He had even less of an opening to act.
If he attacked outright,
the hostage would probably die on the spot.
Though the Snake Demon was weaker than he was,
killing a hostage would pose no difficulty at all.
The question now was
whether the other breathing inside the room
belonged to a human or a demon.
A demon would naturally be the best-case scenario.
But if it was a human...
he would have to proceed carefully.
Of course,
whether that human lived or died actually had little to do with him.
But as a human himself,
he ought to save them if he could.
If possible,
he certainly did not want a human to die.
Although they had no connection whatsoever,
to members of the Human Race,
there was still the bond of shared kinship.
The human he saved
might someday offer hope of nurturing other powerful individuals.
That hope
could not be said to be nonexistent.
Though it was slim,
the Human Race was still willing, for the sake of that hope,
to save one group of weak people after another.
It was precisely because of that hope
that the Human Race had survived until now and attained its current standing.
As a member of the Human Race,
Xiping Chuixue was quite willing to carry on that belief.
But he would not lose his reason and insist on following it blindly.
If the Snake Demon insisted on demanding his life in exchange,
Xiping Chuixue could only say
that the Snake Demon was dreaming.
Rather than stake his own life against an ordinary person's,
Xiping Chuixue would prefer to make an attempt.
If he won, everyone would naturally be happy.
Both Xiping Chuixue and the hostage would be safe.
If he lost, Xiping Chuixue would have no trouble protecting