Chapter 423: Demon-Crowned Snake

Amidst the exclamations of the group, Han Li, who had been prepared, flicked his other hand. The Green Brilliance Sword shot out from his grasp, colliding with the black shadow.

The black shadow was instantly knocked back to the edge of the pool, where it raised its head, flicking its tongue and staring coldly at the group.

"A Demon-Crowned Snake? Why does the demon crown on its head look like a Seven-Colored Lotus!" Hu Yue's eyes went wide as he clearly saw the true appearance of the black shadow.

The black shadow at the edge of the pool was, in fact, a pitch-black monster snake, three to four feet long, with a fleshy horn growing on its head.

The snake flicked its bright red tongue, and the upper part of the fleshy horn was indeed that three-colored flower bud, looking just like a delicate little flower growing on its head, which appeared extremely ridiculous.

As for the rainbow, it was actually strands of lingering seven-colored demonic Qi exhaled by the snake.

It looked exactly like a real rainbow. No wonder it could deceive the eyes of so many cultivators.

Seeing the snake's true form, Shi Die's eyes flashed with cold light. Without a word, she flicked her hand, releasing a purple cloud-silk. The object carried a rumbling sound as it struck directly at the demon snake.

"Careful! This snake is incredibly poisonous; you are no match for it!" Jin Qing's expression changed drastically as he spoke hurriedly. After saying this, he also released a large white seal, which transformed into a white light to assist in the attack.

The demon snake's eyes were icy. Seeing the two objects approaching, it opened its mouth and spat out a seven-colored bead, which released a brilliant, precious light, actually blocking the seal and the purple silk in front of it, preventing them from coming even an inch closer.

At this moment, Hu Yue finally awoke from the disappointment of losing his precious treasure. After a slight hesitation, his two flying knives transformed into long rainbows and joined the fray.

Suddenly, in front of the demon snake, three streaks of white light, one purple glow, and a cluster of seven-colored light were intertwined.

The snake was not afraid in the slightest! After letting out a few croaking monster cries, it spat out several mouthfuls of colored mist. As soon as the group's magic treasures and artifacts touched the mist, they immediately dimmed and lost their luster.

"How could this beast be so powerful? Could it be a mutated monster?" Jin Qing said, somewhat horrified, upon seeing this scene.

But before his voice had even faded, a streak of blood-red light suddenly shot over from the side. It flashed and vanished, passing through the colored mist and striking the snake's fleshy crown.

A blood-red hole, the thickness of a thumb, suddenly appeared there.

The monster let out a strange cry, rolled on the bluestone floor in pain, and then curled its body, flashing toward the jade pool.

But at that very moment, a verdant green flying sword flew in from beyond the sky, pinning the snake's head to the bluestone floor with lightning speed. The snake's tail thrashed about, but it could no longer move an inch.

This was Han Li and Qu Hun suddenly making their move from the side.

Aside from Qu Hun using a Blood Spirit Drill, Han Li specifically controlled the Evil-Warding Divine Thunder on the "Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords," preventing it from being released to avoid being recognized as being refined from Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.

Seeing the demon snake restrained by Han Li, Jin Qing and the others finally felt relieved.

Using their magic treasures, they worked together to slowly force the seven-colored demon bead down. After a brief discussion, Shi Die stored the bead into her storage pouch.

Then, the group surrounded the demon snake.

"This is indeed a Demon-Crowned Snake, but the demon crown seems to have been specifically refined by someone to look like a Seven-Colored Lotus; it definitely couldn't be natural to this snake." Hu Yue glanced at the demon snake still struggling desperately under the small sword, revealing a look of confusion.

"Clearly, this Seven-Colored Lotus was a trap from the start, possibly meant specifically for that skeleton person. We just fell for a big trick once again," Jin Qing agreed with a bitter smile.

Han Li stood silently to the side, looking at the demon snake and then at the skeleton's damaged right hand.

He couldn't help but imagine someone excitedly going to pick this Seven-Colored Lotus, only for the highly poisonous demon snake to suddenly fly out from the pool, bite their finger, and drag them into the pool of poison.

Han Li couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart!

Looking at the small arrow on the skeleton, it was clear that the person who set the trap had other contingencies. This schemer was truly calculating!

With a "puchi" sound, the demon snake's head and body were severed in two by a flash of cold light.

Shi Die, with a gloomy gaze, stood coldly to the side holding a short sword.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned slightly.

He knew that because this woman's face had been ruined, she hated this snake so much. Even if this Demon-Crowned Snake wasn't the culprit behind her disfigurement, it was definitely one of the primary offenders.

For a woman, appearance was likely as important as life itself.

Han Li shook his head slightly and beckoned with his hand. The small sword flew back into his body, completely unstained.

Then, his gaze returned to the arrow on the skeleton.

At first glance, the verdant green color of this foot-long arrow looked very similar to Han Li's Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords, but upon closer inspection, it was slightly different.

Han Li's flying swords had a bright, radiant green color, while this arrow carried a faint trace of black Qi, as if it had been refined or tainted by some evil technique.

"Fellow Daoist Han, should we go look elsewhere? Perhaps there are other discoveries?" Seeing Han Li still studying the skeleton, Hu Yue couldn't help but ask.

It seemed he was very unwilling to return empty-handed!

"You fellow Daoists go ahead. Fellow Daoist Qu and I will just stay in the main hall," Han Li said calmly, his expression unchanged.

Hearing this, Hu Yue was somewhat surprised, but after glancing at the skeleton and the verdant green arrow, he revealed a hesitant expression.

In the end, he didn't move his feet.

Seeing this, Jin Qing and Shi Die also remained silent and did not leave the area.

After all, having experienced what they just did, who knew if there were other dangers in the cave dwelling? Naturally, it was safer for everyone to stay together.

Moreover, they had already realized that this arrow didn't seem like an ordinary object. Otherwise, Han Li, who was already somewhat mysterious in their hearts, wouldn't be examining it over and over again.

"Fellow Daoist Han, do you think this place might not be an ancient cultivator's ruins at all, but a trap set by someone?" Jin Qing suddenly asked in a deep voice from the side.

"That's unlikely. This should indeed be an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling; otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that you two found pearls and were led here? It's just that others arrived here first and used this place to set traps," Han Li said, shaking his head.

"In that case, there won't be any treasures here?" Shi Die's voice was icy.

Han Li revealed a look of regret. Although he didn't say anything, he essentially conceded the point.

Jin Qing and Hu Yue exchanged glances, their expressions changing slightly.

Especially Hu Yue; not only had he gained nothing this time, but the two people he had personally invited had suffered—one disfigured and one dead. No matter how you looked at it, this was a failed treasure-hunting trip!

Just as the group fell silent, a faint, intermittent moaning sound came from the direction of the pool.

Hearing this, all the cultivators were startled and hurriedly looked over.

They saw the corpse of the cultivator surnamed Brother Jian, who should have been dead for a long time, slowly crawling out of the pool with its limbs flailing, occasionally letting out indistinct moans from its bone-exposed mouth.

At this, everyone was dumbfounded and couldn't help but look at each other.

Since they were all cultivators, if a real evil spirit or ghost had appeared, they wouldn't have been that surprised; instead, they would likely have immediately set out to slay the demon.

But what was before them was the physical body of a companion who had entered the cave dwelling with them not long ago. Could it be that even with a body destroyed to this extent, there was some secret technique to keep the primordial spirit from dissipating?

Because they couldn't tell if the other party was human or ghost, Hu Yue and the others hesitated.

Watching the corpse of the cultivator surnamed Brother Jian slowly crawl out of the pool and walk straight toward them.

"Regardless of whether you are human or ghost, don't come any closer. Otherwise, don't blame us for being impolite!" Hu Yue seemed to sense something wrong and shouted hurriedly. Flicking his sleeves, the pair of flying knives flew out of his body, hovering and rising around him.

Jin Qing and Shi Die also became highly vigilant, staring fixedly at the opposite side.

As soon as Hu Yue's voice fell, the physical body of the cultivator surnamed Brother Jian stopped and stood motionless in place.

Hu Yue and the others couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief.

But Han Li, who was watching coldly from the side, had a feeling that things were not looking good. He couldn't help but flip his palm, gripping something.

Just then, a sudden change occurred.

The physical body of the cultivator surnamed Brother Jian suddenly kicked off the ground, and the bone-exposed body lunged fiercely toward the group.

Hu Yue and Jin Qing's expressions changed drastically. Without thinking, they unleashed their magic treasures, and two streaks of white light and one streak of white glow struck the other party simultaneously. Suddenly, the cultivator surnamed Brother Jian burst apart. He was actually extremely fragile!

Hu Yue felt a weight lift from his heart!

But just then, he suddenly felt a breeze blow past his back, followed by a chill on his back. A pale white bone hand stretched out from his abdomen, its five fingers tightly gripping a blue, bean-sized round pill.

(End of Chapter)