Fervent Original-Story Zealots

"Four-hundred-and-twenty-one-year Mandrake Snake."

Tang San looked over the wooden plaque again.

The age was suitable.

The species was suitable.

Even the location was only three li off.

The Soul Beasts they had encountered over the past few days either had falsified ages or had been captured beforehand and brought here to be sold. Now that a Mandrake Snake they could actually choose had finally appeared, Tang San did not dare believe it immediately.

"Let's go take a look first."

Yu Xiaogang put away the wooden plaque.

"The information conveyed by Blue Silver Grass can only serve as a clue. It cannot be treated as the result directly."

Those words made Xu Zhou glance at him again.

Yu Xiaogang had grown.

At the very least, upon seeing the number four hundred and twenty-one, he would not immediately declare that Tang San's first Soul Ring had been found.

The three of them proceeded along the riverbank.

The farther they went, the more snake tracks appeared on the ground.

Broken blades of grass.

Shed scales.

There were also several shallow grooves beside the tree roots, swept out by a snake's tail.

Tang San crouched and touched the mud.

"The tracks are fresh."

"Within the last half hour."

Yu Xiaogang had Luo Sanpao fly close to the ground while he took out Snake-Repelling Powder and scattered it around Xu Zhou's clothes.

This bag was real.

At least it did not smell sickly sweet and fishy.

"Why are you only sprinkling it on me?" Xu Zhou asked.

"You run the slowest."

"Tang San is only six too."

"He has Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track."

A sound argument.

Xu Zhou had no way to refute it.

But after the Snake-Repelling Powder was scattered, Luo Sanpao sneezed twice in a row and shuffled three steps away.

Whether this stuff repelled snakes was unclear.

It was quite effective at repelling Luo Sanpao.

After another two li, an open clearing appeared ahead.

Two tents stood in the middle of the clearing.

An iron pot was set up beside them, still holding half a pot of undercooked white radishes.

A short sword had been planted in the ground.

Even coarse hemp rope and torches had been prepared.

Tang San stopped outside the clearing without entering.

Yu Xiaogang did not move either.

"They've got quite a full set."

Xu Zhou picked up the list hanging from a tree.

"Radishes, a short sword, torches, antidote, and a copy of the Standard Mandrake Snake Hunting Procedure."

"Who prepared this?" Tang San asked.

"It's signed by Original-Story Zealots."

There was another line of small print at the bottom of the list.

If Tang San was unable to use the short sword, on-site guidance could be hired for a fee.

Tang San picked up the short sword.

A bill immediately fell from beneath its hilt.

Three copper soul coins per sword draw.

An additional silver soul coin for causing effective damage.

After the kill, twenty percent of the Soul Ring's total value would be collected as a venue service fee.

Tang San stuck the sword back into the ground.

"Why don't they just sell Soul Rings directly?"

"Soul Rings can't be sold."

Xu Zhou turned the list over.

"So they sell the procedure."

As long as an original-story scene played out again according to their arrangements, they could advertise that they had successfully restored the plot. Their reputation, betting pools, and follow-up intelligence could all make money afterward.

Whether Tang San was willing to pay was not within their considerations.

After all, they had already walked in.

"Leave this place."

Yu Xiaogang looked around.

"This clearing has been artificially arranged. The Mandrake Snake has most likely been tampered with as well."

Xu Zhou had already opened the Black Ancient Book.

The list.

The map.

The wooden plaque sent by the Soul Beast Protection Faction.

Three pieces of content appeared on the pages.

[Proofreading discovered an obvious contradiction.]

[Wooden plaque record: Target located three li ahead.]

[Actual distance: Two li and four hundred paces.]

[Academy map record: This area is an abandoned captive-breeding ground.]

[Original-Story Zealots list record: Wild Soul Beast activity zone.]

Six hundred paces were missing.

The location was wrong as well.

That Blue Silver Grass had merely conveyed information, but the wooden plaque might not have come from the Soul Beast Protection Faction.

Anyone could draw a straw hat.

"This is a fake location."

Xu Zhou snapped the wooden plaque in half.

"Someone deliberately lured us into an abandoned captive-breeding ground."

Crack!

The sound of tightening chains came from behind them.

Several iron posts hidden beneath the fallen leaves flipped up. Iron nets rose from both sides, sealing off their retreat in the blink of an eye.

The clearing became a massive beast cage once more.

Xu Zhou turned around.

More than a dozen people stood outside the iron net.

The three gray-clothed men who had been following them earlier were among them.

The leader held an Amplifying Soul Tool.

"Don't be nervous."

"This is merely an original-story restoration experiment."

Tang San drew his hidden weapons.

"Open the gate."

"Once you obtain your first Soul Ring, the gate will naturally open."

"What if I don't choose the Mandrake Snake?"

"Then it stays closed."

This group had clearly prepared long ago.

They did not intend to attack Tang San directly, nor did they plan to confront Yu Xiaogang head-on.

They had merely locked the three of them inside the beast cage.

The Soul Beast would handle the fighting.

Tang San would handle the absorption.

Yu Xiaogang would handle the guidance.

As for Xu Zhou—

"No need to worry about the child with zero Soul Power."

Someone outside the iron net spoke.

"He just needs to hide farther away."

"If he can't hide, there's nothing to be done. Who told him to insist on following them in?"

The Black Ancient Book turned its pages on its own.

[A large number of targets believe that the host cannot affect the Soul Beast hunting outcome.]

[Judgment incorrect.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

Soul Power surged into his body.

Xu Zhou ignored the people outside and merely lowered his head to examine the map of the abandoned captive-breeding ground.

Such breeding grounds had originally been used to temporarily house injured Soul Beasts.

There were three mechanisms in the iron net.

The main gate was behind them.

The backup exit was beneath the riverbed.

The third was the feeding port.

As long as they opened one of them, they could get out.

"Where is the backup exit?" Tang San asked.

"By the river."

Just as Xu Zhou pointed east, a scraping sound came from the other side of the clearing.

A blackish-green long snake crawled out of the bushes.

It was three meters and seven in length.

Its fleshy crest was dark red.

There was no old wound on its right abdomen.

It stopped beside the tents, flicking its tongue repeatedly, its head constantly facing the iron pot.

Beneath the white radishes in the pot was a piece of bloody beast meat.

"This is the four-hundred-and-twenty-one-year one."

Yu Xiaogang finished observing its length and fleshy crest.

"There is no obvious problem with its age."

The original-story route had finally lined up.

The snake was right.

The age was right too.

Tang San took out his hidden weapons but did not attack immediately.

"Has it ever actively bitten anyone?"

"There are three records."

Xu Zhou unfolded the small slip attached to the back of the wooden plaque.

"But all three happened yesterday, and the injured people were egg thieves."

Several shattered snake eggs were indeed scattered in the bushes beside the Mandrake Snake.

Someone had stolen the snake's eggs, then lured the mother snake into the captive-breeding ground.

And finally, they would have Tang San kill it.

The procedure was complete.

It was just that no one cared whether the snake wanted to participate.

"Open the exit first."

Tang San put away the short sword.

"If it attacks, then we'll act."

A chorus of objections immediately erupted outside the iron net.

"That's not how it happened in the original story!"

"The Mandrake Snake has to die!"

"Tang San, do you still want your first Soul Ring?"

Tang San did not answer.

In the original story, he had no choice.

Now he did.

Xu Zhou walked to the riverbank.

A rusty metal plate covered the bottom of the iron fence, marked as an emergency exit.

The moment he touched it, the Black Ancient Book gave him a prompt.

[Proofreading has discovered an obvious contradiction.]

[Captive-Breeding Ground old map: The emergency exit is located along the eastern river channel.]

[Maintenance record: The river channel changed course ten years ago. The emergency exit has been abandoned.]

Xu Zhou pulled aside the water plants.

Behind the metal plate was nothing but mud.

The exit was blocked.

"What about the main entrance?" Yu Xiaogang asked.

Xu Zhou looked at the map.

"The mechanism is outside."

The only thing that could still be opened from within was the feeding hatch.

Unfortunately, the feeding hatch was behind the Mandrake Snake.

"We can only go over there."

Tang San took out his hidden weapons again.

At that moment, the Mandrake Snake raised its upper body.

The people outside the iron fence threw in the last bottle of Snake-Luring Potion.

The bottle hit the ground.

It did not break.

Xu Zhou looked up.

"You can't even throw a bottle straight?"

No one outside answered.

The next instant, a stone flew in from another direction and struck the bottle dead-on.

Smack!

A fishy-sweet smell spread through the air.

The Mandrake Snake spread its fleshy crest and lunged straight at Xu Zhou.

Cheers immediately erupted beyond the iron fence.

"The betting pool hit!"

"I told you Xu Zhou would be attacked first!"

The Black Ancient Book opened.

[The majority has confirmed: The host will die in the jaws of the Mandrake Snake.]

[Cognitive Bias has begun to gather.]

Xu Zhou did not retreat.

Because another snake across the river had raised its head.

Five meters long.

Its fleshy crest was purple.

At least a thousand years old.

Two Mandrake Snakes, one in front and one behind.

And Luo Sanpao at Yu Xiaogang's feet suddenly collapsed.

The Snake-Repelling Powder was poisonous.