289: Chapter 289 Dangerous Star Soul

"Da, da, da..." Crisp footsteps came from outside the cave entrance, and every step seemed to fall right on everyone's heart.

"There is only the sound of one person's footsteps..." Li Shishi suddenly whispered.

As she spoke, she reached out and grabbed sharply at the air, and a half-person-tall sheathed long saber was instantly gripped in her hand.

On the stone platform, Zhao Yan had also straightened his body, his panda-like eyes staring fixedly at the direction of the cave entrance, not relaxing his vigilance in the slightest because of Li Shishi's words.

The footsteps grew louder, but the intervals between them grew longer. The other party seemed unhurried and particularly confident, as if they didn't care at all about the two Sixth-Order Ability Users and one weakened Seventh-Order Ability User inside the cave.

"Sister Shishi, are you sure you didn't mishear? Is there really only one person?"

A drop of cold sweat ran down Zhao Yan's cheek from his temple. He looked into the ink-like darkness outside the cave entrance, which seemed to hide countless monsters, and asked with some uncertainty.

"There is indeed only one set of footsteps..." Li Shishi nodded firmly, though her tone was slightly weak.

If it weren't for Shangguan Mingyue's reminder, she really wouldn't have discovered that the other party could approach them so silently.

Although their exploration team didn't have any perception-type Espers, their passive perception range as Sixth-Order Ability Users was still one or two kilometers. Yet, they only discovered the other party when they were this close, and even now, they hadn't sensed the other party's specific aura...

"Snap!" A slender hand suddenly grabbed onto the stone wall at the cave entrance.

The three people in the cave then saw the familiar pair of boots, as the person's entire figure slowly appeared...

Familiar pants... familiar jacket... and finally, that familiar chin and hair...

It turned out to be an acquaintance; that explained all the previous questions...

"Ouch..." After recognizing the newcomer's identity, Zhao Yan's body suddenly went limp like a deflated ball. " 'Tumor', so it's you... Coming right at the moment when dawn is about to break, you almost scared me to death!"

"Yun Liu?" Li Shishi tried to call out softly to the young man, whose face was still half-hidden in the darkness, but the other party gave no response at all.

"Sister Shishi, I think this kid has just become capable and needs a lesson. Watch me handle him..."

As he spoke, Zhao Yan leaped down from the stone platform. He then walked slowly toward the young man at the cave entrance, saying as he walked:

"I'm asking you, why aren't you saying anything? I know scouting is hard work; I told you I'd give you a bigger share of the loot, and didn't you say you didn't want it at the time? But don't worry, I knew you'd regret it, so I specially..."

"Pfft!" A large spray of blood exploded in the air, and a bloodied head flew up into the sky.

And through the blood continuously spraying from his neck, Shangguan Mingyue and Li Shishi finally saw Yun Liu's eyes, which were filled with dead silence.

"Brother Shangguan... has Yun Liu betrayed us..." Li Shishi spoke indifferently, her long saber slightly unsheathed.

"Let's wait and see..." Shangguan Mingyue said, holding back Li Shishi, who was ready to act, though his gaze toward the young man at the entrance also deepened significantly.

The two paid no attention to the decapitated Zhao Yan; they both stared fixedly at the cold-faced young man in front of them, as if trying to find the familiar expression they once knew on his face.

" 'Tumor'!!! Your daddy is in so much pain! You've gone crazy, haven't you!"

Zhao Yan's exaggerated voice echoed continuously in the stone cave. Fortunately, this cave was quite sturdy; otherwise, it might have been brought down by this guy's loud voice.

Zhao Yan's headless body suddenly moved. He reached out sharply to the side, caught his head in mid-air, and then quickly pressed it onto the severed neck.

"Hiss..." Zhao Yan winced in pain, but just as he was about to curse, he looked up and saw Li Shishi and Shangguan Mingyue, who both looked speechless.

He smiled awkwardly, then quickly twisted his head, which had been put on backward, one hundred and eighty degrees to face his rebellious teammate again.

"Even if you know my Superpower is 'Undying', there's no need to do this to me. I'm undying, not immune to pain; it hurts, okay! I think you're really itching for a beating..."

Before he had even finished speaking, Zhao Yan suddenly arched his back. The next moment, a loud noise came from the stone wall behind him, and a nearly three-foot-deep scratch appeared on it.

"You're still at it! I didn't dodge before because I saw you've been under a lot of pressure lately, but do you really think your Brother Zhao can't dodge your 'Dislocation'!"

As he spoke, he once again dodged an invisible slash by turning sideways.

Even with his easygoing temper, after being attacked by Yun Liu one after another, he was getting a bit angry.

"Fine, it seems if I don't use some methods, you're really going to tear the roof down."

A massive amount of spiritual power erupted from his body, but considering they were in the Land of Destruction and the captain was injured, he held back his strength a bit.

The next moment, he suddenly lowered his head, quickly turned, followed the young man's body to get behind him, and then wrapped his arms tightly around his waist.

" 'Tumor', I know the weakness of your Superpower. Your Spatial Slash can only attack people within your field of vision, so once I'm behind you, you're helpless. So... just sleep peacefully for me!"

Following Zhao Yan's loud shout, Yun Liu's body was instantly lifted by a huge force, his body suddenly arched backward rapidly, and the back of his neck then made a fierce, intimate contact with the ground. He was perfectly German suplexed by Zhao Yan.

With a "crack" sound, his whole body twitched once and then went still, and the spiritual light halo on his body slowly dissipated.

"Phew~ As expected, to deal with this kind of greenhorn who's still in college, this move is really useful..."

Zhao Yan straightened up and reached out to press his somewhat sore neck.

Suddenly, his eyes sharpened, and at the same time, Shangguan Mingyue's voice reached his ears.

"It's not over yet! Watch out!"

Fortunately, Zhao Yan hadn't relaxed for a single moment from start to finish. He quickly lunged forward, rolled continuously, and finally slammed his elbow into the ground, using the recoil to stand up. Looking at his previous position, the expression on his face was one of shock and uncertainty.

"This is..."

He saw that in his original position, a pale yellow phantom was floating blankly in the air, as if it hadn't expected him to dodge its surprise attack so quickly.

"What the! It's a ghost!" Zhao Yan exclaimed.

"Don't make such a fuss; this is not a ghost!" Li Shishi interrupted him.

Finally, they heard Shangguan Mingyue speak slowly with a furrowed brow, saying in a deep voice: "This is a Star Soul..."