Chapter 300: Living Trap

Lin Yifan squinted his eyes and carefully examined the ground ahead.

Under the moonlight, the Stone Slab road in front of the castle glowed a strange bluish‑gray, looking no different from the road they came by.

At least he saw no trace of any trap, but he didn't think the hunter would lie.

At this moment, all of them were on a single boat; a single slip and everyone would fall here.

So after his careful but fruitless inspection, he turned his head and asked softly:

"Can you pinpoint the exact location of the trap?"

The man dressed as a hunter had fine beads of sweat on his forehead, his fingers trembling slightly as he pointed ahead: "In theory it should be identifiable, but the trap here is a bit odd."

"What makes it odd?" Lin Yifan asked hurriedly.

The hunter frowned, looking at the wide open ground ahead, and said:

"I sense danger starting from this Stone Slab and extending dozens of meters forward, but normally a single trap wouldn't be this large... and also..."

His voice suddenly turned hoarse, "And I vaguely feel the trap seems to be moving."

"How could that be?" Ruan Qingtan's face changed abruptly, shouting in disbelief:

"How can a trap move?"

But despite the shock, no one doubted his words.

At that moment, Lin Yifan suddenly noticed several almost invisible shadows on the ground, slowly writhing.

They were not ordinary shadows, but darkness that moved across the ground like a living thing.

Shadows that can emerge through the ground can't be a good sign.

And then Lin Yifan realized those shadows were rushing toward them.

"Everyone, be careful, fall back quickly, something's coming toward us!" He thrust his hand up, signaling everyone to stop, while gripping the Dawnbreak Sword tightly.

Although the sword shouldn't belong to him, he had to admit that holding it did make him feel a bit safer.

The moment he drew the sword, its blade began to tremble slightly, emitting a faint hum as if warning of something.

Lin Yifan lowered his head to glance at the sword in his hand, his face showing puzzlement.

He kept feeling the Dawnbreak Sword wanted to tell them something, but he immediately shook his head.

He felt he was going insane; even the best sword is still an inanimate object, how could it give him a hint!

But Ruan Qingtan, standing beside him, suddenly spoke:

"Captain, I recall something: the sword in your hand is said to have a sword spirit. Its current movement—could the sword spirit be trying to tell you something?"

Lin Yifan heard this and gave a helpless wry smile:

"Leaving aside whether a sword spirit exists, even if it does want to communicate, I can't understand what it's trying to convey right now!"

"The sword claims to recognize me as its master, yet my understanding of it has always been minimal."

At this point he hesitated slightly, then added:

"Honestly, the so‑called artifact recognizing its master feels completely unreal."

"But in my memory, an artifact with a spirit that recognizes its master can communicate with the owner!" Ruan Qingtan said, his face full of doubt.

"Who knows! Maybe this artifact has another master and is only temporarily attached to me." Lin Yifan shrugged.

Ruan Qingtan thought for a moment and said, "Unfortunately, the inheritance memories in my mind contain no method for making a spirit recognize its master, but you could try those novel methods—like blood‑binding, perhaps it might work!"

"And besides, this is a divine artifact; the cooked duck is already at my mouth, there's no reason to give it away. Moreover, members of the Dawnlight Alliance have fought tooth and nail over this sword for you; if you let it go again, you'd really be at a loss."

Lin Yifan lowered his head to look at the Dawnbreak in his hand, suddenly finding Ruan Qingtan's words quite reasonable.

The sword chose its master itself; it wasn't stolen, and now it's the cause of so much danger.

Now to think of handing it over, he feels rather unwilling.

And I must admit, though the sword symbolizes countless perils, it truly is a divine weapon.

With this sword in hand, facing these chaotic yin‑evil creatures, one can feel considerably more confidence.

But at that moment, a scream rang out from the rear of the group: "Ah! Help!"

Everyone turned when they heard it and instantly saw a Survivor's ankle ensnared by black tendrils that burst from the ground, pulling it down at a visible speed.

"Help—" The cry was cut off, and the person vanished into the Stone Slab ground like falling into a swamp, leaving no trace of blood.

Had they not seen it with their own eyes, they probably wouldn't have known anyone else was here.

"Dammit!" Lin Yifan cursed, his face solemn as he spoke:

"Everyone, close in! Form a circle back‑to‑back! Be careful, this thing is impossible to guard against."

The Survivors scrambled together, fear spreading through the crowd.

The ground began to ripple with more subtle tremors; the black tendrils, like coiled vipers, readied lethal strikes.

Ruan Qingtan quickly formed a seal, a pale gold light barrier enveloping everyone. "My protection won't hold long, maybe only three to five minutes," she gritted her teeth, "We must find a way through this area!"

Lin Yifan's mind raced.

He noticed the tendrils seemed to react to light; whenever the Dawnbreak Sword's radiance swept over them, they recoiled briefly.

"I've got a solution; this thing fears light energy," he said in a low voice. "Everyone, follow my swordlight. Qingtan, you cover the rear, using light spells to disperse the approaching tendrils."

Without waiting for a response, Lin Yifan already raised his long sword.

The blade suddenly burst into dazzling golden light, like a torch illuminating the path ahead.

The black tendrils struck by the light hissed and quickly retreated underground.

"Go! Now!"

The group began to advance cautiously, each step placed on the safe path forged by Lin Yifan's swordlight.

Behind them, the muffled thuds of tendrils striking the shield echoed, and Ruan Qingtan's complexion grew paler.

When they were about ten meters from the castle gate, the anomaly suddenly erupted.

The ground violently shook, and a massive black hand burst from the earth, reaching straight for the center of the group.

"Scatter!" Lin Yifan shouted, swinging his sword to slash at that giant hand.

Sword light clashed with darkness, erupting a shrill, ear‑piercing screech. The giant hand was cut in half, but the remaining part still slammed two Survivors away.