A four-hundred-year Mandala Snake!
It slithered out from between two ancient trees!
Its dark green scales glimmered with a cold sheen in the twilight, while its icy vertical pupils, set in its triangular head, locked tightly onto Tang San and Yu Xiaogang.
Its forked tongue flicked in and out, hissing softly.
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Yu Xiaogang's forehead.
Four hundred years was already beyond his capabilities, especially with night approaching!
"Xiao San, get ready!" Yu Xiaogang tossed out a mask and formed hand seals. "Heaven-Shattering Earth-Splitting Luo Sanpao!"
Luo Sanpao turned around, aiming his fat backside at the Mandala Snake as his belly swelled—
"Run."
Ye Hua grabbed Xiao Wu and took off, moving so fast that she was nearly dragged off her feet.
She staggered after him and was about to ask why when a world-shaking muffled boom suddenly erupted behind them.
Several hundred meters away in the forest, a shit-yellow mushroom cloud slowly rose into the air.
Even from so far away, the stench drifted faintly over. It was like socks that had not been washed for three hundred years, boiled in rancid water, then mixed with rotten eggs fermented for half a year.
"Hold your breath and keep running!"
Ye Hua decisively led Xiao Wu another two li away. Only after making sure the stench could not reach them did he breathe freely again.
"Brother," Xiao Wu said, still trembling from surviving the disaster, "how did you know...?"
"I guessed." Ye Hua's expression did not change.
Xiao Wu looked at his calm face. Knowing that it was inconvenient for Ye Hua to explain, she did not press him further.
"But couldn't we have just worn the masks?"
"What if Tang San and the others ran off and disappeared? Wouldn't your plan have gone down the drain?"
Ye Hua answered without hesitation. "We still had to run!"
"Xiao Wu, perhaps you don't know this, but the reason we can smell things is because objects release something called molecules, which spread through the air."
"And when those molecules enter our noses and are perceived by us, we can identify smells—like the scent of meat, roses, and Xiao Wu's body fragrance."
Xiao Wu's face instantly turned red. "Brother, you, you, you!"
Ye Hua tilted his head. "What? You don't want to accept my compliment?"
"My Xiao Wu smells wonderful all over. No objections allowed!"
"And if I open my mouth and smell your body fragrance, isn't that more or less the same as eating you?"
Seeing Ye Hua grow bolder and bolder, Xiao Wu hurriedly covered his mouth.
"Stop, stop, stop! If you keep talking... keep talking, I'll get angry!"
"All right," Ye Hua readily conceded. "Then I'll continue with the topic from before."
"The reason we can smell farts is that farts also release molecules."
"If we open our mouths and swallow those molecules into our stomachs, that's called eating farts."
"If you open your mouth while using the toilet..."
Xiao Wu's eyes widened.
But Ye Hua abruptly changed the subject.
"It's fine. What normal person opens their mouth for no reason while using the toilet?"
Xiao Wu let out a breath of relief.
"But the molecules can still cling to your clothes. Like how the jar used to pickle stinky tofu is full of the smell..."
"Ye Hua!!!!!"
As Xiao Wu leaped onto him and frantically pounded his chest, Ye Hua simply wrapped his arms around her.
Xiao Wu instantly stiffened, feeling the intimate touch against her liquid stockings and lower back.
Just as she did not know what to do, Ye Hua suddenly leaned over and took a deep sniff at her chest.
"Mmm, it hasn't been contaminated by other molecules. It's still pure body fragrance!"
Xiao Wu bristled.
"All right, all right, my mistake. When we get back, I'll treat you to a carrot feast."
"Now we still need to check on Tang San. We won't take his life, but he should at least learn a lesson."
"He needs to understand that my Xiao Wu isn't someone anyone can covet, and that I, Ye Hua, am not someone easy to bully!"
Xiao Wu nodded. "Brother, your original plan was to prevent Tang San from obtaining a Soul Ring, but judging by things now..."
"Forget getting a Soul Ring—he'll be lucky if he doesn't lose his life!"
"Then let's go back and take a look." Ye Hua shrugged, looking thoroughly righteous. "Tang San is our classmate after all. Even if he gets killed by the snake, we can't just let his corpse lie exposed in the wilderness, right?"
Only after that shit-yellow mushroom cloud had completely dispersed did Ye Hua lead Xiao Wu slowly back.
The forest clearing was a complete mess.
Luo Sanpao lay sprawled beside Yu Xiaogang's feet, his tongue hanging out. He was taking in more air than he let out, his fat body rising and falling weakly.
Yu Xiaogang leaned against a tree trunk, his face green and his lips purple.
The Mandala Snake's venomous mist had struck without warning, leaving him no time to deal with it.
The poison had seeped into his bloodstream through his respiratory tract, numbing half his body.
In the middle of the clearing.
Tang San knelt on one knee, gripping a dagger in his left hand and gasping for breath.
The bandages on his right arm had come loose, the splint hung crookedly to one side, and searing pain shot through the broken bone as blood ran down his sleeve.
Yet when Xiao Wu saw Tang San gasping for air, her first reaction was not that he deserved it, but rather deep sympathy!
Luo Sanpao's fart had not even fully dispersed, and after such intense combat, he had no choice but to gulp in air. Didn't that mean...
The Mandala Snake was coiled five meters in front of him. Several white marks from dagger cuts had appeared on its dark green scales, while blood spurted from its mouth.
That was the only effective damage Tang San had inflicted: firing a Sleeve Arrow into the snake's mouth and piercing its upper palate.
Tang San gritted his teeth. His Sleeve Arrow was fitted with barbs and could make it bleed profusely. As long as he stalled for a few minutes, this snake's Soul Ring would be his for the taking!
On the surface, his face was deathly pale and his breathing was erratic. He looked as though he was about to die in the snake's jaws.
In reality, the Mysterious Heaven Skill was incredibly effective at restoring his energy. He could recover while fighting and hold out for half an hour without a problem!
Just as Tang San was preparing to drag the Mandala Snake to death...
A dark golden flash swept past his side!
The Coiling Dragon Staff swept through the air, and the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon pattern on its shaft suddenly lit up in the twilight!
The dragon raised its head and swung its tail. Under the disguise of [Thousand Faces], a yellow Soul Ring burst forth around the staff!
Fire Dragon's Roar!!!
Blazing true-dragon fire erupted from the end of the staff, transforming into a scorching dragon-shaped phantom. Its mouth, formed of condensed flames, opened wide and bit fiercely into the Mandala Snake's vital point!
The snake scales exploded in the flames with crackling pops like bursting beans.
The Mandala Snake let out a piercing shriek, its body twisting wildly as it tried to break free, but it was nothing more than a final death struggle.
The might of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!
The suppression of pure dragon might!
Four hundred years against one thousand years, a wild snake against a true dragon—the gap was not in years, but in rank!
The Mandala Snake's struggles grew weaker and weaker beneath the dragon's might. Its body gradually slackened before finally collapsing limply to the ground, motionless.
A yellow Soul Ring rose up.
Ye Hua withdrew his staff.
From beginning to end, it had been clean and decisive—a single fatal strike.
The forest was so quiet that only Tang San's heavy breathing remained.
Tang San slumped onto the ground, his hand holding the dagger suspended in midair as his entire body froze.
His pupils shrank to pinpoints, his lips trembled, and his face was filled with incredulous shock.
Ye Hua!
It's Ye Hua again!
Why was it him again!
I only needed to hold on a little longer, and that Soul Ring would have been mine! Mine!
Damn it, you really deserve to die!!!
Tang San's eyes turned vicious as he suddenly grabbed his dagger and charged forward!
"Ye Hua! I want you dead!"
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