The Shy Queen Medusa

Seeing this, Queen Medusa could only shake her head helplessly.

After spending some time with Su Baichen, she had long since figured out his mischievous nature and knew he was deliberately teasing the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake again.

Though the snake was enormous, its intelligence was only that of a seven- or eight-year-old child. How could it withstand such teasing from him?

"Ah, young master, stop teasing it." Queen Medusa sighed, her voice carrying a helpless hint of amusement. "It may possess intelligence, but it is ultimately limited. At its current level, it is no smarter than a seven- or eight-year-old child. With all your twists and turns, you might really confuse it."

Only then did Su Baichen carefully inspect the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.

"Uh, I got carried away. I forgot you're different from humans."

Sure enough, both of its heads drooped, and its four huge snake eyes were filled with grievance and confusion. Its earlier eagerness to prove itself, followed by its helplessness after being teased, truly did not seem feigned.

He rubbed his nose, a trace of embarrassment flashing through his heart, then coughed a few times to cover it up.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem—!"

"In these two jade bottles." With a flick of his wrist, two smooth jade bottles appeared in his palm. "One contains a drop of essence blood from a seventh-tier snake-type magical beast. When you reach the sixth tier and attempt to break through to the seventh, it will be of great help. If you're lucky, it may even allow your bloodline to undergo a beneficial evolution."

"The other contains three Fire Lotus Seeds. They hold exceptionally pure and immense fire-element energy, which can aid your cultivation and speed up your progress."

As he spoke, he flicked his fingers. A wisp of pure battle qi wrapped around the two jade bottles and gently sent them floating before the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.

Su Baichen continued, "I've sealed them with battle qi first to prevent the spiritual energy from leaking out. When you need them, just use a little force to shatter the jade bottles."

The Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's aggrieved mood vanished in an instant. Its thick, long tail rose excitedly and swayed from side to side, making the ground tremble slightly with each slap. It was clearly extremely satisfied with the generous reward.

Its two heads moved close to the jade bottles enveloped in the glowing battle qi, carefully sniffing them as it let out cheerful hissing sounds.

Then, as if it had suddenly remembered something, it froze. Raising its two enormous heads, it first looked at Su Baichen, who wore a smile, then turned toward the peerlessly beautiful Queen Medusa. A strangely humanlike look of contemplation appeared in its four snake eyes.

It tilted both heads and fell silent for a moment. Then its eyes suddenly lit up. Images in its mind began replaying and gradually connecting into a possibility, as though a white line had pierced straight through its thoughts and it had suddenly understood something.

Then, beneath the slightly surprised gazes of the two of them, the massive creature awkwardly lowered both heads and gave a small nod in their direction, as though performing a rather unpolished bow.

"Hiss hiss!" (Sir... goodbye!)

"Hiss hiss—!" (Wish you two...!)

It hissed vaguely twice. Without waiting for a response, it curled the tip of its tail around the two glowing orbs, twisted its body, and with a plop, burrowed back beneath the sand. Dust flew everywhere, and it vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Hey! What was that guy muttering before it left? I don't understand snake language!"

Su Baichen was stunned by its sudden bow. Scratching his head, he instinctively turned to look at the only member of the Snake-People Tribe present. "Hey, did you understand it?"

Yet after he asked, the space beside him fell silent. Queen Medusa stood there in a daze, as though her mind had drifted far away.

Two suspicious blushes had appeared on her usually cold and stunning face. Her enchanting peach-blossom eyes shimmered, seeming both shy and delighted, while a faint smile lingered at the corners of her lips. She unexpectedly exuded the bashful charm of a young maiden, utterly unlike the decisive, noble, and regal queen she usually was.

"Damn, where did my murderous queen go?" Su Baichen stared wide-eyed and could not help muttering under his breath. "How did she turn into some lovestruck girl in the blink of an eye? The contrast is way too huge!"

He leaned closer and waved a hand in front of Queen Medusa's face. "Hey! Snap out of it! What are you thinking about so intently? Daydreaming about love? Which sweetheart were you thinking of?"

Queen Medusa was startled awake by the hand waving before her. She abruptly came back to herself, only to meet Su Baichen's inquisitive, teasing face right in front of her. As though he had seen through her thoughts, her cheeks turned even redder with a bang, nearly dripping blood. Her gaze darted about in panic, and even her breathing grew hurried.

"Hey, what's going on with you? I asked you a question." Su Baichen was rather dense. Seeing her unusual reaction, he only grew more curious and bluntly pressed on.

"Ah? Wh-what was it? I didn't hear clearly. Say it again..." Queen Medusa instinctively stepped back half a pace, a faint, almost imperceptible tremor entering her voice as she tried to muddle through.

Hearing that, Su Baichen could only repeat himself helplessly. "I said, what exactly did that Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake say when it was hissing and babbling before it left? You must have understood it, right?"

"After all, you Snake-People are half snake and half human. You should be able to understand that Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's snake language."

"Th-this... How could I possibly understand it? It was just nonsense!" Queen Medusa reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her voice abruptly rose, then she forced herself to calm down and said rapidly, "There are still many urgent matters in the tribe that need handling. This queen shall take her leave first!"

"Yes, that's right. There are still many matters in the tribe that require my attention, so I'll be leaving first."

Before her words had even faded, battle qi surged around her body and turned her into a streak of light. She sped toward the Snake-People Holy City as though fleeing in panic, her retreating figure carrying a distinct air of haste and embarrassment.

Su Baichen stood where he was, watching that beautiful figure swiftly disappear over the horizon. He rubbed his chin in bewilderment. "How strange. I only asked what the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake said. Why was she blushing? She ran faster than a rabbit hit by an arrow..."

He was indeed curious about what the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake had said before leaving that could provoke such a reaction from Queen Medusa.

But on second thought, what earth-shattering words could a little snake whose intelligence had only just awakened possibly say?

It was probably just some childish words of thanks. It did not matter if he never found out.

He shrugged and tossed the minor incident to the back of his mind, completely unaware that a stone had already been cast into a certain queen's heart, sending ripples spreading across its surface.

Meanwhile, in the ears of the queen speeding away, the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's clumsy yet sincere hissing still seemed to echo—the words Su Baichen had failed to understand—"Goodbye, sir and madam!" and "Wish you two...!"