Chapter 50: Chapter 44 The Boy Who Survived Great Adversities Has Arrived!
The Skeleton quietly appeared in front of him.
"Eh? What are you doing out here?" Shen Ye asked in surprise.
"We've come to the moment of our separation," the Skeleton said with a complex expression.
Shen Ye looked at its healed skeletal body and then realized.
"Right, you can now move freely," Shen Ye said.
"Yes, I must return to the Undead Race. I still have many uncompleted endeavors; I can't continue to waste time like this," the Skeleton said solemnly.
"Well, then, let's each go our own way here," Shen Ye said with a smile, waving his hand.
"Mm, thank you very much for helping me recover my strength, kid—I see you don't even have a tool for storage, so take this ring as a memento," the Skeleton said.
It placed the ring in front of Shen Ye.
"You can open and close it using spiritual power, just try and you'll know."
"Okay, thank you—sadly, I haven't prepared any parting gifts for you."
"No need, you healed my wounds."
"Then, goodbye."
"Goodbye."
The Skeleton gave a slight bow, turned, and ran towards the depths of the forest, quickly disappearing from sight.
Shen Ye slipped the ring onto his finger, muttering to himself with some emotion:
"Just a few days of care and back to nature it goes. Who knows if it will survive."
The words had barely left his mouth.
Suddenly, a flock of birds flew up from the woods in front of him, followed by a violent booming sound.
By the time Shen Ye looked up, a giant pale flame had erupted from the trees, and a multitude of ghostly bone skulls appeared above the flames.
In a flash.
"No—"
The angry cry of the Skeleton had barely begun when it abruptly cut off as if someone had throttled it.
The shockwave turned into a wild wind, kicking up sand and rocks, and the earth trembled slightly.
Shen Ye's face lost color.
Even during the fight with "The Skinner," he had never seen such a powerful move.
After a moment.
The forest returned to tranquility.
Shen Ye dusted the dirt from his head and shook a few pebbles from his neck, his heart filled with unease.
What just happened?
The Skeleton's strength couldn't withstand even a single blow?
Then...
If I go there, won't I just be throwing my life away?
As the saying goes, avoiding problems is better than solving them, I'd better hurry—
Suddenly.
Three lines of faint lettering appeared before Shen Ye's eyes:
"Key Reminder activated:"
"You have been discovered."
"If you retreat now, it will affect your evaluation, and you will not gain the third 'one of us' phrase."
...Discovered, huh.
In fact, in such a situation I can't run away, especially considering it seems like the Skeleton didn't have any power to resist.
As the saying goes, when in trouble, you should pull your brothers up.
I'd better hurry and see what's going on.
Shen Ye poured all his Attribute Points into Strength, bringing it up to 8.3.
Strength indirectly represents constitution, which is Life Force.
As long as I'm not killed instantly, there's a chance!
Shen Ye decided neither to hide nor to probe, and with a loud shout, "Fei Lun, what happened to you?" he charged directly into the forest.
"Don't move, human."
A gloomy voice sounded.
Shen Ye immediately stopped.
Several ashen-faced Undead with tense muscles were holding sharp Bone Spears, pointing them at him from all directions, as if they would pierce his body the moment he made a move.
Shen Ye glanced at his brother Fei Lun.
All he saw were broken bones scattered on the ground.
A skull had fallen there, surrounded by the Undead.
This poor kid.
He might have been better off continuing under my care.
"What have you done to my brother Fei Lun?" Shen Ye shouted angrily.
"Your brother?" An Undead wearing a mask sneered, "I never knew that humans could become brothers with the Undead."
The other Undead also showed curiosity.
Shen Ye glanced at the big skull of the Skeleton.
A faint fire glimmered in the eye sockets of the big skull as it rapidly sent a Telepathy:
"Elf Village mission failed."
Shen Ye immediately understood.
It seemed these Undead were part of a group sent to punish the Skeleton after the failed assassination mission against the Elves.
"Nonsense, the big brother saved my life, and I've already decided to follow him, determined to overthrow the vile Human Empire," Shen Ye said.
The leader of the Undead snorted coldly, filled with a murderous intent as he said:
"You two think you can take down the Human King? Do you really take us for fools? — Kill them both!"
"Wait!" Shen Ye shouted sternly, "If you make a move, you'll surely regret it!"
"Don't try to fool me with your tricks, I'm not a gullible member of the Beast Race," said the Leader of the Dead.
Shen Ye threw something directly at him.
The Leader of the Dead caught it and saw that it was a Medal of Valor from the Human Race.
The Leader of the Dead hesitated slightly but ultimately decided to investigate.
He twisted his fingers, uttering several layers of Spells toward the medal.
A sacred glow slowly emerged from the medal.
The light swayed in mid-air, forming a line of small characters:
"This Medal of Valor is awarded to the last Survivor of Rhine Territory."
"When he holds the medal, he will receive the Manifestation of the Holy Relic Effect."
The Leader of the Dead stuffed the medal back into Shen Ye's hands.
In an instant, wisps and streaks of sacred light suddenly emerged from the void around Shen Ye, gathering above his head to form a line of text:
"Awarded to The Boy Who Survived Great Adversities — Prince Norton of the Holy Violet Empire."
Only the recipient of the medal could make it shine!
This was more scientifically foolproof than the Elves' medals and much harder to counterfeit.
"It is real..."
"Boy, where did you get this thing from? Speak up!" the Leader of the Dead demanded gruffly.
Shen Ye looked at him, and took the opportunity to glance inconspicuously toward the top of his head.
"Mark of Death"—
Above the head of this leader of the Undead hovered the words "Mark of Death"!
Indeed, having Attribute Points was impressive.
The move he had just used, though he had been standing quite far away, had left him covered in sand.
Not to mention that the great Skeleton hadn't withstood a single attack.
By now, he had already seen three beings with Attribute Points.
The Elf High Priest, Xiao Mengyu, and the Leader of the Dead.
They were all strong.
But those without Attribute Points were also strong.
Xiao Mengyu couldn't beat 'The Skinner'.
— So, what was the significance of Attribute Points?
As Shen Ye pondered, he called out loudly:
"Hmph, I've agreed with Brother Fei Lun that we would sneak into the Human Empire's capital together, searching for an opportunity to assassinate the King!"
Telling lies over and over, others might not believe you, but they might think you're a fool.
Fools naturally tell the truth.
— The fool truly believes he can assassinate the King.
"Idiot! Although the medal is real, do you think just you two can assassinate the Human King?" sneered the leader.
"We have a way to enter the upper echelons of Human society," Shen Ye said.
He took out a letter.
Naturally, the letter immediately made its way into the leader's hands.
— A recommendation letter for the Imperial Military Academy.
"A recommendation letter from Prince Norton... This handwriting and emblem are authentic and cannot be forged."
"Unbelievable, just who are you!" the Leader of the Dead exclaimed in doubt and amazement.
"First, tell me why you want to harm my brother Fei Lun," Shen Ye said.
"There's nothing to hide about that, I might as well tell you—" said the Leader of the Dead sharply. "In the mission to assassinate the Elf Village chief, everyone else was captured, only he abandoned the mission and escaped. Such conduct must be severely punished without leniency!"
"Hahahaha!" Shen Ye laughed heartily.
The Leader of the Dead stepped forward and grabbed his throat, demanding angrily, "What are you laughing about?"
"I'm laughing at your stupidity. He was the only one who saw through the Elves' Trap, which allowed him to escape the assassination scene and even save me."
"— And yet you want to kill him!"
Fei Lun timely added, "The female chief wasn't in the village, it was the Great Elf High Priest who was in charge, prepared to eliminate any assassins posing as Elves."
"What proof do you have?" the Leader of the Dead questioned.
"Aren't you all so capable? Go investigate for yourself! In the Human military camps, my story is known far and wide, everyone is aware that I have been to the Elf Village, overseen by the highest authority of the Elf Race — the very place where Fei Lun's mission was!" Shen Ye declared.
Upon hearing this, the Undead glanced at each other.
Could it be true?
Was Fei Lun the only one who detected danger and thus withdrew first?
If that was the case, then such a doomed mission was indeed one that could be abandoned temporarily.
— After all, with the Elf Village chief absent and the senior Elf in charge, the mission was surely impossible to complete.
"Everyone knows you were in the Elf Village? Do you have such a great reputation?" the Leader of the Dead probed.
"Nonsense, with a Prince writing me a recommendation letter, what do you think?" Shen Ye met his gaze unflinchingly.
"What are you called in the Human military camps?" asked the Leader of the Dead.
"The Boy Who Survived Great Adversities."
Shen Ye stood tall and proud, his tone strong and confident.
The line of text above his head resonated with his words, inspiring respect from those who saw it.