The snake-scorpion beauty before her had finally said something useful.
The fact that she hadn’t indiscriminately harmed Eldest Young Lady Ren Tan’s subordinates made it clear this wasn’t a simple case of robbery for goods and treasures, though she still hadn’t fully revealed her intentions.
What did she mean by “it depends on your abilities”?
No matter how Yin Luan racked her brains, she couldn’t figure it out—and she certainly couldn’t count on the two sprites, who were still reeling from the bloodline suppression.
In a situation like this, it was time to bring in the sharpest mind among them: Eldest Young Lady Ren Tan!
The Little Snake Demon slithered over, hauled the unconscious young lady to her feet, and pinched her cheeks a few times.
“Urgh—”
Ren Tan’s eyes snapped open. She drew in a dramatic gasp before muttering to herself in a daze.
“Sorry, did I faint? How embarrassing. I’m a Postnatal Peak expert, at the very least—how could I scare myself unconscious?”
“We’ll talk about that later,” Yin Luan urged. “Right now, you need to negotiate with her…”
“What are these disgusting things on the ground? Wait… snakes? Ah—!!!”
The moment the freshly awakened young lady realized she was surrounded by countless snakes, she fainted dead away once more, collapsing into Yin Luan’s arms.
“…”
Eldest Young Lady, your reliable performance back on the Ghost King Ship sure contrasts sharply with this…
Who would have thought that Little Snake—the one who should have been the least dependable member of their group—would end up as the only reliable one among the four?
“Perhaps you truly are a renowned senior on the path,” Yin Luan said. She handed the young lady over to the two sprites for safekeeping, then straightened her posture and met She Mei’s gaze head-on. “But we’re no pushovers either. Since you know we obtained a treasure from the Divine Dragon’s clutches, you should weigh the costs of a head-on clash!”
The beautiful woman listened to her spirited words without a trace of displeasure. Instead, she smiled faintly.
Then, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. At her command, over a thousand black snakes in the hall slithered toward them, forming layer upon layer that hemmed in the four young women.
Hiss—hiss—
“I just like a strong, independent girl like you.”
The snake-scorpion beauty threw her a flirtatious wink.
“Admit your mistake, quick! Yin Luan!” “Don’t eat me—get away, shoo!”
Her two companions shrieked from behind her.
“Stay calm,” Yin Luan said. “She’s just trying to scare us. She won’t actually make a move…”
“It’s crawling in! Help!” “Nooo, get out—waaa, I’m filthy now!”
Honestly, she never should have brought those two along…
Yin Luan felt confident about She Mei’s attitude. She sensed no targeted malice from the woman.
That didn’t guarantee she wouldn’t do something harmful, of course—but it meant negotiation outweighed combat.
In general, a situation like this indicated that one of their group’s abilities held significant value, something worth recruiting them for.
Yin Luan wasn’t afraid of She Mei. Even in a direct fight, she was confident she could lead her companions out of the Snake Hall unscathed.
That self-assurance stemmed from the fierce battle on the Ghost King Ship, which had given her a fuller understanding of her own strength.
Still, the woman’s intelligence-gathering prowess was genuinely alarming. There was no need to make an enemy of someone with such far-reaching means.
“What do you want us to do?”
Yin Luan finally asked.
“You’ve finally agreed?” She Mei beamed with delight and ordered the snakes crawling across the floor to retreat to their original positions. “Truth be told, I’m a very amiable person. If you complete that task for me, not only will I return all those goods, but I’ll prepare a gift for each of you as well.”
“Save the pleasantries,” Yin Luan huffed. “You lured us here with these tactics—how can you claim to be ‘amiable’?”
“Haha, you can’t blame me entirely. The winds of change in the Great Zhou Kingdom over these past few decades have been too drastic. If I’d approached you openly and boldly, this matter would never have gotten off the ground… As for what it is exactly, we’ll decide whether to tell you after testing your strength.”
“Red Ring,” she called out. The snake that had led them earlier immediately slithered over. “Take them to rest. Any tests will come after they’ve recovered.”
“Yes, milady!”
Yin Luan glanced at She Mei’s soul-stirringly alluring face, then at the young lady—who had squeezed her eyes shut like a dead fish—and pondered for a moment. At last, she nodded slowly and followed the black-and-red snake out of the Snake Hall.
Once the young women had departed, She Mei’s expression gradually turned grave. She murmured to herself in a low voice.
“Good thing I didn’t resort to force. I caught a faint, strange scent on her… Just what secrets is that one hiding?”
~~~
After leaving the Snake Hall, the two sprites gradually regained their composure, sighing with relief as if they had survived a disaster.
Yin Luan, meanwhile, studied the Snake leading the way ahead of them.
“Can I ask if you’re male or female?” “There aren’t just She Mei as the only ‘person’ in the valley, right?” “Can you transform into a beautiful girl for me to see?”
“If I could shapeshift, hiss, would I still be crawling on the ground?” Red Ring grew annoyed at her endless questions and couldn’t help responding. “Can’t you quiet down? Hiss, snakes like peace and quiet!”
“No way. If I don’t talk, I’ll just start drooling from hunger…”
Red Ring led the young maidens into a room. Though sparsely furnished, it had the basics—a bed, chairs, a table, and cabinets. It was clearly prepared for humans, and such accommodations were likely quite rare in the Snake Cave.
After placing the Eldest Young Lady on the bed and giving her cheek a pinch, Ren Tan stirred awake once more. She murmured instinctively.
“I just had a really scary dream. I dreamed I was in a vast hall crawling with black snakes on the floor, and right in front of me was a beautiful woman who looked just like a Snake Demon…”
“Sorry, but that’s all real.”
“What?!”
Yin Luan and the others chimed in all at once, recounting everything that had happened in the Snake Hall to Ren Tan.
“So,” said the Eldest Young Lady, now back to her usual self and sounding reliable once more, “our situation isn’t as dire as it seems? Actually, no, it’s hard to say. The other side is a Great Demon, after all, and she claims to have slumbered for decades…”
If this had happened last year, even the clever Ren Family Eldest Young Lady would have been utterly flustered and at a loss.
But this year, she’d already encountered Immortals and Void Treading Experts. Ren Tan’s capacity to accept the bizarre had grown considerably.
Though she still couldn’t quite wrap her head around Snake…
“The key here is, what do we have that sets us apart from everyone else?”
Combat prowess?
She Mei was a Great Demon who commanded countless venomous snakes and Giant Pythons in the Mountain Valley. Someone like that wouldn’t lack for fighters.
Wealth?
Ren Tan’s assets were merely worldly possessions—mostly common mortal goods. There was no reason a Great Demon would covet them.
Beauty?
She was a female snake. If she wanted that sort of thing, she wouldn’t be looking at them…
After racking her brains, the Eldest Young Lady concluded that the answer lay in those two words: “Immortal.”
Beautiful girls were a dime a dozen, but beautiful girls who had interacted with an Immortal? Those were one in a million. Not everyone had Little Snake’s freakish luck.
Unfortunately, Xiao Luo and the others didn’t know much more about Immortals than she did.
Creak—
The door cracked open.
“Hiss, I forgot to ask, hiss. Do you eat vegetarian or meat?”
Snake poked her head through the gap, asking those inside.
“Snake…” Ren Tan yelped in surprise, then quickly covered her face. “Wait, stop pinching my cheek! You’ll make it swell…”
