Slaying the Plum Blossom Snake

Chapter 10: Slaying the Plum Blossom Snake

"Snake Eye Fruit!" On the little tree before him, tiny fruits the size of pinky fingers grew in dense clusters. They were glossy green and looked just like snake eyes. Luo Mu was stunned by the sight.

Snake Eye Fruit was a high-grade first-tier spirit fruit. Though small and charming, it was highly poisonous. Just one could kill a ferocious beast. How could the discovery of such a fruit not delight Luo Mu, a "little poison expert"?

What was more, the little tree was covered in clusters of Snake Eye Fruit. There had to be at least eighty, if not a hundred. That enormous number was what truly astonished Luo Mu.

The joy on his face flashed and vanished. Luo Mu grew wary. Snake Eye Fruit grew in a very particular environment, only where poisonous demonic beasts prowled. Nowhere else could it survive.

The Snake Eye Fruit Tree before him was thriving. Without a second thought, Luo Mu knew there had to be a poisonous demonic beast nearby. His heart tightened.

His hand instinctively slipped inside his robe. He took a dagger from his Storage Bag and gripped it. Since he had no idea where the Storage Bag had come from, Luo Mu didn't dare wear it openly at his waist like other cultivators. Instead, he kept it hidden in his robe, wary that a cultivator who recognized it might spot it and cause unnecessary trouble.

Luo Mu had brought the dagger with him. It was only an ordinary dagger, but he had already used it to slay several low-grade first-tier demonic beasts.

Gripping the dagger, Luo Mu released his pitifully weak spiritual sense and watched his surroundings, his expression grave. Unfortunately, his spiritual sense was so weak that it could monitor only a tiny area.

Just then, a rustling came from behind him. In the blink of an eye, it was right at his back.

Luo Mu was horrified!

Without looking back, Luo Mu pushed off hard with his toes, shooting forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. Once he steadied himself, he slashed behind him with his dagger.

Poison Spirit Power flowed into the dagger, and a faint green poisonous mist rose from it. It was nearly invisible unless one looked closely. The dagger swept through the air with a forceful hiss and struck something.

Clang! The dagger was blocked, and pain jolted through Luo Mu's wrist. At last, he saw what was behind him.

A giant snake as thick as a water barrel stared at Luo Mu with cold eyes. Their frigid, emotionless gaze sent a chill down his spine.

The snake was about three zhang long, its sleek scales dotted with spots like plum blossoms. As it thrashed, it churned up the soil. The surrounding grass and small trees snapped beneath its writhing body.

The snake flicked its tongue, staring fixedly at Luo Mu as though he were its prey.

The snake seemed to sense the spiritual power radiating from Luo Mu and knew he was no ordinary human, but a cultivator. So it didn't attack recklessly just yet. It watched his every move, waiting for him to let his guard down so it could seize him in one go.

Luo Mu had no idea what the snake was thinking. Sweat had already beaded on his forehead, and his lips were dry.

"A top-grade first-tier demonic beast—the Plum Blossom Snake!" Luo Mu identified it at once, cursing the Wanfa Sect in his heart. Hadn't they said that the mountains near the towns had long been cleared of powerful demonic beasts? So why was there a living behemoth right in front of him?

Perhaps Luo Mu hadn't realized that he had already ventured deep into the mountains. There were no towns anywhere nearby, so it was no surprise for a top-grade first-tier demonic beast to appear. But he didn't think much of it. After cursing inwardly, he quickly racked his brain for a way to escape.

Though the Plum Blossom Snake was huge, it was terrifyingly fast. Once it caught its prey, it would wrap its massive body around them and squeeze them to death. Worse still, the Plum Blossom Snake was poisonous—a fact that made it a nightmare for cultivators.

Luo Mu didn't dare take on this top-grade first-tier Plum Blossom Snake, and he knew he wasn't strong enough to win. He would be satisfied if he could escape with his life. As for the Snake Eye Fruit that had caught his eye, he didn't even dare think about it now.

His life mattered far more than the Snake Eye Fruit!

As Luo Mu searched for a way to escape, he slowly edged to one side. The Plum Blossom Snake saw every movement.

As though it sensed Luo Mu's retreat and knew he wanted to flee, the Plum Blossom Snake suddenly turned vicious. Its body whipped around, and it lunged at him!

Who knew whether the Plum Blossom Snake was hungry and wanted to eat Luo Mu, or whether it was furious that he had trespassed on its territory? Whatever the reason, it clearly had no intention of letting him go.

The Plum Blossom Snake lunged straight at him, fierce and fast. Luo Mu was already only a few steps away and had nowhere to dodge. The snake wound its body tightly around him, binding him fast!

At the same time, a mouthful of emerald-green poisonous mist burst from the Plum Blossom Snake's mouth, wrapping Luo Mu up completely. From its past experience hunting prey, it knew that after using these two moves in succession, its victim would soon die and become its meal.

So the Plum Blossom Snake made no further move. It simply tightened its coils and waited quietly for Luo Mu to stop breathing before swallowing him whole!

A moment later, the Plum Blossom Snake was astonished to discover that its captive was still alive. Enraged and out of patience, it opened its jaws, revealing two snow-white Poison Fangs as sharp as swords. Then it lunged at Luo Mu, intent on swallowing him alive!

Just as expected, it all happened in an instant: the Plum Blossom Snake swallowed Luo Mu without mercy.

After swallowing Luo Mu, the snake lost interest in hunting again. Perhaps it had already eaten its fill on an earlier hunt, and Luo Mu was just the extra bite it needed. Now it swayed toward the Snake Eye Fruit Tree.

Not far behind the tree was a massive cliff. At its base was a cave five meters in diameter. The well-fed Plum Blossom Snake slowly slithered inside.

?

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the cave entrance began to tremble faintly. The shaking grew stronger, dislodging chunks of stone from above.

The shaking continued for a full quarter of an hour before slowly subsiding. The enormous cave grew quiet once more.

Inside the cave, Luo Mu sat on the ground with his hair disheveled, panting hard. His body was smeared with sticky slime that had soaked his plain but spotless robe. A foul stench poured off him, filling the entire space.

Beside him lay the water-barrel-thick Plum Blossom Snake. It was utterly motionless, a dead thing. A huge hole had been torn open in its belly, and filth had spilled across the ground.

?

Remembering what had just happened, Luo Mu still felt the danger of it. Once the Plum Blossom Snake had coiled around him, he could barely breathe. His bones had creaked under its crushing grip. If the snake hadn't lost patience and swallowed him whole, it would surely have squeezed him to death.

And the poisonous mist the Plum Blossom Snake had been so proud of hadn't harmed Luo Mu at all. Instead, at that life-or-death moment, it had helped him break through and reach the second layer of the Qi Refining Stage!

Luo Mu had already reached the peak of the first layer. It was only natural that the snake's poisonous mist would push him into the second.

After being swallowed, Luo Mu had no intention of surrendering meekly. He swung his dagger and poured Poison Spirit Power into it without restraint. The dagger's pale, almost white color gradually turned emerald green. Then Luo Mu stabbed again and again into the Plum Blossom Snake's insides.

Maybe Luo Mu had struck too hard, or perhaps the snake's inner flesh was too weak. Either way, every thrust plunged deep into its flesh, leaving only the dagger's handle outside. The pain drove the Plum Blossom Snake to thrash wildly in the cave, which was why the entrance had kept shaking.

With a colossal beast thrashing for its life inside, it would have been stranger if the cave entrance hadn't shaken.

But the Plum Blossom Snake hadn't died from that. A few stabs had hurt, but they weren't enough to kill a top-grade first-tier demonic beast.

What had truly cost the Plum Blossom Snake its life was the very poison it had always been so proud of!

As Luo Mu poured Poison Spirit Power into the dagger with abandon and stabbed it into the snake's body, the poison quickly spread. And he hadn't stabbed it just once; every thrust left a large amount of poison inside the Plum Blossom Snake. In the end, the demonic beast famous for its poison had died at the hands of someone even more poisonous than itself!

After the Plum Blossom Snake died, Luo Mu slowly cut open its lower belly with the dagger and finally crawled out of its corpse.

He could have gotten out sooner, but the Plum Blossom Snake's scales were too tough. It had taken all his strength to cut through them and escape.

Even now, Luo Mu could hardly believe that he had killed a top-grade first-tier demonic beast. The method might not have been the most dignified, but he really had slain the thing!

Still buzzing with excitement, Luo Mu turned his gaze to the Plum Blossom Snake's corpse, his eyes burning. When he accidentally noticed a pile of snake eggs behind it, he was startled. Then he seemed to realize something, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

He smiled.