NOVEL NEXT Chapter 168.2: Swallowing People Whole
Unbeknownst to the Snake-People discussing yesterday’s events in the desert above, an unwelcome guest had silently infiltrated the Sacred Land from below.
Nearly ten minutes later, the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent finally reached the area beneath the Sacred Land of the Snake-People. Sensing no one above, it leaped out and landed steadily in a courtyard-like space.
Then, both heads lowered, and they spat out the cloaked woman and Qing Lin from their mouths. Both of them were inevitably covered in sticky saliva.
“Ugh! Ugh!!!”
The cloaked woman, after being spit out, just took a breath of fresh air when she felt her stomach churning. Kneeling on the ground, she clung to the flower bed in the courtyard, vomiting violently. Even after emptying her stomach, she continued dry heaving.
She was originally of noble status, and despite leading troops in training, her personality and temperament had been shaped to be similar to that of men. She could endure even if she didn’t take a bath for a month.
However, even so, the cloaked woman couldn’t bear the nauseating feeling of being inside a magical beast. Moreover, during the time she was swallowed by the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent, the foul smell of food remnants in its stomach constantly assaulted her nose, making her feel like she was suffocating.
The slimy and sticky sensation on her body was something the cloaked woman couldn’t accept.
Experiencing being swallowed by a magical beast, she reckoned it would be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. The cloaked woman had no intention of experiencing it a second time.
In contrast to the cloaked woman vomiting violently, Qing Lin didn’t have an overly strong reaction, at most feeling a bit dizzy due to the lack of air inside the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent.
Gently shaking her somewhat dizzy little head, Qing Lin looked at the grotesque but seemingly submissive Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent, which lowered its heads, wagging its tail and sticking out its bifurcated tongue, appearing apologetic. She smiled slightly.
“Xiao Ling, thank you for your hard work.”
Qing Lin reached out and touched one of its heads, making the snake face express pure happiness.
The other head, seeing this scene, felt a bit dissatisfied. It forcefully bumped the head being touched by Qing Lin, positioning its own head under Qing Lin’s hand.
“Woo~~~”
The head that was bumped naturally felt displeased. It hissed threateningly at the head that had stolen its position, and the latter responded in kind, glaring back fiercely.
“Alright, alright! Don’t fight!”
Seeing that the two heads of the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent were about to start a fight, Qing Lin quickly intervened, soothing the head that had been bumped by extending her other hand to stroke it. The threatening expression on its face instantly disappeared, and it obediently spat out snake mucus.
“Xiao Ling, come back.”
After soothing the two heads of the Flame Spirit Serpent, Qing Lin’s eyes flashed with that green light again, and the massive Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent disappeared instantly.
At this moment, the cloaked woman, who had been vomiting on the ground for a while, finally calmed down. She took a deep breath, then grabbed some sand from the ground and wiped it all over her body, trying to remove the saliva left by the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent.
She preferred having sand dust on her rather than the snake’s saliva.
‘When I get back, I must take a good bath!’
The cloaked woman decided in her heart, but for now, she needed to focus on the task at hand.
Time left for herself was running out.
The cloaked woman frowned slightly.
Today marked the seventh day since she left home, and her grandfather should already know about her whereabouts. Initially, she had left home just to be cautious, but looking at the current situation, if her grandfather came, things might get even worse.
She must find a way to resolve this before he arrives.
The cloaked woman approached Qing Lin, crouched down, and began to wipe away the saliva on her body with sand. Qing Lin naturally understood the reason for the cloaked woman’s actions and thanked her with a smile.
“Big sister, thank you~”
“The one who should be thanked is me. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it in.”
The cloaked woman chuckled softly, then a trace of helplessness appeared on her spirited and beautiful face.
Although the way they entered was hard to accept.
Ignoring the pungent smell and the saliva on their bodies for the moment, if the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent had struck a bit harder, she might have ended up inside the magical beast’s stomach.
After wiping the sand off Qing Lin’s body with sand, the cloaked woman stood up and said softly, “Let’s go, we need to find your captain quickly.”
“Okay!”
Qing Lin nodded her small head and followed the cloaked woman, crossing the courtyard and entering the palace.
However, as soon as they entered the palace, looking at the maze-like corridors in front of them, the cloaked woman became somewhat troubled.
How are we supposed to find her? It’s not like we can go through each room one by one, right?
If they accidentally entered a room with someone, it could be disastrous.
Just as the cloaked woman was pondering how to proceed, Qing Lin raised her little head slightly, sniffed with her delicate nose, and then pointed to a corridor.
“Big sister, this way! I smell Captain Xiao Li’s scent!”
The cloaked woman looked at Qing Lin in surprise but didn’t ask any questions. She followed Qing Lin in the direction she pointed.
There was no other choice; they had to make do with what they had. It was better than wandering around like a headless fly.
As the two passed a fork in the road, Qing Lin suddenly stopped. When the cloaked woman was puzzled, Qing Lin immediately grabbed her hand and hid behind a stone pillar.
The next moment, the sound of conversation reached the cloaked woman’s ears.
“Ah…I don’t know how long this chaos will last.”
“If The Queen were here, things would surely be resolved immediately.”
Two Snake-People guards slowly crossed the intersection. Due to the obstruction of the stone pillar, they didn’t notice the cloaked woman and Qing Lin. Both of them unconsciously held their breath, afraid of being detected by the guards.
Whether they could handle the guards was another matter, but right now, they were deep within the territory of the Snake-People. If they caused a commotion and alarmed the Snake-People, it wouldn’t be easy to sneak in again.
As time passed, the two guards slowly moved away. The cloaked woman and Qing Lin both breathed a sigh of relief. The cloaked woman then thought of something and furrowed her brows in puzzlement.
Wasn’t the sense of smell of the Snake-People supposed to be very sensitive? Even if they couldn’t see, they should be able to smell them.
Just as the cloaked woman was wondering, she caught a glimpse of the remnants of saliva and sand on her body, and immediately it dawned on her. She secretly felt lucky.
This was indeed a blessing in disguise.