Taking a Snakewoman Slave

"What did you do to me?" Yue Mei cried in terror. Something had been branded into her soul, and she could not drive it out.

"Just a Soul Fire Seal." Lu Bu chuckled. "Now, if I wish it, your soul will be burned away completely and turned into nothingness. Little snakewoman, you'd better behave obediently~"

Yue Mei's face turned utterly grim. This bastard really intended to make her his slave!

"Bastard, I'll kill you!" Yue Mei shrieked. Her snake tail lashed, venomous fangs extended from her mouth, and she pounced at Lu Bu like lightning.

Smack!

Lu Bu lightly snapped his fingers. Yue Mei's delicate body, which had been rushing at him, shuddered. She clutched her head and rolled across the ground, feeling a searing agony blaze through her soul.

"Ah—!!"

The agony of having one's soul burned was not so easy to endure. With nothing more than a thought from Lu Bu, she was completely subdued.

"Bastard, stop it... Ah!!"

"Little snakewoman, call me Master!" Lu Bu said with a hum.

"Ahh... Damn it, it hurts like hell!" Yue Mei screamed repeatedly. Her long body twisted continuously through the sand, scattering grit everywhere and plowing deep furrows into the ground.

Lu Bu watched her wail quietly, showing no pity just because she was a beautiful snakewoman. As a dignified man, Lu Bu was determined to accomplish great things. How could he be some lustful fool who pitied pretty women?

"Master, Master, please spare me. I know I was wrong... Master!" Unable to endure the pain any longer, Yue Mei finally bowed her head.

Lu Bu nodded in satisfaction and snapped his fingers. The Spirit Fire released by the Soul Fire Seal began to contract. Yue Mei, wracked by pain, lay in the sand drenched in cold sweat, panting heavily.

"How was that?" Lu Bu asked with a smile.

"You..."

"Hm?"

"..." Yue Mei's heart clenched, and she obediently swallowed the curse that had reached her lips.

"Eat this." Lu Bu tossed her a jade bottle with a smile.

Yue Mei's cheek twitched. She did not want to eat it, but looking at Lu Bu's handsome, smiling face, she knew perfectly well what would happen if she refused.

Her fair jade-like hand trembled as she opened the bottle. A rich medicinal fragrance immediately rushed toward her.

Hm? A pill?

And one of no low grade, at that!

Yue Mei was instantly startled. She knew this man was a fairly high-level alchemist, but... wasn't this too wasteful? This pill was at least Fourth Grade.

"What... kind of pill is this?" Yue Mei swallowed it and immediately felt a coolness wash over her soul, leaving her incomparably comfortable.

"It nourishes the soul." Lu Bu flicked his sleeve and chuckled. Using Spirit Fire consumed power, so he had refined quite a few pills to nourish the soul. This time, he had given one to Yue Mei.

"You..." Yue Mei's expression became complicated. She could not understand what Lu Bu meant. He had already controlled her, so why give her such a precious pill?

"M-Master, may I ask what your purpose is in coming to the desert?" Yue Mei carefully chose her words before forcing herself to ask.

Someone who could easily subdue her and casually give away a Fourth Grade pill was at least a Sixth Grade Alchemist.

It would not be quite right to say that a Sixth Grade Alchemist was as wealthy as a nation, but it was close enough. What was such a person doing in a desert region like that of the snake people?

Yue Mei bit her red lip. If... this man did anything that endangered the snake people, then even if it cost her life, she would report it to Your Majesty the Queen.

She got into character that quickly? Or was this Stockholm syndrome... Lu Bu smiled. "Heavenly Flames!"

"Heavenly Flames? Then why did you capture me?" Yue Mei froze. What did searching for Heavenly Flames have to do with her?

"You were the one trying to capture me!" Lu Bu's face darkened.

"Was I... Ahahaha, I suppose I was." Yue Mei smiled awkwardly and could not help scratching her head. She had indeed wanted to capture a handsome man before.

Still, Yue Mei's heart relaxed. Good, she would not die. At least, not for now.

"Come on. Take me to your Holy City." Lu Bu gestured with his chin.

"What are you going there for?" Yue Mei's expression changed as she asked warily.

"The Heavenly Flames are in your queen's hands." Lu Bu took out two Seven-colored Snake Scales and waved them around, smiling without quite smiling. "What else did you think I enslaved you for?"

Yue Mei ground her teeth, her face darkening. She wanted to curse him, but did not quite dare.

"Let's go." Lu Bu gave a wicked chuckle, shoved her down with one palm, then plopped down on her butt... No, she had no butt, only a snake tail.

"You...!"

Yue Mei was enraged. This bastard was actually using her as a mount. And here she had been touched by that pill just moments ago.

What a waste of emotion!

"Are you going or not?" Lu Bu snorted, asking with ill intent.

Yue Mei immediately shivered. He holds the knife, and I'm the fish on the chopping block. She could only obey. Taking the Heavenly Flames was fine, but if he wanted to harm Your Majesty the Queen, then even if she died, she would fight him with everything she had!

Yue Mei thought bitterly as she obediently spread her Dou Qi Wings, preparing to take Lu Bu to the Snake People Holy City.

But just then, Lu Bu suddenly slapped the sand with one hand. With a bang, a thunderous sound erupted. The sand beneath them abruptly collapsed, and Yue Mei fell into a pit within the dune along with Lu Bu.

Yue Mei's heart trembled. She thought an enemy had arrived, but quickly realized that Lu Bu had done this.

"My lord, what happened?" Yue Mei asked softly. Before her words had even faded, a layer of sand slowly covered the opening above them.

"Someone's coming, and they're experts!" Lu Bu said with a slight frown. He sensed several powerful auras, including two at the level of Dou Emperors.

His soul power slowly spread out, enveloping both himself and Yue Mei. Yue Mei's heart tightened. Her bright eyes shifted as though she were thinking of something.

Above the dune, four figures sped through the air. Three had wings on their backs, while a black-robed man rode atop a Flying Magical Beast.

"Old He, you said there was a battle here?" A deep, powerful voice came from overhead. Lu Bu raised a brow. Could it be Gu He and the others?

By his reckoning, it did seem to be about time. But... where was Xiao Yan? Why had he not yet arrived in the Tagor Desert?

"You blind lion, aren't those traces on the ground?"

"Looks like it's already over..."

The black-robed man calmly swept his gaze over the ground below before withdrawing it.

"Did Sect Master Yun find anything?" The speaker was a middle-aged man in blue robes. He was the leader of the group, Gu He, known as the Pill King within the Jia Ma Empire.

"No." Yun Yun shook her head slightly and said calmly, "All I can tell is that one side was from the snake people. I can't make out anything about the others. We were a step too late."

Gu He fell briefly silent. After sensing the area for a moment, he said, "Let's go. We'll continue onward. This isn't important."

With that, the four spread their wings and flew away, turning into streaks of light that vanished beyond the horizon.

"Send word to your tribe. Enemies are coming." Lu Bu patted Yue Mei beneath him. "We're leaving too. Straight to your Holy City."

"..."

Yue Mei cursed inwardly. With Gu He, the Pill King, plus the Heavenly Flames Lu Bu had mentioned earlier, it was obvious that Lu Bu had crossed paths with them.

But Yue Mei did not dare object. Her Dou Qi Wings trembled lightly before she shot out of the sand pit, carrying Lu Bu as she streaked through the air toward the snake people.