Chapter 82: Irrational Numbers

“Ah!”
A piercing, heartrending scream echoed through the cabin as the shadow in Ning Xiu’s hand suddenly exploded.
“Elder! Elder, are you all right?”
At that moment, Chen Feng’s anxious shout came from outside the cabin, followed by a series of thunderous crashes as the door was smashed open.
Light spilled in, bringing a dim glow to the previously pitch-black cabin.
Yet, even so, the place still seemed shrouded in a grayish haze.
Ning Xiu glanced back to see Chen Feng rushing toward him. In the blink of an eye, he was already at Ning Xiu’s side.
“Elder, are you all right?” Chen Feng asked, his face full of worry.
Ning Xiu shook his head slightly.
“It’s a relief that you’re unharmed, elder. But what was that dreadful scream?”
As soon as he was certain Ning Xiu was unhurt, Chen Feng let out a long sigh of relief. But following Ning Xiu’s gaze and seeing the blood-soaked floor, his expression changed drastically.
He was still reeling from the shock when Ning Xiu continued deeper into the cabin.
...
In Lingnan Prefecture, at the headquarters of the Grand River Sect.
“Feng’er, you really shouldn’t have come back.” Wang Ce looked at his most promising disciple and shook his head, exhaustion etched deep in his features.
This grandmaster, once a dominant force in Lingnan’s martial world for decades, seemed to have aged ten years in just a matter of days. The imposing aura of his youth was gone, replaced by the weary pallor of a hero in decline, the shadow of death lingering about him.
Chen Feng kept his head bowed, his expression hidden as he said, “No matter what happens, I am ready to advance and retreat with you, master—live and die together!”
“Good, good, such a good disciple!” Wang Ce looked at Chen Feng and repeated the word “good” three times, a surge of pride rising in his heart. “Being able to send Long’er and the others away, I have no more regrets in this life. If they really dare to come, I won’t be easy prey. If they want my old life, I’ll make the You Alliance pay dearly for it!”
...
On the Jing River, aboard the Grand River Sect’s great vessel.
Ning Xiu and Chen Feng pressed on, heading deeper into the ship’s cabin.
“Elder, is that evil spirit still not dead?” Chen Feng asked cautiously.
Ning Xiu glanced at him and replied calmly, “No.”
“Did that fiend use my junior brothers’ corpses to forge zombies?”
Ning Xiu gave no answer but suddenly halted his steps.

Seeing Ning Xiu’s reaction, Chen Feng realized something was amiss.
A faint sound drifted from the darkness ahead—so slight it would have gone unnoticed without careful listening.
“Elder, be careful!”
The noise quickened, then, with a sharp whoosh, a shadow shot from the darkness, arrowing toward Ning Xiu.
Prepared, Ning Xiu’s gaze sharpened as he reached for his sword, but before he could strike, Chen Feng lunged forward, blocking the shadow’s path.
The shadow hesitated, then instantly changed its target, its two purplish-green arms lashing out at Chen Feng.
Its long claws were like daggers, ten fingers converging like the jaws of a beast, tearing straight for Chen Feng.
The sword Chen Feng raised to block shattered instantly, but the attack was deflected just enough that the claws only grazed his waist. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Chen Feng grabbed the shadow’s arms with both hands and shouted loudly:
“Elder!”
The shadow struggled violently but couldn’t break free. At that moment, a dazzling sword light flared.
In a flash, its head was severed.
...
The head rolled across the floor, coming to rest at Ning Xiu’s feet.
It was a faceless head.
The rest of the corpse crashed to the floor—a flayed, blood-red body, still oozing blood.
A faceless blood corpse?
Ning Xiu looked closely, as if discovering something.
He turned to look at Chen Feng in the distance, a strange expression coming over his face.
Seeing the evil spirit slain,
Chen Feng let out a long breath and collapsed to his knees. Blood was pouring from a wound at his waist—the injury clearly from blocking the faceless corpse for Ning Xiu.
Ning Xiu walked over to him.
“Are you all right?”
Chen Feng bowed his head and shook it weakly. As Ning Xiu’s shadow fell over him, a sinister smile curled at Chen Feng’s lips. He suddenly looked up, mouth opening wide, and a chilling, spectral arrow shot toward Ning Xiu.

He believed this was a strike that could not miss.
Yet the scene he had imagined—Ning Xiu pierced by the ghostly arrow—did not occur.
The smile froze on Chen Feng’s lips the moment he looked up.
Before him lay a headless corpse, a gaping hole blasted in its chest by the ghostly arrow.
Clearly, this was not Ning Xiu’s body, but that of the faceless blood corpse that had fallen earlier.
Ning Xiu stood beside the corpse, staring coldly at Chen Feng. In his hand, the Divine Retention Sword flashed down like a bolt of lightning.
The sudden sword strike made Chen Feng gasp for breath, terror and disbelief contorting his face.
Yet the blade did not so easily sever Chen Feng’s head.
Clang!
The Divine Retention Sword struck an inch before Chen Feng’s face, erupting with a thunderous metallic clang.
“When did you realize it was me?” Chen Feng raised his right hand and rasped.
“Last night?” Ning Xiu tilted his head, thought for a moment, and continued, “But I was only certain you were the hidden fiend just now.”
“Just now, and yet you would suspect the very one who saved your life?”
“Chen Feng” looked up at Ning Xiu, shaking his head as if he could not fathom Ning Xiu’s logic. Even as he spoke, the wound at his waist rapidly healed—since he was a fake, the earlier injury had been mere pretense.
He stood, fixing Ning Xiu with a cold, dreadful gaze, a chilling aura radiating from his entire body.
“Since you’ve seen through me, the game’s no longer fun. Wouldn’t it be better if you’d just obediently died?”
A twisted grin spread across “Chen Feng’s” face.
“I’m not like the others in the You Alliance. I don’t care for head-on battles. Even if you kill someone that way, it’s not as satisfying as watching the look of disbelief on their face when you succeed in a sneak attack.”
As “Chen Feng” spoke, his voice shifted constantly—old, young, male, female—each word uttered in a different tone.
In the end, it reverted to Chen Feng’s original voice.
The You Alliance!
Hearing “Chen Feng’s” words, Ning Xiu’s pupils contracted sharply. As he suspected, this fiend was sent by the You Alliance.
And from his behavior, it was clear he had developed intelligence, no longer just an ordinary ghost. This was the most formidable specter Ning Xiu had yet encountered.