Chapter 87

Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli couldn't hear what the two were arguing about, but they heard clearly everything Lu Xingfeng had just shouted at the Snake God.

Basically, the whole story is now understood.

Ning Jinli was furious.

She had been staying peacefully at the Lin Xian Village camp, but because Lu Xingfeng acted for his own selfish gain, he almost got her and Xiao Qidi killed.

After his plan failed, he was not dissuaded, even going so far as to sacrifice the lives of his fellow sect disciples, hoping to gain the Snake God's aid.

Kidnapping the Xuan Guo monarch, plotting to kill hundreds of disciples, usurping the Sect Leader's position—any one of these crimes deserves death.

"Can we kill him now?" Ning Jinli asked, her eyes red.

Killing intent already seeped from Xiao Qidi's dark eyes: "This person is ambitious, ruthless, and vicious, and his martial arts are superb; if we don't eliminate him, there will be endless trouble—kill him."

Ning Jinli hesitated not, and with a thought sent the command to the snake swarm.

Instantly, countless snakes crawled up from below, surging toward Lu Xingfeng like a black tide.

She intended to strike unexpectedly, lest Lu Xingfeng become wary and flee.

"Snake God! What do you mean by this?" Lu Xingfeng shouted while staring at the snakes crawling toward him, slowly backing away.

Xiao Qidi said: "Don't move; I will bestow power upon you."

Lu Xingfeng rejoiced: "Thank you, Snake God!"

Immediately, he stood still, letting countless snakes crawl up to his feet, then coil along his legs over his whole body; soon he was completely enveloped by a writhing mass of snakes.

"Alright, go die." Ning Jinli gritted her teeth.

Instantly, the snakes surrounding Lu Xingfeng's entire body began to frenziedly gnaw.

"Ah!" Lu Xingfeng cried out in anguish, "Snake God! Weren't you supposed to grant me power? Why… why are the snakes biting me?!"

Xiao Qidi continued to coax: "This is how I bestow power upon you; you must absolutely not move, otherwise the power cannot enter your body."

Upon hearing that, Lu Xingfeng originally intended to continue enduring.

But he was, after all, the top expert of the Tian Shu Sect, his martial arts ranking among the finest in the jianghu.

He not only did not die quickly, but also sensed something was wrong.

Because he felt no so-called power entering his body; instead, he showed signs of snake venom poisoning.

Bang!

Suddenly a muffled sound.

The mass of coiled snakes suddenly burst apart.

The tremendous impact sent Ye Zhiqiu, standing nearby, stumbling.

Blood mist drifted about, dead snakes littered the ground.

Lu Xingfeng's body swayed slightly, his whole person turned into a blood-soaked gourd, yet he remained standing.

"Snake God……" Lu Xingfeng raised his head, using his formidable Internal Strength to force out all the snake venom that had just entered his body from the wound; his blood-red eyes flickered with incomprehension and ferocity: "Why is this? Why do you want to kill me?"

At the edge of the platform, inside the massive snake head formed by the gathered snakes, both Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli were greatly startled.

Neither had expected Lu Xingfeng's ability to be so terrifying.

Although he was already a severely wounded body with a broken arm, he could still withstand the venomous snakes' tearing bites.

Xiao Qidi knew this person had become alert; no further words could deceive him, so he had Ning Jinli continue the snake swarm attack.

Whoosh—

An endless stream of more snakes surged onto the platform.

Lu Xingfeng burst out in anger: "Snake God! I have slaughtered so many as offerings to you, yet you treat me like this?!"

"I have no need for sacrifices," Xiao Qidi replied coldly, "Your ruthless cruelty that scourges the living deserves death."

Lu Xingfeng blinked slightly, then threw back his head and laughed wildly: "Hahaha! I can't believe this is coming from the Snake God's mouth; I'm beginning to doubt… are you really the Snake God?"

Seeing more snakes approaching, Lu Xingfeng did not retreat but advanced.

He lifted his foot and stamped down; the formidable force instantly flung the snakes within two zhang ahead into the air.

"Snake God! You couldn't possibly have only this much ability!" Lu Xingfeng shouted, staring at the huge outline at the platform's edge, "If you're capable, don't send these ordinary little beasts against me!"

This left Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli in a bind.

The two were not actually the Snake God, and their available means of attack were indeed limited to commanding the snake swarm.

This method was more than enough against ordinary experts, but they hadn't anticipated Lu Xingfeng being this formidable.

"If you were to act yourself, could you kill him?" Ning Jinli asked Xiao Qidi.

Xiao Qidi shook his head: "Even if my martial arts were fully restored, compared to him now I would still be slightly inferior."

Ning Jinli clenched her fists: "Then let's keep using the snake swarm; I refuse to believe we can't wear him down."

Ning Jinli exerted all her strength to continue controlling more snakes to move out.

What she hadn't expected was that Lu Xingfeng would take the initiative to launch an attack.

Bang!

Lu Xingfeng forcibly shattered the stone slab beneath his feet, then kicked several shards hard into the midair several meters away.

Swish—swish!

Stone slab fragments larger than an Eight Immortals table shot like lightning toward the Snake God's head.

The massive snake head was merely a conglomeration of snakes controlled by Ning Jinli; it could hardly withstand such an attack.

In the flash of lightning, Xiao Qidi grabbed Ning Jinli's waist and swiftly leapt out of the snake swarm.

Boom!

After a muffled sound.

The Snake God's head showed a gap.

Immediately, the frightened snake swarm began to collapse and scatter, no longer able to maintain its original form.

Under the pallid white moonlight, the giant snake head, like a mountain peak, swiftly collapsed, and countless snakes of all sizes fell onto the platform, wandering about.

"So it's just a mass of snakes gathered together? Not the so-called snake deity?" Ye Zhiqiu stared in shock at the scene before her.

Even she could see it clearly, so Lu Xingfeng naturally saw it plainly.

Moreover, Lu Xingfeng saw two figures fly out from the fake giant snake head.

"Who dares impersonate the snake god and play tricks before me!" Lu Xingfeng roared, then kicked a chunk of rubble toward the two figures.

The rubble came with great force, extremely fast.

Although Xiao Qidi knew a bit of lightness skill, at that moment he was midair with nothing to push off from, so he couldn't dodge in time.

He could only hold Ning Jinli tight, adjust his posture, and block the rubble with his back.

Then he let out a muffled groan and fell like a broken kite toward the ground.

Ning Jinli was greatly startled.

The two were still about ten meters above the platform floor.

If they kept falling like that, Xiao Qidi would either die or be crippled.

In that instant of rapid descent, Ning Jinli drove the snake swarm to swiftly gather directly below.

Bang!

The two slammed into the snake swarm like meteors.

Fortunately she reacted in time; a thick layer of snakes acted as a cushion, so both she and Xiao Qidi escaped unharmed.

"How are you?" Ning Jinli asked, supporting Xiao Qidi.

Xiao Qidi wiped the blood from his mouth corner, "I'm fine, nothing serious."

"Who are you!" Lu Xingfeng shouted angrily from not far away.

He was about to explode with rage.

After putting in so much effort to summon the giant snake, he found out it was actually fake!

Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi helped each other up slowly.

When Ye Zhiqiu saw their appearance, she couldn't help but stare.

Their attire was strange, like savages, disheveled and dirty, but if I recall correctly, that young man is the Xuan Guo king Xiao Qidi I once happened to meet!

And the girl beside him…

Strange… the more I look, the more familiar she seems, especially those big eyes…

Xiao Qidi instinctively shielded Ning Jinli behind him, then nodded toward Ye Zhiqiu a few meters away, "Sect Leader Ye, we meet again."

Ye Zhiqiu performed a dazed salute.

Seeing this, Lu Xingfeng seemed to suddenly understand something and roared, "Ye Zhiqiu! So… it was all your doing?!"

"What?" Ye Zhiqiu became even more bewildered, "What trick have I pulled?"

Lu Xingfeng lunged forward in a single stride, "You know this brat; it's obvious you two are teaming up to trick me!"

Ye Zhiqiu frowned, "You're really crazy! Before you told me about that so-called sacrificial summoning secret technique, I had no idea what a giant snake or anything like that was! Since I didn't know, how could I find someone to partner with to trick you?"

Lu Xingfeng was left speechless by the question.

Meanwhile, beside Xiao Qidi, Ning Jinli was completely dazed.

At first, she noticed that the Tian Shu Sect leader's voice was exactly like her mother's.

Just now, when Xiao Qidi greeted the sect leader, she also realized that the person's appearance was hardly different from her mother's.

Aside from different clothing, and the face being just a bit older than her memory, it was practically a carbon copy!

Then she heard Lu Xingfeng shout the name—Ye Zhiqiu!

Her mother's name was Ye Zhiqiu!

One coincidence after another left Ning Jinli's mind blank!

Could it be that in this world there truly exists a person whose voice, appearance, and even name coincide exactly with her mother's?

"Lu Xingfeng, your schemes and tricks have come to nothing," Xiao Qidi said, "If you surrender, I can spare your life."

For such a person, Xiao Qidi could never really let him go.

But now he lacks confidence to defeat him, so he can only stabilize the situation first, lest the cornered beast break the net and die together.

"Spare my life? You've got a big mouth!" Lu Xingfeng glared at Xiao Qidi with a sinister look, "You brat do have some skill, actually controlling the snake swarm and even withstanding one of my attacks without dying. But that bit of ability isn't enough in my eyes! Never mind that I'm gravely injured and missing an arm; even if I had no arms at all, you still couldn't beat me."

Xiao Qidi replied calmly, "Perhaps I can't beat you, but if I trap you here, I believe you won't be able to hold out long."

Lu Xingfeng's blood‑stained face twitched slightly, "Just who are you, and who is the woman beside you?"

He had already sensed Xiao Qidi's extraordinary aura.

Moreover, this man and woman had emerged from below the cliff.

The man should have decent martial arts, while the woman… has none, yet strangely he could perceive an indescribable qi that made him inexplicably wary.

He had to be cautious.

Xiao Qidi pondered briefly, "I am the person you wanted to capture and send to Yu Guo—the king of Xuan Guo, Xiao Qidi."

By now, Xiao Qidi felt there was no need to conceal his identity any further.

Lu Xingfeng froze, "You're Xiao Qidi??"

"Don't believe me? Then let me tell you what those men you sent to Xi Tun Guan look like." Xiao Qidi then roughly described the eight men's features and casually produced that rope Hook Claw.

The eight men's appearances matched perfectly, and on top of that, the Hook Claw used exclusively by Tian Shu Sect masters served as evidence.

Even if Lu Xingfeng still found it hard to believe, he had no choice but to accept it.

Xiao Qidi added, "I can guarantee with my royal status that if you surrender, I won't execute you—what do you say?"

"Hahaha!" Lu Xingfeng suddenly burst out laughing, "All effort wasted… all effort wasted! But don't think you can make me surrender; I'm leaving, and none of you can stop me!"

Having said that, he grabbed Ye Zhiqiu's arm, "Junior sister, I'll take you with me, forever leaving this place."

"Let go!" Ye Zhiqiu shook her off with force.

Lu Xingfeng fiercely grabbed her neck and sneered: "I've reached this point; if I still don't get you in the end, wouldn't that be a great loss?"

Ye Zhiqiu quickly mobilized her whole body's Internal Strength to resist, causing Lu Xingfeng's fingers to loosen slightly.

Just as she tried to seize the opportunity to distance herself from him, Lu Xingfeng reacted swiftly, his fingers hooking the necklace on her neck.

"Junior sister, don't flaunt your measly skills in front of me." Lu Xingfeng snorted coldly, clutching the necklace.

Ye Zhiqiu had no time to think, she forcefully thrust her palms toward Lu Xingfeng's chest.

Bang!

Lu Xingfeng only stepped back half a step.

Meanwhile, Ye Zhiqiu was instead sent flying backward two or three meters by the opponent's Internal Strength.

The necklace also broke at that moment.

"Hah! Still trying to sneak attack me? Overestimating yourself." Lu Xingfeng casually flung the broken piece of necklace with its pendant to the ground.

The pendant fell off the necklace, bounced a few times, and rolled to Ning Jinli's feet.

"Ye Zhangmen!" Xiao Qidi exclaimed.

Ning Jinli's heart leapt to her throat, and she unconsciously clenched her hands.

Ye Zhiqiu struggled to sit up, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and said to Xiao Qidi: "Your Majesty… sorry, my martial arts are simply too weak; I couldn't be of any help…"

"But… it's good I gave it a try," Ye Zhiqiu said, the corner of her mouth twitching upward, "I've realized he's already at the end of his rope; Your Majesty… you needn't worry about anything—go ahead and kill him boldly!"

Upon hearing that, Lu Xingfeng's face slightly changed.

Xiao Qidi quickly said to Ning Jinli: "Now!"

Before his voice even faded, Xiao Qidi lunged forward in a single stride, clenched his fist, and slammed it hard at Lu Xingfeng.

Ning Jinli also focused her spirit, once again gathering the snake swarm to simultaneously surround Lu Xingfeng from his left, right, and rear, cutting off his retreat.

Lu Xingfeng gritted his teeth, raised his palm, and clashed head‑on with Xiao Qidi.

The moment fist and palm met, Lu Xingfeng spat a mouthful of blood, staggered backward several steps, turned to flee—but the snake swarm pounced on him, covering him from head to toe.

Just as Ye Zhiqiu had discovered through her probing.

He was already at the end of his rope, his Internal Strength exhausted to the limit—he couldn't even repel the snake swarm as before.

In desperation, he lunged at Ye Zhiqiu and shouted threateningly: "If you don't want Ye Zhiqiu to die, let me go!"

Ye Zhiqiu calmly sneered: "I have no connection with Your Majesty whatsoever; besides, I'm merely a nobody from a martial sect—utterly insignificant before a sovereign. You dare to use me to threaten him? You're overestimating me."