Chapter 5: Can You Get Creative When You Encounter an Animal Asking for a Mouth Seal?

The moment their gazes met, Feng Xue froze. Those tiny black eyes reflected sunlight naturally, yet held an inexplicable spark of vitality.

Feng Xue didn’t understand snakes well, and white snakes were rare flashes of mutation or albinism—he couldn’t even tell if this thing was venomous. As for his phone… he had to consider whether reaching for it might be perceived as a threat.

Theoretically, a one-foot-long snake wouldn’t target humans, but this was an aberrant species with eight hundred years of remaining life—who knew what carnivorous cultivation arts it might possess?

Thinking of this, Feng Xue activated the over-the-shoulder view, double-checking the lock on his own lifespan, hoping it would give him more courage.

Seeing Feng Xue motionless for so long, the white snake surprisingly curled its tail tip to scratch its head, then, as if remembering something, dissolved into a flash of white light and vanished from sight.

“???”

Feng Xue, baffled by the snake’s logic, was momentarily at a loss—but at the same time, he couldn’t help exhaling in relief that no danger had occurred.

“Cheer up—this at least proves that beings with absurdly long lifespans truly exist in this world.”

Feng Xue comforted himself, recalled the drone, and decisively abandoned further searching in the mountains.

He was just an ordinary person; even with supernatural abilities, they offered no help in combat. Knowing that a suspected demon with centuries of life existed was enough. As for the rest—let alone whether he could handle a centuries-old demon, even if he somehow captured or killed it using weaknesses, he had no means to utilize it.

With the drone and his supernatural ability, [Gazing at Lifespan], finding demons didn’t seem difficult. Compared to that, he really needed to enter human society first and seek ways to exploit demons.

Generally, at this point one should consider plants—perhaps a thousand-year red fruit or ten-thousand-year ginseng. But the problem was, his [Gazing at Lifespan] showed “theoretical remaining lifespan,” not “age.” Animals rarely exceed a hundred years; any exceptional case was easy to spot. But plants… tens of thousands of years of lifespan stretched before him, making it nearly impossible to find the special one.

Even if he somehow stumbled upon a heavenly treasure, he wouldn’t dare eat it raw without knowing proper combinations. And besides, heavenly treasures were often guarded by monstrous beasts. Even if his lifespan lock prevented death, injuries and disabilities were still possible!

Carrying these tangled thoughts, Feng Xue maintained [Gazing at Lifespan] and walked steadily down the mountain.

“Rustle…”

A sudden rustling of leaves echoed, accompanied by a six-digit lifespan appearing on his screen. Feng Xue spun around—the white figure emerged again from the grass.

This time, the little snake’s tail was wrapped in leaves and weeds—the strange rustling had come from these “burdens.”

Seeing Feng Xue stop, the white snake quickly flicked its tail, adorning itself: a small flower crookedly perched atop its head, its body coiled in grass and leaves into a pagoda-like shape, resembling a straw cloak, while its tiny tail-tip curled around a branch with a broad leaf held upright like an umbrella—utterly adorable, like a creature from a fairy tale.

“What is this?”

Feng Xue was bewildered by the snake’s bizarre behavior. Was it his imagination, or did he detect a hint of anticipation in those black-bead eyes?

As an insider (a web novel writer), Feng Xue’s mind held vast amounts of data. As he reread tropes involving demons and spirit beasts, a possibility suddenly surfaced.

For the nth time, he glanced at the lock above his head. Finally, he decided to gamble. He took a deep breath and blurted out in rapid-fire rhythm:

“You’re a 168cm-tall, slim-waisted, long-legged, jet-black-straight-hair, oval-faced, breathtakingly beautiful, tear-mole-bearing, chuunibyou, Xieqi -eyed, cold-outside-warm-inside, occasionally sarcastic, cello-playing, high-transparency black silk qipao-wearing high school girl who loves me unswervingly!”

No sooner had he finished than a cloud of white mist rose. In the next instant, a figure burst from it. Feng Xue felt his collar tighten—and saw a face perfectly matching his xp system staring at him, face-to-face, flushed with rage, eyes brimming with murderous intent—

“Are you insane? Who taught you to phrase it like that? Don’t you realize I might be male? Ugh! Even if I were female, you still shouldn’t describe me like that!”

“Ah, so personality and clothing can’t be sealed?” Feng Xue sighed in disappointment, eyeing the plain long robe the demon wore. The transformed snake demon glared:

“Is that the point?!”

“Oh, so you’re going to kill me out of spite? Can you make it quick? By the way—do you need my heart’s blood for cultivation? Or do you prefer swallowing me whole?”

Seeing his plan to casually acquire a demon-immortal’s “help with cultivation” fail, Feng Xue remained calm and deliberately goaded the demon into killing him outright.

The snake demon froze, then roared:

“What do you take me for? I’m aiming for true enlightenment!”

“Oh right, right—so, this snake demon lady aiming for true enlightenment, could you please put me down? Or just end it quickly?” Feng Xue spoke as if he only wanted death—but activated the over-the-shoulder view again.

He’d checked countless times, yet he couldn’t help another glance.

This time, something changed.

Not because his own lifespan lock malfunctioned—but because he saw, on the snake demon’s forehead, another line of small text alongside the six-digit lifespan:

【Under Mouth Seal】

As his focus sharpened, the details unfolded:

【After being described in detail by a human, it transforms into the described form. If described as human, it gains [Digestion of the Tongue Bone], [Speech], [Talent Enhancement], and completes transformation, based on its original cultivation. If described with malicious intent as a degrading form, it loses cultivation.】

“Ah?” Feng Xue stared at the golden lock icon before 【Under Mouth Seal】, dumbfounded. Recalling his own 【Lucky Strike】, he suddenly realized—his divine ability… wasn’t as simple as he thought?

So, only events I’ve personally experienced or witnessed can generate these entries? Then why didn’t I receive a 【Nine Lotus Treasure Lamp】 entry after my Nine Lotus Lifespan Restoration? Was it because it was guaranteed, so no lock was needed? Or was the baseline for Nine Lotus Lifespan Loss not the person who lost it? Or… did I cheat at mahjong?

Feng Xue’s mind was in chaos. Seeing the snake demon also seem conflicted, he seized the moment and focused his attention on the lock before 【Under Mouth Seal】.

Click.

Though no sound came, in this hallucinated snap, the lock snapped shut. Feng Xue didn’t hesitate—he shouted:

“You’re a one-inch-long white snake!”

“Boom!”

White mist rose again. A tiny white snake, only an inch long, its tail still hooked around Feng Xue’s collar, dangled upside-down from his chest—utterly bewildered.

As for cheating at mahjong: to achieve a pure Nine Lotus Treasure Lamp, seeing other players’ tiles only helps you avoid being robbed—you still rely on the dealer’s luck.

Ultimately, a pure Nine Lotus cannot accept any tile from others; every tile must be drawn by yourself. The protagonist only has a god’s-eye view—he can see all four players’ hands. Avoiding being robbed and ensuring a win is possible, but he cannot guarantee he’ll ever win a single hand with Nine Lotus.

For those unfamiliar with mahjong: a pure Nine Lotus Treasure Lamp requires a flush (all tiles of the same suit), with three 1s and three 9s, and one each of 2 through 8. This hand can win with any tile from 1 to 9 of the same suit—second only to the Thirteen Orphans in waiting variety, and extremely difficult to complete. Even in films, only cheaters or those with supernatural powers can achieve it, and even then, only under special conditions.

For example, Yong Zhao of Tianma Palace must ascend the Heavenly Ladder (accumulating luck by winning small hands), while the one from Tianhe Street’s Yan Guichao literally cuts power lines to swap tiles (laugh).

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(End of Chapter)