Both of them kept disappearing and appearing again and again all throughout the forest. No matter what Han tried, he couldn't shake off Long Chen, who was like a ghost that wasn't leaving him alone.
"This guy is not bad. His evasion is pretty good. Fortunately, it's dark," Long Chen muttered as he grinned.
"You call yourself the Darkness Race? Let me show you the real power of the dark." he let out as he raised he disappeared again.
Strangely enough, he didn't appear again. Han still kept changing his positions, thinking that Long Chen would appear near him like last few times, but Long Chen didn't appear.
"What was this movement? Did he actually give up and leave?" He pondered, unaware that Long Chen was standing behind him.
It was the shadow transformation which was a skill of the Supreme Law of Darkness. It not only made him disappear when it was night, but it also removed all his aura with which he could be tracked. He was actually like the ghost that couldn't be seen.
Long Chen stood behind the man and slowly moved his sword forward to make sure that there was no disturbance in the air. If he created more distortion, people had a chance of becoming alert.
Han was looking around, wondering if Long Chen actually ran away. He didn't feel any aura or movement.
He didn't know that a sword was inching closer towards his heart every second.
Only when the sword was an inch away from the man's chest, Long Chen made his movement faster as he thrust his sword.
Han finally felt a movement, but it was too late by now for him to move. The sword penetrated his chest. He turned into a shadow and appeared fifty meters away, albeit he was a little late. A big hole was left behind in his chest, which was made using the Sword of Time which in itself was an unusually big sword due to being a heavy sword.
The big hole in his chest was bleeding massively.
Han looked down at his chest. "You bastard!"
He stared back in front of him at Long Chen, who had finally become visible. A smirk rested on Long Chen's face.
He brought a pill out of his inventory to eat it, but he didn't. What was happening? He had brought his hand before his lips, but the pill was only getting farther from him?
A pain spread out in his neck as his vision turned blurry.
"You still think that was real?" A grim reaper's voice fell in his ears again.
How was this voice coming from behind him? And why couldn't he command his hand? These were the two questions that were in Han's head, along with a third question. Why was the world turning sideways?
Long Chen, who was standing some distance from him, started getting blurry as well. Not only that, the Long Chen disappeared as well, turning into smoke.
He didn't know that the world wasn't turning sideways; his head was turning sideways as it was separated from the rest of his body by the real Long Chen who was standing behind him.
The head soon fell on the ground. The body followed suit right after.
"I would have taken your body in my ring, but this thing is already a graveyard of bodies. You can just stay here and wait to be swallowed by the beasts," Long Chen said to the body that was lying lifelessly. "Have fun."
Turning back, he left.
"It's funny. Those guys split up as well. Are the other two following Qian Yu and Du Liang? If those two are dead, the chances of getting the next stage of Trial in Mingyu's world would be over. Should I go help?"
"No. They are strong enough. They can protect themselves. I need to focus on finding the Three Leaves Golden Flower and get a good rank myself."
After having a talk with himself, Long Chen decided not to go and help. He didn't bother.
*****
In a different part of the forest, Meng Qian, Meng Huling, and Ji Shan were walking together.
"Cheh, why did father give this guy to us? You know as well as me about his identity. This is the partner of Saint Killer's heir. Can we even trust him not to backstab us?" Meng Qian complained.
"Come on, don't be a kid. Sincere father allowed it; he just had faith in the guy. Don't worry. You won't be stabbed in the back," Meng Huling let out as he rolled his eyes. "You've been complaining since the start. It's getting boring now."
"We don't know the intricacies of this decision. Maybe this guy was not the Saint Killer's partner, and this was a misunderstanding. In any way, he is with us now. So stop complaining," he continued.
Meng Qian was frustrated that his little brother was trying to teach him. He looked back at Ji Shan and asked straight away. "Tell me honestly! Are you a partner of Saint Killer's heir?"
Ji Shan didn't say anything, but he did shake his head.
"See? He isn't," Meng Huling let out as he laughed. "What did you expect him to answer?"
"If he was a friend of that guy, would he confess now? His words can't be trusted," Meng Qian retorted lazily.
"Why did you even ask them?" Meng Huling smiled wryly.
While they were having a light argument, they noticed Ji Shan running. Ji Shan ran straight ahead.
"Where is this guy going now? Is he trying to make a run for it?"
"Maybe he found something?
The two princes started running after Ji Shan. They saw him stopping at last. Albeit he didn't stop at an empty place. He stopped before what seemed like the thing they were looking for.
A beautiful three leaves golden flower was shining in its full glory.
"Look there! The flower!" Third Prince Meng Huling called out excitedly.
"I have eyes as well, duffer," Meng Qian let out in irritation.
He suddenly thought of something and asked, "It's strange, though. Didn't father say that these things are never unguarded? Where is the Saint Realm Beast who is supposed to be guarding this?"
"This..." Even Meng Huling realized something seemed wrong.
"Ji Shan, step back this instant!" He called out. Albeit, he was too late.
A giant mouth came out of the ground and swallowed Ji Shan whole. Soon, the beast was entirely visible. It seemed like a Giant Snake whose mouth was big enough to swallow a person easily. And the first prey turned out to be Ji Shan.