Chapter 160: Snake Shadow Within the Sect

Seeing Zhang Nuo insist that these were scales from the two-headed snake, Zhuge Qing was left speechless; she could not even remember what the scales on the two-headed snake had looked like at the time.

"This matter requires careful deliberation! First, call someone to handle the scene! Zhang Nuo, Qing'er, come with me!"

The muscles on Zhuge An's aged face twitched a few times. He led Zhang Nuo and Zhuge Qing away from there, and with a flash of light, the three of them appeared at Zhuge An's residence.

"Tell me again, in detail, the process of slaying the two-headed snake back then!"

The two looked at each other, and in the end, it was Zhuge Qing who began the account. Once the young girl finished, Zhang Nuo added some supplementary details. After listening to their account, the old man pondered for a long while before speaking suspiciously:

"I suspect that Yu Lei might be in trouble!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Nuo and Zhuge Qing were both stunned. Ever since Yu Lei returned to the sect, everything had been normal; there was no sign of anything unusual at all. It was just that he had been in seclusion during this period, and they rarely saw him.

"Let's go! We are going to where Yu Lei lives!"

The old man was swift and decisive. With a roll of the glowing light from his sleeves, he wrapped up Zhang Nuo and Zhuge Qing. The three of them turned into a streak of light and flew rapidly toward where Yu Lei was located.

Within the light, the old man kept his brows furrowed. According to Zhang Nuo's description, the two-headed snake had the strength of a Sixth-Rank Demonic Beast. If things were as he feared—that the demonic snake had occupied Yu Lei's body—then the situation would be difficult to handle.

A moment later, the three landed at the entrance of Yu Lei's room, only to see the door tightly shut and not a sound coming from within!

"Such a major incident has occurred in the sect, yet he hasn't even come out. It seems there is something strange going on!"

Zhuge Qing stared at the door and said in an extremely low voice.

"Yu Lei! Are you there?"

The old man raised his voice and shouted loudly. At this moment, a series of footsteps came from inside the room, followed by the door opening, and Yu Lei walked out of the room with a haggard complexion.

"Greetings, Sect Master!"

Zhang Nuo and Zhuge Qing both kept observing him, but they only saw that his body appeared somewhat thin, as if he had just recovered from a major illness; otherwise, they could not see anything amiss.

"Extend your left hand!"

The old man's extremely deep voice was filled with a sense of pressure. Only then did Zhang Nuo and Zhuge Qing notice that Yu Lei's left hand had been tucked inside his sleeve the entire time and had never come out, while his right hand was exposed perfectly normally.

Suddenly, Zhang Nuo also remembered that it was precisely Yu Lei's left shoulder that had been bitten by the black snake head back then! Moving his body slowly, Zhang Nuo blocked his body in front of Zhuge Qing, one hand already pressed against his Storage Bag. Seeing this, the young girl's expression tightened. She had not expected that at a time like this, Zhang Nuo would still be thinking of protecting her! A wave of warmth instantly rose in her heart!

"Extend it!"

Seeing Yu Lei expressionless, standing blankly on the spot, and the left hand hidden in his sleeve refusing to reveal itself, Zhuge An became somewhat angry! Just as he was about to strike, Yu Lei finally made a move.

He slowly raised his left hand, and then his right hand gently pulled away the sleeve covering it. Just as the three of them focused their gazes beneath the sleeve, a bizarre thing happened!

Without any warning, Yu Lei suddenly opened his mouth, and a tongue nearly a zhang long shot out from it. The tip of the tongue was as sharp as a blade, and it slashed toward Zhuge An accompanied by the sound of tearing air!

Although he had been on guard in his heart, the old man was still given a fright. However, the speed of a Golden Core Cultivator's movement technique was absolutely astonishing. Just as the tongue spat out by Yu Lei was about to touch the old man, he flickered and retreated rapidly, causing the tongue to strike empty air.

At the same time, Yu Lei's left hand was also revealed. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe that his entire left arm had turned into a long black snake, looking exactly the same as the one Zhang Nuo had slain at the Trial Ground!

"Whoosh!"

A sound of tearing air rang out. The black snake head growing from Yu Lei's left arm suddenly elongated, and with a snap of its jaws, it bit toward Zhang Nuo.

The black snake head gradually enlarged in Zhang Nuo's pupils and reached him in an instant. Zhang Nuo could have completely dodged it by shifting his body, but Zhuge Qing, who was behind him, might have been struck.

A thought flashed through his mind in an instant. Red flames a foot high erupted from his body, and with a turn, he hugged the young girl and dodged at high speed.

The moment he turned, the black snake head reached Zhang Nuo's back. With its mouth wide open, two sharp fangs, like two snow-white steel cones, bit simultaneously toward Zhang Nuo's back.

However, at this critical juncture, the red flames behind Zhang Nuo condensed on his body, unexpectedly manifesting into a small red shield. The two sharp fangs bit exactly onto the small shield composed of red flames.

"Boom!"

Following a loud noise, the small red shield was shattered by the bite, but Zhang Nuo used this time to escape far away while holding Zhuge Qing.

The tongue attacking the old man and the black snake head attacking Zhang Nuo were launched at almost the same time. The moment Zhuge An dodged the attack, he looked toward his daughter's side. Seeing that Zhang Nuo had risked taking the snake head's strike head-on to save his daughter, he was momentarily shocked!

"Are you alright?"

Also wrapped in a layer of faint red flames, Zhuge Qing raised her head, which had been buried in Zhang Nuo's embrace, and asked softly!

"No..."

Before he could even finish the second word, Zhang Nuo spat out a mouthful of blood. If the Red Glow Fire hadn't condensed into a small shield at the critical moment, he definitely would have been struck solidly by the black snake head's blow. Even so, the force of the black snake head's strike was sufficiently immense, and his body was still shaken quite badly!

"Hehe! You brat! You cut me off back then; didn't expect there would be a day like today, did you?"

A cold laugh emitted from the black snake body within Yu Lei's left arm! However, Yu Lei remained expressionless throughout, as if all of this had nothing to do with him.

"It has awakened its intelligence?"

Suddenly hearing the black snake head speak, Zhuge An could not help but think to himself. Generally speaking, when a demonic beast reaches around the Sixth-Rank, if it has enough opportunity, it can almost awaken its intelligence. But what he had not expected was that this black snake, which lived by borrowing Yu Lei's body, could also awaken its intelligence.

Zhang Nuo let go of Zhuge Qing and slowly turned back around. By this time, the red flames on his body had vanished. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he said with a cold gaze:

"I could slay you once, and I can slay you a second time!"

With a single-handed pat on his Storage Bag, the Nine Dragon Sword Case flashed out, and with a burst of spiritual light, nine Flying Swords appeared simultaneously!

Just at this moment, a soft whistle suddenly came from the depths of the Nanxuan Sect. The sound was not loud, but it traveled very far. Upon hearing it, a smile immediately appeared on Zhuge An's face; this whistle was precisely emitted by Nanxuan Laozu.

The black snake head also heard the whistle. A hint of timidity appeared in its pair of eyes. It suddenly shrank back into Yu Lei's body, and then, after its body bulged a few times, it burst open with a loud bang.

A thick Blood Mist filled the entire space. At the same time, a black shadow a zhang long darted out from Yu Lei's exploded body and vanished into the night in a flash.

Zhuge An was deeply afraid that the black snake head would use this opportunity to sneak an attack on his daughter again, so he flashed to the young girl's side. However, this time, the black snake head seemed to only want to escape and did not attack anyone.

In the courtyard, Yu Lei's body was shattered into countless pieces, with severed limbs everywhere. In particular, the bloody stench produced by the body's explosion was unbearable.

Just at this moment, a long rainbow rose from within the Nanxuan Sect, circled in the air, and landed in front of the three. The light faded, revealing the appearance of Nanxuan Laozu.

"Greetings, Laozu!"

The three, including Zhuge An, bowed together. Nanxuan Laozu did not even look at the three of them. His aged gaze swept across the scene, and he took a deep breath of the blood-heavy air, his expression becoming increasingly unsightly.

"Was the thing that just escaped a giant black snake?"

A trace of imperceptible surprise appeared in Zhuge An's eyes. Laozu hadn't even seen what the black snake looked like, yet he had guessed it instantly; this was too mysterious!

"It was!"

"Sigh! I should have thought of this long ago! The Trial Ground wouldn't be that simple!"

Nanxuan Laozu let out a long sigh, and the color on his face became even more unsightly!

"I finally understand now why the Five Great Demon Mountains joined forces to conquer the Tianjiang Plain six hundred years ago! So it was for this!"

The voice of Nanxuan Laozu trembled slightly, his dim eyes gazing toward the night sky filled with stars.

"Tell the disciples in the sect to prepare! Within three to five years, the Five Great Demon Mountains will attack the Tianjiang Plain again!"

These calm, helpless words made the three people standing respectfully before Nanxuan Laozu shiver almost simultaneously, and Zhuge An even drew in a sharp breath! He did not understand why the ancestor would say such things; could it really be just because of the black snake parasitic on Yu Lei?

However, given the current situation, he found it difficult to ask directly and could only bury his questions deep in his heart.

"Zhang Nuo, has your cultivation been going smoothly lately?"

Walking to Zhang Nuo's side and looking at the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, Nanxuan Laozu asked with concern.

"Reporting to the ancestor! Everything is going very smoothly!"

"That is good. If there is anything you do not understand in your cultivation, feel free to come and ask me!"

Nodding slightly, Nanxuan Laozu moved his body, transformed into a long rainbow, and flew back to his residence, leaving only Zhuge An and the other two behind; after exchanging glances, confusion rose in all their hearts.

None of them understood what the black snake had to do with the Five Great Demon Mountains! And what the Five Great Demon Mountains had to do with the Trial Ground; there seemed to be some kind of connection between the three, yet they appeared completely unrelated!

Nanxuan Laozu's words were even more unfathomable; he seemed to know everything, yet he chose not to say it! It seemed things were becoming complicated! An unprecedented crisis was shrouding the entire Tianjiang Plain!

(The end of the second volume of this book! To know what happens next, please continue to follow the third volume of this book: Demon Emperor Tomb, the excitement is not to be missed!)