Teasing the Snake Woman Chao Tianxiang

Meng Yiran stepped forward, covering her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking as she tried to stifle a laugh.

"How dare you! You have the nerve to tease my grandmother!"

Ji Ye shrugged.

"I am not joking."

Zhao Wuji stood behind them, glancing from Ji Ye to the Snake Matriarch, his mouth twitching twice.

This kid really had guts.

He then walked to Ji Ye's side and cupped his hands in a salute.

"I am Zhao Wuji. My student misspoke, so I hope you will not take offense, Senior."

"Zhao Wuji? So, you are the renowned Immovable Wisdom King."

The Snake Matriarch took several deep breaths to suppress her rising temper.

She had lived for more than half a lifetime and had seen all sorts of storms, yet she never expected to be left speechless by a mere child today.

She glared at Ji Ye.

"Fine, fine. For the sake of the Immovable Wisdom King, I will not hold this against you. Since you have already absorbed the snake, we shall consider this matter settled."

She turned around, tossing a final remark over her shoulder.

"Boy, the next time we meet, I shall have to get to know that friend of yours quite well."

"Rest assured, Senior, that goes without saying."

"Hmph."

As the grandmother and granddaughter walked away, Meng Yiran couldn't help but look back.

After a moment of hesitation, she ran up to Ji Ye.

Summoning her courage, she leaned in close to his ear and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Then, she hurried away.

Ji Ye didn't seem to mind.

He nonchalantly wiped the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him.

He turned around, preparing to walk back to the group, but his steps faltered.

Two gazes were pinned directly onto his face.

Ning Rongrong stood with her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffed out like a pufferfish, her eyes wide and round, her lips pressed into a thin line.

She stared at Ji Ye's face for several seconds, shot a fierce glare in the direction where Meng Yiran had disappeared, and then turned back to him, her expression clearly asking, You seemed to enjoy that, didn't you?

Zhu Zhuqing stood beside Ning Rongrong; her expression wasn't as overt, but the light in her cat-like eyes was colder than usual.

She glanced at Ji Ye, her lips parted as if to speak, but she remained silent and turned her face away.

Ji Ye felt the weight of those two gazes, but he did not look back, nor did he offer an explanation.

He walked back to the tree he had been leaning against earlier with a blank expression, leaned back against it, and crossed his arms, acting as if nothing had happened.

Ning Rongrong stomped her foot hard.

"Ji Ye!"

"Hm?"

"You..."

Ning Rongrong struggled for a long time before finally blurting out:

"You didn't wipe your face clean!"

Ji Ye reached up and wiped his cheek again.

"It's clean now."

Ning Rongrong glared at him, her chest heaving, before she finally huffed and turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

Zhu Zhuqing was still looking elsewhere, but a tiny curve appeared at the corner of her mouth—whether it was a sigh of relief or something else, it was hard to tell.

Ma Hongjun, who had been squatting nearby, watched the entire scene from start to finish, his mouth practically watering.

He nudged Dai Mubai with his elbow and lowered his voice.

"Damn, this guy Ji Ye is really... his luck with women is just outrageous."

Dai Mubai didn't speak; he was watching Zhu Zhuqing and her subtle movements, a sour feeling rising in his heart.

He lowered his head, staring at the fallen leaves at his feet for a moment, a bitter smile touching his lips.

Tang San stood to the side, watching it all with a calm expression. His gaze lingered on Ji Ye's face for a fleeting moment before he looked away.

Just then, the purple light surrounding Oscar, who was in the middle of absorbing his spirit ring, began to gradually recede.

He let out a long breath, slowly opened his eyes, and looked down at the three spirit rings beneath his feet.

Yellow, yellow, purple.

"Done!"

He jumped up and stretched, his joints popping with a series of sharp cracks.

"My third spirit ring, a thousand-year Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent. Guess what my third spirit skill is?"

Ma Hongjun was the first to crowd in.

"Stop stalling, tell us already!"

Oscar chuckled, flipped his palm, and manifested a sausage a size larger than his previous ones.

This sausage was golden in color with a thin layer of fluorescence on its surface, looking significantly more advanced than the first two.

"Third spirit skill—Flying Mushroom Sausage! After eating it, you grow a pair of wings and can fly at the speed of the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent for one minute."

Without another word, he shoved the sausage into his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed.

The next second, the fabric on his back bulged. With a soft pop, a pair of translucent wings unfurled from his shoulder blades. With a wingspan of nearly two meters, the thin membranes shimmered with a faint golden light in the sun.

Oscar's feet left the ground, and he took flight. He circled the group twice at high speed, leaving a trail of afterimages through the forest.

"How about that! Pretty impressive, right?"

Ma Hongjun tilted his head back, his mouth hanging open in an 'O' shape.

"Damn! That is so cool!"

Ning Rongrong also looked up at Oscar in the air, her eyes brightening with a hint of curiosity and surprise.

Oscar noticed her gaze and straightened his back even further. He flew another lap, intentionally swooping over Ning Rongrong's head and stirring up a breeze that made the hair on her forehead flutter.

"Rongrong, how is it? Pretty cool, right?"

The corners of Ning Rongrong's mouth twitched, and she smiled.

"It's actually quite impressive."

Oscar's heart skipped a beat.

He landed back on the ground and retracted his wings, unable to hide the grin on his face.

Since he arrived at Shrek, this was the first time Ning Rongrong had spoken to him in such a tone.

He secretly clenched his fist, feeling that today was truly a good day.

Zhao Wuji walked up to Oscar and patted him on the shoulder, a rare look of approval on his face.

"Not bad. The thousand-year spirit ring was absorbed smoothly, and the spirit skill is very practical. Keep cultivating; your future is promising."

Oscar nodded.

"Thank you, Teacher Zhao!"

Just as Zhao Wuji was about to tell them to continue, the ground suddenly shuddered.

It wasn't a slight tremor.

It was a dull, powerful vibration coming from deep underground, as if some massive creature were rolling over beneath the earth.

The entire ground shook, the fallen leaves in the forest rustled, and flocks of birds took flight from the treetops, swarming into the sky in a dense cloud.

Everyone's smiles froze simultaneously.

"What's going on?" Dai Mubai clenched his fists, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.

Zhu Zhuqing had already leapt back onto a treetop, her cat-like eyes locked onto the source of the tremor, her pupils narrowing into vertical slits.

"Something is there... something huge..."

Tang San's hand was already resting on the trigger of his hidden weapons at his waist, his expression darkening.

"Teacher Zhao, it's coming from straight ahead, and it's getting closer."

Zhao Wuji's expression changed as well. He spun around, shielding all the students behind him, and let out a low growl.

"Fall back! Back-to-back!"

The group quickly formed a circle, backs pressed against one another, each facing a different direction and readying their combat stances.

Ji Ye remained leaning against the tree, unmoving, his gaze calmly fixed on the forest ahead.