Chapter 307: 306 Resolved?

306 Resolved?

Not good! It's a trap!

After being viciously pecked nearly to death by a dozen or so hundred-zhang-tall giant hens, the snake spirit instantly understood that it had likely fallen into a trap within a trap, and hurriedly tried to pull itself free and retreat,

but even though its reaction was already very fast, it still couldn't outpace those old hens eager to add to their meal.

Seeing the delicious "black-and-white earthworm" trying to burrow back, three or four enormously huge chicken feet pierced through the barrier between the dream realm and reality almost simultaneously, thud thud thud coming down, forcibly stomping half of the snake spirit's body into the ground.

Immediately after, a dozen or so old hens crowded in, clucking and chuckling, and upon catching sight of the terrified snake spirit, set upon it in a storm-like frenzy of vicious pecks!

"Wait!"

"Cluck cluck da!"

"Damned beasts! Get lost!"

"Cluck da cluck da!"

"Wait! Let's talk! I can give you… ah!"

"Cluck da cluck da cluck cluck da!"

"Mer… mercy! Mercy!"

……

Is it over just like that?

Watching the snake spirit being pecked by a dozen or so old hens until its head was bloody, shamelessly begging for mercy with all its might, Li Ang couldn't help but click his tongue, feeling a bellyful of snark stuck in his heart, not knowing where to start venting it.

He had just been in the dream realm, and had seen the snake spirit's true form.

That giant snake, which even when slightly coiled was nearly a hundred meters tall, comparable to a small coiled mountain ridge, had fallen into the ritual Senior Tom had prepared, and was actually being pecked all over by a flock of brooding old hens until it was covered in wounds, and even looked like it was about to give out.

This degree of weakening was really… truly unreasonable, even somewhat shameless.

"Don't even think about negotiating with it."

Glancing at Hearing Li Ang's complicated expression, somewhat misunderstanding his thoughts, the languid young man hurriedly spoke up to remind him:

"Right now I can keep it pinned down — half because we caught it off guard, and the other half purely because it got too clever for its own good, not even turning back to take a look, and directly choosing to flee through the crack between the dream realm and reality.

And the brilliant, colorful dream realm, while being thousands of times easier to escape from than reality, compared to the heavy, monotonous reality, is also thousands of times more fragile and brittle.

As long as you can catch the instant it slips into the crack, and forcibly drag it into the ritual ground that suppresses holy spirits, it's equivalent to borrowing the power of what truly exists to crush the false, ethereal dream — then it's just an earthworm that can be pecked to death by chickens.

But if you actually let it out, let it pass this hurdle, then it'll be that giant snake you saw again, able to shatter a small hill with raw physical strength alone, and at that point the ones running will be us."

"Ah, I know."

Coming back to his senses, Hearing Li Ang nodded, indicating he wasn't so foolish as to listen to the enemy's pleas for mercy, then replied with a serious face:

"Senior Auntie Ai Ma said that only after an enemy has completely lost the ability to resist is the time to negotiate terms. I'm not trying to negotiate with it, I just… um… just feel it ended a little too quickly…"

"Was it that I prepared too quickly, or that it lost too quickly?"

"Both, a little…"

Looking at the chicken coop in front of him that had been stomped into a mess, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but reach out and scratch the back of his head, saying with a face full of disbelief:

"I was thinking before that, Senior, even if you could deal with this snake spirit, it would probably be an evenly matched fight against it, at least going back and forth for a few rounds before anything was decided.

But Senior, you just broke off a piece from its statue, then crushed the snake eggs used to build the secret shrine, stuck these materials together casually into a chicken coop, and actually subdued it — this really is a bit too fast."

"Heh, what you want to say isn't just that it was fast, but also that it was sloppy, right?"

"It is a bit… but although it's sloppy, the effect really leaves nothing to be said. A holy spirit whose rank approaches that of a true god actually has no room to fight back in front of you, Senior — that's truly amazing!"

……

Good eye, this kid… ahem, this future true god is actually pretty easy to get along with after all.

Looking at the look of shock on Hearing Li Ang's face,

the languid young man, somewhat tickled, couldn't help but slightly curl up the corners of his mouth, which he'd been keeping taut.

Although this person would be a bit annoying in the future, crossing the timeline to force him to help out, right now he was still an honest newbie — quick-witted, steady in his work, did whatever he was told, with especially high execution ability, and was pleasant to talk to. No wonder the Bureau Chief liked him so much.

"The gap between me and this snake spirit actually isn't that big."

Having slightly revised his opinion of the "very annoying in the future" Hearing Li Ang, the languid young man gave a dry cough, then waved his hand and replied:

"The back-and-forth situation you described is Auntie Ai Ma's and the Bureau Chief's style of fighting. Theirs is an arm-wrestling match — the one with greater strength and better skill will win, but the loser, as long as the level isn't too far apart, generally won't take too serious an injury.

Someone like me, on the other hand, is equivalent to throwing a trip — although it's not guaranteed I can find the right spot to trip, and I need to set things up in advance, once it succeeds, the person who falls for it will immediately tumble into the trap and directly lose the ability to resist. So it looks like the gap is bigger than it is — actually, anyone else could do the same."

"You're too modest, Senior."

Looking at the snake spirit in the chicken coop, clearly breathing out far more than it was breathing in, having had most of its life pecked out by the old hens, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but shake his head and sigh sincerely:

"Maybe throwing a trip isn't that hard to do, but how to throw one, where to throw one, what kind of trip can take down a holy spirit — these aren't things just anyone can do. It's something only you, Senior, can do."

"Aiya… I'm actually not that impressive."

His slightly dimmed right eyeball blinking slightly, he used some method to examine Hearing Li Ang, and upon discovering that everything he said was actually sincere, the languid young man's mouth corners were practically harder to suppress than an AK, and feeling thoroughly pleased by the praise, he cheerfully suggested:

"Well, I actually think you have quite the talent for this kind of thing, so how about… when you have time, let me teach you a thing or two?

Although without the corresponding anomalous object's boost, the effect might be quite a bit worse, it's still a lifesaving skill all the same… hmm… hold on a moment, I need to fish out that snake, don't let it actually get pecked to death by the chickens.

……

After ending the pleasant conversation with his considerate junior, the languid young man scuffed his shoe against the ground, destroying the ritual ground he had just set up, then rescued the half-dead snake spirit from under the chickens' beaks.

"Dear Mister Snake Spirit, we meet again."

Pinching the little black-and-white earthworm between two fingers and giving it a shake, the languid young man said with a grin:

"Come on, hand the person over.

You know what the Cleanup Bureau's methods are like — rather than clinging to unrealistic fantasies and holding out, only to be taken apart piece by piece, wouldn't it be better to just hand them over cleanly? Wouldn't you say?"

"……"

Hearing this, the little black-and-white snake barely raised its head and glared at him resentfully.

"Don't glare at me, I'm doing this for your own good."

While saying strange lines that sounded like some Han traitor spy interrogating an underground-dweller, the languid youth dipped the tip of his nail in some sulfur powder, lit it, and pinched the snake spirit's neck, while earnestly coaxing:

"If you cooperate a little and hand the person over directly, then if your master is willing to pay the price, they might be able to fish you back out. And honestly, I actually quite like your Chengjin Sect's *** — after all, getting it for free is just… ahem.

In short, we might have the chance to meet again in the future. If you refuse to cooperate and force me to use harsh interrogation methods, then it'll be awfully awkward when we meet again later… You're not the type of holy spirit who likes awkwardness, right?"

"……"

"Right?"

"Stop! Stop pinching! Ahhh!!!"

Listening to the faint crackling of the sulfur combusting, feeling the ever-heavier pressure on its neck, and the increasingly intense pain of its holy spirit body being polluted by hellish sulfur amid the burning and searing, the snake spirit twisted twice before finally unable to hold back its scream of agony, then with a 'wah' spat out a jade-green pearl.

"Hand! Your hand! I'll give you the person! Take your hand away!"

"Alright, alright,

I'll take it off now."

Dipping his nail in sulfur powder once more and pressing a burning nail-mark onto the snake's head, completely sealing off its ability to resist, the languid youth rummaged in his pocket, pulled out a somewhat dirty transparent glass bottle, stuffed the listless snake spirit inside, then casually tossed the bottle to Hearing Li Ang.

"You… you all shouldn't celebrate too early…"

After recovering a little, like countless classic villains after a crash, with its whole body already gone limp and only its mouth still tough, the snake spirit struggled to prop itself up inside the glass bottle, looked at the jade-green pearl in the languid youth's hand, and said with eyes full of resentment yet not without satisfaction:

"That woman from your Bureau has been locked inside the Emerald Dream bestowed by my god. Having died over three hundred times in there, she's long since been irreversibly tainted!"?!?!

Hearing the snake spirit's words, Hearing Li Ang's heart gave an involuntary little lurch, then he lowered his head to look at the snake spirit in the bottle and couldn't help asking:

"What do you mean? What happened to Senior Emma?"

"What I mean is, even if you take her back, it'll be useless."

The snake spirit curled at the bottom of the glass bottle and said with a cold laugh:

"The Emerald Dream is a holy artifact modified from the shattered Paradise of the Agricultural God. Originally it was already an independent world. Having died several hundred times in there, her soul has become too entangled with the Emerald Dream — there's no way to separate them again.

The only way to get her out of there is to sincerely believe in my god and become a faithful follower, or for the *** Agricultural God to revive. Otherwise she can only wander alone forever in that emerald jungle!"

Looking through the bottle at Hearing Li Ang with his brows tightly furrowed, and catching the anger in his eyes, the snake spirit at the bottom of the bottle couldn't help but chuckle, then added:

"Even better, she also has an undying body that can replenish its count infinitely, which means she can't even kill herself. She can only stay in the Emerald Dream like a ghost, wandering forever and ever, until her soul is completely ground away by time!"

"Shut up."

Reaching out and making a pinching gesture in the air toward the snake spirit, igniting the sulfur mark on its head and burning it into continuous shrieks, the languid youth looked at Hearing Li Ang and reminded him:

"It's saying all this to provoke you into killing it on the spot.

We haven't left the Chengjin Sect's *** yet. If you *** here, it won't even need the true god behind it to act — just on its own accumulated power it could buy its own life back from the realm of the dead. Don't fall into its trap."

"……"

So… everything it said is true? Senior Emma can't get out anymore?

Inferring the answer to his question from the languid youth's reaction, and recalling Senior Emma's care for him, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but sigh, then asked with a last sliver of hope:

"Senior Tom, don't your two dice raise the success rate of everything to sixty percent? So could you possibly…"

"It won't work."

The languid youth shook his head upon hearing this and said:

"My ability is to forcibly raise the success rate of 'things that might be accomplished' to around sixty percent, and it only works below true-god level. Beyond that, because my own rank isn't high enough, there's massive interference.

This time it's something that's almost impossible to succeed at, and it also involves more than one true god — exactly the type I'm worst at handling. I'm afraid I can't be of much help."

I see…

Hearing Li Ang fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then made his request:

"Senior Tom, I can see information on anomalous objects through contact, so could you perhaps for now…"

"Here."

Before Hearing Li Ang could finish speaking, the languid youth had already shoved the Emerald Dream over, then offered comfort:

"Don't be too discouraged. Right now I can't help, but in the future if I can surpass the limit of mortal gods and reach the Director's level, I might be able to roll out a result.

Also, the Director might have a way. The Headquarters has many anomalous objects with special

effects — maybe one of them could rescue Emma. If that really doesn't work, we could also try briefly reviving the Agricultural God or something, and maybe it'd just directly… hmm?"

Watching Hearing Li Ang rub the Emerald Dream for a moment, his tightly drawn expression instantly relaxing, the languid youth blinked in some surprise, then couldn't help but be moved and hurriedly asked:

"What is it? Did you discover something?"

"Mm, I did get a little something."

Looking at the trait tag with the word 'Sacred' after the Emerald Dream's name, and then at the Deputy's Badge that could unconditionally use 'Sacred' anomalous objects, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but answer with a smile:

"I just discovered that this thing actually… Senior? What's wrong with you?"

Looking at Senior Tom, whose face had suddenly turned bluish-purple, who was painfully clutching his own throat and making rasping sounds in his mouth, Hearing Li Ang was greatly alarmed and hurriedly took out the Plague-Blood Bandage to try to treat him, however…

"Pop"

Accompanied by a strange sound like a bubble bursting, the bloodstained bandage in Hearing Li Ang's hand instantly vanished, transforming into a coin that shimmered with a strange radiance, while a gentle, soft voice came from behind Hearing Li Ang.

"Don't worry, he's not injured and doesn't need your treatment."

After tossing aside the dirty bandage in her hand, a woman with a delicate and pretty face slowly walked out of the dream realm, then smiled slightly at Hearing Li Ang, who was standing in front of Tom with his whole body tensed up.

"As for why he's become like this, that's because I bought out all the air inside him in one go — even the air in his lungs that hadn't yet bonded with his blood… Also, I did pay

for it."

"Wah!!!"

As the mysterious woman's words landed, the languid youth, who had been shielded behind Hearing Li Ang, dropped to his knees on the spot with a thud. Several hundred small round coins eerily surged out of his mouth and nose, mixed with copious fresh red blood, and gushed out past his fingers' feeble attempts to block them.

Immediately after, the clothing on Senior Tom's chest instantly shattered, and silver diamond-shaped coins with abnormally sharp edges crowded out of his chest skin in dense clusters, then shot out like nails fired from a gun — pop pop pop pop — erupting before Hearing Li Ang's eyes into a skyful of silver-glowing blood mist.