Snake Women

The green membrane was as thin as tissue paper, seeming as though it would burst with a light flick, yet even though the Goathead Chief exhausted every ounce of strength in his body, he could not kick it open in the slightest.

Before the watching Ram-headed People, their chief kept shrinking, shrinking, until he had completely transformed into a green frog.

He croaked twice in midair before falling into the filthy water. The newly transformed frog clumsily kicked his hind legs, vainly trying to burrow into deeper mud.

Unfortunately, he was not truly a frog. His repeated kicks merely made him spin in place.

Li Ziran took a red rope from his pocket, bent down, lifted him upside down, tied his hind legs, and hung him from the back of his waist.

The shift between prey and hunter happened in the space of a breath. Once Li Ziran had finished tidying up and raised his head, that familiar smile was already on his face.

Yet at this moment, the Ram-headed People could no longer feel the slightest warmth from it. Instead, it was the bone-chilling cold of Purgatory.

They watched helplessly as the young man, a head shorter than them, raised his wand. A string of green light enveloped the Ram-headed People in the front row.

By the time Li Ziran had controlled five Ram-headed People, the rest finally came to their senses, turned around, trampled through the muddy ground, and fled madly toward the Wasteland.

Although Li Ziran used his wand quite frequently, he ultimately only managed to keep seventeen Ram-headed People.

The remaining Ram-headed People escaped the array's range with their exceptional jumping ability. Without the array's aid, his Transformation Spell became utterly useless.

"What a pity!"

Li Ziran lowered his head to look at his feet covered in mud, then glanced at the frog bouncing repeatedly through the sludge, seeming rather dissatisfied with this hunt.

Mainly, he was dissatisfied with the range of the array he had constructed. If given enough time, he could draw a Transformation Array across half a li in every direction. Within the array, he could use the Transformation Spell without restraint.

Back then, writing Tadpole Script on the ground with his feet had merely been Li Ziran's spur-of-the-moment idea. Now, however, it had become his signature skill.

Relying on this ability, he had made quite a few windfalls on the Wasteland.

That was why he liked groups, and liked even more the groups that set their sights on him. Especially merchant groups like this one—average in strength yet full of ambition—they were Li Ziran's finest prey.

Trampling through the mud, he tied all the dozen or so frogs floating on the water's surface with red ropes and hung them from his waist.

He ignored their frantic croaking. Compared to corpses, the living were worth more.

All he needed was to find a slave merchant group, and these Ram-headed People could be exchanged for nearly two hundred corpses.

Especially since he had caught a lead goat. Selling that thing to a buyer for a human gladiatorial arena would definitely fetch a fine price.

After dealing with the frogs, Li Ziran went to the swamp's edge, turned over the completely shattered Skeletons, and carefully untied the red ropes to store them away.

These were Death Ropes!

They were inventions of Necromancers, filled with violent Undead Force.

If a living creature remained tied up with such a rope for a long time, it would be contaminated by Undead Force and turn into a living corpse.

As for remains, once the rope was cut short, they could directly become Skeletons.

This was something money could not buy. To obtain one red rope, one had to offer five corpses in exchange to a Necromancer.

And if one handed broken red ropes like these to a Necromancer, three could still be exchanged for one brand-new rope.

They were treasures.

They could also be considered one of Li Ziran's trump cards.

As for those Skeletons, they were completely useless. Having been ravaged by Undead Force, all nutrients in their bones had been drained away. Even wild beasts might not eat such things.

Their only use was to sink into the mud and rot away.

Li Ziran moved extremely quickly. He understood the Survival Law well: lingering too long at any battlefield could invite a calamity from nowhere.

However, this time, he was clearly too slow. Just as he untied the third broken rope, a sharp whistle of something cutting through the air came from behind him.

By the time Li Ziran reacted, the shadow of an arrow was already against his back. He could only plunge into the mud on reflex.

The choking, nauseating stench of the swamp rushed at his face, but what truly alarmed him were the whooshing sounds slicing past his ears.

Sharp arrowheads tore through the air and plunged into the water, splashing up clusters of spray.

Li Ziran did not dare hesitate. He took out his wand and tapped himself with it. At once, a layer of green light wrapped around him, and as though controlled, the green light swiftly drilled into his body.

In the span of a single breath, a tiny emerald-green frog was born.

With one kick of his hind legs, he had already swum several feet away. After several more kicks, he had completely escaped the area under attack.

He swam continuously through the swamp for half a quarter-hour before daring to raise his head and look back toward where he had been. Three slender water snakes were rapidly swimming beside the mudflat.

The water snakes remained in the place where he had been standing for half a quarter-hour, then swam in his direction.

In the distance, two women with human bodies and snake tails stared motionlessly at the water's surface.

Snake Women!

A species unique to swamps, they survived by hunting those who passed through. Their eyesight was weak, but they possessed extraordinary senses of smell and the racial talent [Iris].

Through Iris, they could see through any magical disguise.

Clearly, the earlier battle had alerted this group of Snake Women.

And the frog he had transformed into was precisely countered by them. The water snakes swimming through the surface could form an encirclement in mere seconds.

There was no need to fight head-on. He only needed to run.

These Snake Women could transform into water snakes, but likewise, they could not leave the swamp. Their delicate skin simply could not endure the dry currents of air on the Wasteland.

As long as he retreated, he would be safe and sound.

However, Li Ziran had no real intention of fleeing into the Wasteland. Since Snake Women had appeared, Medusa was certainly here.

In ancient legends, Snake Women were Medusa's attendant race.

Barbaro had not lied to him.

This suddenly appearing swamp was an opportunity. If he missed it, there would not be a second chance. He only needed to swim along the river toward the swamp's center and find a Slave-Catching Group. Then the opportunity would come.

Though Snake Women were not as popular as Medusa, they were still fairly sought-after slaves. Certain specialized caravans were particularly fond of species with such water-snake waists.

These three were troublesome, but if handled properly, perhaps he could capture them as well.

Li Ziran quietly untied a frog from his waist. Freed from the red rope's restraint, the frog desperately thrashed in the water, sending rings of ripples outward.

Sure enough, the unusual movement caught the attention of the three water snakes. With a simple weave, they wrapped around the frog, and amid a flash of rainbow light, the Transformation Spell failed.

The frog kept growing larger. When he reached the size of a Ram-headed Person, he stopped, completely becoming a large toad sitting upright.

The large toad excitedly gestured toward the distant Snake Women, but a long, slender fang quickly pierced his neck, and his entire body toppled back into the pool.

Two water snakes leaped from the surface and rapidly grew larger, turning into two voluptuous Snake Women. Dragging the completely unconscious Ram-headed Person, they headed deeper into the swamp.

"May the Lord bless me!"

Li Ziran chuckled, taking advantage of the brief opening to swiftly swim deeper into the swamp.

Losing one Ram-headed Person in exchange for some time was still a worthwhile trade for Li Ziran.

But after swimming only a few steps, he immediately sensed something was wrong. The currents felt through the frog's skin told him that at least seven different water disturbances were closing in on him.

Though he could not see them, the water could deliver precise information through its ripples.

More than three!

Li Ziran secretly frowned. Soon, he saw the culprits stirring up the pool: thirteen water snakes!

The instant he looked over, those water snakes had clearly discovered his trail.

This was bad!

He hurriedly untied another frog!

As the disturbance appeared, Li Ziran rapidly kicked his legs and swam in the opposite direction.

This had somewhat exceeded his plans.

Li Ziran quietly sensed the ripples in the water, and the more he felt them, the worse the unease in his heart became.

Water snakes had begun tracking him.

One, two!

Li Ziran kept untying red ropes while maintaining intense concentration.

These were definitely not ordinary scattered stragglers. After a brief probe, it was obvious they were a Snake People unit that advanced and retreated with discipline.

He had to take a risk.

He needed to leave this shallow shoal and enter the central lake.

The lake was vast, while he was tiny. There was plenty of room to escape.

Li Ziran released three frogs in succession, and the surging snake swarm finally revealed a gap.

Charge!

Li Ziran rapidly kicked his legs, shooting into the swamp like an arrow loosed from the bow. With a small leap, he entered the grassland; with another light jump, he entered a deeper reservoir. Kicking his legs repeatedly, he dove into dense aquatic grass.

Perfect!

The entire maneuver flowed in one breath. Li Ziran gave this escape a perfect score.

Leaning against the aquatic grass, he needed a brief rest. At the same time, he needed to consider his next move.

This was already the swamp's outer edge. It looked quite large. Judging by the degree to which the Wasteland devoured swamps, this swamp would last around three days.

He would approach the central region, remain hidden in frog form, find a stretch of water to set up a Transformation Array, and if luck favored him, perhaps catch a lone Medusa.

Even Barbaro could stumble upon one. Li Ziran refused to believe his own luck was that terrible.

Yet in that brief moment of distraction, a chill struck directly at his back. When he turned around, he saw a forked snake tongue extending through a gap between two stalks of aquatic grass.

At the source of that tongue was a smooth mouth set with patches of blue-green markings. A slender body, so long its end could not be seen, swayed through the water. It had already slipped several feet forward and come up against Li Ziran's back.