Twin Pupils in the Forest

Before dawn, a long rooster's crow woke Soul Hunting Town.

Long Tian sat up, rubbed his eyes, and quickly dressed by the faint light filtering through a crack in the window. Mr. Wang was already up, packing his belongings at the table beside the next bed. When he saw Long Tian awake, he only said, "Wash up, then come downstairs for flatbread," before picking up his bundle and leaving.

Breakfast was coarse-flour flatbread cooked by the innkeeper's wife, stuffed with pickled vegetables and a small piece of pork crackling. It was piping hot, and every bite filled the mouth with a rich, savory aroma. Long Tian ate until he had food all over his mouth, then downed two bowls of thin congee before stopping. Mr. Wang ate slowly, going over the information he had gathered the previous night as he chewed: the Yin-Yang Twin-Pupil Python roamed an area about two hours' walk into the mountains, where a stream ran through the woods. The python often appeared by the water.

"Remember," Mr. Wang said, setting down his bowl, "we're only scouting today. If we see the snake, I'll go up and keep it occupied while you watch how it attacks. It has two heads, one gold and one black, corresponding to the light and dark attributes. You need to figure out how each of its two attacks works before deciding how to strike."

"What if it comes straight for me?" Long Tian asked.

Mr. Wang glanced at him. "Then run."

Long Tian grimaced and asked no more.

Once they were ready, the two left Soul Hunting Town through the thin mist of dawn. A dirt road at the edge of town led into a mixed woodland, where fog hung among the trees and dew soaked their shoes and trouser cuffs. After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the trees grew denser, and the dirt road beneath their feet gave way to a beast trail. Ferns rose to their knees on either side, rustling as they trod on them.

Mr. Wang led the way, the short sword from his waist already in his hand, his steps light. Long Tian followed, clutching the jar of beast-repelling powder in his left hand, his right ready to activate his Martial Soul at any moment. After about half an hour, the light in the forest dimmed. Layers of canopy blocked most of the daylight, leaving only scattered patches of sunlight dappling the ground.

Suddenly, Mr. Wang stopped and raised a hand, signaling Long Tian to be quiet.

Long Tian held his breath and pricked up his ears. Faintly, a low rustling came from deep in the forest ahead, as though something heavy were dragging its body over the fallen leaves. The sound was unhurried, yet its rhythm sent a chill down his spine.

Mr. Wang gestured ahead with his chin and lowered his voice. "We've reached the stream. That thing is nearby."

Keeping close to the tree roots, the two slowly felt their way forward. They parted a cluster of waist-high shrubs, and the view suddenly opened up before them. A mountain stream thirty or forty feet wide lay across their path, its shallow water clear over a bed of rounded pebbles. The rush of the water drowned out the other sounds of the forest. On the opposite bank, a drag mark as wide as a bucket was plainly imprinted in a patch of wet mud! It wound its way into the dense woods, leaving ferns flattened along its path, half-dried mucus oozing from their broken ends.

"Fresh." Mr. Wang crouched and touched the mucus, rubbing it between his fingertips before lifting them to his nose. "Two hours old at most."

Long Tian crouched beside him, looking at the mark, his heart pounding like a drum. It was much larger than he had imagined. He had thought a snake seven or eight hundred years old would be no thicker than an arm, but judging by this mark, it was at least as thick as an adult's waist. He swallowed and looked at Mr. Wang.

Mr. Wang's expression remained unchanged, though his fingers tightened around his short sword. "Follow it, and keep ten paces back. Don't step on any dead branches."

The two followed the drag mark into the dense forest on the opposite bank. The farther in they went, the damper the air became, and a faint, fishy smell hung around them, barely perceptible yet impossible to shake. Long Tian noticed strange marks beginning to appear on the trees around them. Some trunks bore deep scratches, as though raked by sharp claws; translucent mucus hung from broken branches on others, gleaming like pearl in the dim light.

After walking for about another incense stick's worth of time, the trees ahead suddenly thinned, revealing a clearing. A fallen dead tree lay across its center, its trunk covered in moss. The snake's trail vanished into a pitch-black hole at its roots.

Mr. Wang stopped twenty paces away and narrowed his eyes at the entrance. The hole was about two feet wide, and the earth around its edge had been rubbed smooth and shiny. A strong, fishy stench came from it. He said quietly to Long Tian, "It's a den. It should be resting inside. Let's back off and find a high spot where we can watch the entrance."

The two quietly withdrew and climbed a nearby old camphor tree with sturdy branches, each settling astride a limb. From there, they had a clear view of the clearing and could see every movement at the entrance.

The wait was long. The light in the forest changed from gray-white to pale gold, then from pale gold to orange-red as the sun edged westward. Long Tian's legs went numb as he sat astride the branch, and several times he nearly dozed off, staying awake only by biting the tip of his tongue. Mr. Wang, however, remained alert throughout, his gaze fixed on the hole.

At last, at dusk, when the sun had nearly set and the forest light was at its most indistinct, something stirred inside.

A low hiss came from deep within the den. Immediately afterward, two heads emerged, one after the other. Long Tian's eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat. The two heads grew side by side from a single neck. The one on the left was pitch-black, with a vertical line on its crown that split open to reveal a dark-gold vertical pupil. The one on the right was silver-white as snow, and a vertical slit likewise opened on its crown, revealing a deep-black eye.

One gold and one black. One light and one dark.

The Yin-Yang Twin-Pupil Python!

The snake slowly slithered out of the den, its body as thick as a bucket and covered from end to end in alternating black and white bands. Every scale glimmered with a damp, eerie light. It moved beside the fallen tree in the center of the clearing and coiled up, both heads raised high as its four eyes scanned the surrounding forest, seemingly checking for intruders.

Long Tian held his breath, not daring to make a sound. He felt the two cyclones in his dantian tremble at the same time. The light cyclone tilted slightly toward the snake's white head, while the dark cyclone was drawn to its black head. They seemed to have sensed their own kind, or perhaps caught the scent of prey.

Just then, Mr. Wang gestured to him. The gesture meant: Did you get a good look?

Long Tian nodded. He had seen clearly. The snake's two heads each launched attacks of a different attribute. When the white head opened its mouth, scorching white light gathered inside, while the black head spewed a dark-purple poisonous mist. One attacked and the other defended, their coordination seamless.

Mr. Wang made another gesture: I'll go first. Watch for your chance.

Before Long Tian could respond, Mr. Wang had already leaped from the branch! He stretched out in midair, his short sword drawn, a strand of green Soul Power winding around its blade. Two Yellow Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet at the same time! It was Long Tian's first time seeing Mr. Wang fight at full strength, and he nearly cried out. Two Hundred-Year Soul Rings-Mr. Wang was a Soul Grandmaster!

The Yin-Yang Twin-Pupil Python reacted with astonishing speed. As Mr. Wang landed, its white head abruptly spat out a beam of searing white light, straight at his face! Mr. Wang dodged sideways, and the beam grazed his shoulder before striking a tree trunk behind him, bursting against it with a sizzle and leaving a scorched black patch. The black head immediately opened its jaws, releasing a billowing cloud of purple-black poisonous mist. It spread rapidly, withering the plants in its path and giving off a pungent smell.

Mr. Wang held his breath and slashed horizontally with his short sword. Green sword light cut through the mist, heading straight for the snake's seven-inch point. Enormous yet agile, the Yin-Yang Twin-Pupil Python twisted its body away from the blade and swept its tail at Mr. Wang's legs with the force of a thousand catties!

"Now!" Mr. Wang roared, changing the direction of his sword strike to draw the python's attention.

Long Tian had been waiting for that shout. He leaped from the branch, golden light bursting from his right palm as golden dragon scales covered the back of his hand and forearm. The instant he landed, he bent his knees and sprang forward, shooting like a tiny golden arrow straight at the snake's side! He avoided its front and picked a spot in its blind spot, then filled his right palm with Light Dragon Power and struck at its scales!

Clang!

A sharp metallic crash rang out. Long Tian's palm strike bounced off the snake's scales as though he had struck an iron plate! The black-and-white scales were exceptionally hard, and his Light Dragon Power left only a shallow scorch mark, failing utterly to break through. Stung by the blow, the snake whipped its white head around, its dark-gold vertical pupil locking onto Long Tian.

This is bad! Long Tian's heart clenched. Before he could retreat, the white snake's jaws had opened again, blazing white light gathering in its throat!

In that desperate instant, his left hand shot up-not because he had consciously activated it, but because the black cyclone in his dantian had burst open of its own accord! Dark scales surfaced on the back of his left hand, and a cloud of icy dark mist erupted from his palm, crashing into the oncoming pillar of white light!

Light and darkness clashed in midair! The white radiance burned hot, the black mist bitingly cold. The two forces ate away at and neutralized each other with a piercing hiss, filling the air with a strange mixture of scorched and sour, rotten smells.

Long Tian felt as if his left arm had been stuffed into an ice cellar. The cold penetrated to his marrow, making him bare his teeth in pain. But he did not pull back. Instead, he gritted his teeth and sent all the Soul Power remaining in his dantian into his left arm. The dark mist surged, forcing the white light back!

Boom!

The two forces exploded in midair. The shock wave sent Long Tian flying, his back slamming hard into a tree trunk and his internal organs churning. A metallic sweetness rose in his mouth, but he had no time to worry about the pain. He struggled to his feet and looked toward the snake.

The Yin-Yang Twin-Pupil Python's white head drooped weakly, its dark-gold vertical pupil half closed and much dimmer than before. Its black head turned warily toward Long Tian, its single deep-black eye reflecting the dark mist that still lingered around his left hand.

Mr. Wang seized the opening. Green light blazed from his short sword, and he slashed at the narrow white stripe on the snake's seven-inch point-the Yin-Yang Twin-Pupil Python's only weakness!

Pfft! The blade sank half an inch into its flesh. The python let out a piercing hiss, its enormous body thrashing violently as its tail swept wildly around it, sending the dead tree and broken stones flying everywhere. But after the wound, it was clearly running out of strength. Its struggles grew weaker and weaker until it finally crashed to the ground, its two heads dropping one after the other. Only its last breath remained.

Long Tian slowly got to his feet with the help of the tree trunk, not bothering to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked at the dying python on the ground, his chest heaving. In his dantian, the light and dark cyclones spun fiercely at the same time, as though clamoring: It's our turn.

Mr. Wang put away his sword, panting heavily. He turned and saw the dark mist still lingering around Long Tian's left hand, and his gaze sharpened, but he asked nothing. He said only:

"Do it."