An Unexpected Delight

"Yingying~"

Seeing the enemies dealt with, Ling Er nimbly wriggled out of Yao Yan's arms and leaped onto his shoulder. Then she proudly raised her little head, looking utterly unruly as she watched the mercenaries and Snake-People around them bow in awe. Her fluffy tail swished back and forth.

Fox Borrowing Tiger's Might... Yao Yan glanced at the little creature on his shoulder before coldly sweeping his gaze over the mercenaries. "Put down all the food and water you're carrying. Oh, and the maps too."

The mercenaries exchanged looks. Then one of them raised a trembling hand and pointed at the Boss who had been beaten to death. "M-My lord, everything is in the boss's Storage Ring."

Yao Yan looked at the Boss he had killed with a single punch. Soul Power surged from between his brows, enveloping the man's body. A moment later, a Storage Ring slipped off the Boss's finger and flew into Yao Yan's hand, its contents appearing in his mind.

The space inside was small. It was a low-grade Storage Ring.

"Found it!"

Yao Yan curled his lips into a smile as a detailed map of the Tagor Desert landed in his hand. It even marked several Snake-People Tribe settlements in detail, but compared to those, he cared more about the words written along the edge of the map: Jia Ma Empire!

Seeing those words, the smile on his lips deepened.

It had practically fallen into his lap.

After surviving a Space Storm, his luck seemed to have improved.

The mercenary who had spoken earlier looked at Yao Yan with reverence and cautiously asked, "My lord, may we leave now?"

"Go."

Yao Yan was in an excellent mood and waved his hand, signaling that they could leave.

As for killing them to silence them and prevent information about him from leaking, he truly was not concerned. Compared to the Medicine World and the Shennong Mountain Range, the Jia Ma Empire was practically a beginner village on the Dou Qi Continent. Its strongest experts were merely a few Peak Dou Emperors; it did not even have a single Dou Zong.

As long as he did not court death by provoking several Peak Dou Emperors into surrounding and killing him, there was truly nothing to fear in this beginner village.

"Thank you for sparing our lives, my lord."

The surrounding mercenaries thanked Yao Yan profusely, then ran toward the distant horizon beneath the setting sun, their shadows stretching long behind them.

Yao Yan turned to the remaining Snake-People. There were both men and women among them, their hands bound in Shackles. They did not leave immediately, uncertain of Yao Yan's attitude. One by one, they kept their eyes lowered, displaying submission while concealing the anger in their eyes.

The conflict between the Snake-People Tribe and humanity had continued for a thousand years, with the two sides constantly slaughtering one another.

Compared to the vast number of human experts, the Snake-People Tribe was clearly far inferior. As a result, their living conditions had worsened by the day. By now, the Snake-People Tribe had retreated into the depths of the Tagor Desert, yet they still found it difficult to escape humanity's hunting and enslavement.

This hatred ran deep in the heart of nearly every snake-person.

Yet today, they seemed to have encountered an anomaly: an exceptionally beautiful and powerful human youth. With a wave of his hand, he undid the Shackles around their wrists. His eyes were clear and bright, and his voice was calm. "All of you, go. Be careful on the road. If you have a chance to meet the Medusa Queen, give her my regards. I'll visit the Snake-People Tribe in the future."

After saying that, he began studying the map in his hand.

Rather than seeing how beautiful and seductive the Medusa Queen was, he cared more about where Wutan City in the Jia Ma Empire was located. He planned to swap the Xiao Clan's Tou She Ancient God Jade. Until he broke through to the Nine Star Dou Sheng realm, that Tou She Ancient God Jade would disappear forever.

He understood this clearly.

In the final struggle over the Tou She Ancient God's Cave Mansion, the peak of the Nine Star Dou Sheng realm was the price of admission. Without that level of strength, one would not even be qualified to share in the spoils. One could only cheer from the sidelines before ultimately becoming nourishment for Hun Tiandi's ascent to Dou Di.

As for whether the Xiao Clan had Gu Clan experts watching over it, Yao Yan believed they did not. If they had, there would not have been so many troubles later on, nor would the Xiao Clan have been nearly wiped out by the Misty Cloud Sect and Soul Hall.

The Gu Clan did not place much importance on this Tou She Ancient God Jade.

In the Original Work, they had only sent little Gu Xun'er to steal it. It was utterly absurd, as if they were playing a game.

Still, it was understandable.

Only when all eight Tou She Ancient God Jades were united did they become a key. With just one piece, it was merely an ornament, completely useless.

Who in this era could have imagined that the Soul Clan possessed the strength to destroy the Stone Clan, Spirit Clan, and Yao Clan, while quietly extending its hand toward the other three clans as well? They had stolen every Tou She Ancient God Jade stored within their respective realms and had not even feared the several ancient clans joining forces.

Besides this Tou She Ancient God Jade, Yao Lao's Storage Ring was also a target. Whether it was his Bone Spirit Cold Fire or the Flame Mantra, Yao Yan wanted them both.

"We need to move quickly. Delays breed trouble. I wonder whether Gu Xun'er has gone to the Xiao Clan yet..."

Yao Yan's gaze flickered. What he needed to confirm most right now was the timeline. If Gu Xun'er had already gone to the Xiao Clan, many things would become troublesome. Her identity meant that powerful experts would inevitably be watching her, and even Gu Yuan, that peak Nine Star Dou Sheng, would occasionally turn his attention her way.

If he could settle everything before then, that would naturally be for the best!

He even had a "mask" plan forming in his mind...

"I hope everything goes smoothly!"

A wisp of brilliant golden flame flashed through Yao Yan's eyes, filled with intense ambition. But his expression soon stiffened, because at some point, a fair, deep cleavage had appeared before his eyes. The heavy curves on either side were wrapped only in the simplest manner, utterly incapable of concealing their magnificent fullness.

They looked like they could suffocate someone.

He slowly raised his head, and a flawless bare face entered his view.

The woman was beautiful. Her glossy black hair was tied into two simple ponytails that hung before her. Her skin was fair and taut, without the slightest flaw. Delicate Willow Brows framed a pair of seductive peach-blossom eyes that blinked faintly, carrying a trace of bewilderment and unease. Her slender arms slowly lifted, shielding herself before him.

Below her slim waist, narrow enough to be held in one hand, extended a dark blue snake tail that shifted uneasily. Under the setting sun, its scales glimmered with dazzling radiance, making one want to reach out and touch it.

"...Do you need something?"

After a brief silence, Yao Yan asked.

This beautiful snake-person was precisely the one he had noticed earlier. He had been rather interested in the peculiarity of her body, but circumstances had changed. Now that he knew the Jia Ma Empire was nearby, his interest in studying her special traits had greatly diminished.

She blinked her watery peach-blossom eyes and weakly said, "Um... I don't know where to go, and I've forgotten my own name. Can I follow you for now?"

"What about those snake-people? You're of the same race as them. Instead of asking them for help, you're asking me, a human?"

Yao Yan was quite surprised by her words and questioned her in return.

"I don't know why either. I just feel like I don't want to leave with them, and I have nowhere else to go."

She softly explained her situation. Perhaps because of Yao Yan's earlier actions, or perhaps because of his appearance, she Pressed her Moist Lips and suddenly gathered quite a bit of courage. Her light blue eyes looked earnestly at Yao Yan as she continued, "I can cook, do laundry, and mop the floors. I can even be your maid!"

She did her best to show how capable she was. Perhaps from nervousness, her hands clenched into fists as she looked at Yao Yan expectantly. At the same time, she gently swayed her tail and lowered herself until she was level with him, as though trying to show that she was obedient. Her adorable manner was no less than Ling Er's.

She looked very easy to fool.

Yao Yan looked into her innocent, childlike light blue eyes and fell into thought.

After a moment.

He said softly, "Since you have nowhere to go, follow me for now."

With that, he turned and walked into the distance.

"Mhm~"

Her eyes gradually brightened, and a sweet smile appeared on her lips. Twisting her slim waist and swaying her long, beautiful tail, she followed after him.

One man and one fox became one man, one snake, and one fox...