Chapter 707: I Am Not Skilled in Combat

"Cluck, cluck, cluck-cluck!"

Looking at the old hen, held in Tang Mu's arms, enthusiastically pecking at the "earthworms," then raising his head to watch the enormous beak repeatedly tearing through clouds and driving the Serpent Hierophant back, 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?

"This chicken was bought by me earlier outside, at the stall that sold the fish-man and the estate."

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

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

"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' as serpents."

As for the effect of this serpent-egg shrine, it roughly equates to enlarging our souls while drastically shrinking our bodies, then swapping 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-confused 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 who entered the serpent-egg shrine became like unborn young serpents—switching from body preceding soul to soul preceding body, reversing the priority of body and soul, effectively becoming serpents with human souls."

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

"Remember? Before I entered, I prepared three rituals—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:

"Thus, although I couldn't directly interfere with the ritual's internal state, my body wasn't endlessly shrunk—while 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. But while you drew his attention head-on, I managed to summon three Holy Spirits whose true forms feed on serpents, used materials to mimic their sigils, and forcibly dismantled that crown."

"Without the crown to protect him, his body crushed to its limit by the shrine and his soul further suppressed by me—that Hierophant became too weak to even fight a chicken… Got it?"

"…"

You get the general idea, right?

Li Ang, who couldn't be said to be utterly confused—he was more like six out of seven senses opened up—nodded stiffly, then asked:

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

"Something like that…"

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

"But it's less a fighting method than my way of 'doing things.' I don't fight at all."

"Unlike you, my core anomaly is special—it lets me bind more tightly with the world, amplifying the effects of these occult rituals, but grants almost no direct damage or defense. If it were a direct confrontation, Emma could easily kill ten thousand of me. But if it's stealth and ambush, she'd never even get to see my face."

"…"

Got it. A weird old salt.

…

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

"Tang Mu, before entering the gathering hall, you prepared three rituals—what was the third one for? To deal with the Serpent Spirit?"

"No."

The lethargic youth shook his head:

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

Seeing the venomous ball python pinned under the old hen's foot, then pecked straight on the head, Tang Mu urgently 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 clearly reached its end, Li Ang set aside his curiosity and hurried along the path Tang Mu indicated, circling behind the chicken, climbing the hundred-meter-high black-and-white altar, and coiling up the Serpent Spirit statue's tail.

"Sssss…"

As Li Ang, now transformed into a small red serpent, felt a wave of pain twist across his face.

The altar seemed to carry some restriction—every step forward for one not yet Hierophant felt like rolling on a mountain of blades, pain searing from body to soul's core; at the moment of contact with the Serpent Spirit 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 approach, trying to push him away—suddenly became welcoming, allowing him to coil fully around its tail.

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

Huh? My Hierophant?

Sensing something unusual, 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?"

(End of Chapter)