Two Mandrake Snakes-Save Luo Sanpao First

Luo Sanpao lay collapsed at Yu Xiaogang's feet.

His wings were still twitching, and white foam hung from the corner of his mouth.

Yu Xiaogang crouched and picked him up.

"Is this Snake-Repelling Powder?"

"It was issued by the academy."

Tang San looked beyond the iron fence.

"Someone tampered with it."

"You only noticed now? Isn't that too late?"

Outside the iron fence, the man in charge of sealing off the abandoned Captive-Breeding Ground laughed.

"As long as you kill that Four-Century Mandrake Snake, everyone can leave. As for that pig, it was only hit with a little paralysis medicine. It won't die."

"There's also a Millennium Soul Beast over there."

Yu Xiaogang looked up.

"Didn't you see it?"

The smile on the man's face slowly vanished.

"The Millennium Mandrake Snake was only passing by."

"It has the scent of Snake-Luring Potion on it too."

Xu Zhou pointed across the river.

"You deliberately lured it here."

No one outside the iron fence spoke.

That was as good as admitting it.

They had originally prepared only one Four-Century Mandrake Snake. Following the original plot, Tang San would kill the Soul Beast, absorb the Soul Ring, and everyone would leave safely.

But Xu Zhou had noticed that the location was wrong and changed their route in.

To keep the plot moving, they could only add another bottle of Snake-Luring Potion.

As a result, the four-century one had come.

And so had the millennium one.

What was trapped inside the iron fence now was no longer the original scene.

"Deal with the four-century one first."

Yu Xiaogang retreated with Luo Sanpao in his arms.

"The Millennium Soul Beast hasn't been fully provoked by the medicine yet. It won't attack on its own for now."

Xu Zhou glanced across the river.

The Millennium Mandrake Snake's fleshy crest had not fully opened. Its body was coiled beside the tree roots, its gaze fixed on the medicine bottle inside the iron cage.

It was waiting.

Waiting for the medicine to take effect.

And waiting for the people inside to make the first move.

"Tang San, can you kick the medicine bottle into the river?"

"Yes."

Tang San pushed off with his foot.

A shard of stone shot out and struck the medicine bottle dead on.

Crack!

The bottle split open, and a fishy-sweet smell spread through the air.

The Millennium Mandrake Snake raised its upper body. Its fleshy crest opened, and its forked tongue flicked repeatedly.

"You smashed the medicine bottle?"

Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San.

"If we'd thrown it into the river, it would have been easier for it to track."

Xu Zhou watched the water.

"Now the entire river is filled with Snake-Luring Potion."

"Will it come over?"

"It will."

Xu Zhou answered quickly.

"But it may not come after us first."

Sure enough.

The Millennium Mandrake Snake did not immediately charge at the iron cage. Instead, it slithered downstream along the riverbank.

The medicine drifted away with the current.

Before a group of gray-clad men hiding by the river could flee, the snake's tail swept them into the air.

"What do we do now?"

"Run!"

The men descended into chaos.

The Millennium Mandrake Snake pursued them along the river, temporarily leaving the abandoned Captive-Breeding Ground.

The people outside the iron fence immediately went pale.

After arranging everything for so long, they had never expected the Millennium Soul Beast to attack their own people before Tang San.

Xu Zhou glanced at Luo Sanpao.

His body had gone limp, and his wings no longer moved.

Yu Xiaogang's expression was grim.

"The toxin is starting to spread."

Xu Zhou crouched and pinched up some Snake-Repelling Powder from the ground.

"This bag contains paralysis medicine, along with something that dulls Soul Beasts."

Yu Xiaogang pressed a hand against Luo Sanpao's abdomen.

Luo Sanpao's Soul Power was rapidly declining.

Xu Zhou placed the Snake-Repelling Powder beside the Black Ancient Book.

The pages turned.

[Medicine Label: Snake-Repelling Powder.]

[Academy Supply Record: Realgar, Wormwood, Snake-Aversion Grass.]

[Actual Residue: Paralysis Pollen, Bewitching Herb Juice, Snake-Luring Pollen.]

[Proofreading Result: Label does not match the formula.]

"Those people didn't just want Luo Sanpao unconscious."

Xu Zhou looked up.

"They also wanted him to lose his ability to fly."

Yu Xiaogang looked at Luo Sanpao in his arms.

"If he couldn't fly, he wouldn't have acted when he saved people earlier."

"That's right."

Xu Zhou picked up the bag of powder.

"They knew from the beginning that Luo Sanpao would save people, so they prepared for it in advance."

Yu Xiaogang's fingers tightened.

Luo Sanpao was often treated as a joke, but he had been with him for so many years.

Others could make fun of his theories.

But they could not use Luo Sanpao as an experiment.

"Where's the antidote?"

Yu Xiaogang looked up at the people outside the iron fence.

"Hand over the antidote."

No one outside answered.

The man holding the Amplifying Soul Tool finally spoke.

"Grandmaster Yu, don't make things difficult for us. The medicine came from the academy warehouse. We only arranged the site."

"You just said Luo Sanpao wouldn't die."

"He really won't."

"Then bring out the antidote."

"There isn't one."

Tang San said nothing.

He took a Sleeve Arrow from his belt.

Click.

The Sleeve Arrow was cocked.

"You don't have to open the gate."

Tang San looked outside the iron fence.

"But the next hidden weapon won't hit the fence."

"You dare?"

"There are no academy teachers here."

After saying that, Tang San aimed the Sleeve Arrow at the man's feet.

Xu Zhou glanced at him.

Tang San was not without a temper.

He just usually kept it buried deep.

Yu Xiaogang raised a hand and held Tang San's wrist.

"Save Luo Sanpao first."

"Teacher?"

"They won't hand over the antidote."

Yu Xiaogang looked at Xu Zhou again.

"Can you identify the medicine's ingredients?"

Xu Zhou did not answer.

He picked up a pinch of powder and held it before his tongue to smell it.

Paralysis Pollen, Bewitching Herb Juice, Snake-Luring Pollen.

Mixed together, none of those three substances was fatal on its own.

But Luo Sanpao's Soul Power was not high to begin with, and his Martial Soul was a mutated form. Once affected, his Soul Power circulation had already stopped.

Ordinary detoxification methods might not work.

"We need water."

"Water?"

"Clean water. As much as possible."

"I have a waterskin."

Tang San immediately removed the water bag from his waist.

But Xu Zhou shook his head.

"Not enough."

He looked toward the stone trough in the center of the abandoned Captive-Breeding Ground.

The trough had originally been for Soul Beasts to drink from. Half a trough of murky water remained inside.

"You can't drink from that."

Yu Xiaogang said.

"The stone trough hasn't been cleaned in ten years. There are rotting grass roots in it."

Xu Zhou walked to the trough and picked up a dry stalk of grass.

The Black Ancient Book turned its pages.

[Residue: Rotten grass roots, Bitter Moss, a small amount of snake saliva.]

[Conflicts with Luo Sanpao's current symptoms.]

"We can't use the water in the trough."

Xu Zhou looked outside the iron fence.

"Open the gate."

"Do you take us for fools?"

"If Luo Sanpao dies, Yu Xiaogang will stay here forever."

Xu Zhou pointed at the mechanism outside the iron cage.

"Tang San won't be in a hurry to kill the Mandrake Snake either."

"He'll settle the score with you first."

"Then this original-plot restoration experiment won't be able to continue."

The man did not answer.

Xu Zhou continued, "You arranged this Captive-Breeding Ground so Tang San could obtain his first Soul Ring. Now both snakes are here, Luo Sanpao is poisoned, and the exit is broken. As long as Yu Xiaogang remains, Tang San won't make a move."

"You haven't trapped us."

"You've trapped your own plot."

People outside the wire fence began arguing in low voices.

They needed Tang San to absorb the Soul Ring.

They needed Yu Xiaogang's guidance.

More than that, they needed this soul hunt to conclude properly so the later bets could be paid out.

But Yu Xiaogang was clutching Luo Sanpao and refusing to let go.

Tang San could not possibly kill a Soul Beast while his teacher's Martial Soul was in critical condition.

The longer the three of them stalled, the more anxious the people outside became.

Xu Zhou spoke.

"Send in a bucket of clean water."

"What gives you the right to order us around?"

Xu Zhou looked at the betting slip listing the completion conditions.

"More than five hundred people outside bet on me getting out alive."

"If I die here, the betting pool can naturally be settled."

"But if I get out alive, more people will learn about this."

"When that happens, it won't just be Nuoding Academy coming to settle accounts with you."

The man's expression changed.

Xu Zhou had not threatened him.

He had merely stated the consequences that already existed.

The entire continent was full of transmigrators.

Once the information got out, those trying to make money by fabricating scenes from the original work would quickly become targets watched by every faction.

They could deceive Tang San once.

But they could never deceive everyone.

"Give him water."

The man finally spoke.

The feeding hatch opened, and a wooden bucket was pushed inside.

Xu Zhou did not take it immediately.

He had the Black Ancient Book move close to the bucket.

[Residue on the bucket's outer layer: medicinal solution.]

[Residue on the bucket's inner layer: clean water.]

"Change the bucket."

"Don't push your luck."

"There's snake-luring medicine around the rim."

Xu Zhou pointed at the edge of the bucket.

"Luo Sanpao is already unconscious from Snake-Luring Pollen and numbing medicine. If it gets any more on him, he won't be saved."

The people outside had no choice but to replace the bucket.

Tang San took the clean water, pried open Luo Sanpao's mouth, and fed it to him bit by bit.

Luo Sanpao did not swallow.

Water trickled from the corners of his mouth, soaking Yu Xiaogang's sleeve.

Yu Xiaogang lowered his head and wiped it away.

"Luo, luo."

Luo Sanpao finally made a sound.

It was faint.

But audible.

Yu Xiaogang's shoulders relaxed slightly.

Xu Zhou poured the remaining clean water into an empty bottle, then added several Numbing-Relief Herbs he had found in the herb garden.

The Black Ancient Book marked conflicting text.

[Herb garden record: Numbing-Relief Herb can alleviate low-level paralysis.]

[Current record: Effect of Numbing-Relief Herb on Mutated Soul Beasts unknown.]

[Effectiveness cannot be confirmed.]

"Can he be saved?" Tang San asked.

"Let's try."

Xu Zhou handed the medicinal liquid to Yu Xiaogang.

"Feed him small amounts."

"What if it's wrong?"

"Then we'll try another method."

Xu Zhou did not say it would definitely save him.

The Black Ancient Book could only proofread; it could not guarantee reality for him.

Yu Xiaogang accepted the medicine and fed it to Luo Sanpao as Xu Zhou had instructed.

A quarter of an hour passed.

Luo Sanpao still did not wake.

The people outside the wire fence began urging them on.

"Tang San, the Mandrake Snake has already been restrained. Hurry up and do it!"

"If this drags on, the Soul Beast's condition will worsen!"

Tang San looked at the Four-Century Mandrake Snake.

It was restrained by the Captive-Breeding Ground's chains, its fleshy crest spread wide as its body continually slammed against the iron cage.

But Tang San never raised his hand.

Xiao Wu had said not to treat Soul Beasts as answers.

He did not want to complete some so-called original plot inside a cage arranged by someone else.

"Xu Zhou."

Tang San turned his head.

"Do you have another way?"

Xu Zhou lowered his gaze to the unresponsive Luo Sanpao.

The Black Ancient Book remained silent for a long time.

Then, a line of unfamiliar text suddenly appeared on its pages.

[Detected a compatible reaction between the host's Soul Power and Mutated Martial Soul.]

[Soul Power Resonance may be attempted.]

[Success rate: unknown.]

Xu Zhou raised his hand and pressed it against Luo Sanpao's forehead.

The moment his palm touched him, a faint ripple of Soul Power came from within Luo Sanpao's body.

The next instant, the Four-Century Mandrake Snake in the iron cage stopped struggling.

The Millennium Mandrake Snake across the river also lifted its head again in the distance.

Both Soul Beasts turned toward Xu Zhou at the same time.

Someone outside the wire fence blurted out,

"Isn't he supposed to have zero Soul Power?"

Xu Zhou did not answer.

Because another line had already appeared in the Black Ancient Book.

[Warning: If the host continues resonating, both Mandrake Snakes will lock onto him.]

[Public Script progress updated.]

[Burden of the Soul Hunting Forest: Completion conditions changed.]

[Within three days, lead the entire team out alive.]

Outside the door, the wire-fence mechanism dropped again.

Click.

Every exit locked shut at once.