Deceptive Cloak of Fraud

Chapter 26: Ghost Cloak · Deception

"Weren't you interning at the funeral home? What are you doing here?" Xiao Ran asked, full of confusion as he saw Zhong Yi appear.

"My internship is over, and I still have a few days before I start work. My uncle works as a forest ranger here, and he had some family matters today, so I'm filling in for him."

Xiao Ran scratched his head. "Your relatives all have pretty morbid jobs."

As mentioned before, Cuiyun Park was the cemetery of North Mountain. It felt chilly even during the day, let alone at night.

Working as a forest ranger here was essentially the same as being a security guard at a cemetery.

"None of your business!"

After speaking, Zhong Yi put her hands on her hips and reached out to Xiao Ran. "Hand it over."

"What??"

"The fine, fifty thousand!"

"Fifty thousand?? Why don't you just rob me?"

"If you don't give it to me, I'll call the police and accuse you of arson in the forest."

Zhong Yi tilted her head up triumphantly. "If you can't come up with the money, you can also..."

"Scan the QR code, transfer it now."

Unexpectedly, before Zhong Yi could finish, Xiao Ran directly took out his phone to make the transfer.

"You..."

"I only have one condition!" Xiao Ran looked up, his eyes unusually stern. "After the transfer, leave immediately."

Zhong Yi blinked, looked at Xiao Ran, and frowned. "Then I want a hundred thousand!"

"Okay!"

Xiao Ran hesitated for a second, then nodded. "Okay, a hundred thousand it is."

"You! You, you..." Zhong Yi's eyes widened, and she was so angry she couldn't speak. She stomped her foot. "I don't care about you anymore."

Without another word to Xiao Ran, she turned her back to him. "If I wanted a million, would you have sold everything you own to give it to me?"

Xiao Ran chuckled at her words, a grin spreading across his face. "You wouldn't. Fifty thousand was a joke, a hundred thousand was a test. A million would be making an enemy, and we're not at that point yet, are we?"

Zhong Yi pouted, turned around, and stared at Xiao Ran with a deep gaze for a moment before saying, "Full of yourself. Just consider it a favor you owe me."

"I'd rather pay a hundred thousand then."

Zhong Yi rolled her eyes, pretending not to hear, and walked a few steps before glancing back at Xiao Ran. "I'll be at the guardhouse. Come find me if you need anything."

"Okay."

Xiao Ran watched Zhong Yi leave, finally letting out a sigh of relief. He had a good impression of Zhong Yi and didn't want her involved in this matter.

After Zhong Yi left, Xiao Ran sat in the pavilion and waited.

A moment later, a shadow crept stealthily to his side.

"They're here?"

The shadow nodded.

Xiao Ran took out a few spirit notes and lit them. As the ashes scattered, the shadow flickered, reached into the ashes, and then darted into the bushes.

Xiao Ran stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and looked ahead.

In the dim forest, a figure slowly approached.

Although it wasn't the first time he'd seen her, Xiao Ran still felt a sense of pressure when he clearly saw the woman's face.

His gaze fell upon Xue Hongling's black cloak. The dark red patterns on it were still clear in the night and emitted a strange glow, clearly marking it as a cursed item.

"You asked me to meet you here so late, you're not trying to ask me out, are you?" Xue Hongling said with a smile, looking at Xiao Ran. "This isn't a good place for a date."

Xiao Ran nodded. "It certainly isn't a good place for a date."

"But it's a great place to kill someone. A newly built park, no surveillance, no passersby, just graves everywhere. You don't even need to dig."

"You want to kill me?" Xue Hongling looked at Xiao Ran in surprise.

While it wasn't entirely unexpected, Xiao Ran's directness still caught her off guard.

"Do you really think you can handle me alone?" Xue Hongling's voice held a hint of mockery. "And why? It couldn't be for revenge for that family, could it?"

Xiao Ran didn't answer, but a cold killing intent flickered in his eyes.

Sensing the growing killing intent from Xiao Ran, Xue Hongling became annoyed. "You actually dare to attack me?"

Before Xue Hongling could finish speaking, Xiao Ran answered with action. He suddenly leaped forward, his body like an arrow released from a bow, his right index finger slightly clenched and aimed directly at her throat.

"You're asking for death!"

Xue Hongling hadn't expected Xiao Ran to attack so suddenly, giving her no room to maneuver. Her face turned ashen, and she could only retreat rapidly. At the same time, she swung her cloak, the wide fabric concealing her entire body, her figure blurring in that instant.

Xiao Ran was prepared. His body suddenly shifted to the side, employing a move from Tiger Fist called "Embrace Kill."

His arms crossed, fingers like talons, he pounced like a fierce tiger towards the disappearing figure.

"Bang!!"

A sound like hitting wood came from beneath Xue Hongling's cloak. Xiao Ran felt something was off and immediately lifted his leg for a hook kick.

This kick was extremely fast and aimed low, something an ordinary person would be unable to defend against. To Xiao Ran's surprise, his kick missed. Xue Hongling's wide cloak seemed to be empty inside.

"What kind of ability is that?"

Just as Xiao Ran was stunned, Xue Hongling suddenly swung a short knife from her cloak, slashing towards Xiao Ran's head.

The short knife cut through the air, leaving a cold glint.

Xiao Ran's reaction was equally swift. The moment the blade flashed, he ducked his head, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow. Instead of retreating to create distance, he took two more steps forward, closing the gap.

"Speed Talisman +1"

"Speed Talisman +1"

"Speed Talisman +1"

Simultaneously, streaks of light blue light appeared on Xiao Ran, drastically increasing his speed. He unleashed punch after punch at Xue Hongling, each strike aimed at a vital point without any reservation.

Sensing the change in Xiao Ran, Xue Hongling's face darkened as she retreated step by step, using her cloak to block left and right.

However, after a short while, Xiao Ran felt something was wrong. Every blow landed on Xue Hongling, but his fists felt like they were sinking into the sea the moment they touched the black cloak. In just a few breaths, beads of sweat had formed on Xiao Ran's forehead.

If not for his excellent physique, he would have collapsed long ago.

"Idiot, I thought you had some tricks up your sleeve. So this is all you've got. It seems I was overthinking it. You're just a beginner, you don't understand the rules between beginners at all."

In contrast, Xue Hongling grew more relaxed, even having the mood to taunt Xiao Ran amidst his attacks.

"If I had known you were just a beginner, I should have killed you that day."

Xue Hongling felt a hint of regret. She had been unsure of Xiao Ran's capabilities before and hadn't dared to act rashly. She had only used other people's lives to warn Xiao Ran, never expecting him to be such a complete rookie.

Hearing Xue Hongling's taunts, Xiao Ran's expression grew uglier. He suddenly leaped sideways, launching a flying kick.

Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Xue Hongling's eyes. She held her short knife horizontally, and it darted out from beneath her wide cloak like a venomous snake.

"Pfft!!"

Blood splattered onto the dirt. Xiao Ran rolled on the ground and scrambled up in a sorry state. The front of his clothes was already stained red with blood, and his face turned pale and horrified.

Staggering to his feet, he turned and ran towards the nearby bushes.

"Trying to run?" Xue Hongling sneered. "I haven't had my fun yet."

As she spoke, her cloak unfurled, emitting wisps of dark, eerie energy.

At that instant, Xiao Ran felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if he had been punched out of nowhere. The immense force sent him stumbling and flying, rolling down a roadside slope for several meters.

Before Xiao Ran could get up, another force slammed into his abdomen, causing his body to arch like a bow and slide several meters across the ground.

"You have been attacked by the F-class Cursed Object Ghost Cloak·Deception!"

"You have been attacked by the F-class Cursed Object Ghost Cloak·Deception!"

"Deception? Is that her Curse Mark? Or another one of her Curse Marks?"

Before Xiao Ran could think further, continuous attacks rained down on him. Each blow was incredibly heavy. In a moment, Xiao Ran realized that the source of this power seemed to be the force he had just struck the cloak with, and it was now relentlessly retaliating against him.

Watching Xiao Ran get knocked down repeatedly only to quickly get up and run forward, Xue Hongling's eyes grew colder. "So resilient. Do you have a martial artist series Curse Mark?"

As she spoke, she raised a finger, and dark red Curse Marks emerged from the back of her hand, burrowing into the ring on her finger like earthworms.

Instantly, the gem embedded in the ring began to glow with a seductive purple light.

"Boss, it's time to act. That kid can't hold on much longer!"

In the duty room, two men stared at the screen of a computer displaying footage from a drone. Xue Hongling's back was clearly showing a red, demonic figure slowly emerging.

Seeing this, the two men looked up at Zhong Yi, who was sitting with his legs crossed.

Zhong Yi, holding a lollipop in her mouth, heard their urging but replied, resting her hands behind her head, "Wait a little longer. That kid definitely has more tricks up his sleeve. Otherwise, where would he get such confidence?"

"Wait?"

The two men exchanged glances and couldn't help but show wry smiles, shaking their heads. They knew their team leader's capabilities; stopping this would be a matter of blinking.

Facing their complaints and reminders, Zhong Yi simply rested her hands behind her head, chewing on a lollipop, her eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. The image of Xiao Ran's sharp, clear eyes, flashing with a brilliance like a drawn sword, flashed through her mind when he had refused her.

That kind of confidence was Xiao Ran's absolute certainty in himself.

Since the kid was so confident, she would wait a bit longer. If it truly came down to the wire and he couldn't hold on, she could still intervene then.

Seeing Zhong Yi unmoved, the two men could only reluctantly turn back to the drone footage on the computer.

At the same time, they were prepared. If the kid couldn't hold on in the end, they wouldn't care about anything else and would be ready to act at any moment. Even if they couldn't save him, they would at least take down Xue Hongling on the spot.

"Huh!"

Just then, one of them suddenly noticed something. He zoomed in on the drone's perspective, staring intently at the screen. "Wait, what is that thing??"