Snake Spirit

A hazy light lit up inside the temple's main hall. Its radiance spread outward, driving the darkness back three zhang, while the temple walls remained untouched by the light.

At that moment, Fang Mu heard a terrified hiss.

The Green Snake that Fang Mu had sliced away was giving off streaks of azure light, resisting the darkness outside the temple walls.

Its body had been cut into two pieces, and it was now struggling to leap inside the walls.

Yet the shadows drifting through the darkness suddenly swarmed over and seized both halves of the Green Snake's body.

The Green Snake let out a shrill, agonized cry. The azure light on its body seemed capable of injuring the shadows.

But countless shadows seemed unwilling to let it go, throwing themselves at it one after another as if it were a feast.

Fang Mu watched as the Green Snake was swallowed by countless shadows and slowly dragged backward into the darkness behind it.

The Green Snake struggled violently, trying to break free of the shadows and rush into the temple walls, but it was clearly fighting a losing battle. Countless shadows dragged it toward the darkness behind it.

Watching the frenzied shadows in the darkness, Fang Mu could not help feeling his scalp go numb with terror.

Fortunately, those shadows did not attack him. Otherwise, Fang Mu reckoned he would have turned and dashed into the temple.

At that moment, the Green Snake suddenly hissed toward Fang Mu on the temple wall, its eyes filled with intense pleading and unwillingness.

"Consider yourself lucky!" Fang Mu cursed under his breath.

With no time to think, he made up his mind and shot forward with Fang Jing, chasing after the Green Snake being dragged away.

As the golden light shone upon the shadows, they let out shrill cries and directly dissolved into wisps of black smoke.

The golden light enveloped the half of the Green Snake's body that still had its head. Demon Vine suddenly shot out, coiling around the Green Snake and binding it tightly.

At that moment, a series of booming impacts and sharp cries rang out.

Countless shadows suddenly slammed into the golden light radiating from the Golden Sword.

The Golden Sword's radiance was like a wall of light. The shadows could not break through it and found it difficult to harm Fang Mu, Fang Jing, or the Green Snake.

Under Fang Mu's urging, the Golden Sword's radiance suddenly flared, shining several meters outward and forming a safe zone cloaked in golden light.

Countless shadows shrieked and dissolved into black smoke, but many more still surged forward one after another. Seemingly intent on devouring the Green Snake, they had grown somewhat crazed.

The other half of the Green Snake's body had already been dragged away. By now, not even its dregs were probably left.

Those shadows attacking so frantically had likely gotten a taste of sweetness, which was why they had become so mad.

Under the countless shadows' frenzied assault, Fang Mu was shocked to discover that the Golden Sword's energy was slowly diminishing. The golden light seemed to be suffering considerable depletion.

This discovery nearly scared Fang Mu to death. If the golden light vanished, he would not dare let Fang Jing risk her life to save him again.

With Fang Jing on his back, Fang Mu grabbed the Green Snake wrapped in Demon Vine and hurried toward the temple's wall of light.

"Bang!"

With a thunderous boom, Fang Mu slammed directly into the wall of light and was bounced away.

Fortunately, he had been prepared. He flipped nimbly in midair and landed, escaping with barely a scratch.

"Damn it!"

Fang Mu could not help cursing under his breath as he flashed to the side of the wall of light.

Fang Mu raised his fist and hammered it down. When he struck with all his strength, it felt as though he had punched cotton, failing to stir the slightest ripple.

Unwilling to accept it, he struck with all his might more than a dozen times, only to discover that he truly could do nothing to the wall of light.

The wall of light clearly had no intention of letting Fang Mu enter, which infuriated him.

Fang Mu swung the Golden Sword, cleaving into the wall of light. The wall shook violently beneath the blow, but the slash still failed to shatter it.

Unwilling to give up, Fang Mu was about to hack at it several more times when the Green Snake wrapped in Demon Vine hissed several times.

Fang Mu looked at the Green Snake in confusion and realized that it seemed to have something to say.

Fang Mu manipulated Demon Vine to release the Green Snake's head, but he did not loosen its half-body.

If it dared to make trouble, Fang Mu was confident he could cut it down at the first opportunity.

The Green Snake clearly knew its situation. It did not dare attack Fang Mu again. Instead, it spat out a stream of azure light that enveloped the wall of light.

To Fang Mu's surprise, the azure light spat out by the Green Snake actually tore open a gap.

With no time to think, Fang Mu grabbed the Green Snake and hurriedly leaped through the gap.

After Fang Mu entered the wall of light, the azure light dissipated, and the gap in the wall slowly repaired itself.

Keeping watch on the direction of the main hall, he found it unnaturally quiet inside, with no sounds coming from within.

Fang Mu sensed an intense aura of danger from the Buddha statues in the main hall. That was why he had withdrawn without hesitation earlier.

Watching the Golden Sword's radiance gradually dim, Fang Mu felt his dream of running rampant through the darkness shatter. Although the golden light could hold back the darkness, it could not stop the shadows.

Once attacked, the golden light would be heavily depleted. Once it was exhausted, what awaited him would be a thoroughly miserable end.

With no time to think, Fang Mu carried Fang Jing on his back and manipulated Demon Vine to coil around the Green Snake's head.

Then he flashed to a side hall, pushed open its dilapidated door, and entered.

The side hall was empty, filled with dust and rubble. Quite a few bones lay scattered there. Fang Mu also caught the faint scent of blood, along with a foul stench of decay.

There were no Buddha statues in the side hall. It had probably once been a place of residence, but it had long since fallen into ruin and become the lair of various wild beasts.

Through his black pupils, Fang Mu saw quite a few wild beasts hiding in the dark corners of the side hall.

But they made no sound and did not attack Fang Mu. Although they all revealed hostility, they maintained their silence.

He quietly reached a shadowy corner and hid behind a wooden beam. Then Fang Mu rested the Golden Sword against the Green Snake's head.

"I saved your life, so your life belongs to me."

"If you acknowledge my younger sister Fang Jing as your master, I will let you go. Otherwise, keeping you around is useless. I can only send you on your way."

The Green Snake did not quite understand what "send you on your way" meant, but it understood the meaning behind Fang Mu's words.

But it was unwilling to submit. Its little eyes turned as it began making its own calculations.

"If you dare play tricks, watch yourself—I'll smash your snake head."

Fang Mu gripped the Green Snake with one hand and squeezed hard enough to make it cry out. It nodded repeatedly in agreement.

An azure soul-form surged into Fang Jing's body.

Immediately afterward, Fang Jing suddenly clutched her head and began screaming in pain.

"Xiao Jing!" Fang Mu was alarmed. He angrily tightened his grip on the Green Snake and was about to extend his divine sense into Fang Jing's sea of consciousness to examine it.

At that moment, the Green Snake let out a shrill, agonized cry. The scales covering its body suddenly shattered, and a great deal of blood spilled out.

The blood surged toward Fang Jing and gathered on her arm, forming the pattern of a small blood-red snake.

Fang Jing suddenly opened her eyes. Her gaze was cold as she looked at the Green Snake and said icily, "You little mudfish. How dare you, with such audacity, try to turn guest into host?"

"Bang!"

With a thunderous boom, a shadow let out a scream and was sent flying like a torn sack.

Fang Mu stared in astonishment. He had noticed the shadow sneaking closer and sensed that its aura was not weak.

Yet he had never expected Fang Jing merely to raise a hand and lightly tap, sending the attacking shadow screaming through the air.

When Fang Jing's icy gaze swept over him, Fang Mu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cavern.

"Xiao Jing!"

Seeing Fang Jing suddenly faint, Fang Mu cried out and caught her.

After propping her against a wooden pillar, he checked her pulse and found that she seemed merely unconscious, with no serious problem.

"Damn piece of trash!"

Fang Mu angrily beat the Green Snake he held in his hand.

This bastard had actually harbored ulterior motives. Although he did not know how Fang Jing had protected herself and successfully contracted the Green Snake, Fang Mu felt that he had been far too careless and had nearly harmed Fang Jing.