Snake Demon (Part 2)

Yan Chihuo felt as though his body was about to be crushed in two by the great serpent's coils, and he hurriedly activated the Spirit Jade Vajra Art to resist. At that moment, he caught a whiff of a foul stench; looking up, he saw the massive snake head was only a few feet away, clearly intending to swallow him alive.

At this critical juncture, Yan Chihuo abandoned all caution, pushing the Spirit Jade Vajra Art to its limit. His body slipped out another few feet, and twisting sideways, he drove the White Jade Short Sword straight into the serpent's vital spot—seven inches from its head.

Ordinarily, if Yan Chihuo hadn't been bound by the snake's tail, that vital spot would have been heavily guarded, and the serpent would never have given him an opening. But Yan Chihuo had put all his strength into this strike. Even Gao Kun, protected by a Talisman Artifact, couldn't withstand Yan Chihuo's punch; now with a sword in hand, how could this great serpent block it?

This strike carried immense force, burying the entire blade into the serpent's seven-inch spot. The great serpent let out a roar, released its tail, and simultaneously spewed a cloud of venomous mist.

Yan Chihuo reacted swiftly. The moment the serpent loosened its tail, he lunged forward, hugging the snake's body tightly to avoid the poison mist. At the same time, he pulled another White Jade Short Sword from his bosom and stabbed it into the serpent's other eye. With a pop, the blade sank in completely.

The great serpent lunged forward again. Yan Chihuo felt his body go hollow, his muscles spasming uncontrollably. He knew this was the result of the Spirit Jade Vajra Art's internal energy being completely drained. Unable to hold on any longer, he fell from the snake's body.

That lunge carried the great serpent dozens of yards through the air, crashing straight into a distant mountain peak. With a thunderous roar, the serpent smashed against the rock, its brains splattering. It collapsed to the ground, not yet dead, writhing and twisting, its massive tail thrashing wildly, sending sand and stones flying and snapping trees. After a long while, the great serpent finally stilled, motionless—clearly dead.

Yan Chihuo lay on the ground. The wound under his ribs had already torn open, and several fresh cuts from flying stones covered his body. Blood and dust mingled together, leaving him in an indescribably wretched state.

He glanced at Qu Wuxing and the other two. Qu Wuxing had been gravely injured by the massive boulder, unconscious and unable to move. Yun Zaitian lay fallen on the ground, his condition unknown. Tong Huaibing's face was covered in black qi, deeply poisoned.

Taking a deep breath, Yan Chihuo tremblingly pulled out some Gold Trauma Medicine from his bosom, applied it to the wound under his ribs, then lay back down, silently circulating the Spirit Jade Vajra Art to recover his true qi. After more than two hours, he finally felt some improvement, but his true qi had only recovered to about seventy percent. Since his Spirit Jade Vajra Art had advanced the previous night, recovery naturally took a bit longer.

He stood up and first checked on Tong Huaibing, finding him still alive. He took out a few antidote pills from his bosom and placed them in Tong Huaibing's mouth. Then he went to Qu Wuxing's side and channeled a stream of true qi into him. After about half a cup of tea's time, Qu Wuxing slowly regained consciousness. Yan Chihuo withdrew his true qi and said, "Heal yourself."

He then went to Yun Zaitian's side and found that both his arm bones and over a dozen ribs on both sides were completely broken. With a sigh, he slowly set the bones and applied Gold Trauma Medicine.

After finishing all this, he looked at Tong Huaibing again. Though there was no improvement, there was no worsening either. He thought to himself, "This demon snake's venom is truly formidable."

He channeled another stream of true qi into Tong Huaibing, then withdrew it with a sigh. Tong Huaibing's body had been thoroughly tainted by the potent poison; even if he survived, he would be crippled.

Seeing that all three were immobile, Yan Chihuo looked around and spotted the cave. After a moment's thought, he entered it alone. The cave was quite spacious, with nothing inside but a foul, fishy smell. Since the three couldn't walk today, this place would serve as a resting spot.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed seven or eight unknown medicinal herbs growing in a corner of the cave. His heart stirred, and he thought, "Where venomous snakes lurk, the antidote to their poison is always within seven steps. This is the universal principle of mutual restraint between all things in heaven and earth. Could these herbs be the antidote to the snake venom?"

He walked over. The herbs had a rather unpleasant odor, but he didn't care. He dug them all up and carried them out of the cave. First, he fed one herb into Tong Huaibing's mouth. Tong Huaibing chewed a few times and swallowed. After a moment, he let out a groan, his limbs curling up—clearly in great pain.

Yan Chihuo was not alarmed but pleased, knowing that Tong Huaibing's life was saved. If the herb had been ineffective, Tong Huaibing would never have felt pain. He carried Qu Wuxing and the other two into the cave one by one, then called the horses over and tied them to a nearby tree.

After all this, he felt hungry, but he had no rations on him. He glanced at the great serpent and thought, "Snake meat isn't bad." So he walked over. The White Jade Short Sword that had been stabbed into the serpent's eye had shattered on impact with the mountain peak, but the one lodged in the seven-inch spot was still intact.

He walked up, pulled out the short sword, and slit open the serpent along the wound. He had expected the skin of this demon snake to be tough to cut, but now that it was dead, the corpse was surprisingly easy to handle.

He cut off several large chunks of snake meat, but then noticed a palm-sized scale on the serpent's neck with strange patterns on it. These patterns bore some resemblance to those on Gao Kun's Wooden Sword and the Jade Box.

His heart stirred. He shaved off the scale and examined it closely, then took out Gao Kun's Wooden Sword from his back. Indeed, the patterns on the sword and the scale came from the same source, yet they were distinctly different.

He also took out the Jade Box from his bosom and glanced at it, finding that its patterns were different from the scale's as well. He tried cutting the snake meat with the sword and shook his head. Aside from being hard, the sword was useless; it was even less effective than a kitchen knife for cutting meat. Still, since this Wooden Sword was ultimately a cultivator's item, he didn't discard it and put it back on his back.

The patterns on the Wooden Sword and the Jade Box were more complex than those on the scale. The sword's patterns seemed to form a complete set, while the scale's patterns were a collection of several incomplete, different sets arranged separately.

He thought, "This snake spirit's belongings are likely no small matter. I'll keep them." He also noticed the great serpent's two fangs, which looked extremely sharp, and removed them as well.

After that, he slit open the serpent's belly and took out the gallbladder and a Snake Sac. Snake gallbladders were always useful in medicine, and the gallbladder of a snake spirit would be even more effective. As for the Snake Sac, he was certain it was the poison sac. The venom was so potent that discarding it would be a waste.