Lin Yan walked barefoot over the thick carpet of fallen leaves, every step soundless, like a ghost haunting the woods.
Under his deliberate control, the true qi within him circulated extremely slowly, almost blending into the surrounding vegetation.
Soon, behind a dense clump of bushes, he spotted a familiar little figure.
It was Gon.
He lay on his stomach in a rather comical pose, his whole body curled up as he tried hard to imitate the small woodland animals and hide himself more thoroughly.
His trademark green shorts were covered in mud, and his impossibly clear, wide eyes stared unblinkingly into the distance through a gap in the branches.
At the end of his gaze lay the clearing, and the man building a tall tower out of playing cards-Hisoka.
Gon had clearly discovered Hisoka too, and that overwhelming, terrifying aura had frightened him into instinctively hiding.
But his hiding job was far too crude.
Although he had a natural affinity with nature and knew how to use his surroundings for concealment, he had yet to learn true Nen and had no idea how to suppress his own aura.
The pure, vibrant aura around him was like a little lantern left imperfectly shuttered in the dark. Its light might have been faint, but someone with Hisoka's level of perception could easily spot it with just a little attention.
This kid was way too reckless!
Lin Yan cursed inwardly, slipped silently behind Gon, and lightly tapped his shoulder with a finger.
"!"
Gon's body went rigid, his muscles instantly tensing like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Just as he started to turn, a warm, dry palm gently covered his mouth.
"Shh. It's me."
Lin Yan lowered his voice as far as he could, speaking almost directly into his ear.
Only after hearing that familiar voice did Gon's tense body slowly relax.
He turned his head and saw Lin Yan. Surprise first filled his wide eyes, followed by a flicker of relief, as though he had just escaped disaster.
Lin Yan gestured for him to stay quiet, then pointed at Hisoka in the distance, warning him not to make any noise.
Gon nodded vigorously, curiosity filling his bright black eyes.
He could not understand how Lin Yan had appeared behind him without making a single sound.
That was more impressive than any wild beast he had ever seen.
Lin Yan withdrew his hand and lay down too. Like two groundhogs preparing to steal something, they squeezed side by side into the little patch of bushes.
In a voice only the two of them could hear, he asked, "What are you doing here?"
There was a hint of reproach he could not quite hide.
"I... I was looking for my target." Gon's voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz. He sounded a little aggrieved and a little confused.
"But as I walked, my heart started beating really fast. I felt like there was something terrifying over here... so I wanted to take a look."
Lin Yan wanted to bury his face in his hand.
Was this an Enhancer's instinct for courting death?
He knew there was a tiger in the mountains, yet instead of running, he had to go over and see what it looked like?
"Have you found your target?" Lin Yan suppressed his exasperation and continued asking.
Gon shook his head and, looking troubled, pulled the number card he had drawn from inside his clothes and showed it to Lin Yan.
[No. 197]
Asem's Three Brothers.
In the original story, Gon had spent several solid days practicing Zetsu to take their number badge.
It seemed that although his arrival had sent ripples through this lake like a tossed pebble, the overall course had not gone astray.
As long as Gon's target was not Hisoka, tonight's game could still be played.
He had genuinely feared that this stubborn kid would insist on challenging Hisoka. Forget Lin Yan-even an immortal would have to think twice about that.
"What about you, Lin Yan?" Gon suddenly blinked his wide eyes and asked curiously, "Who's your target? Are they really hard to deal with too?"
Lin Yan fell silent.
Hard to deal with?
Using those words to describe Hisoka was an insult to the very word "hard."
That man was beyond anything you could "deal with." He was a walking natural disaster, the embodiment of every evil impulse in human nature.
Without a word, he slowly pulled out the card that felt as scorching as a branding iron, turned it over, and held it before Gon's eyes.
By the faint moonlight filtering through the leaves, a blood-red number appeared clearly before Gon.
-44.
In an instant, Gon's pupils sharply contracted. His breathing stopped, and he instinctively clamped both hands over his mouth, forcibly swallowing the cry of alarm that had nearly burst from his throat.
"It's... it's him?!"
Gon's voice trembled with the instinctive, bone-deep fear of a creature facing its natural predator.
He simply could not imagine that the deranged magician who had nearly frozen everyone's blood with a mere look in the first exam's tunnel was the target Lin Yan had to hunt!
"Yeah." Lin Yan's expression remained calm, as though he held an ordinary playing card rather than a death warrant.
"Then... what do we do?" Gon anxiously seized Lin Yan's sleeve, his eyes filled with worry.
"Lin Yan, let's run!
That strange man... he's really dangerous!
A hundred times more dangerous than the lord of the marsh in Swindler's Swamp!
Forget this number badge. Let's take someone else's!"
In Gon's simple view of the world, there was nothing shameful about running when you could not win.
Losing your life over an exam was the worst bargain of all.
Looking into the boy's sincere, anxious eyes, Lin Yan felt a warm current pass through his heart.
In this Hunter world filled with betrayal and slaughter, such untainted kindness was rarer than any treasure.
Still, he gently shook his head and turned his hand to grasp the wrist of the hand clutching his sleeve.
"I can't run, Gon."
Lin Yan looked beyond the bushes toward the distant purple clearing that radiated death. A flame called path-seeking burned in his eyes.
"This is my 'tribulation.'
If someone cultivating the Dao avoids every tribulation, inner demons will take root in their heart.
If I can't get through this trial, I'll never attain the Dao in this lifetime."
"Tribulation?" Gon blinked blankly, confusion written all over his face.
He did not understand these profound-sounding terms. Cultivating the Dao, attaining the Dao-none of it meant anything to him.
But he understood the unwavering determination in Lin Yan's voice.
It felt exactly like his own resolve to find his father, Ging Freecss, no matter what.
Lin Yan did not explain any further.
He turned his head, fixed Gon with an intense gaze, and suddenly said something that left him utterly bewildered.
"Gon, lend me your Fishing Rod."
"Huh? My Fishing Rod?" Gon froze completely. He could not keep up with Lin Yan's train of thought at all.
What kind of moment was this?
They were on the brink of life and death, liable to be discovered by that lunatic and torn to pieces at any second!
What did he need a fishing rod for now? Could... could Lin Yan be planning to hook Hisoka's number badge and reel it in?
"Yes. Lend it to me." Lin Yan looked more serious than Gon had ever seen him.
He extended both hands, palms upward, as though asking for an immensely important sacred relic.
"I'm not going to fight with it. I need to borrow your 'momentum.'"
"Momentum?" Gon was even more confused.
Lin Yan looked at the seemingly ordinary Fishing Rod, his gaze growing profound.
He knew perfectly well that what he wanted to borrow had never been an ordinary fishing rod.
In Taoism, all things possessed fortune.
As this world's "chosen one," Gon possessed an absurdly vast amount of fortune.
And the Fishing Rod that had accompanied him since childhood had long since become steeped in his karma of turning calamity into blessing and finding life in the face of certain death.
How was this a fishing rod? It was clearly a magical artifact of fortune!
The trap Lin Yan was about to lay was a lethal one, with only the slimmest chance of survival.
Before such an absolute disparity in strength, skill, cunning, and power could only account for part of the outcome. The sole variable that could tip the scales was luck.
He would use this Fishing Rod to borrow a sliver of protection from the "protagonist's halo" and pry open those infinitesimal odds of victory, so remote they scarcely existed.
"Gon, do you trust me?" Lin Yan asked softly.
Gon looked into Lin Yan's eyes, as deep as the night sky. Although he still understood none of it, he inexplicably felt calmer.
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly.
He unfastened the Fishing Rod he treasured from his back and, holding it in both hands, solemnly placed it into Lin Yan's palms.
"Here. I don't know what you're going to do, but... Lin Yan, you have to be careful."
Lin Yan accepted the Fishing Rod.
The instant it touched his hands, he seemed to feel a vigorous, wild current of warmth, brimming with vitality, surge along the rough shaft into his palms.
The dantian embryo within his dantian actually trembled slightly in response, giving off a joyous resonance.
It really was something steeped in tremendous fortune!
"Thanks." Lin Yan gently stroked the rod, a confident smile curling his lips. "I owe you a huge favor."
He slung the Fishing Rod diagonally across his back, and a subtle change began to come over his presence.
The true qi he had suppressed to its utmost began surging wildly through the depths of his meridians, like a volcano on the verge of erupting.
"Gon, stay hidden here for now. No matter how much commotion you hear over here, don't show yourself. Once you feel that man's aura moving away, or spot a safe opportunity, go get your No. 197 immediately. Remember, leave as soon as you have the badge. Whatever you do, don't wait here for me. Passing the exam is your goal."
"What about you?" Gon's voice held a trace of stubbornness and worry.
"I need to prepare a few things.
Holding the Fishing Rod, he took one long look at the mass of purple aura in the distance, then turned and melted once more into the darkness behind him.
He was going to lay a "formation"-one capable of trapping that purple beast, even if only for a single second.
A formation."
Before you continue