Mandrake Snake

"In the original story, didn't it bite Master first?"

After the person behind the tree shouted, the Mandrake Snake had already charged over.

A swath of bushes was flattened.

Three men in gray clothes ran out from behind the tree. One of them was still holding half a bottle of Snake-Luring Potion.

Xu Zhou glanced over.

No wonder the snake was chasing him.

He had not even thrown away all the evidence and was still asking why the plot was different.

The Mandrake Snake did not recognize a cast list.

"Help!"

The man holding the bottle ran around the tree.

"Yu Xiaogang, hurry up and make Luo Sanpao fart!"

Yu Xiaogang did not move.

"You know me?"

"I've heard of you."

"Then how do you know Luo Sanpao's soul skill?"

The man slipped and nearly got struck by the snake's tail.

"I guessed!"

Even he did not believe that.

"Save him first."

Tang San held a pebble in his right hand and was about to throw it when Xu Zhou grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't hit its head."

"Why?"

"It has an injury on top of its head."

A thin needle was lodged beneath the Mandrake Snake's fleshy crest, its end tied with a short piece of red thread. Without looking closely, it would have been easy to mistake it for a pattern on the crest.

Tang San stared at the needle.

"Someone marked it."

"To track it."

Xu Zhou flipped open the academy's patrol records.

Two Mandrake Snakes had been found nearby a few days ago. One was over three hundred years old, while the other was close to five hundred. The patrol officer had only recorded their lengths and activity areas, with no mention of a needle in either fleshy crest.

Whoever had been following them could locate this snake so precisely most likely because of that mark.

"What about its age?"

"Control it first, then we'll check."

Xu Zhou had no intention of judging based on length alone.

The Ironthorn Vine wooden plaque had already taught him that lesson once.

Before there was actual proof, no matter how certain someone sounded, their words could only be taken as reference.

Yu Xiaogang raised a hand and summoned Luo Sanpao.

"First soul skill, Fart Like Thunder, Sky-Shattering Earth-Splitting Luo Sanpao!"

Luo Sanpao opened his mouth.

A stream of yellowish-purple gas surged toward the snake.

The three men in gray covered their noses almost simultaneously upon hearing the soul skill's name. Their movements were far too practiced.

Yet the Mandrake Snake did not retreat.

Its body pressed close to the ground as its tail swept through and broke a patch of brush. Using the smoke as cover, it charged at Yu Xiaogang.

"Why isn't it dizzy?"

The gray-clothed man shouted from behind a tree.

"That's not how it was written in the book!"

Yu Xiaogang shifted his shoulder and avoided the snake's jaws.

"The book didn't say I was over level thirty, either."

Luo Sanpao rose into the air, and a second stream of gas pinned down the Mandrake Snake. Its body rolled several times along the ground before it quickly raised its upper half again.

Its resistance was not weak.

The fleshy crest atop its head was also a very dark color.

Yu Xiaogang frowned.

"Nearly four hundred years, but its Soul Power fluctuations are unstable."

"The potion."

Xu Zhou pointed at the shattered bottle on the ground.

"The Snake-Luring Potion has put it in an excited state. Right now, it wants to chase anything alive. Stall for time. The medicine's effects won't last forever."

The man in gray immediately objected.

"We can't stall!"

"Why?"

"We still need to absorb the Soul Ring before nightfall."

He covered his mouth after saying that.

Tang San turned to look at him.

"How did you know I would definitely choose it?"

"Mandrake Snakes are suited to Blue Silver Grass. Everyone knows that."

"Then why did you bring Snake-Luring Potion?"

"To make finding snakes easier."

"Did you insert the needle too?"

"To find it more accurately."

The three men admitted it readily.

They had not intended to harm Tang San.

At least, that was what they claimed.

In their view, Tang San's first Soul Ring should have come from a Mandrake Snake. Since the original one had been moved away, they only needed to find another. As long as its age was close enough, that would do.

As for whether luring the snake would hurt Xu Zhou, they had not cared.

Xu Zhou's entry into the Spirit Hunting Forest had been unnecessary to begin with.

If he happened to help draw out a Soul Beast for Tang San, then at least he would have served some purpose.

The Black Ancient Book turned a page.

[Many people believe the host can only serve as bait and cannot participate in soul hunting.]

[Judgment incorrect.]

[Cognitive bias collected.]

Soul Power entered his body, and Xu Zhou had no time to examine it closely.

The Mandrake Snake had already changed direction.

Instead of continuing to chase Yu Xiaogang, it lunged at Tang San.

Tang San dodged to the side, and two black shadows shot from his sleeve.

The hidden weapons struck the snake's body with two soft clinks.

They did not break its skin.

The Mandrake Snake's scales were far harder than those of ordinary snakes.

"Attack its eyes or mouth."

Yu Xiaogang spoke up with a reminder.

This was no different from the judgment in the original story.

The Mandrake Snake's outer defenses were extremely strong. Its weak points were still its eyes and mouth.

Tang San took out the wooden stick Xiao Wu had given him.

"What use could that possibly be?"

The man in gray hid in the back.

"In the original story, he should be using a dagger!"

"Do you have a dagger?"

"No."

"Then shut up."

Tang San twisted his wrist, wedging the wooden stick horizontally into the snake's mouth.

Crack!

The stick snapped on the spot.

The first weapon Xiao Wu had given him did not even last half a day.

Tang San took the opportunity to retreat, his fingers already hooked around the sleeve arrow mechanism.

The Mandrake Snake caught up again.

"Wait."

Xu Zhou stared at the snake's belly.

"It was injured before."

One patch of scales on the right side of its belly was lighter in color, and it avoided that side when moving. The wound had already healed and was covered in mud, making it impossible to see without getting close.

"This is it!"

One of the men in gray grew excited.

"The snake in the original story had an injury on its right belly. It must have sneaked back after being moved!"

"That snake had an injury on its right belly, so it would have left intermittent marks as it passed."

Xu Zhou pointed toward the riverbank.

"This one didn't."

"Maybe the injury healed."

"That one was four hundred and twenty-three years old. Is this one too?"

"Maybe it just happens to be."

"The wound is in exactly the same place too?"

"The plot has self-repair abilities."

By the end, the other man was no longer making any sense.

As long as the outcome was close to the original story, every problem could be blamed on plot correction.

Anything that could not be explained only proved how powerful the plot was.

Xu Zhou could not be bothered to ask more.

The Black Ancient Book floated above the records.

[Proofreading detected an obvious contradiction.]

[Academy records: old injury on right belly, length 3.7 meters.]

[Current target: old injury on right belly, length 3.9 meters.]

[Academy records: no foreign object on fleshy crest.]

[Current target: tracking needle present in fleshy crest.]

It was not the same snake.

As for its age, they still needed to keep judging.

"Tang San, don't kill it. Pull out the needle first."

"Understood."

Tang San changed his footwork and circled to the Mandrake Snake's left side.

Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

This time, no one demanded that he not use a technique from the guide.

In a real soul hunt, surviving mattered more.

Yu Xiaogang also had Luo Sanpao dive down, its claws reaching for the fleshy crest. The Mandrake Snake raised its head to bite, and Tang San took the opportunity to leap onto its back. He grabbed the red thread with his right hand and yanked hard.

The thin needle was pulled out.

Its tip was coated in black ointment.

The Mandrake Snake twisted its body and threw Tang San off.

Yet after the needle was removed, its movements slowed significantly, and its previously spread crest began to fold shut.

"There's medicine on the needle that stimulates Soul Power."

Yu Xiaogang took the needle.

"Forcibly increasing its aggression damages the Soul Beast itself."

The three men in gray retreated several steps.

"We were only responsible for finding the snake."

"We didn't insert the needle."

"We didn't make the medicine either."

They had admitted everything so readily just moments ago.

Now, the division of responsibility had suddenly become much more detailed.

Xu Zhou picked up the bottle stopper from the ground and placed it beside the needle.

The Black Ancient Book revealed no contradiction.

Both had used the same kind of drug.

"Hand over the rest of the drug."

"There isn't any left."

"You still have a bottle at your waist."

The man in gray looked down.

"This is the antidote."

"The bottle says Snake Lure No. 2."

"It was labeled wrong."

Xu Zhou said nothing and merely opened the Black Ancient Book.

The man immediately tossed the bottle over.

"Just joking."

No one laughed.

After losing the drug's stimulation, the Mandrake Snake did not continue its pursuit.

It coiled at the edge of the grass, flicked its tongue several times, and began retreating toward the river.

Tang San did not pursue it.

"Let it go?"

Yu Xiaogang looked at his disciple.

"Its abilities really do suit you."

"First, confirm its age."

Tang San put away his sleeve arrow.

"We also need to confirm whether it has ever attacked people unprovoked."

Xu Zhou took out the patrol map and cross-checked it with the snake's scales and movement trails.

This Mandrake Snake was active along the western riverway. It was three meters and nine centimeters long, with an old injury on the right side of its abdomen.

It had appeared in the records only once.

Three months ago, it had attacked a soul-hunting party.

The reason column stated that the soul-hunting party had first dug up the eggs beside the snake's nest.

"There are no records of unprovoked attacks."

Xu Zhou closed the booklet.

"It should be between four hundred and thirty and four hundred and sixty years old."

That exceeded the usual age limit for a first Soul Ring.

Yu Xiaogang did not immediately conclude whether it could be absorbed.

Tang San in the original story had been able to absorb a four-hundred-and-twenty-three-year Soul Ring.

An extra dozen years or so could not simply be dismissed as insignificant risk.

"Keep looking."

Yu Xiaogang made his decision.

"There's no need to insist on choosing this one."

The Mandrake Snake gradually retreated into the grass.

Just as it was about to disappear, a strand of Blue Silver Grass crawled out from the riverbank, carrying a wooden sign to Xu Zhou's feet.

A straw hat was drawn on it.

There was also a line of writing.

"Four-hundred-and-twenty-one-year Mandrake Snake. Protection lifted. Reason: yesterday, it consecutively bit three egg thieves."

"Location: three li ahead."

After reading the wooden sign, Tang San turned to look into the depths of the riverway.

The original route was actually waiting for him up ahead.

Xu Zhou, however, flipped the wooden sign over.

There was another sentence on the back.

"Please verify its age first. Blue Silver Grass is only responsible for delivering messages."