Ye Xiu settled down in the Snake-Person Tribe.
If word got out, people across the Jia Ma Empire would probably be stunned. A human had gone to the Snake-Person Tribe—and Queen Medusa herself had asked him to stay. Wasn't that just asking for death?
But the truth was, not only was Ye Xiu still alive, he had become the first human in the history of the Snake-Person Race to be treated as an honored guest.
Of course, "honored guest" really just meant he was under watch.
The Snake-People looked at him as if he were some strange, rare magical beast. Some were wary, others curious, and a few young snake-women had an inexplicable look in their eyes.
Ye Xiu didn't care. He went about his business as usual.
Early the next morning, he went to see Medusa.
In the palace, Medusa sat on her throne, still wearing that same icy expression.
Ye Xiu tossed her a piece of paper.
"This is the Soul-Melting Pill recipe. You provide the ingredients."
Medusa took it and glanced over it, her brows drawing together.
"These ingredients won't come cheap."
Ye Xiu smiled. "Your Majesty, if a Sixth-Grade Pill were cheap, would it still be a Sixth-Grade Pill? Besides, your Snake-People have been living in the desert for all these years. Surely you can scrape together these few things?"
Medusa said nothing. She put the recipe away.
"By the way, there's one more thing," Ye Xiu said. "Your Majesty should sign a Soul Contract with me first."
Medusa looked up at him, her tone aloof. "Why are you in such a hurry?"
Ye Xiu shrugged. "The sooner we sign, the sooner we can relax. You don't trust me, and I don't trust you. Once we've signed the contract, we can both sleep soundly."
Medusa fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine."
A Soul Contract was, simply put, a guarantee made with blood and soul. Each person forced out a drop of heart's blood and merged it into the other's soul.
Once the contract was established, anyone who dared to break it would have their soul blown to pieces. Not even the gods could save them.
Ye Xiu and Medusa stood facing each other and closed their eyes at the same time.
Ye Xiu felt a chilly presence seep in through the space between his brows and take root deep within his soul. At the same time, a drop of his vital essence blood merged into Medusa's soul.
The sensation was extraordinary.
It was as if an invisible thread had suddenly appeared between them, letting them sense each other's presence.
After roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, the contract was complete.
Ye Xiu opened his eyes and met Medusa's gaze.
Their eyes met briefly, then they both looked away.
"That's done." Ye Xiu let a meaningful smile flicker across his face, then said, "I'll head back. Call me when Your Majesty has gathered the ingredients."
With that, he left.
Medusa sat on her throne, watching his back disappear through the doorway. Her brows furrowed slightly, and she sat motionless for a long time, as if deep in thought.
A month passed quickly.
The Snake-People were fairly efficient. One by one, they found the ingredients for the Soul-Melting Pill. Some came from the tribe's stores, some were found by people sent into the depths of the desert, and others were bought at high prices from passing merchant caravans.
Ye Xiu kept busy during that month, too.
He lived in a small courtyard on the eastern side of the tribe. When he had nothing else to do, he cultivated or refined a few batches of pills for practice. Sometimes, he went out for a walk around the tribe.
The Snake-People gradually got used to having a human among them, their initial wariness fading over time.
Unexpectedly, the person who came to see him most often was Medusa.
For some reason, the woman kept showing up every few days. Sometimes she asked him about Heavenly Flames, sometimes they talked about this and that, and sometimes she simply sat there without saying a word.
At first, Ye Xiu found it strange. Eventually, he got used to it.
He also noticed that Medusa seemed to look at him differently since they had signed the Soul Contract.
He had always thought she was beautiful, but too cold and dangerous. One glance was enough to tell that she was not to be trifled with. Now, she was still cold and dangerous, but somehow she didn't seem as intimidating.
Sometimes, when she sat in the courtyard with the setting sun shining on her face, Ye Xiu thought she was actually quite beautiful.
She wasn't just stunningly beautiful—she was the kind of beautiful one could never tire of looking at.
Medusa herself might not even have noticed that she was coming to see Ye Xiu more and more often.
Sometimes she came during the day, sometimes at night, and sometimes she even showed up in the middle of the night, claiming she needed to keep an eye on him to make sure he wasn't plotting against the Snake-People.
The Snake-People had begun whispering about the whole situation.
Ye Xiu was sometimes at a loss, but he didn't say anything.
He could tell that Medusa's gaze was changing, too. At first, she had been wary and appraising. Gradually, she had grown curious, and then... how could he put it? She looked at him almost like an acquaintance.
Once, Ye Xiu was refining pills in the courtyard while Medusa watched. When he finished a batch, she suddenly said, "In all my years, this is the first time I've seen an Alchemist refine pills so quickly and steadily."
Ye Xiu looked up at her. "Well?"
Medusa thought about it, then said, "Passable."
Ye Xiu paused, then laughed.
This woman didn't even know how to give a compliment.
The days passed one by one.
Sometimes Ye Xiu wondered what the hell was going on. Had he become friends with the Snake-Person Tribe's queen? Who would believe that if he told them?
But he also knew it probably had something to do with the Soul Contract. With their souls bound together, it was only natural they would affect each other over time.
Medusa might have sensed it, too, but she didn't say anything. Ye Xiu certainly wasn't going to bring it up.
Some things were better understood without being said. Talking about them would ruin the feeling.
A month later, the ingredients had finally been gathered.
Medusa came to see Ye Xiu herself. She told him the ingredients were ready and asked when he would refine the pill.
"Today," Ye Xiu said.
"Today?" Medaisa paused. "Don't you need to prepare first?"
Ye Xiu smiled. "Prepare for what? It's just pill refining."
Medusa looked at him, a strange glint flashing in her eyes.
After spending this past month together, she had come to feel that this human was uncanny. He was only fifteen or sixteen, yet he spoke and acted more steadily than those old foxes who had lived for decades. Most importantly, he truly wasn't afraid of her.
Who else in the entire Snake-Person Tribe dared to speak to her like that?
Only him.
"Fine," Medusa said. "Then today. We'll refine it at the altar."
Ye Xiu raised a brow. "The altar?"
"It's the most sacred place in the Snake-Person Tribe," Medusa said. "I'll watch you refine it there. And the tribespeople can see for themselves what came of the ingredients they spent a month gathering."
Ye Xiu understood.
The Snake-People had gone to considerable trouble to gather the ingredients for the Soul-Melting Pill.
She wanted them to see that their effort hadn't gone to waste—that this human really did have some skill.
"Fine," Ye Xiu said. "The altar, then."
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