Deception's Basis, the Confidence Behind the Performance

The night wind swept through the dense, iron-thorn-like forest and reached this vast hinterland. The tough, yellowish, waist-high grass swayed in the wind, rolling and undulating like ocean waves.

In this crazy, savage, violent, and primitive world, even the evening wind seems much wilder.

In the perception of the Living Beings of the Black Marsh, the wind, though strong, could only be described as "ordinary".

But to visitors from Other Worlds, this howling, wailing, and Wailing evening wind, carrying a heavy scent, was indeed "powerful."

Under the bright moonlight, the one-horned giant bear pounced on the saber-toothed beast that resembled a lion or tiger with its agile movements. The flesh and blood of the two enormous creatures collided with a sound as loud as a cowhide drum crashing to the ground.

"Bang!"

Teeth, claws, and sharp horns clashed and grappled, tearing flesh apart once more.

The saber-toothed beast's long fangs embedded themselves in the giant bear's left shoulder, tearing flesh and blood, and it was just a hair's breadth away from biting its neck!

The giant bear's horn pierced the saber-toothed beast's left forepaw, while the two paws left several deep bloody gashes on the beast's back!

"Roar!"

The two giant beasts roared fiercely, briefly separated, and then pounced on each other again, their battle reaching a fever pitch!

The pervasive smell of blood further fueled the ferocity of the wild beasts, making each other the only thing in their sight.

It is precisely this life-or-death struggle, where they see only each other, that makes them almost forget everything around them.

They also naturally overlooked a much larger threat that was creeping in!

"Laugh!"

A Dagger was thrown and pierced straight into the giant bear's left eye, the eyeball making a popping sound.

The giant bear roared and screamed in agony, blood gushing from its eye sockets.

The one that had initially held the advantage suddenly lost its balance and was pounced on by the saber-toothed beast.

Driven by its ferocity, the saber-toothed beast, though unaware of why the giant bear had suddenly collapsed, was already prepared to press its advantage and disembowel the creature!

But...

"Get out of here, you beast!"

A thunderous roar erupted, and from the shadows formed by the two beasts, a human dressed in animal skins leaped out, his hands wielding long spears that pierced the belly of the saber-toothed beast!

In an instant, both of the battling behemoths were severely wounded again—this time by a third party who had suddenly entered the battlefield!

But similarly, this third party instantly attracted the hatred of both giant beasts!

The giant bear and the saber-toothed beast were seriously injured but not fatally. As they regained their senses, they roared in alarm at the sudden appearance of the third party, who was clearly the greatest threat.

That is, Lin Yu, whose entire body was covered in blood!

"Roar!"

The two giant beasts roared repeatedly. The saber-toothed beast arched its body, and the giant bear stood on its two legs with its front paws raised, both ready to attack Lin Yu at any moment.

Standing between two giant beasts in attack stances, with both weapons already embedded in their bodies, Lin Yu remained completely calm.

He simply raised his hand and shouted into the strong evening wind.

"Come on, fern!"

On the other side of the wind, there was no verbal response.

But Lin Yu was answered with two sharp, piercing sounds!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two steel crossbow bolts, fired almost simultaneously from both ends, pierced the backs of the giant beasts. Although these bolts were roughly the same size as thicker needles to the two beasts, the stinging pain still surprised them for a moment.

Lin Yu laughed.

The wind suddenly intensified at that moment, sweeping many loosely rooted weeds into the air, but most remained firmly on the ground, simply bending to one side.

Lin Yu recalled the ancient poem by Emperor Taizong of Tang.

A strong wind reveals the strength of the grass; turbulent times reveal the loyalty of a minister!

The two giant beasts crashed to the ground. Lin Yu stepped forward, pulled out the spear from the belly of the saber-toothed beast, and plunged it deep into the giant bear's head!

This beast has thick hide and a very hard skull, but the spear in Lin Yu's hand came from the Blood Demon he killed, and was specifically made for hunting!

In addition, given Lin Yu's exceptional physical abilities and wrist strength, he was naturally able to pierce the giant bear's head!

The terrifying behemoth let out a muffled groan and then died.

Lin Yu drew his spear and looked at the saber-toothed beast.

The paralysis seemed to have lingered for a while; the saber-toothed beast trembled and tried to struggle to its feet, but it couldn't break free yet.

Lin Yu let out a sigh of relief.

The gamble paid off; the seemingly suspicious fern that suddenly appeared hadn't been exaggerating and had indeed helped him.

Of course, the most important thing is...

The performance was a complete success.

His rashness, belligerence, confidence, arrogance, and taciturn nature were fully revealed at this moment through the victory in this battle.

But Lin Yu knew very well that his combat skills were not at all like what he had portrayed, as if he were a natural-born battle maniac.

Every step is meticulously crafted—first, use Hannah's disguise to slowly approach, then throw the [Targeting Dagger] once you're close enough.

Since this Dagger from "Order" has "Enemy Finder" in its name, it is naturally not a simple, unskilled Dagger; it naturally has related additional characteristics.

[Targeting Dagger: When throwing or attacking, the "Enemy-Seeking" function can be activated to adjust and correct the Dagger's trajectory for optimal effect. Cooldown time: eight hours.]

In other words, Lin Yu only needs to aim for the head to throw, and he will naturally land a critical hit!

The instant the Dagger struck, he activated [Shady Corner], appearing in the shadows of the two beasts and wounding the saber-toothed beast with his spear.

At this point, Lin Yu had exhausted almost all his strength and used every means at his disposal!

But this isn't exactly a risk—after all, if Fern helps him, he can then try to kill the two giant beasts.

Even if he couldn't trust this Player he had just met, Lin Yu still had the [Repaired Mist Pocket Watch]. Whether he refreshed the [One-Shot Hit Revolver] or used the [Shady Corner], he had enough confidence to escape.

Of course, this is on the premise that...

Although it was a "performance" and a "deception," Lin Yu truly possessed genuine abilities at that moment, enough to kill both giant beasts.

Although he rarely engages in direct combat, Lin Yu has always had a relatively clear assessment of his own Combat Power.

With each Item acquired and each upgrade achieved in various forms, Lin Yu gained a clear understanding of his Combat Power and specific level of power.

It is precisely this point that allows him to fabricate a deception calling himself "Rakshasa"—not only because Rakshasa has not appeared for a long time, but also because Lin Yu's current Combat Power, with just a little "performance," is indeed enough to make people doubt whether he is human.

Just like now, although he acts as if he is Player in front of Jue, Lin Yu is actually playing the role of "a Rakshasa playing the role of Player".

This hunt was to plant a seed in the heart of Fern, the "Player," before the rumors even began... and this seed would be the most important one.

"So, at the end of the performance, let's sprinkle one last handful of dirt!"

Lin Yu looked at the saber-toothed beast that was about to struggle to its feet and murmured something.