Where were the snakes?
Everyone looked at Han Yunxi, waiting for an answer. She was being supported by Long Feiye in one hand while the other covered her mouth. Her complexion was ashen white as if she’d throw up as soon as she opened her mouth. It was impossible for her to speak.
Long Feiye was the fastest one. He’d caught up to Han Yunxi and the poison guard before they even landed on the bottom. He had seen all the snakes crawling on the walls, so crowded that he couldn’t tell which head or tail belonged with which snake. All of them were entwined with each other, their heads raised up as they hissed. He almost threw up at the sight. Immediately after he noticed them, they sprang as one from the walls to attack Han Yunxi. The snakes at the bottom of the pit were releasing poisonous gas as well as the entire swarm targeted the girl. But all of that only lasted a second.
Before he could grab Han Yunxi from the poison guard’s hands, all of the snakes disappeared. By the time he protected her to land, not a single one was left. He couldn’t even scold her before she was dry heaving non-stop as soon as she touched ground. It was only now that she felt a bit better.
Seeing her so uncomfortable, he felt angry again, but suppressed his temper to ask, “Did you absorb them all into the poison storage space? What’s wrong?”
Han Yunxi wanted to reply, but she gagged as soon as she opened her mouth. She quickly waved her hand, indicating that they should leave. Seeing nobody budge, she grew anxious. “All of you leave, quickly! I can’t hold back! Hurry!”
As soon as she spoke, she vomited a mess onto the ground, but still didn’t stop waving at everyone else to get away.
“All of you wait above!” Long Feiye ordered coldly as he supported Han Yunxi and patted her back. Too many people here would only be a hindrance--he understood that very well. Xu Donglin and the poison guards didn’t dare disobey and left immediately, but Baili Yuanlong and his daughter stayed put.
“Your Highness, what just happened?” Baili Yuanlong asked urgently.
Han Yunxi tried her best to quell her nausea as she impatiently gestured for them to leave. She couldn’t speak, so she pushed Long Feiye aside to show that he should go, too.
“Your Highness, let’s go!” Baili Yuanlong said matter-of-factly. This was too dangerous and smelled strongly of a plot. Han Yunxi had even said she’d make him the vanguard. Who knew that things would develop into this mess? No matter what, it made sense to get away from this wretched place!
“The two of you, get out this instant!” Long Feiye raged.
Baili Mingxiang grabbed her father, but he shook her aside. “Your Highness, princess, let’s leave together. This isn’t a place where one should stay long!”
Han Yunxi was filled with rage as she shoved Long Feiye into Baili Yuanlong. “Long Feiye, leave! I don’t have time to explain!”
Long Feiye couldn’t do it…
Finally, Han Yunxi couldn’t take it anymore. She knitted her brows before something exploded behind her, raising a huge cloud of dust. Abruptly, she dropped to her knees and started vomiting nonstop.
It was truly too disgusting!
20,000 snakes and their queen had all been absorbed into her poison storage space and were slithering within its confines in a messy, teeming mass. Although they did no hard to the space, she couldn’t bear the sight of them, much less ignore their existence. Her mind was filled with snakes and nothing but snakes, all entwined together as they raised their countless heads. She felt like her body was covered in the creatures.
Heavens, ah!
If she bore this a second longer, she’d go mad! Although she’d made plenty of mental preparations, she never thought she’d be attacked but such a strong wave of disgust. This had to be the biggest failure in her professional career!
“Snake…!” Baili Mingxiang shrieked. As the dust cleared, it revealed a massive White-Lipped Krait behind Han Yunxi that was easily the height of three people. Beneath its towering form, the prone Han Yunxi looked extremely tiny.
Here was the queen of the snake den! It had a pair of wicked red eyes as it hissed at them. What was disgusting about the creature was all of the smaller poison snakes crawling up and down its body. Han Yunxi couldn’t take it anymore, so she’d expelled the snake queen and a portion of the serpents out first to ease the burden. This would give the detox system more time to change the remaining snakes in her mental space into medicinal ingredients and poison.
In any case, any snakes that tried to attack her would be automatically absorbed into the poison storage space. She just had to bear the nausea for a bit and let them in and out in turns until all of them were turned into ingredients. But Long Feiye and the rest would be in danger! Aside from the snakes, their poison gas was everywhere. Even the antidote would stop working after a while--or be too weak to stand up to such concentrated poison in the first place.
In any case, it was too troublesome with everyone here.
After being released from the poison storage space, the snake queen was still muddled and confused. But once it heard Baili Mingxiang’s scream, it ran rampant and pounced towards her. Panicking, Han Yunxi cried, “Long Feiye, hurry and take her away, quickly!”
Before Long Feiye moved, Baili Yuanlong had already pulled Baili Mingxiang out of the way. The snake queen crashed into the ground instead, but quickly recovered and turned to stare at them. The snakes clinging to its body all fell to the ground and waited for their chance to strike.
“Long Feiye, you know about the poison storage space, so go! I’ll be fine! There’s a hole in this snake den so I have to stay here, or else they’ll escape,” Han Yunxi suppressed her temper to explain.
“Baili Yuanlong, take your daughter and leave. This is an order!” Long Feiye said sternly. He wouldn’t leave. Although he didn’t know poison arts, he was quick enough to avoid getting bitten. He could even defend himself against Jun Yixie, to say nothing of a single snake queen. There was no way he’d leave Han Yunxi alone in a place like this, even if she was superbly skilled. He would just worry.
Moreover, Han Yunxi had lost consciousness for days after absorbing the poison pond last time. How could he lower his guard now? Wasn’t she feeling unwell right now? Furthermore, if someone else had personally instigated these snakes, what if they had other ambushes in wait hidden in the cave?
“Mingxiang, you go! If His Highness isn’t leaving, then I won’t, either!” Baili Yuanlong said coldly.
“If you won’t go, then Mingxiang won’t leave, either!” Baili Mingxiang grew stubborn as well. As soon as she finished, the snake queen lunged at them again. It had a huge head but moved very quickly. It was also quite intelligent, choosing to target the Baili father and daughter pair over Han Yunxi or Long Feiye. Baili Yuanlong didn’t even have time to dodge. Fortunately, Long Feiye shoved him aside with a palm strike and grabbed Baili Mingxiang himself before throwing her aside.
As long as the snake queen didn’t attack Han Yunxi, she had no way to absorb it into her space. And its head was so big that killing it with poison would be very difficult. She could only rely on Long Feiye to attack it.
Once the snake queen saw the Baili pair tumble to the ground, it turned to swing its tail at them while keeping its head facing Long Feiye. Han Yunxi was about to go insane from the father and daughter pair. Even the snake queen’s smarter than the two of them! How could their martial arts skills be enough to fight against it?
She suppressed a fresh wave of nausea before suddenly dashing towards the father and daughter. No one expected this, even the snake queen. It abruptly stopped its attack at Baili Yuanlong, obviously afraid of Han Yunxi. Because she was protecting them, it changed its target to Long Feiye instead, slithering towards him as it let out a huge blast of poison mist!
“Long Feiye, watch out!” Han Yunxi shouted as she shot multiple needles at the queen. But they were useless against its hulk. Baili Yuanlong and his daughter were both alarmed. The general threw himself forward and stabbed deep into the snake’s tail with his sword. Han Yunxi never got a chance to stop him. The wound wouldn’t kill the snake, only aggravate it. As expected, it began to thrash wildly as it swept from side to side.
Han Yunxi was so furious she could spit expletives!
The attack of the snake tail wasn’t classified as a poison attack, so the poison storage space couldn’t even protect her like this! Baili Mingxiang and Baili Yuanlong knew enough martial arts to avoid the blow, but she had no way to deal with this new challenge! As she watched the tail sweep towards her, a black figure suddenly passed through the snake queen’s poison mist to fly at her. Who could this be but Long Feiye?
He pulled her out of the way at the same time the snake tail cleaved a huge hole in the side of the wall. Both of them were now on the snake’s right side, while Baili Yuanlong and Baili Mingxiang sat on its left.
Baili Yuanlong hastily rose to his feet. “Your Highness, are you all right?!”
Long Feiye was enraged. “Scram out of here this instant! Or else this crown prince will kill you!”
Long Feiye had been deeply poisoned, but his gaze was so piercingly cold that the Baili father and daughter felt afraid at the sight. Yet as his lips begin to turn black, they couldn’t make up their minds to leave. While they were talking, the snake tail raised itself up high and quickly crashed upon them again. Long Feiye reacted the quickest, shielding Han Yunxi as he withdrew from the attack.
“Long Feiye, it’s no good. Let’s go up first,” Han Yunxi could only resort to bad ideas. There was no helping it if the snake queen escaped. Yet she’d hardly spoken when her face turned white. The detox system was tellling her to treat Long Feiye immediately, or else he’d end up like those hopelessly poisoned soldiers. Even though Long Feiye had already taken an antidote, it was no use against the snake queen’s poison mist! Its toxicity was many times more potent than half of all the snakes!
“Detoxification! Long Feiye!” Han Yunxi panicked as her hands shook. She would always stay calm, but she could never imagine a world without him in it. She hastily took out three pills for him to take. “Long Feiye, we have to treat the poison immediately, or else...or else you’ll die!”
Hearing this, Baili Yuanlong and Baili Mingxiang both gave a start. At the same time, the snake queen abruptly attacked them again! Long Feiye picked her up and prepared to dodge, but Han Yunxi suddenly shoved him harshly aside. In a flash, the queen’s tail slammed against Han Yunxi’s leg and caused her to sit down. It would be strange if her bones weren’t broken upon impact!
Everyone was stunned. For a second, Long Feiye couldn’t even process what he saw. Had Han Yunxi lost her mind? Why would she push him away? Although he was poisoned, he could still use martial arts!
Han Yunxi never thought she’d experience the pain of broken legs first hand. Despite this, she shouted, “Long Feiye, you cannot circulate your qi under any circumstances! Otherwise, it’ll speed up the spread of poison and no one will be able to save you! I’m begging you!”
So that’s why…