Chapter 426: Double-Headed Snake Demon

The yin residence caught fire.

A massive black bear emerged from the yin residence, one hand gripping the upper torso of Li Mama, now reduced to a single arm, the other holding Zhao Zhao Zixuan; after stepping out, Xiong Gang tossed both down and casually slapped out the flames clinging to his body.

Wu Xian's gaze held a hint of envy.

He too wished for such pure strength, but unfortunately, most people were fragile spellcasters.

Then.

Wu Xian snapped his fingers.

BOOM! Ten bolts of lightning struck simultaneously, bringing the cavern its brightest moment ever; Fu Liang Jian and the others were blinded by the glare, and moments later, the massive yin residence collapsed with a thunderous crash, flames and electricity scattering everywhere.

The eerie power dissipated; the yin residence returned to its original size and was utterly burned to ash.

Wu Xian walked to the ashes and sighed.

"Ah…"

Though Huang Huang Debiao was foolish, to end up like this was too tragic.

Parasitized, burned alive, his corpse used to construct a yin residence, and finally even the charred corpse-residence reduced to dust…

Among the ashes, he saw a silver-base statue of the Fire Deity Star Lord, an incense burner, and two incense sticks—one precious, one common.

The silver ritual set must have been provided by the yin residence; this yin residence was likely elite-grade within the underground labyrinth, and had it possessed its own will, the loot would have been even greater.

As for the common incense stick, it dropped from the yin residence's old woman.

Wu Xian collected everything; now he had one statue and three incense sticks, planning to wait until he gathered more before making offerings.

The crisis was temporarily over.

Everyone immediately got to work.

There were still many things to discuss regarding the yin residence incident, but those could wait; right now, securing supplies was the priority.

After all that commotion, supplies in the great cavern were critically low.

Firewood was nearly gone, food entirely absent; most of their stored goods had been consumed, fortunately there remained the large wooden stake Wu Xian had conjured with talismans.

Xiong Gang no longer concealed his true form—he transformed his arm back to its original state, CRACK-CRACK, and turned the stake into firewood, temporarily solving the firewood problem.

But that single large stake would only burn for a few hours—nowhere near enough to last until the next story.

So Wu Xian and Xiong Gang prepared briefly, picked up simple torches, chose a familiar tunnel, and began a new round of exploration.

…

The torchlight was dim.

Just enough to barely make out the path.

This was to avoid scaring away monsters with overly bright light.

Xiong Gang followed obediently behind Wu Xian, providing him with ample security.

But Wu Xian noticed Xiong Gang's face was pale, his movements no longer as swift as before—clearly, the string of battles had taken a heavy toll; thus, they must avoid high-intensity combat this time.

Soon they encountered a group of legged insects, among them a leader with a golden ring on its toe; behind them crawled stinking, slow-moving corpses, giant multi-legged millipedes slithering through rock crevices, flying human heads, living statuettes, and other sinister things.

Such levels of eerie creatures were scattered throughout the labyrinth—weak in power, killing them yielded no incense sticks; though Wu Xian's group lacked supplies, they never considered these things as viable food.

So Wu Xian made a ghostly face, Xiong Gang revealed his true form, and they easily drove off the minor evils.

Though they found no food.

But scattered firewood littered the path; soon, Pang Hu carried two large bundles of firewood—every tunnel yielded fragments of dry wood, the only kindness the underground labyrinth offered.

Pang Hu's carrying capacity was maxed out; the two briefly discussed it and decided to return the firewood before continuing exploration.

But on the way back, they heard footsteps behind them—and a strange hissing sound.

They were being stalked! It sounded like some kind of serpent monster.

Wu Xian trembled and asked: "What's that sound?"

"A snake. And a big one!"

Xiong Gang began acting too; the two supported each other, quickening their pace; when they reached a slightly wider area, Xiong Gang deliberately tripped and fell to the ground.

Wu Xian was horrified, trying to pull him up—but Xiong Gang's body was too heavy, and he couldn't budge him.

"Aow!"

Pang Hu let out a howl and collapsed under his excessive burden.

Just as the two and the tiger were trapped, the stalking horror finally revealed itself.

It was a man.

Tall and muscular, he wore no clothes, no hair—his entire body covered in greenish scales, his eyes cold, reptilian pupils devoid of emotion.

Most horrifying were his arms.

His arms were two terrifying giant snakes, each over three meters long, as thick as a man's thigh, tongues bright red, fangs sharp, icy eyes fixed on the two men and the tiger.

Knowing a tiger was in the group yet still daring to attack—this Double-Headed Snake Demon clearly had great confidence in his strength.

Xiong Gang rose from the ground and met Wu Xian's gaze; both saw surprise—and delight—in the other's eyes.

The monster's arms…

Looked like edible meat! The Double-Headed Snake Demon, who had come to hunt, froze—those he'd thought of as prey were now staring at him with the cold gaze of hunters!

…

Cut off the snake heads, remove the venom glands, peel off the skin.

The snake meat was chopped into pieces and put into a pot to stew.

The five people beside the firepit stared hungrily, swallowing saliva, waiting for the snake meat to cook.

While waiting, Wu Xian turned the snake skin inside out, tied one end shut, and made a simple snake-skin bag—perfect for carrying small items.

The battle with the Snake Demon was unremarkable.

While Xiong Gang and Pang Hu distracted the demon, Wu Xian hid aside, conjured a small wooden stake, spun it to its maximum speed, found an opening, and struck a single killing blow.

Wu Xian used his final drill-fire incantation and gained one incense stick; then the two cut off the demon's arms and carried them back to the great cavern to cook.

This exploration was the most mundane yet—simply replenishing food and firewood made it a successful mission.

Soon the snake meat was ready.

Wu Xian took a small bite and his face lit up with surprise.

This was his first time eating snake meat—and it was unexpectedly delicious, texture similar to bullfrog but leaner and tougher, no odd flavors, only a faint, pure savory taste; if you closed your eyes, you couldn't guess what kind of meat it was.

Though the ingredient was excellent, without seasoning, it still tasted bland.

"Next time we must find some salt…"

Since entering the underground labyrinth, everyone's food had been unsalted; intense physical exertion and blood loss had left Wu Xian feeling weak.

They also lacked cloth—for torches, for bandaging wounds—they needed clean fabric.

After eating their fill.

Wu Xian looked at the corpse of the yin residence's old woman and Zhao Zhao Zixuan; now he finally had time to deal with the items Xiong Gang had brought out of the yin residence.

(End of Chapter)