Red Luo Stone

Zhao Ke looked around again and saw that this was no temple at all, but ruins in some unknown place.

"Slap, slap, slap..."

Looking down, he saw the ground covered in tiny snakes. Like rattlesnakes, they slapped their tails against one another, producing that hallucination-inducing sound.

"Ahhh... This feels so good!"

The fat man who had been sitting beside Zhao Ke earlier sat on a rock with his eyes rolled back. A huge snake was tightly coiled around him as he let out weak moans.

The huge snake opened its mouth and inhaled. A wisp of vitality flowed from the fat man's nose and mouth, endlessly sucked into the snake's maw. The fat man's skin immediately began to shrivel, and he aged several years in an instant.

But he did not die, merely fell unconscious. This was a long-term business, after all—they could not just kill everyone.

What surprised Zhao Ke, however, was that after the huge snakes drained people's vitality, they did not consume it themselves. Instead, they gathered it into a ball in their mouths and sprayed it onto a fist-sized stone behind them.

Having absorbed the vitality regurgitated by the snakes, the jewel became increasingly crimson and glossy, flashing with an eerie rainbow glow.

Only then did the huge snakes reveal satisfied expressions. They turned around and began swallowing the corpses that had been drained dry of vitality.

"Don't be afraid. I'll make your death very pleasant."

At that moment, Zhao Ke's earlobe grew hot. The snake face before him gradually revealed a woman's face, pressing intimately against his cheek. The snake woman opened her mouth wider and wider.

"No, don't!"

Seeing Zhao Ke's deathly pale face, she felt immensely pleased. Her heart brimmed with delight; in her eyes, Zhao Ke was already food on her plate.

Her thick snake body was tightly coiled around Zhao Ke's waist. Even if he woke from the illusion, there was no way he could break free.

Yet just as she opened her mouth to its widest extent, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a cunning, icy gleam in Zhao Ke's eyes. Her heart lurched, but before she could react—

"Pfft!"

A wrenching pain tore through her. She felt as though she had been struck by lightning as a dagger viciously plunged into her mouth.

The dagger sank all the way to the hilt. Zhao Ke gave it a fierce slash, instantly cutting a bone-deep gash inside the snake's mouth.

"Ah!"

Overwhelmed by the pain, the snake woman no longer cared about Zhao Ke. With a sweep of her tail, she flung him away.

Zhao Ke rolled across the ground. Looking up, he saw that the surrounding huge snakes had immediately fixed their gazes on him after hearing the commotion.

"Hisss..."

A human face gradually emerged on a white snake's head. Zhao Ke recognized it as the old cultivator. He slithered toward Zhao Ke, and that once-kind face was now filled with savagery.

"Benefactor, why are you leaving before you've had your fill of fun?"

Zhao Ke swept his gaze past the white snake toward the gemstone behind him. His eyes narrowed. Rather than retreating, he gritted his teeth and charged at the white snake in a single stride.

Seeing Zhao Ke actually rush toward him, the white snake grinned. Opening his mouth, he bit down at Zhao Ke's head with swift, brutal force. He clearly had no intention of leaving Zhao Ke any chance to live, planning to bite him to death first.

A white blur flashed past, so fast it was staggering. The old nun nearly swallowed half of Zhao Ke in one bite, but the instant she bit down, the huge snake's eyes abruptly widened.

A Great Iron Pot was jammed tightly in her mouth, hurting so badly that her eyes went unfocused.

Zhao Ke had looted this Great Iron Pot from Xiong Er's home and stored it in the Post Album in case of emergencies. He had not expected it to come in handy here.

The pot was cast from pure pig iron and weighed more than fifty pounds. If he had not equipped the Bear Coat stamp, doubling his strength, he would never have been able to lift it.

Zhao Ke gave a cold smile. Taking advantage of the old nun's distraction, he flipped over her body, leaped behind her, and grabbed the bright-red gemstone.

The moment the gemstone entered his hand, a chill surged from it. It was icy cold, like a lump of ice, cold enough to sting his hand. Zhao Ke could not help shivering as he thought, Convert!

His palm suddenly felt lighter. Zhao Ke had already sensed changes in his Post Album and could not help feeling delighted. A pot for a gemstone—what a steal!

But just as he was secretly rejoicing, he suddenly heard something slicing through the air behind him. He instinctively ducked, feeling a fierce gust brush past his hair.

"Bang!" A rock in front of him shattered. Looking again, Zhao Ke saw that it was the iron pot. The corner of his mouth twitched. If he had not dodged quickly, his head would have been smashed open.

"Rip him apart!"

The old cultivator turned around and saw that his Red Luo Pearl was gone. His eyes immediately reddened as he shouted for the other snake women to attack Zhao Ke.

In truth, he did not need to give the order. The snake women were already lunging at Zhao Ke from all sides. The Red Luo Pearl was as precious to them as their very lives. Their eyes were red with fury, and they wanted nothing more than to tear Zhao Ke to pieces.

Yet before they could reach him, Zhao Ke's lips curved slightly. He waved at those demons and monsters, silently chanting, Return!

"Bang!"

Several snake women pounced, only to catch empty air. Zhao Ke's figure gradually turned insubstantial, vanishing bit by bit into the air.

"No!"

The white snake transformed from the old cultivator widened his eyes. His chest heaved violently before he spat out a mouthful of blood, his enormous body crashing heavily to the ground.

Zhao Ke's vision immediately went black. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself still standing outside the shop.

Looking at the electronic clock hanging inside the doorway, he saw that the time was still on the day he had entered the horror space. It seemed as though he had only stood there for a few minutes.

Then he looked at the package in his hand and patted his numb face. He even began to wonder whether he had just had a dream.

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Ke walked back into the shop, shut the door, and placed the package on the table. After thinking for a while, he did not open it. Instead, with a thought, he summoned his Post Album.

First, he wanted to confirm that his earlier experience had not been an illusion. Second, he wanted to confirm exactly what he had obtained in Fragrant Mountain Nunnery.

A heavy Post Album floated before him at his command.

The lines around its four corners had been worn smooth, exposing a bright bronze color that gave off an indescribable feeling beneath the lights.

Seeing the floating Post Album before him, Zhao Ke's eyes lit up. Though his face remained calm, he could not suppress the excitement in his heart.

Opening the Post Album, he saw that many stamps had already been affixed inside. Yet two of them stood out glaringly among the rest.

One was the Bear Coat, which glimmered with black light. Against its dark-green background hung a bloody bear pelt, blood dripping down from it. Looking closely, one could even get the illusion that the bear pelt was faintly writhing, as though it were still alive.

It was all thanks to this stamp. If it had not activated the Post Album's permissions in advance and doubled his strength, Zhao Ke did not know whether he could have returned alive from Zhuangyuan Tower.

But one thing was certain: he absolutely would not have gained this much.

Zhao Ke turned his gaze to the other stamp, his eyes filled with anticipation. A treasure that could make those snake demons so agitated surely could not be bad.

It was a very strange stamp. A white snake coiled within it, holding a stone in its mouth—the blood-red gemstone that emitted a sinister crimson glow. After Zhao Ke stared at it for a few moments, his chest began to feel tight and nauseous. Alarmed, he quickly looked away.

Only after some time did the tightness in his chest fade. When he looked at the notes below, Zhao Ke's brows immediately furrowed.

Material Stamp (Rare): Red Luo Stone

Special Use 1: Absorption

Use the vitality within the Red Luo Stone to increase one's own strength.

(Note: The user must possess a certain degree of special power. Ordinary people cannot absorb it, and prolonged contact poses a fatal danger.)

Special Use 2: Crafting

The Red Luo Stone can be used to create items with hallucinatory abilities. The strength of the effect depends on the maker's skill.

(Note: Red Luo Stone powder causes powerful hallucinations.)

Seeing the notes below, Zhao Ke felt an indescribable disappointment. Though the stamp bore the word "rare," it seemed useless to him for the time being.

But on second thought, since it had made the old cultivator so anxious and enraged, its use could not be as poor as he imagined. He could not use it now, but perhaps it would prove useful someday.

With that thought, he put away the Post Album and turned his gaze toward the package on the table.