Old Shi and Shi Hao were deep inside the Fifth Stage Area when they felt that something was off. Shi Hao looked around him, and he noticed that there were some powerful presences that were locked on the two of them!
Before entering the Fifth Stage Area, Old Shi made sure that they use a concealment talisman to reduce their presence. As long as they do not make any disturbances, the Fifth Stage Undead here will mostly ignore them. But it seemed like there was something in Shi Hao and Old Shi that piqued their attention.
“What the hell? What is it?” Old Shi and Shi Hao then started to look on their bodies to see what is it that ratted them out. But in spite of their best efforts, they were not able to see it.
“Give it to me…” A huge deer appeared in front of them, seemingly interested on the two of them. Its large antlers were made of only bones, as skeletal birds made nest on its head. Its skin was tinged rotting green with its hooves covered with cracks.
Its bony head loomed over Shi Hao and Old Shi as it continued talking.
“Give the stone fragment…to me….”
“Wait what?” Shi Hao was flabbergasted upon hearing the Undead Deer demanding the stone fragment. How could this deer know about the stone fragment?
But before he could think about it deeply, 4 more Undead approached them. The first one was a large tortoise, the other was a bull, another was a bony snake, a and the last one was a ghoulish looking gorilla.
All of them said the same thing as the deer.
“Give the stone fragment to us….”
“Damn you Fang Lin!” Shi Hao immediately realized that it was Fang Lin who told these Undead about the stone fragment. As for how he did it, Shi Hao had no idea for now. But he had to explain to the Undead in front of him that the fragment was not with him.
“The stone fragment was not with me, I swear! It was stolen from me!!!”
“Do not lie! We can feel the aura of the fragment. It may be weak, but its weak because you are hiding it!!!!”
Even though the stone fragment was not with Shi Hao, it’s residual aura still resides on Shi Hao. When the Fifth Stage Undead sensed it, they just assumed that Shi Hao used a treasure to hide its presence. This made the more convinced that the stone fragment was with Shi Hao.
“It’s really…. stolen….. from me….” Shi Hao could only stutter as he stared at the 5 Fifth Stage Undead who went to the two closer.
“We all know that you went here to give the fragment to that damned wolf. We cannot allow that to happen, so give it to us now.”
“We really do not have it….”
“In that case, we shall take it off your corpses!” Enraged shouts came from the Undead as they unleashed their strongest attacks on Shi Hao and Old Shi!
“Boom!”
………………………….
Fang Lin and co. were in the Second Stage Area when they heard the powerful attacks by the Fifth Stage Undead. Fang Lin smiled, knowing that his risky plan has succeeded.
His plan was composed of these steps.
First, he manipulated the aura of the stone fragment to stick to many of the Fourth Stage Undead. He then assigned them into positions that will force Old Shi and Shi Hao into a corner. The clothes and the blood were set by them while they ran towards the Third Stage Area.
This part of the plan has a high risk since Old Shi and Shi Hao might not think that deeply. But Fang Lin knew that Shi Hao and Old Shi had something that they wanted in the Fifth Stage Area. That will unconsciously make them think that Fang Lin and co. went to the Fifth Stage Area.
As for the message to the Fifth Stage Undead, Fang Lin sent one of the Fourth Stage Undead that has no aura of the stone fragment as the messenger. The message that it sent was,
“Later, a young child and an old man will go to the Fifth Stage Area to give a treasure to the Undead Wolf. As for what the treasure was, all of you can sense it once you see them.”
From talking with the Fourth Stage Undead, Fang Lin knew that there were 10 Fifth Stage Undead in the Fifth Stage Area. Even though they were insanely strong, their nature made them unable to leave the Forest of Death. As such, they treat the Forest of Death as their kingdom, with each of the Fifth Stage Undead controlling a territory.
These Undead also have two alliances, consisting of five Fifth Stage Undead for each alliance. The first alliance was led by the Undead Wolf while the second one was led by the Undead Deer. These two alliances were loggerheads at each other, occasionally fighting for any reason available.
With these info, Fang Lin had the messenger give the message to the alliance led by the Undead Deer. With their enmity against the Undead Wolf, they will surely make things difficult for Shi Hao and Old Shi.
Fang Lin knew that they had trump cards that will allow them to survive those Undead. But he was also sure that it was fairly limited.
If Shi Hao and Old Shi manages to escape the Fifth Stage Area and catch up to Fang Lin’s group, Fang Lin would not worry at all.
Because even when that happens, Shi Hao and Old Shi would surely have been injured already, and all their trump cards have been used up too.
Fang Lin and co., along with the Fourth Stage Undead then will just attack the helpless duo until the end of their breath.
Bloodspear took a deep breath as he stared at Fang Lin. His eyes held a look of wariness as he said,
“You sure are vicious and shameless… I think I should think twice before picking a fight with you.”
Mina nodded vigorously, clearly in agreement with Bloodspear.
“………”
Fang Lin held back his sigh as he thought to himself,
“It was Master Wang Hao who taught me to be shameless…..Why must you both look scared? I am still the good ol’ Fang Lin!”
While Fang Lin as mulling on some depressive thoughts, the feeling of the danger that he sensed earlier suddenly became more pronounced!
Fang Lin paused in his tracks, looking vigilantly on a certain direction. Upon seeing Fang Lin acting like this, Mina and Bloodspear also stopped as they held their weapons anxiously.
“What is the problem Fang Lin? Oh yes, you cannot talk! How can I even know what you will say now!” Mina grumbled as she fiddled with her talismans. Even her slow speech sped up due to her irritation with Fang Lin.
“Be sure that this is a legitimate danger! We already stopped 5 times and you made waste many of my talismans! Huhuhuhu, this is my allowance too… you two have to pay for it!” Fang Lin stared, shocked at Mina’s change of attitude.
Fang Lin wiped his forehead as he realized that Mina was a money grubber! He then swore to himself that he will hide his precious belongings, for Mina might extort some from him as a payment for her used talismans.
Bloodspear thought the same thing as he stealthily hid some of his rings on his pocket. Both of them sighed in relief as Mina seemed to not notice their actions.
But they had little time to feel that relief when a masked person suddenly appeared on their view! The person wore grey robes with a matching grey mask with the number 5 etched on it. His overwhelming presence covered the trio as he stared into Fang Lin.
His gravelly voice expressed his surprise when he saw the state that Fang Lin was in.
“Oh my, so the disgraceful dog of the Fang Clan became an actual dog! How great!”
“Yip yip!” Fang Lin bared his teeth as he stared venomously at No.5.
No.5 could only clutch his stomach in laughter as he saw Fang Lin’s ridiculous actions.
“Hahaha! My stomach hurts! I have to record this scene with an artifact!” No. 5 then drew a crystal ball from his robes. He powered it on as he pointed it to Fang Lin. His gleeful voice managed to anger Fang Lin more.
“Come on doggie, show me some of your tricks!”
“……..”
