Chapter 305

"Cluck, cluck, cluck-cluck!"

Looking at the old hen, held in Tang Mu's arms, enthusiastically pecking at the "earthworms," then tilting his head to watch the enormous beak repeatedly tearing through the clouds, driving the Serpent Hierophant back step by step, Li Ang couldn't help but shake his head slightly, his eyes filled with a dazed, almost otherworldly confusion.

What the hell… is going on here?

"This is a chicken I bought earlier outside, from the stall that sold the fish-man and the estate."

"Behind the kitchen in that miniature estate he sold, there was a small coop with dozens of laying hens—perfect for dealing with these Serpent Spirit worshippers, so I brought one along."

Seeing Li Ang, whose soul and body still seemed partially separated, still not fully freed from the Serpent Spirit's secret shrine, the lazy youth spoke up:

"That Serpent Spirit's secret shrine is actually a serpent egg; the narrow passage we passed through before entering is equivalent to passing through its reproductive cavity, undergoing a simple gestation—so our souls were temporarily 'hatched' into serpents."

"As for the effect of this serpent egg shrine, it roughly amplifies our souls while drastically shrinking our bodies, then swaps the positions of soul and body, turning us from humans with serpent souls into serpents with human souls."

"…"

"Didn't understand?"

Seeing Li Ang's still-blank face, Tang Mu pondered, then offered an analogy:

"It's like the difference between a baby and an adult—an adult perceives the world primarily through the eyes of the body, then through thought and cognition: body first, soul second; but an unborn baby hasn't been born yet, its body doesn't truly exist, so it's soul first, body second."

"So we, entering the serpent egg shrine, became like unborn baby serpents—switching from body preceding soul to soul preceding body, reversing the priority of soul and body, effectively becoming serpents with human souls."

Here, the lazy youth paused briefly, then pulled out half a bag of unused salt and waved it before Li Ang's eyes, reminding him:

"Remember? Before entering, I performed three rituals in advance. The second, composed of five metals, was used to steal money from the Cat Spirit; the first, made of mercury, sulfur, and salt, was used to control soul and body."

"These three ingredients represent soul, body, and the bridge between them—perfectly capable of resisting the serpent egg shrine's effect. As long as I pre-set their ratios, I wouldn't be affected by it."

"…"

In Li Ang's silence, Tang Mu continued:

"So although I couldn't directly interfere with the ritual's internal state, my body wasn't endlessly shrunk—but yours were suppressed by the shrine. So all I needed was to send in a chicken to kill that Hierophant."

"The only complication was the three-headed serpent crown bestowed by the Serpent Spirit. While you distracted him head-on, I summoned three Holy Spirits whose true forms feed on serpents, used materials to mimic their sigils, and forcibly dismantled the crown."

"Without the crown to protect him, his body crushed to its limit by the shrine and his soul suppressed by me, that Hierophant couldn't even beat a chicken… Got it?"

"…"

I think I get it... maybe?

Li Ang, whose mind was less foggy than it was six out of seven orifices open, nodded stiffly, then asked:

"Tang Mu, these… uh… rituals—are they your main way of fighting?"

"Something like that…"

The lazy youth nodded, then shook his head after a moment:

"But it's less a fighting style and more how I 'do things.' I don't fight at all."

"Unlike you, my core anomaly is unique—it lets me bind more tightly with the world, amplifying the effects of these occult rituals, but grants almost no direct offensive or defensive power."

"So in a direct confrontation, Emma could easily kill ten thousand of me—but if the enemy is visible and I'm hidden, she'd never even get a chance to see my face."

"…"

Got it. A weird old coin of a man.

…

After mentally labeling the lazy youth, Li Ang couldn't help but ask curiously:

"Tang Mu, before entering the *** Hall, you prepared three rituals—what was the third one for? To fight the Serpent Spirit?"

"No."

The lazy youth shook his head:

"The Serpent Spirit isn't hard—if you can replace him as Hierophant and trick him back, with the element of surprise, I could kill it easily. But… uh… wait!"

Seeing the venomous ball python pinned under the hen's foot, then pecked squarely on the head, Tang Mu hurriedly urged:

"He's about to die—circle around from behind the chicken, get ready to coil around the Serpent Spirit's statue and take over as the ritual's Hierophant. I'll help you disguise it… hurry, hurry! We're running out of time!"

"Got it!"

Glancing toward the "chicken vs. serpent" battle and seeing it had reached its end, Li Ang set aside his curiosity and hurried along Tang Mu's direction, circling behind the hen, climbing the hundred-meter-tall black-and-white altar, and coiling up the Serpent Spirit statue's tail.

"Sssss…"

With a sound like sizzling meat on a griddle, Li Ang, now transformed into a small red serpent, winced in pain.

The altar seemed to carry some restriction—every step forward for one not yet Hierophant felt like rolling on a knife mountain, pain searing from body to soul's core; at the moment of contact with the statue, his soul felt as if it might tear free.

But soon, things changed.

As the old hen pecked a hole over ten meters deep with a thunderous crack, then clucked happily, lifting the now-defenseless venomous ball python into the sky, the Serpent Spirit statue, which had been resisting Li Ang's touch and trying to push him away, suddenly became welcoming, letting him coil tightly around its tail.

And as the coiling completed, as if a secret ritual had just been finished, Li Ang's consciousness blurred slightly, then abruptly connected to an impossibly vast soul.

Huh? My Hierophant?

Sensing something odd, the Serpent Spirit, coiled outside a jade-green forest, turned its head in surprise, gazing at the faintly visible small serpent on its tail, and spoke with solemn authority:

"Aren't you supposed to be presiding over the ritual? Why are you suddenly coming to me?"