Chapter 52: The Ghost in the Forest

As the glowing, deadly sphere of energy hurtled toward her, Carrie’s mind went blank. Then, a single, clear thought emerged.

I’m going to die.

As Carrie thought this, familiar faces flashed before her eyes, finally settling on a smile that was slightly mischievous yet tender. Before she could utter the name of the person, tears of despair and longing blurred her vision.

In her daze, Carrie seemed to see the owner of that smile from her memories actually standing before her. He forcefully blocked the terrifying projectile and embraced her.

Then, Carrie felt as though she were soaring through the clouds.

Ah! Am I dead? Dazed and confused, Carrie thought she had ascended to heaven from ancient myths. However, a familiar, teasing male voice brought the little angel back to reality.

“Carrie, wake up! Hey! Are you alright?” Zhang Wen placed Carrie on the ground and slapped her face gently.

“Huh? Teacher Zhang?” Carrie opened her eyes groggily and mumbled his name.

“Okay! Seems like nothing serious.” Zhang Wen smiled slightly.

“Um, I’m fine… Wait? I’m fine!” Carrie remained dazed for a while before her eyes suddenly widened in shock. “Teacher Zhang, why are you here?”

“I came with Teacher Lynora. Sorry, I encountered a little trouble on the way, so I arrived a bit late. But, I made it in time after all. No real harm done.”

“Okay!” Carrie nodded vigorously, tears of joy streaming down her face. However, she suddenly seemed to remember something and hastily wiped away her tears, shouting anxiously at Zhang Wen, “Teacher Zhang, Teacher Lynora, she’s…”

“You don’t need to say anything. I already know everything. Lynora is actually the soul dancer Eve from the Syndicate. As for Robert over there, he’s a secret agent from the Federation. Am I right?”

“How did you know?” Robert asked Zhang Wen, his expression shifting between anger and confusion.

“Haha! Robert, don’t worry too much. I only found out about your true identity when I heard you talking about it on my way here.”

“Hear us talking? Ah! Damn it! When you gave me the badge, you tampered with it!” Lynora exclaimed, finally realizing the truth.

“Exactly! My lady soul dancer, it seems you really have become slow. You revealed a flaw in front of an amateur. When did you start suspecting her?” Robert sarcastically asked Zhang Wen.

“Hehe, Robert, you’re being a bit unfair to her. Actually, Lynora’s acting was quite good. I didn’t find any flaws at all.” Zhang Wen shrugged with a smile. “However, during her fight with Xiao Xi, I noticed something puzzling. That is, Lynora clearly has the strength of over tenth tier. If her goal was really just to kill an ordinary 7th or 8th tier martial artist, as she claimed during our conversation at my apartment, why would she risk exposing the plan by specially inviting me to participate? After noticing this doubt, I started paying more attention to her.”

“Ah, so when Lynora voluntarily requested to leave your camp alone, you deliberately gave her a tampered badge and followed her from afar. This way, whatever her intentions were, they couldn’t escape your notice. Brilliant! Truly brilliant!” Robert laughed out loud after finishing his words.

“Although you knew this woman’s intentions and identity, you probably still don’t understand why she was so determined to find you, despite the risk of exposing the plan.”

“I can guess a little. Probably, Lynora needed me to appear in the Sandra Forest. Only when I appeared would the King truly believe that the Southern Overlord Krasu was still alive, and your plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain would succeed.”

“Haha! You’re very smart, and what you guessed is indeed part of her intention. However, the real reason is different. The real reason she wanted you here, let me tell you! This woman’s teacher, Anna Farla, died in that battle when your Ruby attacked the Federation’s experimental star. She hates you deeply and wants to kill you at all costs to avenge her teacher! So the most important reason she invited you here is to make you die! Andrie Stein of the Mithril!”

Robert laughed hysterically, his laughter like a dying man’s gasp, making the listeners shudder.

Andrie Stein. The name shouted by Robert made Carrie once again stunned. The person she respected and admired had suddenly transformed into a synonym for cruelty and coldness. Such a drastic change almost left Carrie reeling.

However, in that very moment, Carrie suddenly noticed that Robert had a ball of eerie blue energy rapidly forming in his left hand, which he was hiding behind his back. “Teacher Zhang, watch out!” Without thinking, Carrie screamed.

Robert, realizing his action was exposed, simply sneered and swung the incomplete energy sphere at Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen, however, smiled slightly and, seemingly prepared, threw a punch with his right hand. The energy sphere, which had only been half-formed, was struck by Zhang Wen’s fist and quickly dissipated into countless sparks. However, although Robert’s surprise attack failed, he did not show any sign of tension. Instead, he smiled in a sinister way.

“Hehe! Zhang Wen, originally I thought you and I were both being used by that bitch, so I felt a bit of sympathy and was even planning to spare you. Unfortunately, you insisted on rushing into hell yourself. Well, since you’re here, I might as well help Lynora fulfill one of her wishes. Who knows, she might be grateful for my help in taking revenge and make the subsequent training process a bit easier for me?” Robert sneered coldly, slowly spreading his arms.

“Haha, you sure do talk a lot. Are you too excited?” Zhang Wen retorted with a smile, crouching down and preparing for battle.

Boom!

Just as Robert and Zhang Wen stood off against each other, a terrifying golden energy column suddenly shot up from the distant horizon. Soon after, a silver-like stream of energy spiraled around the golden column like a celestial dragon climbing a pillar, also soaring into the clouds. Under the blinding brilliance of these two terrifying energy columns, the nearby red energy column belonging to Agate quickly faded into insignificance.

The moment Robert saw the two terrifying energy columns, a flicker of fear crossed his face.

“Hehe! Zhang Wen, it looks like we need to finish this quickly. Do you see the battle over there? The ‘King’ has finally made his move. Although the fake Southern Overlord took Lynora half a year to prepare, no matter how much preparation she did, it’s still just a puppet made from a corpse, an empty shell. In the hands of the King, it can barely last a minute or two. The King will soon realize he’s been deceived. I don’t want to know how furious he’ll be. So, before the ‘King’ comes back, please die!”

With a sharp, piercing “die,” Robert suddenly widened his eyes. Before him, an entire row of more than six energy spheres appeared, firing continuously at Zhang Wen like a machine gun. At the same time, from the dense forest behind Zhang Wen, two more “ghosts” emerged.

The moment they burst out of the forest, two white beams of energy shot out from the front of the two “ghosts,” just like the ones previously used by the six ghosts to suppress Agate. This time, the two beams crossed each other, forming a giant “X” symbol, roaring toward Zhang Wen.

With the energy spheres suppressing all of Zhang Wen’s possible movements and the two “ghosts” launching a surprise attack, the moment this wave of attack was fully unleashed, Robert had already blocked all possibilities of Zhang Wen’s victory!

“I’ve got him!” Seeing all six energy spheres explode around Zhang Wen and the two ghosts’ “mind seal techniques” heading toward Zhang Wen’s head without any obstacles, Robert let out an excited roar.

However, Robert’s excitement only lasted for a brief moment before he suddenly realized something was wrong. Because after the dust settled, he found that the area beneath the two ghosts’ “mind seal techniques” was completely empty!

How could this be?! Robert widened his eyes in disbelief. Where did that guy Zhang Wen go? The next moment, Robert quickly looked around. However, all he could see was the dark forest.

Thud! The sound of a body falling made Robert hastily turn his gaze back. Then he fearfully discovered that the head of the left “ghost” among his two “ghosts” was gone!

Damn it! Robert clenched his teeth tightly.

As a secret agent of the Federation, Robert had fought countless martial artists of various kinds throughout his life. He certainly knew that many speed-type martial artists liked to attack their opponents and then hide their positions immediately to instill fear in their opponents.

Many inexperienced martial artists would panic and expose their weaknesses when facing such opponents. However, Robert, who had fought countless battles, was certainly not that incompetent.

As soon as he realized that Zhang Wen was a speed-type martial artist, he immediately forced himself to calm down, quickly moved to the side of another mind-controlled puppet, and stood back to back with it. Then, Robert once again activated the energy within his body, using his most proficient mind technique to sense Zhang Wen’s position.

However, the result of Robert’s sensing was… nothing! Within a radius of a hundred meters, Robert could not sense Zhang Wen’s presence at all! It was as if he had vanished into thin air or had never existed in the first place!

What’s going on here? Robert was just about to angrily shout in his mind when he suddenly felt a cold breeze brush past his head. Then, Robert felt a wet, uncomfortable sensation on his neck.

Robert wiped his neck with his hand.

Sticky and somewhat sour-smelling liquid—the nutrient solution filling the blood vessels of the mind-controlled puppet.

Robert’s eyes widened as if he had been electrocuted. He fearfully turned his head slowly. Sure enough, the “ghost” leaning against his back had already lost its head without him noticing.

Cold sweat soaked Robert’s body. Both mind-controlled puppets had their heads cut off, yet he still hadn’t figured out where his opponent was! He couldn’t even sense the opponent’s presence through his mind techniques!

What exactly is this guy, a human or a ghost?! For the first time, a thought that filled Robert with fear surfaced in his mind.

Meanwhile, as Robert was being haunted by Zhang Wen’s attacks, Zhang Wen cleverly hid behind a cluster of bushes, watching Robert’s movements while carefully adjusting his breathing.

In this battle against Robert, the reason Zhang Wen didn’t immediately eliminate Robert wasn’t because he wanted to act mysteriously. It was because during the pursuit of Lynora, he had consumed too much energy. Moreover, when he finally realized Robert’s intention to kill Jia Li Te and the others, he used the extremely energy-consuming ghost steps to rush.

Although Zhang Wen’s Spring Water Technique energy had been greatly enhanced by the original stone, no matter how powerful the energy was, it couldn’t withstand continuous consumption. When Zhang Wen and Robert truly began their confrontation, his energy had already been consumed to a large extent.

The remaining energy in Zhang Wen’s body was no longer sufficient for him to maintain the high-speed state of using ghost steps continuously. Therefore, he could only carry out sudden attacks through short bursts of energy.

In fact, Robert’s request for a quick resolution to the battle was exactly what Zhang Wen had hoped for!

If Robert hadn’t immediately launched a deadly attack on Zhang Wen at the beginning but instead properly utilized his two mind-controlled puppets to carefully defend and force Zhang Wen into a war of attrition, Zhang Wen might not have been able to defeat him at this moment. Unfortunately, under the pressure of the “King,” Robert made the wrong choice.

For Zhang Wen, who practiced the Spring Water Technique, the Sandra Forest was practically a battlefield tailor-made for him. Zhang Wen’s Spring Water Technique energy prevented Robert from sensing his presence through mind techniques. In this land filled with giant trees and shrubs, with extremely complex terrain and abundant cover, Zhang Wen could fully utilize his extraordinary five senses, as well as his ghost-like speed and agility. For Robert to try to quickly defeat Zhang Wen here was nothing more than a fantasy.

The outcome of the battle between the two was even better than Zhang Wen had imagined. He easily eliminated Robert’s two mind-controlled puppets. Next, he just needed to adjust his state and wait for Robert to slightly expose a weakness before delivering a decisive blow.

Robert, already in a state of panic, didn’t keep Zhang Wen waiting for long. After a brief moment of paranoia, Robert’s gaze fell on Jia Li Te, who was not far away.

“Hehe!” Robert let out another sinister laugh, suddenly turned his body, and charged toward Jia Li Te. Obviously, he intended to take Jia Li Te hostage to threaten Zhang Wen.

However, the moment Robert turned and lunged toward Jia Li Te, his unguarded back was completely exposed to Zhang Wen. Zhang Wen naturally wouldn’t miss this perfect opportunity.

The Spring Water Technique energy surged through his entire body once again, and Zhang Wen floated out from behind the bushes like a ghost, silently pushing off the ground and appearing behind Robert in an instant.

Zhang Wen raised his right hand and channeled a small amount of energy into the mind steel tightly held in his palm. In the next moment, the mind steel emitted a faint red glow and quickly elongated, transforming into a slender short-handled longsword. Without hesitation, Zhang Wen swung forward, and the sword silently pierced straight into Robert’s back.

However, just as Zhang Wen was delivering the fatal blow to Robert, Robert suddenly revealed a strange smile. He quickly turned his head, and a mind barrier instantly formed in front of him, blocking the sword Zhang Wen had thrust forward.

It turned out that Robert’s earlier charge toward Jia Li Te was merely bait he deliberately offered! In fact, Robert’s target had always been the hidden Zhang Wen.

Robert clearly knew that Zhang Wen must be watching him from some unseen place nearby. Given Zhang Wen’s ghostly speed, there was no way he could capture a hostage in front of Zhang Wen. While pretending to charge at Jia Li Te, Robert didn’t even glance at her once. He kept all his attention focused on Zhang Wen, who might appear behind him at any moment!

It must be admitted that Robert was indeed an outstanding agent of the Federation. Even in a state of panic, he was still able to make the correct judgment.

Robert’s counterattack caught Zhang Wen off guard. However, Zhang Wen, who had pushed the Spring Water Technique energy to its limits, was already unable to withdraw the sword he had thrust out. In that brief moment before the sword struck the barrier, Zhang Wen’s combat instincts made a decision.

Although it seemed that Zhang Wen had fallen into the trap set by Robert, how much better off was Robert? The plan he executed was also out of desperation! Robert, who was in the open, couldn’t predict from which direction Zhang Wen would attack. The mind barrier he activated was just a hasty defense and certainly wouldn’t have much strength!

With this thought, Zhang Wen snorted coldly, and all his energy surged like a tide into the sword he had swung. Since the surprise attack had failed, he might as well launch a direct assault!

In the next instant, the sword in Zhang Wen’s hand was already shining with a blinding white light as it struck the blue mind barrier in front of Robert.

Boom! After a dull sound, like a hammer hitting a wall, Robert’s mind barrier was pierced by Zhang Wen’s sword and shattered into pieces. However, Zhang Wen’s sword still had not exhausted its force.

Looking at the sword flashing with blinding white light heading straight for his heart, Robert’s face finally showed a look of panic. He had never expected Zhang Wen to have such strength! Whether it was the quality of the energy or the instantaneous reaction in battle, everything Zhang Wen displayed exceeded Robert’s expectations beyond limits!

At this moment, the situation completely slipped out of Robert’s control. He realized that his plan for tonight had already failed. As a professional assassin of the Federation, Robert naturally knew very well that for someone like him, failure meant only one thing—”death.”

The sword pierced through Robert’s body as expected. However, due to the barrier Robert had created, Zhang Wen was unable to hit his opponent’s heart as he had hoped.

Just as Zhang Wen was preparing to unleash the energy stored in the sword to deliver the final blow to Robert, a chilling sense of danger suddenly surged from behind him.

After practicing the Spring Water Technique, this wasn’t the first time Zhang Wen felt this icy sense of danger signaling the approach of crisis. He instinctively suppressed the energy in the sword and quickly pulled it back, slashing downward behind him.

Puh! A blue energy bullet was cut in half by the sharp blade, exploding into two halves that hit the ground on both sides of Zhang Wen. Meanwhile, Robert, whose body had been pierced by Zhang Wen, rolled several meters away and finally fell to the ground motionless, covered in blood.

“So? Did your strength recover, Lynora, or should I say, my lady soul dancer?” Zhang Wen slowly turned around, his gaze fixed on Lynora not far away.

Lynora had somehow risen to her feet and approached Jia Li Te. Jia Li Te, on the other hand, had been knocked unconscious by her and was lying motionless on the ground.

“Yes! X-14 is at least my own developed secret medicine. I have dozens of ways to deal with it. However, I still need to thank you. Without your help in buying me time, I might not have been able to handle that madman.” Lynora stretched lazily, her charming face once again adorned with a charming smile.

“Oh? So, is this how you treat someone who saved your life?”

“Hehe! Teacher Zhang, how do you think I should treat you?”

“I think, since your plan has already failed, it would be nice if we could just part ways peacefully. Even if your teacher was killed by Ruby, it wasn’t me who killed her. Saving your life should be enough compensation, right? Besides, the organization Ruby is gone now. Why do you still insist on chasing me?” Zhang Wen shrugged helplessly with a smile. The “connection” between Andrei Stein and Lynora was indeed unexpected.

“Hehe! I would really like to part ways peacefully with Teacher Zhang, but I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Even if I no longer hold a grudge over my teacher’s death, you have seen my face and known my identity, so I can’t let you live on.”

“So, even if I swear not to reveal your identity, you won’t believe me?”

“Exactly. Besides, since I can easily kill you now, why would I take the risk of trusting you?” Lynora laughed lightly, brushing off the dust from her body as she walked toward Zhang Wen.

“You’re very confident!” Zhang Wen smiled and looked at Lynora.

“Of course! Because I know you inside and out!” Lynora extended a finger and playfully traced it through the air toward Zhang Wen. “You followed me all the way from the camp to here, and just now you fought Robert. You must be pretty exhausted by now, right?”

“What do you think?” Zhang Wen, whose every move had been completely deciphered by Lynora, was startled inside but still kept a calm smile on his face.

“Hehe! Teacher Zhang, you don’t need to pretend anymore! Back at the Kemmel Arena, your performance left a deep impression on me! That kind of gorgeous fighting style, I had never even seen before. Honestly, it took me a long time to figure out how to deal with an opponent who can continuously change direction and move so fast that the eyes can’t keep up.”

“It seems you’ve studied me thoroughly.”

“Of course. There’s a saying in the Empire, what was it again? The person who knows you best is your enemy. Zhang Wen, you’re the first man I’ve ever taken the time to understand. To be honest, I think I really like you.” Lynora smiled faintly, her eyes revealing a complex emotion.

“Is that so?” Hearing Lynora’s confession-like words, Zhang Wen could only helplessly smile while secretly staying alert. A woman like Lynora wouldn’t say such words unless she had already decided to kill him.