The instant the Fairy King returned to the barrier, the Snake Swarm's rampage immediately subsided. A dozen or so venomous snakes surged forward and struck the edge of the barrier, crumbling inch by inch as though made of paper until they vanished.
Only then did the remaining venomous snakes give up, turning back to continue besieging the three clones.
"So what exactly is happening now?" the Night Watchman asked the Herbalist, who had jumped back into the encirclement.
"No idea..." the Herbalist said impatiently.
"Are we going to have to kill snakes here forever...?" Linglong looked terrified.
"Look, these things don't seem like they'll ever run out... Should we take the main body and run right now?" the Night Watchman asked.
"What do we do, Number Two?"
"Think of something, Number Two..."
The two took turns speaking, directing every question at the Herbalist. Clearly, they had already accepted him as the decision-maker in the main body's absence.
Busy fighting the enemy while enduring their barrage of questions, the Herbalist grew somewhat agitated.
Just then, his expression suddenly sharpened. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a dark shape breaking swiftly through the darkness behind him, charging straight toward the main body.
The Herbalist instinctively leaped out and landed in front of Mu You, swinging his scythe at the approaching shadow.
"Wait! Don't kill her, she's..."
Just as the scythe was about to strike the shadow, a familiar voice rang out from behind.
The Herbalist frowned, stopping his scythe in midair without bringing it down.
The approaching shadow was now fully exposed before him: a deep-blue Caterpillar Eerie One, three to four meters long, wreathed in dense black mist.
The caterpillar had a gaping, bloody maw. Completely ignoring the three clones, she went around the Herbalist and charged