Late at night.
Darkness enveloped the land, and all was silent.
On the outskirts of the Shadow Forest, two figures hurriedly approached the woods.
"Vivi, RUN! Once we get through this forest and reach the safe zone in Moonfall Town, we'll be safe!"
A young man in his early twenties, clad in silver armor, tightly held the hand of a girl in a green mage robe, occasionally glancing back with a worried expression.
Just as the siblings were about to dash into the Shadow Forest, they suddenly noticed a pair of eyes staring intently at them from within the woods ahead!
The figure was clad in pitch-black armor, exuding an endless chill. Beneath a fully enclosed metal helmet, eyes glowed with a ghostly blue light. A murderous aura emanated from the figure, like a messenger from hell!
The sudden appearance of the Undead Warrior made the siblings feel threatened.
But it seemed something even more terrifying was pursuing them from behind, so after a brief hesitation, they resolutely charged into the Shadow Forest.
Once inside, they were shocked. The forest, which should have been the domain of Jungle Spiders, was filled with Undead Warriors! Fortunately, these Undead Warriors only stared at them without any intention to attack.
However, as soon as they entered the forest, the young warrior was forced to stop, holding his sister back. Because in front of them stood a person.
That person was Lu Ming!
Due to his nervousness, the young warrior's first reaction was to assume Lu Ming was an accomplice of their pursuers. His instinctive move to draw his sword caught the attention of the Undead Warriors.
Clang—!
Sensing a potential threat to their master, all the nearby Undead Warriors instantly gripped their iron swords, standing guard around Lu Ming, their eyes fixed on the young warrior as if he were already dead.
Since they hadn't received any attack orders from Lu Ming, the Undead Warriors didn't act rashly. But their stance made it clear: if the young warrior or his sister dared to make a move, the Undead Warriors would immediately swarm them, shredding them before they could pose any threat to Lu Ming!
At that moment, the young warrior realized that all these Undead Warriors were summoned creatures of the Trickster player before him!
He instantly understood that Lu Ming was not an enemy and quickly lowered his sword to avoid making an enemy of him.
Judging by the aura of the surrounding Undead Warriors, it was clear that their master was no ordinary person!
Just then, the sound of approaching footsteps from behind alerted the young warrior that their pursuers were closing in, leaving him and his sister with no escape.
In desperation, he pinned his last hope on Lu Ming.
The young warrior looked at Lu Ming, anxious and desperate: "Brother, can you please help us? Save my sister! I don't care if I die, but please save my sister! If Vivi falls into their hands, she's doomed..."
His gaze shifted from the young warrior to the girl beside him, the one called "Vivi."
The girl wore a snow-white magical robe.
Her eyes were cold, her oval face sharp and small.
Her expression was icy, her eyes like stars.
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Her low ponytail and stray hairs framed her face, making her skin appear even paler.
She was a beauty.
But having just experienced Ye Ling'er's betrayal, Lu Ming had no interest in women, even feeling repulsed.
Yet, for some reason, seeing this girl gave Lu Ming a sense of déjà vu!
As Lu Ming studied the girl, trying to recall where he had seen her before, a shadow suddenly flashed in the darkness.
Swish-!
A sharp dagger slashed across the neck of the young warrior in silver armor. In an instant, blood splattered.
Before the young warrior could react, a black-clad assassin, who had been in stealth mode, appeared before him, stabbing the young man's abdomen multiple times with the dagger.
-162!
-95!
-95!
The young warrior, who had just reached level 9 and had only 300+ health points, saw his health bar instantly drained.
He stared in disbelief at the black-clad assassin before him. The next second, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
In his final moments, the young warrior still looked pleadingly at Lu Ming:
"Please... please..."
Before he could finish, he fell to the ground.
The mage girl accompanying him was stunned by the sight of the young warrior lying in a pool of blood.
It took her a long time to recover, and she knelt on the ground, crying out in disbelief over the young warrior's body: "Brother!!!"
Lu Ming watched this scene without any emotion.
Because in this world, he had seen it countless times before. In the Sky Abyss world, the only measure of life was strength, not law!
This was a lawless land.
Without the shackles of law, human nature was magnified infinitely.
Besides the assassin who had just killed the young warrior in one strike, a black-armored knight and a red-robed mage appeared from behind. The three were clearly in cahoots, and they were well-equipped, evidently not weak.
Using his enhanced reconnaissance skill, Lu Ming quickly assessed them and found that all three were level 10!
The black-armored knight looked at the corpse in the pool of blood and the crying girl beside it, speaking indifferently: "If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?"
The red-robed mage noticed Lu Ming standing to the side and immediately showed some hostility toward him, "Kid, I advise you not to meddle."
Lu Ming had no intention of meddling.
He got up to leave.
"Smart move," the black-clad assassin murmured as he watched Lu Ming's back.
At that moment, he heard the three killers talking behind him.
"This girl is really pretty, no wonder Brother Ye didn't fancy anyone else but her!"
"Tomorrow is Boss Ye Chen's eighteenth birthday. Let's take her back as a birthday gift for him. If he's happy, we'll definitely get some benefits!"
Hearing the name "Ye Chen," Lu Ming suddenly froze, stopping in his tracks.
He turned back to the three killers and asked, "The Ye Chen you're talking about, does he have a sister named Ye Ling'er?"
The assassin, wiping blood from his dagger, glanced coldly at Lu Ming: "What's it to you?"
Lu Ming, expressionless, repeated, "Just answer yes or no."
"What if yes, what if no?"
The black-armored knight, impatient, said, "Ever since Brother Ye's sister's simp finally died last night, without that obstacle, Brother Ye's status has skyrocketed overnight. He's now the number one celebrity in Linhai City. Who are you to talk about him?"
The red-robed mage sneered, "What, do you want to cozy up to Brother Ye too? Too bad we're all brothers who have fought alongside him. You? Unless your account is two-star or higher, Brother Ye won't even look at you. Give up."
Their words dripped with disdain for Lu Ming.
Little did they know, Lu Ming had already clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot, as a strong hatred consumed him.
At that moment, Lu Ming finally understood that the Ye Ling'er he had loved for three years, who ultimately betrayed him, her brother Ye Chen, and even her parents, were never threatened as Ye Ling'er claimed!
It was all a conspiracy orchestrated by Ye Ling'er, not something she was forced into!
Ye Chen knew full well that Ye Ling'er was secretly plotting against Lu Ming, yet he never told Lu Ming. Instead, he chose to collude with his sister, deceiving Lu Ming together!
Despite Lu Ming treating Ye Chen like his own brother for years, giving him whatever he wanted, be it phones or computers!
Recalling all this, a strong killing intent erupted within Lu Ming!
At that moment, the three killers suddenly sensed the murderous aura emanating from Lu Ming.
"Damn! That kid's got a rebellious streak!"
As the black-clad assassin spoke, the red-robed mage dismissed it: "So what? He's just a level 5 rookie in a sewer class. What can he do against us?"
The black-armored knight's eyes turned cold: "Kill him, to avoid future trouble and prevent any issues for Brother Ye."
As he spoke, the black-armored knight raised a valuable-looking flaming spear, advancing toward Lu Ming.
"I told you to leave, but you didn't. Don't blame me for not giving you a chance!"
As soon as he finished speaking.
Whoosh!
Flames ignited at the tip of the spear.
The next second, the black-armored knight thrust the spear toward Lu Ming!
This was the knight's signature skill for quickly closing in on enemies — Flame Thrust!
Facing the oncoming enemy, Lu Ming didn't dodge.
A flash of killing intent crossed his eyes.
Clang!
With his longsword planted in the ground, he released a blood-red formation around him—
War Tread!!!
Whoosh—!
As the massive formation with a 500-yard radius instantly covered the entire Shadow Forest, the black-clad assassin and red-robed mage were dumbfounded.
"This kid... what skill is that? Such a large range!" Before they could react. Just as the black-armored knight's flaming spear was about to pierce Lu Ming's chest.
Clang!
An Undead Warrior suddenly stepped in front of Lu Ming, using its iron sword to block the black-armored knight's Flame Thrust.
However, without a professional warrior's [Block] skill, it was an ineffective block.
The Undead Warrior's health bar instantly displayed a high red damage number—
-171!
With only 180 health points, the Undead Warrior's health bar was nearly depleted, almost killed in one strike!
Seeing this, the black-armored knight sneered, thinking: 'As expected of a mere level 5 trash summon, truly weak!'
Meanwhile, the mage girl Vivi, witnessing this, thought Lu Ming was trying to save her.
Not wanting Lu Ming to die for her, she cried out to the three killers: "Don't hurt him! I'll go with you!"
The black-armored knight glanced at the girl, snorting coldly: "If it were before, I might have considered it. But now, it's too late!"
Just as the black-armored knight raised his spear to finish off the obstructive Undead Warrior and then kill Lu Ming.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Four more Undead Warriors suddenly charged from both sides, leaping up and swinging their iron swords heavily at the black-armored knight.
-128!
-128!
-128!
-128!
As his health bar was emptied in the blink of an eye, the black-armored knight, caught off guard, collapsed heavily to the ground with a thud.