Chapter 10

As the light faded and dissipated, a Taoist in blue stood between the snake demon and the young boys. He was the strange man who had appeared by the river before, and Xiaoqiu and the others were deeply impressed by him.

The Taoist raised his left hand, holding a copper bell, and shook it violently. The sound had once made the boys panic, but now it seemed particularly pleasant. The urgent ringing not only brought them confidence but also gave them courage.

The giant snake demon, however, detested the bell sound. It darted around, eventually returning to its original position, as if it had suddenly lost its sense of direction. Then it became enraged, no longer fleeing but raising its head high, opening its jaws, and revealing sharp teeth like swords, with its forked tongue flickering continuously.

It was about to launch a desperate attack, starting with a vanguard.

The scales on the snake demon's back rose like waves, and from them, a dozen heads leaped out, bouncing and jumping toward the Taoist in blue. Their faces were varied, and a few of them had clearly been dead for a long time.

The young officer saw his ten subordinates again, and he was so frightened that he hid behind Xiaoqiu, trembling.

Xiaoqiu's heart also tightened. If he hadn't already witnessed the snake demon's terror up close, he might have been paralyzed with fear. Now, he had only one thought: he must never tell anyone that he had thrown away the bald man's head.

The Taoist in blue showed no fear in the face of the snake demon's tricks. He shook the copper bell in his left hand even faster, the sound merging into a continuous stream, like a tangible rope that tightly bound the snake demon. Then, he bent his legs slightly and moved to the left with a peculiar gait, each step as if carrying a thousand pounds. His right hand was raised to his shoulder, with his index and middle fingers extended and the other three fingers bent, drawing lines in the air continuously.

The boys watched in confusion, but the snake demon seemed to have suffered a heavy blow. One by one, the heads exploded with a sound like ripe melons, leaving only a pile of powder on the ground, with no trace of blood. The snake's head darted around, forced to raise higher and higher, eventually breaking through the treetops.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps, and the boys gasped in unison. They saw a sight they would never forget: the thick snake body was pierced with over a dozen holes, spewing out a large amount of blood, like a giant green sprout growing.

The snake demon's resistance ended. It had easily killed ten soldiers of the Xuanfu Army but could not defeat a single Taoist.

The snake's body collapsed with a thud, and a large amount of blood quickly seeped into the soft soil.

The bell sound also stopped. The Taoist lowered his arm, and the copper bell disappeared. He turned around, and in his right hand, he held a small oil lamp. He walked a few steps and hung the lamp on a branch, then stood in the light and said to the boys, "My name is Li Yuechi. I am a Wuxing (Five Elements) Taoist from Pang Mountain, specializing in slaying demons."

These simple words of introduction would take root in the boys' hearts, influencing their futures, even the young officer, who hid behind Xiaoqiu, staring at the Taoist with unprecedented admiration.

"Are... are you here to save us?" Ershuan asked, his voice humble and gentle, more respectful than when he spoke to his father.

Li Yuechi shook his head and pointed to the giant snake's corpse behind him. "I came for it. I tracked it for a whole month. Two days ago, it was only three feet long, but now... sigh. Clean up and follow me later."

There was nothing to clean up, and the boys immediately stood straight. Only Xiaoqiu went to retrieve the chestnut horse, which was surprisingly calm, showing no surprise at the demon-slaying scene. It wasn't that the horse was brave; it was just too old, with all its thoughts focused on the delicious green grass.

Li Yuechi did not set off immediately. He turned and walked to the snake's corpse, examined it for a while, rolled up his sleeves, and, like a laborer in the countryside, grabbed the snake's tail with both hands and dragged it to an open space, quickly arranging it in a straight line.

The boys gasped again. The snake's body was incredibly long, and the oil lamp hanging on the branch could only illuminate a short section.

"It's longer than the bridge in town," Xiaoqiu said.

"It's longer than Ershuan's house," Erliang said.

"It's longer than the street in town," Ershuan said, his exaggeration so great that no one objected. The boys decided to use this metaphor to boast to their relatives and friends in town.

Only the young officer was out of place. "It's about ten zhang long. Not short, but not particularly powerful among demons."

Ershuan glared at the officer. "I heard that slaying demons is also part of the Xuanfu Army's duties. How did you eleven not defeat the snake demon?"

The officer did not blush. "We weren't prepared. We thought we were just here to catch a few children and horses. We didn't bring many weapons and were caught off guard by the snake demon. Who would have thought there would be a demon near your Wild Forest Town? If I had known, I would have brought more powerful paper talismans..."

"Hehe, weren't you screaming like a little girl and fainting just now?" Erliang immediately exposed the officer's secret.

"And it was the third time you fainted," Ershuan added. The boys, still shaken, needed some jokes to ease their nerves. "From now on, you'll be called 'Faint Three.'"

"I'm not called 'Faint Three,' I'm called..." The officer was slightly angry but only grunted, not revealing his real name.

"Look," Xiaoqiu's eyes were fixed on the Wuxing Taoist, carefully observing every move, filled with admiration.

Li Yuechi arranged the snake's body and took out a round mirror. The boys from Wild Forest Town were familiar with it, especially Xiaoqiu and Ershuan, who had been reflected in it before, their hearts racing at the time. Now, they felt a sense of familiarity, and Ershuan even boasted to Fangfang and the young officer.

Li Yuechi held the copper mirror and carefully illuminated the snake's body from the tail, muttering something from time to time.

The boys dared not make a sound, fearing they might disturb the Wuxing Taoist's work, though they did not understand what he was doing.

After a while, the officer whispered, "He's looking for the demon pearl."

"What's a demon pearl?" Ershuan asked curiously, forgetting that he had once beaten the officer.

"Beasts consume the essence of all things to become demons, concentrating most of their demon power in a specific part of their body. That's the demon pearl, very precious, and can be used by Taoists to forge magical weapons."

"Wow," the boys only understood the phrase "very precious" but were still in awe.

The officer was right. When Li Yuechi reached the middle of the snake's body, he stopped. The dim copper mirror flashed, brighter than the oil lamp.

Li Yuechi put away the mirror and produced a dagger. From a distance, it seemed to be made of copper, without a blade, but it did not hinder his actions. He quickly cut a few times on the snake's body, slicing off a scale, examining it in the light of the oil lamp for a moment, and then putting it in a cloth bag at his waist.

The officer, who seemed to have seen a lot, whispered, "Turning the scale into a demon pearl is the most common method for snake demons. It's not a powerful demon."

Li Yuechi's work was not yet complete. He took out the copper mirror again and continued to shine it on the snake's body, moving slower as he approached the head. Finally, he stopped at one of the snake's eyes. "Sure enough, it's here."

He produced another magical tool, a gourd this time.

Li Yuechi stepped back three steps, holding the gourd in his left hand, the gourd's mouth facing the snake's eye. His right hand formed a sword gesture, and he bent his legs slightly, moving left and right, muttering incantations.

The boys watched more closely this time. Fangfang was the first to notice something unusual and whispered, "Look at the sword on his back."

The boys all looked over and, after a while, vaguely saw something flying out of the sword hilt.

"Gold, wood, water, fire, earth. The sword belongs to gold. This is a Wuxing Gold Taoist. No wonder he could kill the snake demon so easily," the officer said in a tone that suggested he already knew, but Xiaoqiu saw clearly, and he had not understood anything before.

Soon, a line of green light slowly rose from the snake's eye, as if unwillingly, and entered the gourd.

The process was long, the green light very fine. It took a full quarter of an hour before the gourd absorbed it all.

The officer clearly did not understand either and offered no explanation.

Xiaoqiu felt a sense of familiarity. He remembered the green light he had seen alone in the grass by the river, which was very similar in color to the line from the snake's eye.

Li Yuechi finally finished his work, put away all his magical tools, and saw the curiosity and confusion in the boys' eyes. "This is the demon seed. It is a hundred times more evil than the snake demon. Fortunately, it has not formed yet, only residing in the snake demon's eye. Remember, never let it touch you."

The officer, like all the boys, looked enlightened. He had heard many stories about demon seeds but had never seen one in real life, feeling slightly disappointed.

"Stay away from demons and monsters," Ershuan remembered the Taoist's warning and said it out loud. He, like Xiaoqiu, was filled with admiration for the Wuxing Taoist.

Not just them, even the most timid boy was filled with admiration for Li Yuechi.

"I saw a Pang Mountain Taoist just the day before yesterday," the officer said, trying to ingratiate himself, stepping out from behind Xiaoqiu.

Li Yuechi seemed uninterested and nodded coldly. "Are you from the Xijie Kingdom's Xuanfu Army?"

The officer nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes. The Xuanfu Army fought the snake demon yesterday, but unfortunately..."

"Hmm, you have the Fire God Seal on your body. You should use it well and not be as flustered as you were just now. Those twelve talismans are enough to subdue ordinary demons. This snake demon was just a facade and could not withstand your attack. But you were lucky. The demon seed dislikes the weak, but in the absence of a better choice, it will settle for second best. If you had killed the snake demon, you would have become the target of the demon seed."

Ershuan examined the officer, suddenly lifting his dirty outer garment, revealing a smooth back.

The officer quickly turned and pulled down his clothes, but the boys still saw a palm-sized pattern on his back, clearly the "Fire God Seal."

"Oh, that's why you can use paper talismans," Ershuan realized, feeling even more disdainful toward the officer. "You said we need ten years of training, but it turns out you just need a seal on your back."

"It's not that simple!" The officer's secret exposed, his face slightly red.

Xiaoqiu did not join the argument. He took a step forward and pointed to the snake's corpse behind Li Yuechi, unsure if he was seeing things or if it was real: a line of green light was emerging from the snake's mouth again.