by A P Gore
A smile creeped onto Jei's face before he grabbed snake by its head and threw it at the guard who was running toward them.
The snake tried to latch on to Jei's hand, but Jei had applied enough force to use it as a whip.
Fear pinched the guard's oval face as he tried to jump to his left, but he was late by a breath. The incoming snake crashed into his chest and wrapped itself around his neck. Dazed by the sudden actions, the snake latched itself onto the guard's face.
The guard crashed to the ground with a painful howl. He tried to pull the snake away with both hands, but the snake had wrapped itself tightly around his neck, and its teeth were buried deep in the guard's right cheek. Blood and black poison oozed from the wound, and the guard's body quickly went into shock. First his hands went limp at his sides, and then he fell on his back, unconscious.
"Brother Jei, run! The snake will come for you." Feng shouted and ran for the entrance.
"Wait, let me collect its poison first." Moving over to the now dead guard, Jei pulled an empty bottle out of his spatial bag. The snake was still latched onto the dead guard and biting his now black face. "Leave some for me." Jei grabbed the snake by its head and opened its mouth. The snake coiled itself around Jei's right arm. It resisted and tried to bite Jei, but Jei held it off easily and collected some of its poison in the bottle. When the black poison filled half the bottle, Jei the snake go. He didn't need to kill it.
The snake turned back once, hissing at Jei, but then it slithered away into the forest. It probably understood there was no way it could defeat Jei.
Feng slowly came back, his eyes lingering on the direction where the snake had gone.
"Brother Jei, how..."
Jei grinned. "This." He raised the half-filled bottle before dropping it into his spatial bag. "This is fun." Though, it wasn't. He needed 499 more poisons to advance, and that would definitely bring a great amount of trouble for him.
Two guards jumped out of the bush, pointing their spears at Jei and Feng. "You! Who are you? And why did you piss off the daughter of the black stripped snake queen? We're so doomed. The queen mother is going to hunt everyone in the grounds." The two guards fell down just as suddenly as they’d appeared. A purple-black color spread across their bodies.
"Damn you, kid!” the senior cried. “You just stepped on a hornet's nest.”
Jei scratched his chin. That purple line. So that was the queen snake. Many snake spirit beasts lived in packs, and every pack had a queen. The queen would slowly develop some special attribute like the purple marking on the snake he’d just encountered.
Crap! I should've noticed that before taking its poison.
Chapter 52
A rustle in the nearby grass attracted Jei's attention; his body instinctively moved natural essence toward his fist.
"Kid, one from the right."
A four-foot-long black striped snake sprang at Jei's throat, tongue out and small fierce eyes fixed on his face.
Lunging to the right, Jei threw a Drunken Master Tiger fist attack at the snake. Wind force enveloped his outgoing fist. Before the snake could react, Jei's fist slammed into its head, crushing it into pulp and sending the whole snake flying away. The snake crashed against a red pine tree and fell lifeless to the forest floor.
It was the seventh snake Jei had killed since they met the queen snake’s daughter. Every now and then they also found bodies, either a guard or a participant in the hunting competition. In some spots, they even found black striped snake bodies.
The massacre continued as they pressed onward.
"Josh, what's going on? This is insane."
"I guess snakes have gone crazy. These black striped snakes are known to live in a nest, by the thousands. Can you believe something like this existed in the hunting ground? The operational safety is so bad in this region." The senior’s voice had an undertone of worry.
Operational safety? The senior sometimes threw around awkward words that Jei didn’t understand even after scratching his head for hours. In the last few months, he had learned to ignore such words.
"Why did the guard say we pissed of the mother queen? What did we do?"
"That, we've yet to find out."
Jei dashed through the thick trees. One after another, snakes kept coming at him, slowing his progress. By the time he approached the main hunting ground, he had killed at least twenty snakes and found fifteen human bodies. The situation was grim, and he hoped that someone had gotten the rest of the youths out of the hunting ground.
"Brother Jei, look there." Feng called, pulling Jei out of his thought process. Thanks to the senior's Soul Sense, he didn't need to worry about ambushes. It mainly helped him to keep Feng alive.
"Yes?" Jei looked around, and his heart stopped beating for a moment.
A huge, fifteen-foot-long, thick as four fat men combined, black striped snake sat on a large boulder in the middle of the ground. It had similar features to the smaller black striped snakes, but a fist-thick purple line ran along its length, identifying it as a mother queen. Hundreds of normal black striped snakes surrounded her in a large circle.
But that wasn’t what shocked Jei.
In that circle of snakes, fifty youths lay, crying and pleading for their lives.
"This is bad," the senior said. "Jei, you can't even think of going in there. That mammoth snake is the mother queen of the pack, and she has advanced to level 4 or 5 maybe. Plus, you can't fight with this many snakes at a time, either."
Jei nodded. Going in there would be suicide for anyone. Except, perhaps, an army of hundreds of soldiers.
Something swished through nearby hay, and Jei jumped back.
A three-foot familiar purple-striped snake rose from the hay and stared at Jei with pain filled eyes.
Jei circulated natural essence, ready to strike the small queen snake, but she just hissed once and dashed toward the mother queen sitting on the boulder. The queen snake bowed in front of the mother queen and hissed repeatedly, like she spoke in snake language.
Jei was about to slip away when the mother queen turned her gigantic head and stared at him, her fierce green eyes shining with profound light.
"Poison son of mine, come forward. I've something to say to you,” the mother queen hissed.
Jei glanced around to see who just spoke. "Josh what was that?"
"The snake boss is calling you."
"So, doomed we are." Jei lowered his head and stepped back.
"Kid, there's no way out. Hundreds of snakes have surrounded us from all sides." The senior’s voice shook.
They were doomed.
Chapter 53
A path through the snakes opened up for Jei. Hundreds on the right and hundreds on the left. It reminded him of the Wei clan's patriarch’s wedding. The groom had travelled a similar path. But there, beautiful flowers were lined along the road, and here deadly snake beasts lined up.
Sweat ran down his back as he walked along that path of death.
Jei walked one step at a time, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest, his eyes glancing around in search of escape. But, unless he could fly, there was no way out of this.
Damn, why did I end up here? Did I really piss off the small queen?
The snakes hissed when he slowed. With no other choice, he quickened his pace. There was no need to prolong his death.
As he moved forward, the mother queen's features became distinct. Her fierce pupilless green eyes, her deadly fearsome fangs, and her long tongue that slipped in and out with a thrust enough to send her opponent flying.
Blinking, Jei tried to stop himself from staring in those pupilless eyes. They were drawing him in.
The thick purple line on her body illuminated as she moved her head to talk with the small queen.
Wetting his lips with his tongue, he stopped a few feet away from the mother queen. It was hard to determine if he was intimidated or afraid of her presence.
"Mother Queen. The little one greets you." Jei clasped his ha
nds and slightly bowed in front of the mammoth snake.
"Be at ease, son. I've a favor to ask you."
A favor? Did he hear something wrong?
"But before we get to that, draw some blood for me," she hissed.
"Blood?" Jei's eyes shot up but staring at those pupil less eyes was of no use. There was no emotion in there. No anger. No sympathy. No friendliness.
"Yes, blood."
"Kid, give her what she wants," the senior whispered. But why was he whispering?
"Interesting. You have a foreign soul inside your soul palace." The mother queen leaned forward, stopping only a mere foot away from Jei's face.
Jei's knees quivered as he took in the huge mouth in front of him. She could just open her mouth and gulp him completely inside her mouth, and he wouldn't even get a chance to react.
But how did she know about the senior? Could she see inside his soul palace? No way. Even Master Hei didn't notice the senior, nor Master Yu.
"Draw some blood and drop it on my tongue," the mother queen hissed. Her tongue reached for him.
The quiver in his legs grew stronger, threatening to give out at any time. Grabbing the edge of his spatial bag, Jei steadied himself. He needed to stay strong.
With a swift motion, he pulled a dagger from his spatial bag and sliced his thumb. Before the wound closed because of the Gate of Healing energy, he dripped a few drops on the mother queen's tongue.
Her tongue went back into her mouth.
"Myriad-eyed snake." Emotions flashed through her eyes. "Son, you've used his poison. Impressive. Where did you find one? I haven't met one around here."
Sadness filled Jei's heart. Brother Green. He missed his brother so much. What would he be doing?
"I had a brother living with us. One day he disappeared into the dark forest. My uncle said he was evolving into a myriad-eyed snake."
The mother queen moved her head back. "That makes sense. He wouldn't want to be among humans while advancing. It's a very delicate phase for him. But it's fate that you received his poison to complete your first transformation in Poison Body cultivation art. That's one of the best poisons you could have used."
Now it was Jei's turn to feel impressed. How did she know about the Poison Body cultivation art? The senior said no one would know about it easily. "Mother Queen, may I know how you know about the Poison Body cultivation?" Jei asked.
She made a noise somewhere between a hiss and a laugh. "I'm a mother queen, and I’ve been living here for the last thousand years. There's not much that I don't know about all Poison cultivation arts. But I wonder, how did you learn it? Do you have a master? I'd like to meet him or her."
Jei wondered if he should tell her about his soul crystal, but after a brief thought he decided not to. "It was a fortuitous encounter with a senior who taught me the art. The senior vanished after that, and I haven't seen him again."
"Hmm. It's all fate indeed. It's also fate that you taught my daughter a lesson." She turned and hissed at the small queen, who coiled herself around a small stone and hid her head behind it. "Your cultivating in Poison Body makes you a suitable candidate for my request. Train well son, and you'll reach the apex of cultivation in no time."
This was the second time someone had praised the art. Even the senior said that this was a top-class art.
"Is this really a Heaven class art?" Body Cultivation arts were divided in many levels and Heaven level was the topmost one.
She once again made a laughing sound. "It is indeed. The first snake beast—the snake god—created it. How could it lose to any other cultivation art?" Her eyes displayed a rare sadness for a moment before it disappeared completely. "Let's talk about a more pressing matter. Something that you can do to save your whole town."
"Save the town?" Once again Jei was at loss of words. What was going on? What kind of favor did the mother queen want, which she couldn't handle herself?
Chapter 54
Jei gawked at the humongous mother queen and then at the small queen who had raised her head to listen to their conversation. She was an exact replica of the mother queen, though much smaller. Then again, all the black striped snakes looked alike except the purple-striped queens.
"Save the town?" he repeated, focusing his attention on the mother queen.
The mother queen nodded her giant head. Then she slid down the boulder and disappeared into black mist which had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Before a breath finished, an exquisite lady wearing a long green dress appeared in the mist. She had black striped scales on her hands and neck, almost reaching to her beautiful round face.
Jei stepped back. What was happening? "Miss..."
Stepping out of the mist, she stood inches away from Jei. An exquisite scent wafted from her body and reached into his mind, intoxicating him. A beautiful smile played on her red lips. And then she blinked. Her pupil less green eyes pulled Jei out of the spell.
She was the mother queen.
"You..."
A small forked tongue flickered between her lips. "It's been ages since I transformed into a human." She glanced at her hands and shook them. The black striped scales vanished from her hands and neck, replaced by smooth milky white skin. "That’s better."
"Mother Queen." Jei clasped his hands and bowed once more. This time with genuine respect. She had displayed her knowledge, and one who lived for a thousand years deserved respect.
"Yes, a high-level spirit beast can transform into a human. Wait for a hundred more years, and my daughter will transform into one too. You can then come and marry her."
"Marriage?" Jei almost choked on his own saliva. What was she talking about?
"Yes, she can live with you if she wants. She surely got a liking for you after you taught her a much-needed lesson." She smiled, and Jei’s heart melted with that smile.
Fumbling with his spatial bag, Jei pulled out the half-filled bottle containing the small queen's poison. Once again bowing in front of mother queen, he put it down. "I'm sorry. Please forgive this little one."
The mother queen chuckled and waved her hand. The bottle vanished. "You'd be a perfect match for her. A Poison Body cultivator and a queen snake. I wonder how strong your children would be."
Jei coughed. He coughed hard. Babies, really?
"Mother queen, you were saying something about saving the town." Jei changed the topic. Marriage and babies, he’d better stay away from that topic. He definitely didn't want to imagine a baby with a snake tail and a human face. Not in his whole life.
Her smooth easy expression turned into something dark and hard.
"Yes, the poison pearl. Someone from your town has stolen the poison pearl, and I need you to get it back for me."
"A poison pearl?" Jei asked.
"Yes, our pack has lived here for thousands of years. When a black striped snake queen lives for five hundred years, she can create a poison pearl—a pearl that can control and expand her pack. It's a blessing for us, but it also come with a disadvantage. The children born using the pearl are bound with it for a hundred years. About fifty years ago, I produced my second poison pearl, and a thousand children." Her voice became hoarse. "And today, someone from your town came and stole it."
"But why? And how?"
"Is that important?" She roared. "The important thing is that my children are running rampant around the hunting ground. If you don't get that pearl back in the next ten hours, they will swarm your town. They will go crazy, and trust me, they will be lethal to all mortals."
Jei's heart sank into his stomach. Thousands of snakes running wild in a town where most of the residents were mortals? That sounded awful. Even if there were many cultivators, how many people would they would be able to protect?
"Mother Queen, please forgive the little one to ask this, but you're way more powerful than me. How can I possibly help?"
She breathed a sad sigh. "The curse of the unknown lands prevents me from crossing the unknown lands’ boundary, so I need you—a human—to get tha
t pearl back for me."
Jei bit his lower lip. How was he going to do this? "The thieves. Do you know where they went? And how strong they are?"
The mother queen closed her eyes for a moment. "He's not far away, and he has a group of fourteen people with him. All are Qi Condensation level three or four. But their leader is level five. Can you really handle him?" she asked, probing Jei.
"No. I can't really." Jei lowered his head. Fighting fifteen people on his own was already impossible; if one of them was at Qi Condensation level 5? Way out of his league. Plus, didn't he already die a few days back?
Chapter 55
The air around them suddenly turned stale, like someone sucked the life out of it. An invisible pressure built on Jei's heart, weighing it down.
Fighting it back, he raised his eyes to look at the mother queen. He hoped she would understand his situation. Nobody loved running toward certain death.
The mother queen was kept blinking her pupil less eyes.
Was she planning to attack him?
Jei didn't even circulate his essence. It would be of no use if she wanted to kill him.
Her blinking grew faster and faster with every passing moment. It became so fast that tears started rolling down her face, and then it happened.
A blood tear dropped from her eyes. She sucked a deep breath and collected that blood tear in an empty bottle she had produced. The blood tear floated in the middle of the empty bottle like an invisible force held it there. It gave off a strange energy, something angelic and sinister all at once.
What is that thing?
"I guessed it would be difficult for you to beat those men. So, I'm giving you this." She handed the bottle to Jei.
"What's this?"
"My heart’s blood. It's a one-time use for body cultivators. Using this, you can achieve the next stage in your Poison Body Cultivation for four hours."
Jei stared at the blood tear with greedy eyes. Advancement. If he advanced his Poison Body to 500, he would gain more power with which he would be able to defeat that level 5 qi master.