Arrival at the Snake-People Holy City

Late last night, Yue Mei and the four snake-woman guards had secretly plotted their escape.

It was not that they had never considered launching a sneak attack while Luo Yang was cultivating, but then they remembered that even when Lady Yue Mei had still been a Dou Wang expert, she had been unable to do anything to him. Now that she was merely a Dou Zhe accompanied by four Da Dou Shi, it was even less possible.

So fleeing was their only choice.

Simply running away under normal circumstances would not work; they would be caught sooner or later. Thus, Yue Mei had forcibly plucked four scales from vital parts of her own body, each stained with a drop of her blood essence and carrying the strongest trace of her presence outside her actual body.

The four snake-woman guards would each take a scale and flee in four different directions, using this to throw off that human's pursuit.

Meanwhile, Yue Mei herself would use a forbidden technique of the Snake-People Tribe, burning her life force to transform into a Snake Spirit. This would also conceal her presence to avoid detection, allowing her to take a shortcut back to the Snake-People Holy City and report this information to Queen Medusa.

What she had not anticipated, however, was that Luo Yang had three accomplices: an old man and two lolis.

Still less had she expected such a perfect plan to be exposed so quickly.

Yue Mei knew she could not escape today, but she was even less willing to be captured alive and made a slave. The scenes of Luo Yang doing those things to her yesterday were still vivid in her mind. Whenever she recalled them, her lips and tail would feel sensations, as though she were still being xxxx.

Thus, Yue Mei changed from her Snake Spirit form back into her Snake-Person appearance. Without another word, she crossed her hands and rapidly formed several strange seals.

"Oh no! She's going to self-detonate!"

The experienced and knowledgeable Hai Bodong recognized Yue Mei's intention at a glance.

Although Yue Mei's Dou Qi had been sealed, this forbidden self-detonation technique was unaffected by the seal and could directly detonate her soul and Dou Qi.

She would be reduced to flying ash and scattered smoke.

Even a Dou Huang expert would have to steer clear of a Dou Wang expert's self-detonation.

"Elder Hai! Freeze her, quick!" Luo Yang hurriedly shouted.

Without the slightest hesitation, Hai Bodong followed Luo Yang's instructions and unleashed Ice Dou Qi at Yue Mei.

Unable to dodge while performing the forbidden technique, Yue Mei was struck by Hai Bodong's ice just as the technique was about to succeed. Her entire body was instantly frozen into a block of ice.

Her hands also stopped at the final seal.

She had been only a hair's breadth away from freeing herself.

With her self-detonation thwarted, Yue Mei could already imagine what kind of torment she would suffer next...

Especially from that sleazy old man. Twenty years ago, he had barged into the Snake-People Tribe and been beaten by their Queen Medusa until he fled, pissing and shitting himself. Today, he had come back with help to take revenge.

Yet in the next second...

Tushan Rongrong slowly stepped forward and gently laid her fair hand on the surface of the ice. At her touch, the ice gradually melted, freeing Yue Mei.

Under Yue Mei's bewildered gaze, Tushan Rongrong used a healing technique on the wounds where those four scales were missing.

"Fox demon art! Star-Shifting Technique!"

Tushan Rongrong pressed her fingers against Yue Mei's wounds, using the scales elsewhere on her body as a reference to heal her injuries.

The Star-Shifting Technique was a high-level healing spell of Tushan. It could regenerate severed arms and broken legs, so a few damaged scales posed no difficulty whatsoever.

Luo Yang also knew this technique, but in terms of proficiency, he was still far behind Sister Rongrong.

Yue Mei's wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the missing scales slowly grew back as well. In the blink of an eye, she was restored to her original state.

Although her physical injuries had completely healed, the life she had burned away using the forbidden technique could not be restored.

"This is..."

Yue Mei's little mouth fell slightly open in surprise.

She had never seen a healing Dou Technique like this, nor had she even heard of one.

Even a Sixth-Grade Pill would require time for her to slowly heal, and it could not come anywhere near achieving this effect.

Just where had these people come from...?

And why were they healing her wounds? Were they afraid they would not get enough enjoyment out of humiliating her?

"Luoluo." Tushan Rongrong smiled and softly called to Luo Yang.

Understanding her meaning, Luo Yang stepped forward, took out the Sparklence, and aimed it at Yue Mei. With a thought, he used the Sparklence to draw out the mass of light he had injected into her body yesterday.

As that hateful thing left her body, Yue Mei felt her Dou Qi return.

She was a Dou Wang expert once more.

Yue Mei then looked at Tushan Rongrong in confusion, unable to understand what she meant by this.

After going to "such trouble" to capture her, they were now healing her and restoring her strength. Just what did they want?

If they simply wanted to humiliate her, why go to such lengths?

"Commander Yue Mei, there's no need to regard us with hostility. When we first met yesterday, my young master already told you a few things. We've come to the Snake-People Tribe to find Queen Medusa solely to discuss a mutually beneficial deal. We bear the Snake-People Tribe not the slightest ill will..."

That faint smile remained on Tushan Rongrong's face.

After this incident, Yue Mei largely believed the fox-eared loli before her, whose words were much the same as what Luo Yang had said yesterday.

Who said those same words was part of the reason, but there was another reason as well: yesterday, she and Luo Yang had just come out of the water without a stitch of clothing on, leaving her feeling terribly embarrassed and...

It would have been strange if they could have communicated properly.

"All right, then. I'll take you to see the queen. If you dare deceive me and do anything that harms the queen or the Snake-People Tribe, I won't let you off even if it costs me my life..."

Traveling through the scorching desert, Luo Yang and his party drew ever closer to their destination.

Two and a half days had passed since the incident at the oasis. Given that all of them could fly, they could originally have reached the Snake-People Holy City in less than half a day.

That was precisely what Luo Yang had intended, already impatient to see Queen Medusa's true appearance. However, Tushan Rongrong had demanded that he break through to Da Dou Shi... or at least reach Nine-Star Dou Shi.

Over those two days, Luo Yang had successfully broken through to Nine-Star Dou Shi, but he was still quite far from becoming a Da Dou Shi.

Besides having Luo Yang cultivate, there was another reason: Yao Lao and Xiao Yan...

Tushan Rongrong worried that the huge commotion Luo Yang had caused last week might very well have frightened the extremely sensitive Yao Lao into hiding, leaving him afraid to come out and stir up trouble. That would disrupt her plans.

She was not afraid of him causing trouble.

She was only afraid of him doing nothing at all.

That would make things very difficult...

Even though they had deliberately slowed their pace considerably, they had finally reached their destination.

As they crossed a sand dune, an enormous tribal fortress slowly appeared on the distant horizon.

"We're here. That is the Snake-People Holy City, where Queen Medusa lives."

Seeing the familiar tribal fortress, Yue Mei felt somewhat apprehensive, but she still told the others about the Snake-People Holy City.

Over these past few days together, Yue Mei had discovered that these humans were quite decent by nature. In particular, the human who had seen her entire naked body and even touched her tail seemed flippant and overbearing on the surface, yet was very gentle in private, like a completely different person from that lecher before.

It left Yue Mei feeling a little dazed...

"Finally here."

Luo Yang licked his dry lips, his eyes brimming with excitement and anticipation at the prospect of meeting Queen Medusa.

(Thanks to reader "A Salted Fish" for the two monthly votes.)