Volume 7: The Terrifying Forest Conspiracy Chapter 14: Who Is the Hunter, Who Is the Prey?

Faced with Almu’s request, Li Bin turned his gaze toward Shen Ling, but Shen Ling merely scoffed coldly and walked away without looking back.

At that moment, Bai Lingyu spoke up from the side. "Li Bin, just let Almu go. To be honest, I’ve been around him for quite some time, but I’ve never seen him actually make a move. I’m genuinely curious to see what he’s capable of."

Li Bin smiled and looked toward the spot where the enemy was about to appear but said nothing further. Soon, the members of the Verdant Alliance appeared within everyone’s sight, spreading across the battlefield like green leaves.

Li Bin immediately recognized several familiar faces among those at the forefront, especially Annan, whom he had distinctly remembered.

As soon as he saw them arrive, Li Bin, having arranged all the plans, nodded and said, “We can begin.”

Bai Lingyu immediately exclaimed excitedly, “Then leave it to me!”

With that, he waved his hand, and a squad of mechanical dogs—called Ruin Beasts—leapt out from behind him. The little creatures brandished double-edged swords in their mouths and charged toward the enemy like a storm of raindrops.

Reacting swiftly, Yi pushed forward the cannon fodder troops behind him while directing his great spirit archer to shoot at the place where the Ruin Beasts had just emerged.

Yi’s tactical choice posed considerable trouble for Li Bin; his second wave of attack had yet to appear before it was suppressed by the great spirit archer’s barrage.

Faced with this situation, Li Bin had to abandon the idea of sending Lidas into battle and instead mobilized Jessica’s troops, positioned behind the Verdant Alliance forces.

When Jessica’s mixed battalion appeared on the battlefield, Annan suddenly shouted, “It’s her! She’s the heroine who followed that fugitive that day.”

“They’ve sent out all the women. Seems like that fugitive suffered quite a loss,” Yi said, firmly believing in the strength of the Phantom Archer and assuming Li Bin’s forces had already lost more than half.

“That can’t be right. Didn’t you see that woman’s troops are still relatively intact?” cautioned the cautious Moonshade.

“But don’t forget who the fugitive is. Even if an undead player has human troops, would he dare to use them?” Yi dismissed the concern. He arranged some cannon fodder behind the lines and accelerated his troops’ attack on the Ruin Beasts and their point of emergence.

As Yi’s attacks grew fiercer, Li Bin smiled and asked Bai Lingyu, “So, have you spotted that Ent yet?”

Bai Lingyu fiddled with a strange piece of machinery, shaking his head. “No, not only haven’t I found the Ent, but neither your troops nor Almu’s are visible anymore.”

“If we can’t find the Ent, we can’t pull back. Looks like we’ll have to hold out here a little longer,” Li Bin pondered. “Let Lidas strike from another direction, and have Jessica slow down a bit. If they kill them, there won’t be any bait left.”

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Shen Ling was enduring Almu’s relentless harassment. Almu, seemingly unremarkable, was adept at stealth, shadowing Shen Ling silently through the dense woods while whispering in a small but clear voice.

Growing impatient, Shen Ling was about to strike a heavy punch but was stopped by Almu’s firm grip. Almu’s expression was serious as he warned, “Be careful, that person is nearby.”

Shen Ling looked around and soon spotted what Almu had noticed—a large shadowy mass moving slowly just a short distance ahead.

“So, it’s them after all. But if you loosen your grip a bit, I might respect you more,” Shen Ling said, brushing Almu’s hand away.

Almu’s face remained unmoved. He casually pulled out several small bugs and said, “Alright, we’ve located the enemy. Let’s send them the situation here and keep following.”

As he spoke, the tiny bugs emitted faint electric sparks, transmitting the situation to Bai Lingyu far away.

Seeing the signal from Almu, Bai Lingyu exclaimed excitedly, “Got it. We’re tracking the Ent now. We can proceed with the next phase of the plan.”

Li Bin nodded, waved his hand, and pushed out the jovial Jiugang, who threw the wine in his cup to the ground, drew his battle axe, and charged toward Yi.

Seeing Jiugang accompanied by skeleton soldiers, Yi shouted loudly, “Prepare for the final battle—they’re almost done for!”

True to Yi’s words, after exhausting all his skeleton soldiers, Jiugang swiftly ran toward Jiyecun, while Jessica and her group, who had been holding their own against Yi’s forces, retreated. Only a few Ruin Beasts remained to stall the enemy.

Seeing the enemy attempt to flee, Yi grew anxious and hurriedly released carrier hawks to inform Ent of the situation.

At that moment, Ent had already infiltrated behind Li Bin’s forces, contemplating whether to attack the city first or assassinate Li Bin, whose whereabouts were unknown. Yi’s message startled him; it revealed not only that Li Bin’s troops were nearly wiped out battling the Phantom Archer but also that the remaining forces were in retreat.

Following these troops would lead to Li Bin’s location, Ent thought easily. He had done this before, knowing that greedy players often regroup their shattered forces after defeat, which not only dampened overall morale but also exposed their whereabouts.

After waiting briefly, Ent saw the retreating troops heading toward the forest he had just exited.

Could Li Bin and the others be hiding within that forest? Ent couldn’t help but wonder. Why hadn’t he detected them earlier?

Despite his doubts, Ent used his special skill again, cloaking all his troops in invisibility as they stealthily advanced toward their previous path.

As they entered the woods, preparing to track the fleeing soldiers, a long arrow suddenly shot toward Ent.

“An ambush! We’ve walked right into a trap...” flashed through Ent’s mind.