a mixture of emotions.

This was specifically carved by Zhong Fan, the patterns on the mask were identical to the one he wore at the Ice Sea Ruins.

He knew that this kid was a young prodigy accepted by the Ancient Literature Society in recent years, extraordinarily talented and extremely diligent, making rapid progress within the Judgement Institute, which was also the reason he had intervened to save him. When Gu Shen rushed out from Light City and Chi Huo captured the wilderness coordinates, the battle had already begun.

And when he arrived, the battle on the wilderness mountain was nearing its end.

Saving Zhong Fan was Zhong Fan’s good fortune.

Gu Shen coldly said, "As a judge, how could you not know the dangers of transcendent battles? If not completely certain of victory, how could you speak so lightly? Didn’t you realize that Wutuo had everything planned, laying down a barrier with backup plans in place?"

"..."

Zhong Fan closed his eyes. He had resigned himself to fate; if this person wanted to kill him, he would have done so already.

Since he was saved, there was nothing to be wary of.

Besides.

In his current physical state, he couldn’t defend against anything.

"Those words, I had to say them. If it happened again... I would probably say them again."

Zhong Fan laughed hoarsely, "Even if he set up countless backups, I still have to give it a try... Tonight he’s alone, this opportunity won’t come again if missed."

Gu Shen was silent for two seconds.

He initially wanted to reprimand but ultimately swallowed those words back down.

Gu Shen spoke again, "Didn’t Mr. Shan tell you that this time, the Changye Court’s westward journey didn’t require intervening in ’Wutuo’s’ matters?"

"He did, but I couldn’t let it go."

Zhong Fan lowered his eyes with a smile, "There are brothers in Wutuo’s team who grew up with me... I knew tonight was a trap, so I thought it would be good to take him down with me."

"...Fool."

This time, Gu Shen couldn’t hold back, he angrily scolded, "Who taught you to act like this?"

"...Some things, someone has to do them."

Zhong Fan shook his head, and there was no regret in his voice.

He suddenly realized something, and quickly asked, "Who exactly are you, and why do you know so much about Changye?"

He struggled to sit up.

Upon looking up, he was suddenly dazed.

Under the moonlight, the "mystery figure" surrounded by warm firelight was putting on the ghost mask that Zhong Fan had deliberately crafted.

Zhong Fan was stunned in place.

He had seen this scene before at the Ice Sea Ruins.

Exactly the same.

"Senior... it’s you?!"

...

...

(Adjusting the biological clock tonight, just two Chapters! There will be an update before 12 noon tomorrow!)