Chapter 7: One Evil Spirit, Plus Two More Hours

Although this unlucky little snake was pitiable, compassion was a luxury emotion one could only afford after basic survival was secured—and Feng Xue, counting down the days to death, clearly had no right to such a thing.

He merely worried about concepts common in xianxia novels—like over-supplementation leading to virtual weakness or vengeful spirits clinging to one—otherwise this snake with eight hundred years of remaining life would've long been turned into snake soup!

As for non-cooperation, it didn't really matter; or rather, Feng Xue had kept it by his side precisely with the intention of treating it as a major medicinal ingredient, in case he ever learned how to consume demons in the future.

Whether or not it sensed Feng Xue's thoughts, the cold-blooded little white snake suddenly felt icy cold all over, dared not speak again, and sank into self-imposed silence.

Seeing this, Feng Xue paid no further attention to the little white snake and continued piloting the drone toward the foot of the mountain.

As the saying goes, climbing up is easy, descending is hard; though this mountain wasn't steep, Feng Xue's modern human's weak physique forced him to walk in fits and starts until dusk fell, finally reaching what passed for the flat terrain at the mountain's base.

"I transmigrated around 3 or 4 a. m., wandered the mountain for several hours, and now it's dusk… Are the two worlds' times roughly inverted—day and night swapped?"

Feng Xue estimated the time in his mind, switched his phone to 12-hour format, stared at the "7 a. m." display, then picked up the drone remote and resumed manual control.

Given the sky's condition, the drone without night vision would soon be useless—if he still hadn't found anything, he'd have no choice but to camp in the completely unfamiliar wilderness and wait for dawn.

Yet fate was so coincidental—the drone, which he hadn't even expected to find anything, had actually spotted a ruined temple not far away!

"Lucky break—even if it looked abandoned, at least it offered shelter from wind and rain!"

As Feng Xue approached the ruined temple, the little white snake on his finger froze slightly, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately stayed silent.

She was a snake seeking enlightenment, but not a holy serpent.

Had he not been randomly transforming her, even out of karmic obligation to preserve her mouth seal, she might have saved him.

But this human tormented her so cruelly—he was clearly no good person; better he died now than be forced later into a mouth-seal pact!

As for herself…

The little white snake felt her stiff body and didn't care much—her cultivation didn't require blood food; becoming a ring discarded in this desolate mountain wilderness might even be a form of spiritual training.

At least in her current view, if she hadn't coveted the convenience of human form, she wouldn't have encountered this mentally unstable fellow—even two or three hundred years of arduous cultivation was better than entangling karma with such a person!

…

Feng Xue clearly didn't know the complex psychological shifts inside the little white snake—he simply lit a mosquito-repellent smoke cake and tossed it into the temple, waited for the pungent odor to settle, then stepped inside.

In his past life, he hadn't been an outdoor enthusiast; his current camping experience came entirely from recent cramming—but with modern technology and the lifespan lock as aids, he wasn't in serious danger.

After a cursory search around, he found some dry firewood, clumsily built a fire, sprayed insect repellent, plugged the drone that had flown all afternoon into a power bank, and finally had a moment to sit down, gnawing on biscuits while staring blankly.

In truth, because he'd just woken up before transmigration, Feng Xue wasn't sleepy at all; his insistence on finding a place to rest stemmed not only from the day's mountain trekking fatigue but mostly from the fact that traveling at night was impractical.

Yet even in such boredom, he didn't waste precious battery on entertainment—only half-closed his eyes, relying on the sleeping bag and fire's warmth, waiting for dawn…

…

"Tap-tap-tap… tap-tap-tap…"

After an indeterminate time, a soft tapping sound woke Feng Xue; though he roused himself as quickly as possible, lacking specialized training, he still felt drowsy, half-asleep, and stumbled to open the door—only to see two young maidens standing outside, their eyes carrying a hint of seduction, one of them lightly covering her mouth with a voice dripping with sugar—

"Young Master, you're so domineering—we're both just seeking shelter, yet you quietly took the best room without a word."

Feng Xue found the words odd, couldn't pinpoint why, but he wasn't the type to immediately surrender his seat to a pretty girl, and with sleep still surging, he couldn't be bothered to argue, just said:

"So what do you want?"

"Share this room with my sister and me—how about that?"

Hearing the girl's squeaky voice, Feng Xue rolled his eyes and frowned:

"This room isn't big—there's not even space to lay a mat on the floor… go somewhere else."

But the girl seized the opening, thrust her chest forward, and shoved her way inside: "What's so hard? This bed's huge—three people can fit easily. I'm sure Young Master won't bully my sister and me…"

…

As the last sliver of moonlight faded, just before dawn's light broke, the little white snake on Feng Xue's finger immediately halted her cultivation—for her, who cultivated the Yin Moon Essence, the morning's purple aura was too scorching; even a single breath of it caused searing pain.

In the past, she'd never been so greedy for power—but last night's cultivation had been unnaturally smooth, that surge of spiritual energy far exceeding anything before had left her momentarily out of control.

"That smooth feeling last night—was it because I asked for the mouth seal? But according to the elders, asking for a mouth seal doesn't boost talent that much… or did I accidentally absorb some of this man's scattered essence? No—that can't be; my Yin energy is extremely pure, with not a trace of Yang essence!"

The little white snake muttered inwardly while calming her breath, then suddenly felt a flicker of surprise:

"Still warm? Looks like he's got plenty of essence—too bad! Those two demons haven't had any Yang energy in ages; now they won't rest until they've devoured him completely."

As the little white snake grew melancholic about her future of hanging from a corpse to cultivate, she suddenly sensed two sinister energies—then felt a jolt: the man had woken up. He stretched vigorously, then stood up with surprising ease.

"How is this possible?" The little white snake, sensing his full, vital energy, was momentarily bewildered—had she misjudged him? Was he actually a high cultivator immune to all evils?

As she pondered this, the man suddenly turned his head and waved toward a dark corner:

"Your skills are impressive—next time I'll be back to support your business!"

"????" The little white snake was stunned—business? Skills? What? When did these two demons change careers?

Faintly, she even heard a string of curses—so vulgar, even an animal couldn't bear to listen!

But the man seemed completely deaf—he strode with unshakable confidence to the corner, unfastened his belt, relieved himself, and instantly the two demons cursed even louder.

The little white snake opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, opened it again, then closed it—watching as he picked up his bag, attached several strange square objects to its exterior, and walked out of the ruined temple.

(End of Chapter)