Chapter 9

The young officer held his breath, which wasn't difficult because he had forgotten how to breathe in the first place.

The bald man smiled at him for a while, then, seeing no effect, retreated behind the tree. Soon, another face appeared from behind the tree. The officer recognized this person; it was one of the veteran assistants he had brought along. Although he couldn't remember the name, the face was unmistakable. The only odd thing was that he was also grinning and nodding, lacking the usual sternness of the Xuanfu Army.

The officer remained motionless, and the faces behind the tree kept changing, as if trying to lure him over.

Previously, the officer had abandoned the soldiers and fled alone, so he hadn't seen the battle scene. But at this moment, he was very certain that these grinning faces were just heads.

The thought of over a dozen solitary heads taking turns to smile at him was too much for the officer. He screamed, fell over, and the chestnut horse, startled, took a few steps forward and then stopped. It didn't sense any danger at all.

The scream woke everyone up. Xiaoqiu and Fangfang bumped heads, and both cried out in pain.

The young people were in a panic, and it took them a while to notice the officer still screaming.

The heads, having lost patience, revealed their true form. The manipulator behind them was a huge snake head, floating in the air, its two lantern-sized yellow eyes gleaming coldly.

This time, there were no Xuanfu Army soldiers to lead the charge. The snake demon seemed to know that these were a group of humans with little fighting power. It slowly lowered its height and examined them one by one.

The young officer finally stopped screaming and fainted for the third time in less than a day.

The young people from Ye Lin Town had run away twice before, but this time, under the direct gaze of the snake demon, their legs were frozen in place, unable to move. They stood there, their minds numb with extreme fear.

The snake demon circled the young people, stopping when its head and tail were almost touching, enclosing them in its body. It continued to stare at the humans, flicking its long tongue at each of them, as if searching for something.

The young people could finally speak. Erliang was the first to think of a possibility and said in a trembling voice, "It's full from eating during the day, and now it's keeping us for breakfast."

This scene terrified everyone. Lengzi, who was a bit fatter than the others, was especially scared and clung tightly to Ershuan, "What do we do? Should we give it your chestnut horse?"

The snake demon, surprisingly, was not interested in the larger prey. The chestnut horse was outside the circle, and it ran a bit further, sniffing around for grass, neither abandoning its owner nor thinking of saving him.

Ershuan swallowed hard, hiding his long sword behind his back, and whispered, "Wait for the right moment, and run if you can."

Looking at the snake's body, which was taller than themselves in the darkness, the young people couldn't think of a way to escape.

"It's capturing prisoners," Xiaoqiu suddenly had an idea.

The snake's huge head gradually lowered until it was only a few feet from the ground, its eyes level with the young people. It hissed, as if giving an order.

Xiaoqiu took a step forward, and the young people huddled together, admiring his bravery.

"I," Xiaoqiu looked into the snake's large round eyes, trying not to blink, pointed at himself, then at the unconscious officer, "Wake him up, and we'll go with you."

The snake blinked, as if trying to understand the small human's words, then nodded, apparently understanding.

Lengzi grabbed Ershuan's arm, "What does Xiaoqiu mean? Go with it? Where to?"

Ershuan freed his arm, winking at his friends to reassure them, indicating that Xiaoqiu had a plan.

Xiaoqiu slowly approached the officer.

The officer had fainted near the middle of the snake's body. Xiaoqiu, with his back to the snake's head, knelt down and pushed the officer hard.

The officer slowly opened his eyes, first looking at Xiaoqiu in confusion, then noticing the huge, slippery snake body beside him. He sat up abruptly, mouth wide open, about to scream again.

Xiaoqiu covered the officer's mouth, "Don't scream, what good will it do?"

The officer's eyes were wide open, and he nodded勉强地.

"Are you calm now?"

The officer nodded again.

"Can you stand up?"

The officer nodded once more.

Xiaoqiu moved his hand from the officer's mouth and, with the other hand, handed him a stack of paper talismans.

The officer was surprised, understanding Xiaoqiu's intention. He finally got back his protective paper talismans, but he lacked the courage to use them, "My legs..."

Xiaoqiu helped the officer stand up, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him, "Are you feeling better? Can you walk?"

The officer first nodded, then shook his head, not daring to look at the snake demon.

Xiaoqiu really wanted to punch the officer like Ershuan did. A member of the Xuanfu Army, who was strict and cold when dealing with prisoners, was now as scared as a sheep, even less brave than the most timid young person in Ye Lin Town. Fangfang, a girl, was not as helpless as him.

The snake's head moved closer, stopping a few feet away to observe the two humans. The officer was about to collapse again, but Xiaoqiu held him up and tried to shield the paper talismans from the snake demon.

"If you can't move, I'll have to give you to it to fill its stomach," Xiaoqiu said, secretly gripping the dagger, ready to fight if there was no other way out.

The officer, after regaining his composure from extreme fear, said, "I can move, don't, don't give me to it."

Xiaoqiu took a step forward, facing the snake's head, which was taller than himself, and shouted, "Where are we going? Are we leaving now?"

The snake's head slowly lifted, stopping at a height of over ten feet, looking down at the tiny humans. A green light flashed in its lantern-like yellow eyes, moving from left to right and quickly disappearing. Then, it opened its mouth, revealing long fangs and a deep, dark hole.

"What is it doing? Isn't it supposed to capture prisoners?" Xiaoqiu asked, puzzled.

The officer, the only one with some knowledge of demons, gathered his courage, "It's not taking us away. It's absorbing human essence to strengthen its demon body, so it needs us alive. Only living people..."

He couldn't continue, wishing he could faint again to make the snake demon lose interest.

Xiaoqiu was actually very scared, but the fear didn't make him lose his courage. Instead, it fueled his determination in the dire situation. He suddenly drew his dagger and shouted loudly, ready to face the enemy.

The snake demon was unmoved; the more active the prey, the better for strengthening its demon body.

Xiaoqiu's brave action inspired the trapped young people. Ershuan raised his long sword with both hands and charged at the nearest part of the snake's body, shouting even louder than Xiaoqiu.

Ershuan swung his sword at the snake, hoping to cut a path through. With a loud thud, the sharp talisman sword failed to cut even a single scale and was deflected into the air, landing heavily on the ground. Ershuan, undeterred, pounced on the snake and bit it.

The snake demon was indifferent to such attacks and opened its mouth to approach the nearest human.

The black hole drew closer, and Xiaoqiu continued to shout loudly. Behind him, the officer finally gathered enough courage and raised his right hand, "Wheel Slash!"

A wheel-like white light shot out from the officer's hand, heading straight for the snake demon's yellow eyes.

This was not a desperate strike from a young person but the powerful force of a first-class paper talisman from Xijie Kingdom. The snake demon, clearly not expecting this, turned its head to avoid the light.

The snake demon's evasive action boosted the officer's confidence. He continued to throw paper talismans, shouting names like "Hundred Steps Strike" and "Explosive Ice Divine Spike," but not the invisibility talisman or the compass talisman he had mentioned earlier.

Xiaoqiu hadn't thought about this, but he felt the officer was acting too quickly and inaccurately. After throwing over a dozen paper talismans, he only managed to make the snake's head rise a bit, without hitting it once.

"Hit the body! Hit the body!" Xiaoqiu shouted, but the officer, acting like a madman, couldn't stop until he ran out of talismans and looked at Xiaoqiu in shock, "No, no more."

The snake demon was enraged. Its head swayed in the air and then dived down, intending to end the fight quickly.

At the same moment, Xiaoqiu made his move, pouncing on the snake and thrusting his dagger with all his might. Knowing it was futile, he refused to back down.

Puff!

To everyone's surprise, the dagger pierced through the scales and into the snake's body.

The snake demon was even more surprised. Though the dagger was not long, it was wary. The snake's head rose again, and its body shook violently, throwing Xiaoqiu and the dagger away.

"Right, use the dagger! Use the dagger! It's a treasure that has killed demons," the officer shouted, remembering that the dagger was his and a magical item with a significant history. He shouted while running backward, hoping to stay away from the snake's head.

Xiaoqiu got up from the ground, emboldened by the successful strike, and charged forward again.

Ershuan, who had been stunned, ran a few steps, picked up the long sword from the ground, and shouted, following Xiaoqiu to attack the snake's head.

The desire to be the leader of the young people from Ye Lin Town overcame all fear. Even if it meant jumping into a bottomless pit, Ershuan would follow without hesitation.

The other young people also shouted, though they were still too scared to move. Their cheers were loud and continuous, several faces turning red from the effort.

The sharp voices combined into a high-pitched, powerful sound, and the snake demon seemed to be intimidated. Its yellow eyes retreated a few feet and then quickly changed direction, showing signs of fleeing.

Xiaoqiu and Ershuan's confidence grew. They couldn't believe that a snake demon that ten Xuanfu Army soldiers couldn't defeat would be afraid of two children. They sped up to chase it.

The snake demon really fled, in a panic, circling a large tree. Its body, as thick as the tree trunk, moved like a small mountain, sliding past the two brave young people and sweeping them away with its tail.

Xiaoqiu felt something land in his arms and instinctively grabbed it. When he looked down, he saw the head of the bald man, still wearing a frozen, silly smile. Xiaoqiu's hair stood on end, and he instinctively threw the head away with both hands, discarding the last part of the bald man.

Seeing Xiaoqiu and Ershuan so easily knocked away, the young people's shouts weakened. They suddenly realized that someone else had scared the snake demon away.

"Clang..."

The sound of a copper bell rang out, and a beam of light descended diagonally from the sky, landing between the snake demon and the young people. The light faded, revealing a person. Everyone except Fangfang and the officer recognized this person.

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