The moment the system's prompt appeared, the warmth left behind by the Luck Deprivation Card inside Su Hang spread outward along his meridians.
In the hollow, the Mandala Snake, which had been relentlessly chasing Tang San, suddenly stopped.
Its body coiled over the mud, its fleshy crest trembling.
Tang San had just raised his sleeve, ready to fire another Sleeve Arrow while he had the chance, but the snake didn't pounce at him again.
It turned around.
The dark green snake head faced the high ground.
At the edge of the rocky slope, Su Hang stood with Xiao Wu behind him, still holding the little bundle in her arms.
The Mandala Snake flicked its tongue. Its body pressed down the grass as it slowly changed direction.
Tang San's wrist stopped in midair.
The dangerous pressure weighing on him had eased considerably.
But at the same time, another deeply uncomfortable feeling pressed in.
This snake was clearly supposed to be his First Spirit Ring target.
From finding its tracks to his teacher judging its route, and then to him risking injury to hold it back, everything should have continued according to his plan.
Now, the Mandala Snake had turned toward Su Hang.
Tang San lowered his Sleeve Arrow by half an inch and stood in the mud without chasing after it.
Yu Xiaogang had only just made it out of the edge of the poisonous mist, holding onto a tree root for support.
When he saw the Mandala Snake turn around, he froze, then called out without thinking.
"Su Hang, be careful!"
After the words left his mouth, Yu Xiaogang himself faltered.
Su Hang had just crushed his theories so thoroughly he couldn't even lift his head, and Xiao Wu had refused to help right to his face.
But now that the Mandala Snake had turned toward the high ground and danger had fallen on them, he had still shouted those words.
Su Hang heard him but didn't turn around.
Xiao Wu's fingertips had already gone stiff.
She was more sensitive than Tang San and Yu Xiaogang.
The Mandala Snake wasn't simply targeting Su Hang.
It was after her, too.
Snake-type Soul Beasts were naturally sensitive to the aura of Soft Bone Rabbits. Even though she had suppressed her Soul Beast essence, her emotions had surged just now, letting some of her aura slip out.
On top of that, the pull of luck around Su Hang had made the snake regard them as the more worthy targets.
Xiao Wu moved half a step forward.
"Brother Su Hang, why don't I lure it away?"
"I'm fast. It won't catch me."
Su Hang raised a hand and pressed down on her shoulder, pushing her back behind him.
"Stay put."
Xiao Wu bit her lip but didn't charge forward again.
The System Panel opened in front of Su Hang.
[Warning: The deviation in Tang San's First Spirit Ring luck has exceeded the critical threshold.]
[The Mandala Snake opportunity is shifting toward the host's faction.]
[Cost triggered: Retaliation from the snake-type Soul Beast.]
[Choice One: Continue depriving Tang San of his First Spirit Ring opportunity. The Mandala Snake will prioritize attacking the host and Xiao Wu. Upon success, Tang San's First Spirit Ring opportunity will be greatly diminished, and the host will gain a luck reward.]
[Choice Two: Abandon this attempt at deprivation. The Mandala Snake's hostility will return to Tang San, who may still obtain the original opportunity.]
[Reminder: Snatching the protagonist's opportunity requires bearing the corresponding risks.]
Su Hang looked over the prompts, tapping his sleeve twice with his fingers.
Just as he'd thought.
The system wouldn't let him reap benefits for free.
For someone with a protagonist's fate like Tang San, opportunities weren't steamed buns lying on the ground for whoever bent down to pick them up.
If he wanted to take one, he'd have to bear part of the danger meant for Tang San.
The Mandala Snake turning toward him was the price.
Tang San faced less pressure.
Xiao Wu faced more danger.
Su Hang glanced down at the girl behind him.
Xiao Wu hadn't retreated. Instead, she clutched his clothes, her feet planted firmly in place.
She was afraid of dying.
She'd never pretended otherwise.
But just now, she'd still wanted to lure the snake away herself.
All so he wouldn't get hurt.
The hesitation in Su Hang's heart soon faded.
He could take the reward another time.
But now that he'd pried open Tang San's path to soaring success, he couldn't let it close again.
Besides, Xiao Wu had already taken her place behind him.
If he backed down now, how could he ever make this rabbit feel safe clinging to his coattails?
High among the branches, Yue Guan stood behind a broad leaf.
Watching the Mandala Snake below, he tapped a flower petal twice with his fingertip.
"Gui Mei, do you see what's wrong?"
The black mist slid along the tree trunk to the other side.
"The Mandala Snake was injured by Tang San just now. By rights, it should keep chasing him."
Yue Guan picked up where he left off.
"But it turned toward Su Hang instead."
"That doesn't fit Spirit Beast Habits."
Gui Mei fell silent for a moment.
"Cause and effect have been altered."
Yue Guan didn't argue.
He thought of the diary in the Pope Palace that couldn't be destroyed, then remembered that Su Hang had written about the Mandala Snake in advance.
It was already hard to explain the snake's redirected hostility as a coincidence.
There was some kind of invisible force surrounding Su Hang.
And that force was pulling Tang San's path sideways.
In the hollow, Tang San took half a step back, the wound in his shoulder still numb.
He didn't rush forward.
The Mandala Snake changing targets gave him a chance to catch his breath.
But the feeling that something had been taken from him grew stronger.
Su Hang hadn't come to watch from the sidelines from the very beginning.
He really was stealing from him.
Stealing his Spirit Ring, Xiao Wu, and the momentum that should have belonged to him.
Tang San readied several Fine Needles between his fingers again. He didn't interfere or warn anyone.
Seeing that Tang San wasn't moving, Yu Xiaogang raised a hand to stop him, then lowered it again.
The situation was already in disarray.
If they rushed in recklessly, they'd only get dragged into it as well.
At the edge of the high ground, the Mandala Snake began to climb.
It moved quickly, its belly scraping against the rocky slope and kicking up loose earth.
Poisonous mist poured from its mouth and swept up along the slope.
Xiao Wu tugged at Su Hang's clothes.
"Brother Su Hang, the poison's coming up."
Su Hang flipped a hand and took out the Basic Antidote Pill, placing it in her hand.
"Keep it in your mouth."
Xiao Wu took the pill but didn't eat it right away.
"What about you?"
"I don't need it."
"But it's coming after you."
"Then let it come."
Su Hang stepped forward.
Dark Purple Lightning spread from beneath his feet, tearing a gap through the poisonous mist on the slope.
Behind him, a black winged shadow unfolded halfway.
It wasn't a complete pair of wings, only a half-formed phantom of the Dark Demon Evil God Wings.
But as soon as that sinister pressure emerged, the Mandala Snake's body stiffened, and its fleshy crest trembled even faster.
Standing behind him with the pill in her mouth, Xiao Wu felt steadier instead.
As long as Su Hang stood in front, the snake didn't seem so frightening.
Su Hang raised his right arm, and the aura of the Chaos Thunder Shadow Dragon descended alongside the power of the Dark Demon Evil God Wings.
The system prompt sounded once more.
[The host has chosen to continue depriving.]
[Tang San's First Spirit Ring luck deviation progress: fifty percent.]
[The Mandala Snake's hostility is locked onto the host's faction.]
Su Hang looked at the Mandala Snake climbing up the rocky slope, his voice calm.
"My opportunity is mine to take."
"And no snake gets to lay a claw on my people."
The Mandala Snake let out a hiss. The entire thicket burst apart at once, and the poisonous mist completely sealed off Su Hang and Xiao Wu's retreat.
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