Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 273 Jiang Jin, who's made a fortune
Jiang Jin took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.

Outside the door, Xia Yu stood there with a radiant smile. Her voluptuous figure, encased in a tight leather outfit, was incredibly striking, but her beautiful eyes gleamed with coldness and greed.

"Deputy Commander Jiang, it's been a long time." Xia Yu's voice was sweet and charming, but it carried a hint of insincere politeness. "That matter in the past was actually a misunderstanding. I'm here this time with no ill intentions, I just want to have a good talk with Miss Lin Lu."

Her gaze passed over Jiang Jin and landed directly on Lin Lu behind him.

Lin Lu stepped out from behind Jiang Jin, meeting Xia Yu's gaze without fear, and said coldly, "Sorry, I'm not familiar with you, there's nothing to talk about!"

Xia Yu's smile remained unchanged, but her eyes instantly turned cold: "Miss Lin, don't speak so confidently. Let me introduce myself first. I belong to the Bloodstained Team, and the team leader is the LV4 Blood Owl Lord. The team has three major sub-teams, and there are several LV3 level experts. With your special physique, joining us will allow you to obtain the best resources and training, and your future will be limitless. Staying in a small team like Nirvana is a waste of your talent."

She tried to lure Lin Lu with her powerful background, but concealed the fact that one of her sub-teams was one she had just established today after advancing to LV3. After all, the Crimson and Shadow Blade sub-teams had already been basically wiped out by Nirvana.

However, Lin Lu had already seen through those painful fragments of memory the cold-bloodedness of the Blood Lord and the true nature of Xia Yu.

Without hesitation, she loudly refused: "No need! I've already decided to join the Nirvana team! I will never associate with you demons who treat human life like dirt!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jin was overjoyed!
He recruited a genius reincarnator for the team!
"Nirvana?" Xia Yu scoffed, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Fine, it seems you're going to have to suffer the consequences! Don't blame me, you asked for this!"

Before the words were even finished, Xia Yu's figure rushed in front of Lin Lu! Then, he grabbed her hand and activated [Blood Shadow Escape]! This is one of the basic class skills of a LV3 Blood Sacrifice, which allows the physical body to temporarily merge with the Lost Layer, achieving short-distance spatial teleportation!

Although she had just advanced and her teleportation distance was only 500 meters, she felt that was enough! This was also because of the Blood Lord's order to give Jiang Jin face and not to make a move in front of him!
"Ah!" Lin Lu only had time to exclaim in surprise before she felt a powerful, blood-smelling force instantly engulf her, and the surrounding scenery began to distort and blur!
Jiang Jin roared, raising his mortar instantly, but Xia Yu and Lin Lu's figures had already transformed into a bloody shadow, piercing through the wall and disappearing!

"Deathstroke! Track!" Jiang Jin immediately gave the order. The enhanced Deathstroke roared, its ash-like body merging into the ground. Relying on the Xia Yu aura that Valeria had memorized, it chased after the enemy like an arrow!

Jiang Jin followed closely behind, rushed out of the house, and ran wildly in the direction indicated by the death knell—a secluded park nearby!

Inside the park, Xia Yu slammed a deer hard to the ground.

She placed one hand on Lin Lu's head, grinning maliciously as she activated the Blood Sacrifice's Devouring Ability: "Little sister, give back what you stole from me!"

A powerful suction force came, and Lin Lu immediately felt the resentment ash in his body that had just been refined and was not yet fully stabilized begin to flow out uncontrollably!

At the same time, a severe headache struck, and the fragments of Xia Yu's memories churned up again, but this time, it was the pain of being forcibly ripped away!

"No!" Lin Lu gritted her teeth and resisted, forcibly activating the black magic. Several defensive curses from the handwritten book were unconsciously cast by her. A cold, viscous resistance field spread out from her center. Although it could not completely stop Xia Yu from devouring her, it greatly slowed down the process!

"Hmph! A desperate struggle!" Xia Yu was somewhat surprised by the deer's tenacity and increased the intensity of its devouring.

Just as the stalemate was at its peak—

"Ouch!!!"

A fierce roar resounded! Deathstroke transformed into a gray lightning bolt, leaping out of the shadows and aiming straight for Xia Yu's back!

Its claws, gleaming with the eerie light of the Soul-Splitting Shuttle, carried a chilling aura that seemed to tear apart the soul!
Alarm bells rang in Xia Yu's mind! This aura... is so strong! It's nothing like the undead hound of a level 2 hunter!
She had to temporarily stop devouring the forest deer, turned around abruptly, formed hand seals, and her body surged with blood-red light!
"Blood Sacrifice Barrier!"

A barrier made of viscous blood instantly appeared, blocking Deathstroke's attack! With a loud bang, blood and ash splattered everywhere, and the barrier fluctuated violently, but it barely held on!

Xia Yu was jolted back two steps, her expression changing slightly. The hunting dog's strength exceeded her expectations!

Immediately afterward, Jiang Jin appeared at the park entrance, raising his shotgun without hesitation and locking the muzzle on Xia Yu: "Xia Yu! Let her go! Leave immediately, and I can pretend nothing happened!"

Xia Yu glanced at Jiang Jin, who held a gun, a hint of contempt flashing in her eyes. While he had been able to kill leaders of the Old Core Organization in the past, it was mostly due to his unique talent for corrupting the rules and his clever maneuvering within the rule-based instances. But this was an open area; she had entered using the Evil Spirit Bookmark and didn't need to abide by any instance rules!

At this point, strength is the only true measure of success!
“Deputy Commander Jiang, Blood Owl Commander has ordered that we must not offend you. But you attacked first, so I am acting in self-defense… that’s fine.” Xia Yu sneered, his figure flashing again to avoid Jiang Jin’s gunfire, while simultaneously engaging the two men and the dog.

Now that Lin Lu is determined to join Nirvana, Jiang Jin, as the vice leader, naturally has nothing left to hold back!
As he moved quickly, searching for a shooting angle, he unleashed the Ghost Hunter's class skill—[Mobile Trap]!
In the void, invisible hunting traps, each with spikes and binding energy, appeared out of nowhere, attempting to restrict Xia Yu's movements.

However, Xia Yu, being a Level 3, reacted and moved extremely fast. He used Blood Shadow Escape repeatedly, always managing to dodge the traps just before they were triggered. At the same time, he retaliated by waving his hand and unleashing streaks of blood-red arrows, forcing Jiang Jin and Lin Lu to keep dodging.

With its enhanced speed and power, Deathstroke launched attacks from tricky angles, its ghostly domain spreading out in an attempt to erode Xia Yu's blood-red aura.

Despite her dizziness and weakness, Lin Lu continued to cast various basic curses to interfere. Although they could not cause any real harm, the hatred power originating from the resentment of the dead disturbed Xia Yu's mind.

Xia Yu became increasingly alarmed as he fought!
Jiang Jin's tactical coordination was extremely shrewd, and Deathstroke's attack power far exceeded expectations. Although Lin Lu's black magic was still immature, it always managed to interrupt her rhythm at just the right moment.

After all, she was only a newly promoted LV3, and her realm was not yet stable. Her ability to summon the Ashes of Resentment began to stagnate, and her SAN value began to drop rapidly under the continuous battle and backlash!
If this continues, and a protracted war breaks out, she could very well suffer an unexpected defeat, or even lose her cultivation level!
"Stop!" Xia Yu suddenly retreated, creating distance, and shouted with a grim expression, "Jiang Jin! Let's make a deal! Lin Lu absorbed the resentment from my puppet, which is crucial to me! As long as you don't get involved, name your price! I can give you as many resentment crystals as you want!"

Jiang Jin kept his gun pointed at her and said coldly, "No talking! Leave now and I'll let you go. Otherwise, it'll be a fight to the death!"

Xia Yu looked at Jiang Jin's resolute eyes and knew that bribery would be ineffective.

A flash of madness crossed her face!
The hope of advancing to LV4 is right in front of her, and she must not give up this opportunity!

"You forced me to do this!" Xia Yu screamed, slamming her hands onto the ground!

"Blood Sacrifice Formation - Hundred Spirits Weep Blood!"

A huge and complex crimson magic circle instantly spread out from her center, covering an area of ​​three hundred meters in radius!
The moment the formation was completed, pedestrians on the streets surrounding the park seemed to have their throats choked by an invisible force!

"Uh……"

"Ah! What's going on?!"

"Blood! I'm bleeding!"

Screams kept coming!
Countless passersby collapsed to the ground without warning, blood seeping from their seven orifices and even from every pore of their bodies, flowing into the blood-red magic array on the ground!
In just a few seconds, hundreds of innocent passersby were brutally murdered! The entire area around the park seemed to have been transformed into a living hell!

"You beast! You have no humanity!" Lin Lu trembled with rage as she heard the pitiful cries around her and saw the ordinary people who had lost their lives in an instant. Tears welled up in her eyes.

For Xia Yu, these people's lives were merely stepping stones to greater power. As long as there was hope of reaching LV4, she would not care how many people she killed!

With the blessing of the blood sacrifice formation, her aura surged instantly, and blood light soared into the sky around her, as if she were one with the entire Lost Layer!
All of Jiang Jin's attacks, whether bullets or traps, were like mud sinking into the sea when they hit the bloodstain!

"It's no use! I'm now part of the Lost Layer! You can't hurt me!" Xia Yu laughed triumphantly, and reached out again. The weakened Lin Lu felt his body being automatically drawn into the magic circle!

Seeing the eerie and terrifying blood sacrifice formation before him and the tragic state of the innocent victims, Jiang Jin's eyes widened in fury! He gritted his teeth and made a bold decision!

He put away the mournful hunting rifle, and with a flick of his right hand, the Zhong Kui Judge's Pen appeared in his hand!

"Break it for me!"

The tip of the pen instantly burst forth with dazzling golden light! As if wielding a golden sword, he lunged towards the core of the crimson magic array—the location where Xia Yu was!

Zhong Kui's Judge's Pen is the nemesis of such evil formations!
The instant the pen tip touched the blood—"Swoosh!!!"

The golden light clashed violently with the crimson magic array, producing a piercing corrosive sound!
The entire blood sacrifice formation began to twist and fluctuate violently!
"What?!" Xia Yu's maniacal laughter froze instantly, replaced by horror! She felt the formation being forcibly torn apart by a powerful righteous energy!

Boom! ! !

The golden light erupted completely, and the blood sacrifice formation shattered instantly! The blood-red light dissipated, and the life-draining power came to an abrupt halt!

The backlash from the broken formation caused Xia Yu to groan, and the blood-red light dissipated!
At that very moment, when the old forces had just passed and the new forces had not yet arisen!

"Roar!" Deathstroke seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, pounced on Xia Yu, and slammed him to the ground!
A claw gleaming with an eerie light pressed down on her shoulder, and a massive maw covered in barbs opened, biting down hard on her snow-white neck!
They were about to succeed!

Xia Yu's pupils instantly turned a pure blood red!

A power far exceeding anything she had experienced before erupted from her body!

Professional Skill: Blood Eye!
A blood-red halo suddenly expanded outwards from her center!

Deathstroke was the first to be hit; his massive ashes instantly transformed back into a large mass of mindless, resentful ashes, drifting in the air!

Xia Yu took the opportunity to scramble to her feet, but her face was even paler and her SAN value became disordered!

Jiang Jin was already close by, like a leech clinging to her! The boning knife, gleaming coldly, slashed viciously across her neck!
*Splat!* Blood splattered!

However, the wound began to heal almost the instant the blade left!
The Blood Sacrifice class has extremely high resistance to physical injuries!
But Jiang Jin's real killer move is yet to come!

Almost at the same time as he swung the knife, the cold muzzle of the mortar was already pressed firmly against Xia Yu's smooth forehead!

“At such close range,” Jiang Jin’s voice was icy cold, “I fired two insect bombs into your head… Do you think your regenerative abilities will be enough to keep you alive?”

The shadow of death instantly enveloped Xia Yu! She could clearly feel the aura of death emanating from the muzzle of the gun and the undisguised killing intent in Jiang Jin's eyes!
She finally...became scared!

"No...no! Deputy Commander Jiang! Don't kill me!" Xia Yu's voice trembled, all of his previous arrogance gone. "Please...spare me...I'm a newly promoted LV3 in the Bloodstained Team. If you kill me, you'll be at odds with Blood Lord again!"

Jiang Jin snorted coldly. He could mobilize the entire Yongmeng team himself; was he really afraid of Blood Lord? It was only out of gratitude for Jiang Jin's previous mediation of the conflict. Otherwise, he would have already opened fire and unlocked the treasure map!

With his other hand, he pulled out the treasure map scroll Valeria had given him: "Someone in your team is willing to pay for your life. This treasure map to the [Summoning] instance is the reward. Now... can you offer a higher price for your own life? If not, then die."

Xia Yu, as if grasping at a lifeline, hurriedly shouted, "Yes! Yes! I can!"

Suppressing her heartache, she took out an item from the Reincarnator's Watch. When Jiang Jin saw it, he was stunned, almost unable to believe his eyes!
"This is a new LV3 gift from Blood Lord... I haven't even had a chance to warm it up yet..." Xia Yu bit her lip tightly, her heart clenching.

It was a giant chainsaw... covered in rust and grease, yet exuding an incredibly ferocious aura! The engine of the chainsaw seemed to have been modified, engraved with strange runes, and dark red bloodstains remained on the saw chain!
"This is... the chainsaw from the Butcher in the [Dead by Daylight] dungeon?!" Jiang Jin recognized the infamous weapon! This was definitely a high-quality LV3 melee physical weapon! Blood Lord actually gave Xia Yu this as a promotion gift?!

"Yes! That's it!" Xia Yu exclaimed hurriedly, "I'll use it to save my life!"

However, Jiang Jin quickly calmed down and continued to lower the price: "A chainsaw... is it probably not comparable to the treasure in the [Summoning] dungeon? Besides, I've offended the Bloody Team."

Xia Yuxin was bleeding, but with a gun pressed against her forehead, she had no choice but to agree: "I... I can give you one more thing! But you have to sign a contract with me through the reincarnation system to not kill me!"

"You think you have the right to bargain?" Jiang Jin pressed the gun barrel harder. "If you don't give it to me, I'll kill you right now, unlock the treasure map, and then use your skull key to try your luck at opening treasure chests!"

Xia Yu was so frightened that he could only grit his teeth and take out another prop—a shotgun with an old-fashioned design, a thick barrel, and a faint mist and rust!
"This thing is... [Silent Hill], um, the shotgun from Silent Hill!"

Jiang Jin was shocked once again!

He had seen the gun's illustration in some strategy guides before!

This shotgun is highly effective against the various evil entities in Silent Hill, making it a top-tier weapon usable only by hunters! As a hunter, he's finally going to have a second primary weapon!

Jiang Jin, who has always loved guns, wished he could kiss this gun!
"Here you go! Take it all!" Xia Yu shouted, almost crying.

Jiang Jin put the chainsaw and shotgun into his watch, overjoyed inside, but his face remained impassive.

He suddenly changed the subject, coldly saying, "Alright, the deal is done... Now, you can die. By killing you, I can get your Skull Key and then go to the Soul Resurrection instance to get the treasure."

Xia Yu was so frightened she almost fainted!

Jiang Jin is trying to kick away the bridge after crossing the river!
"No! You can't do this!" Xia Yu screamed, "I... the other items in my watch are for priestesses only, they're useless to you!"

"It's alright, we have a reincarnated priestess in our team."

Hearing this, Xia Yu was almost in despair.

Her mind raced, and suddenly an idea struck her. "Wait! The treasure map! Give me the treasure map! I might be able to break the medium seal that Valeria set up! If I do, the treasure is yours, and you can let me go!"

Jiang Jin's heart stirred. He pretended to hesitate for a moment and then tossed the treasure map to Xia Yu.

"You only have ten minutes."

In fact, he wouldn't kill Xia Yu unless absolutely necessary, only because he owed Blood Lord a favor.

Xia Yu felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He quickly picked up the scroll, concentrated all his energy, and mobilized the remaining power in his body to begin breaking the spiritual medium seal set up by Valeria.

This process was extremely dangerous, essentially a battle of wits with Valeria from afar. Veins bulged on her forehead, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her SAN value plummeted like a waterfall, teetering on the brink of collapse!

Ten minutes later, Xia Yu suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood and collapsed to the ground, but the sealing light on the scroll completely dissipated!

"It...it's a success..." Xia Yu said weakly. Her SAN value had dropped to an extremely dangerous level, and her eyes were starting to glaze over.

Jiang Jin checked the scroll, confirmed that the seal had been broken, and nodded in satisfaction: "You can get lost now."

Xia Yu dared not linger for a moment. With her last strength, she retrieved the evil spirit bookmark and trembled as she activated it. A spatial fluctuation flashed, and her figure vanished from the park.

Looking at the spot where Xia Yu disappeared, and then at the three new top-tier items he had acquired in his watch: the Butcher's Chainsaw, the Shotgun, and the unlocked Treasure Map!
Jiang Jin breathed a long sigh of relief. He had made a huge profit from this perilous battle and negotiation! Xia Yu, on the other hand, not only gained nothing, but also lost two precious gifts and half her life, suffering a devastating loss.

He turned around and helped the weak Lin Lu up, looking solemnly at the hellish scene around him.

We must leave here as soon as possible; tomorrow... will likely be the final battle.

(End of this chapter)