NOVEL NEXT Chapter 89: Bearded snake massacre
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"Bearded Snake Forest... is this the right place?" Feng Hua asks one of the fishermen leading the way.
She now gazes at a dense forest made up of trees with white trunks and purple leaves, as well as a breathtaking red grass adorned with small light blue flowers that captivate any young girl's heart.
But she does not continue forward to enter the beautiful forest because if the name "Bearded Snake Forest" isn't enough to tell her about the animals inhabiting this place, the constant conversations she heard on the way about the types of deadly serpents living here would do the job.
"Correct, miss, this is exactly the place!" Lu Tai quickly responds, regaining consciousness after almost falling asleep while standing.
However, if one thing keeps him quite awake even after having to rise with the sun after an exhausting day, it's the constant threat of the serpents that inhabit this seemingly beautiful and peaceful forest.
"Really a lovely landscape..." Chen Wei takes a deep breath of the fresh, humid morning air, dimly lit typical of the southern border. "...Isn't there an old saying that beauty and danger go hand in hand in nature?"
Despite being exhausted, Chen Wei is faring much better than the fishermen, even though he stayed up all night. Not only that, but he practiced controlling his only gu, making use of the time he would otherwise have spent doing nothing.
The answer to his less exhausted state is simple: alcohol, more specifically, the bamboo wine he stole from the fishermen. Although it has a lesser effect than an energy drink, it's still a great way to ensure he wouldn't be sleepwalking or collapsing with every other step.
"Exactly, young master! I am truly honored to hear such wisdom!" Xu Si enthusiastically declares, performing the role of a bootlicker as if it were his specialty.
"We can't see them since the darn things are so sneaky, but this forest is full of serpents!" Lu Tai's voice is clearly tinged with fear as he speaks, knowing he'll have to lead the way.
"This won't be a big problem since we don't plan to go too deep. We just need to collect a large quantity of blood orchids and the bodies of the serpents we kill," Chen Wei says while activating his gu, making a large amount of black blood controlled by him appear.
"Stay close..." He tells the three girls beside him.
"...and you three lead the way to the blood orchids."
"...Y-Yes... Young Master!" Lu Tai, Xu Si, and Lu Riu agree without choice and lead the way.
"We have to stay alert... these serpents always att--!" Lu Riu doesn't finish his words as a snake suddenly strikes with impressive speed from a bush.
"Aghr!! Damn!! It bit me!" Lu Riu desperately hits the snake biting him on the head with a big stick.
At the same moment, Lu Tai and Xu Si, beside him, begin to react by swinging their strong wooden sticks to hit the serpent.
But before they could do anything, a sharp sound cuts through the air at a speed too fast for any mortal to follow. Before they realize it, the snake biting Lu Riu's leg is dead, its head completely destroyed.
"Easy targets... see, I told you bringing machetes and knives would be unnecessary!" Chen Wei says with a satisfied smile, as if he were a savior.
"Thank you, young master, I owe you my life!!" Lu Riu checks the snake's deep bite on his leg, trying not to let his discontent with Chen Wei show.
This discontent stems not only from being forced to clear a path through the snake-infested forest but also do it without even a weapon like a machete, because according to Chen Wei, "they are too dangerous, and they might hurt themselves accidentally." Furthermore, after being bitten by a snake, Chen Wei still expects to be praised and revered as a savior by him.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Grab the snake, and let's move on!" Chen Wei says while skillfully controlling the putrid black blood around him.
"..." Lu Riu remains silent before obeying Chen Wei's orders with a vacant expression on his face.
But there's nothing he can do, so he, along with Lu Tai and Xu Si, continues to lead the way slowly, each step extremely cautious to avoid more snake attacks.
But judging by the growing number of bite marks on his legs and the increasing number of destroyed snake heads he carry, the snake attacks were not a rare or isolated occurrence.
In fact, he lost count of how many serpents attacked them, and his legs are almost completely numb from the repeated snake bites, making him grateful that at least they weren't venomous, or he would have been dead long ago.
The same goes for the others, who have an equal number of bites on their legs and large purple snakes on their backs. They also share the same blank, desperate look that he imagines he must also have.
But to their relief or perhaps greater despair, it wasn't long before a large field surrounded by scarlet blood orchids came into view. Even more impressive was a large hole in the ground filled with an alarming number of snakes of various sizes, some reaching up to two meters in width.
"Truly a spectacular find..." Chen Wei has a smile on his face as he looks at the snake's nest, focusing on a particularly imposing three-meter-long snake.
"What are you waiting for? Start gathering the orchids... and don't forget to be careful!" Chen Wei doesn't take his focus off the serpents while commanding the three.
"And you stay alert because I'll need to keep all my attention on that group of snakes..." Chen Wei tells the girls beside him without looking back.
"Are you sure you can fight with just a rank 1--!" Feng Hua can't finish her question as Chen Wei suddenly charges forward, surrounded by the putrid black blood.
But soon, Feng Hua's eyes, trying to follow Chen Wei's movements, understand why he advanced. An enormous purple serpent with a long white beard was moving towards them, ignoring the three fishermen.
"Are you curious about the taste of my blood...?" Chen Wei has a serious expression on his face while controlling the putrid black blood to coil around the snake.
"This is almost the strength of a Hundred Beast King..." Feng Hua frowns, seeing the serpent, which seems to have power on the threshold of being considered a beast king.
But Chen Wei appears completely unaffected by this as he swiftly dodges the serpent's tail swing, attacking its head at an impressive speed for such a large animal.
At the same moment, he uses a tiny opening in the serpent's defense to deliver a significant cut to its belly, which now bleeds profusely, emitting a putrid smell as if it wanted to rot quickly.
"Damn!!" Lu Riu screams in desperation while trying to run away from the battle but quickly stops when a line of black blood cuts the ground in front of him.
"Fuck...!" Lu Tai, who planned to charge at the three girls to take them as hostages and escape this oppressive situation caused by Chen Wei, can only curse when the putrid black blood slices the toes off his right foot before he even starts his run towards the girls.
Meanwhile, Chen Wei, who prevented the two from doing anything with such ease, didn't even divert his attention, which was now focused on the large serpent desperately trying to eat the blood orchids but failing as it was constantly cut and restrained by Chen Wei.
"He's... his movements are nothing short of perfect..." Feng Hua's eyes are wide with shock, seeing Chen Wei's actions, which make her realize how inadequate her own abilities are.
In fact, calling it "perfect" would be an understatement for the masterpiece that is Chen Wei's fighting style, where every minute movement seems to carry deep significance as he steadily increases his advantage with each passing second in the battle against the serpent, which has yet to land a single hit on him.
"Chen Wei..." Wang Mei has concern in her voice as she watches Chen Wei effortlessly cut through the increasing number of snakes attacking him due to the bloody commotion he is causing outside their nest.
However, Wang Mei forces herself to shift her focus to the three fishermen, who are desperately collecting the blood orchids while trying to avoid the snakes that, fortunately for them, are only attacking Chen Wei.
This only heightens Wang Mei's anxiety, as she clutches a knife given to her by Chen Wei, just like Yu Lian and Feng Hua, who also have knives and Chen Wei's instructions not to let their guard down around the fishermen.
"Ahh hahaha, my rank 4 primeval essence is really helping..." Chen Wei murmurs as he continues to cut through the snakes as if passing a hot knife through butter.
Throughout this entire fight, he has never once deactivated his gu, which is creating an infinite supply of putrid black blood that he uses to cut down all the serpents in his path, as well as to restrain them from eating the blood orchids and to defend himself.
Despite this intense battle, his primeval essence hasn't dropped by even 20% of its total. Considering that the number of snakes advancing towards him is decreasing every moment, he knows he might not even need to use more than 30%.
"The power of a gu master is simply unreachable!" Lu Tai is shocked to his core, watching Chen Wei's effortless actions without breaking a sweat.
"Damn, I was courting death!" Lu Tai now realizes how foolish his actions were in thinking he could escape unscathed by using Chen Wei's wives as a threat.
'Damn, I need to run for my life!' This thought runs through the minds of the three, as they all agreed with Lu Tai's plan and are certain they will be exposed because they have no doubt about Chen Wei's methods of making them talk.
Even if they weren't exposed, they wouldn't risk staying here to face Chen Wei, especially knowing that, by all accounts, he killed Yu Fu for much less.
Moreover, Chen Wei's demonstration of battle prowess, eliminating a nest of dozens of serpents single-handedly, which could pose a danger even to a group of experienced hunters, is astounding.
What's more impressive is that he did all this without receiving a single scratch, a fact that would deeply shock any mortal or gu master.
"Ahh, it seems the serpents are finished..." Chen Wei calmly observes the ground covered in blood and dead serpent bodies. "...Now I have more than enough materials."
As he speaks, his eyes shift from the ground to the three fishermen, who appear hesitant and seem to be considering an escape.
"I wonder, did I permit you to run?" Chen Wei says simply, and with a wave of his hand, three ties made of putrid black blood bind them tightly.
Chen Wei walks slowly towards them, glancing sideways at Wang Mei, who now lowers her guard and has a look of relief on her face.
"Your hearts will still be of great use to me, so you do not have permission to run!" Chen Wei speaks calmly, but to the three fishermen, his voice now sounds like the most cruel and demonic roar descending upon the world.