A dull thud.
A slight noise.
The large skeleton silently appeared before him.
“Huh? Why did you come out?” Shen Ye asked in surprise.
“It’s time for us to part ways,” the skeleton said with a complicated expression.
Looking at its now fully restored skeletal body, Shen Ye finally understood.
“Ah, that’s right. You can move freely now,” Shen Ye said.
“Yes, I must return to the undead clan. I have many unfinished works. I can’t waste any more time like this,” the large skeleton said solemnly.
“Alright then, I guess this is where we part ways,” Shen Ye said with a smile, waving his hand.
“Mm, I sincerely thank you for helping me recover my strength, kid. I see that you don’t even have a storage tool—take this ring as a memento,” the skeleton said.
It placed a ring in front of Shen Ye.
“You can open and close it using your mental energy. Try it out and you’ll understand.”
“Alright, thanks—though it’s a shame I didn’t prepare any farewell gift for you.”
“No need. You healed my wounds.”
“Then, farewell.”
“Farewell.”
The large skeleton gave a slight bow before turning and dashing into the depths of the forest, disappearing from sight in moments.
Shen Ye slipped the ring onto his finger, feeling a bit sentimental as he muttered to himself:
“Raised it for just a few days and now I’m setting it free. I wonder if it’ll even survive out there.”
As soon as he finished speaking—
A flock of birds suddenly burst into flight from the forest ahead, followed by a violent explosion.
When Shen Ye looked up, he saw a massive pale flame erupting from the woods, countless white skeletal skulls appearing within its glow.
In a flash—
“No—”
The large skeleton’s furious voice had barely formed a single sound before it was abruptly cut off, as if someone had crushed its throat.
A shockwave surged forth, whipping up dust and stones, shaking the ground ever so slightly.
Shen Ye’s face paled.
Even when fighting the “Skinner,” he had never seen an attack of this magnitude.
Moments later—
The forest returned to silence.
Brushing the dust off his head, Shen Ye flicked a few pebbles off his collar, a wave of unease washing over him.
What the hell just happened?
With that kind of strength, did the large skeleton not even last a single move?
Then…
If I go up there, wouldn’t I just be throwing myself to death?
As the saying goes, solving a problem is worse than avoiding a problem. I should just—
Suddenly.
Three lines of glowing text appeared before Shen Ye’s eyes:
“Key reminder triggered:”
“You have been discovered.”
“Retreating now will impact your evaluation, preventing you from obtaining your third ‘Comrade’ title.”
…So I’ve been spotted.
Honestly, in this situation, running wouldn’t work anyway. Given the way it sounded, the large skeleton didn’t seem to have had any chance to resist.
And as they say, when things go wrong, you have to help your brothers out.
I should hurry over and take a look.
Shen Ye allocated all his attribute points to Strength, raising it to 8.3.
Strength was indirectly tied to constitution, which meant life force.
As long as he wasn’t instantly killed, there was a chance!
Instead of hiding or probing, Shen Ye took a deep breath and shouted, “Fei Lun, what happened to you?!” before charging straight into the forest.
“Stop, human.”
A sinister voice rang out.
Shen Ye immediately froze.
Several pale-skinned, heavily muscled undead warriors, gripping sharp bone spears, surrounded him from all sides, ready to skewer him the moment he made a move.
Shen Ye glanced at his brother Fei Lun.
The ground was littered with shattered bones.
A single skull lay on the ground, encircled by the undead warriors.
This poor bastard.
Would’ve been better off if I’d kept raising him.
“What did you do to my brother Fei Lun?!” Shen Ye roared.
“Your brother?” A masked undead sneered. “I’ve never heard of a human calling an undead ‘brother.’”
The other undead warriors looked intrigued.
Shen Ye cast another glance at the large skeleton’s head.
A faint ghostly fire flickered within its empty eye sockets, and a swift telepathic message was sent to him:
“Elven village mission failed.”
Shen Ye immediately understood.
So these undead were a punishment squad, sent after the failed assassination mission on the elves.
“Of course! My big bro saved my life. I’ve already sworn to follow him—to overthrow the wicked human empire at all costs!” Shen Ye declared.
The undead leader snorted coldly, his tone filled with killing intent.
“Just the two of you, and you think you can take down the human king? Do you take us for idiots?—Kill them both!”
“Wait!” Shen Ye shouted sharply. “If you attack me, you’ll regret it!”
“Spare me the tricks. I’m no gullible beastman,” the undead leader sneered.
Shen Ye immediately tossed something over.
The undead leader caught it and examined it—
It was a human bravery medal.
The leader hesitated briefly before deciding to check it out.
He twisted his fingers, casting several layers of spells on the medal.
A sacred light slowly emerged from the medal.
The light flickered midair, forming a line of small text:
“This Bravery Medal is awarded to the last survivor of the Rhine Territory.”
“As long as he holds this medal, the Miracle Manifestation effect will be activated.”
The undead leader shoved the medal back into Shen Ye’s hands.
In that instant, strands of holy light emerged from the void around Shen Ye, gathering above his head to form a line of text:
“Awarded to the boy who survived great calamity—Saint Violet Empire, Prince Norton.”
Only the true recipient of the medal could emit such light!
This was far more sophisticated and foolproof than the elves’ medals.
“It’s real…”
“Kid, where the hell did you get this? Speak!”
The undead leader demanded.
Shen Ye glanced at him and casually looked up at the top of his head.
“Death Omen Star”—
Above the undead leader’s head, the term “Death Omen Star” floated in the air!
As expected, those with entry were truly formidable.
That previous attack was so powerful that, even though Shen Ye was standing at a distance, he was still covered in dust.
Not to mention that the big skeleton didn’t even last a single move.
So far, he had encountered three beings with terms.
The Elven High Priest, Xiao Mengyu, and now, this undead leader.
All of them were incredibly strong.
But then again, there were also powerful individuals without terms.
Xiao Mengyu couldn’t defeat the “Skinner.”
—So what exactly was the significance of these terms?
Shen Ye pondered this question while loudly declaring,
“Hmph, Fei Lun and I have already agreed to infiltrate the human capital and find an opportunity to assassinate the king!”
A lie, when told repeatedly, might not necessarily make others believe it, but it would make them think you were a fool.
And fools always spoke the truth.
—A fool would genuinely believe he could assassinate the king.
“Idiot! That medal may be real, but do you seriously think just the two of you can kill the human king?” The undead leader sneered.
“We have a way to enter the upper ranks of human society,” Shen Ye replied.
He took out a letter.
The letter immediately landed in the undead leader’s hands.
—A recommendation letter from the Imperial Military Academy.
“The Norton Prince’s recommendation letter… The handwriting and seal are real, impossible to fake.”
“Inconceivable! Just who are you?!”
The undead leader looked at him in disbelief.
“Before that, why don’t you tell me why you went after my brother Fei Lun?” Shen Ye asked.
“There’s no need to hide it. Telling you won’t matter—”
The undead leader’s voice turned sharp, “During the mission to assassinate the elven village chief, all our men were captured except for him! He abandoned the mission and fled. Such an act must be punished without mercy!”
“Hahahahaha!” Shen Ye burst into laughter.
The undead leader took a step forward, grabbed his throat, and snapped, “What are you laughing at?!”
“I’m laughing at how foolish you all are. He was the only one who saw through the elves’ trap and escaped the assassination site—he even saved me.”
“—And now you’re trying to kill him!”
Fei Lun seized the moment to add, “The village chief wasn’t there. The one guarding the village was the Grand Elven Priest, who was already prepared to eliminate all assassins disguised as elves.”
“Do you have proof?” the undead leader demanded.
“You think you’re so capable? Go investigate for yourselves! In the human military camps, my story is spreading like wildfire. Everyone knows I appeared in the elven village, and that the one overseeing it was the Grand Priest of the elves—that was the exact location of Fei Lun’s mission!” Shen Ye countered.
Hearing this, the undead exchanged glances.
Could it be true?
Was Fei Lun the only one who sensed danger and retreated in advance?
If so, then abandoning the mission at the last moment would have been the right decision.
—After all, if the village chief wasn’t there, but a high-ranking elven leader was, the mission would have been impossible to complete.
“Everyone knows you appeared in the elven village? Are you really that famous?” the undead leader tested.
“Of course. Even a prince gave me a recommendation letter. What do you think?” Shen Ye stared back without a hint of fear.
“Then… What do they call you in the human military camps?” the undead leader asked.
“The Boy Who Cheats Death.”
Shen Ye lifted his head proudly, his voice unwavering.
Above him, the floating text echoed his words, commanding a silent reverence.
TL ; I have changed Feylen to Fei Lun which seems more accurate but it shouldn’t make much difference since the name isn’t mentioned much.
