Chapter 139: Two Snakes

This was an unnaturally long nightmare.

"What did I do wrong? Why are Father and Mother looking at me like that?"

From the moment she was born, Sha Li Man sensed she was different.

After all, a normal infant would never, while lying in her crib, levitate the bottle and toys in midair and giggle at her frantic parents rushing over.

Before she learned to speak "Mama" and "Papa," her first utterance of "Mother" was not only crystal-clear—it came from within her mind!

"Your daughter is a natural prodigy; to awaken psychic abilities at this age—once she grows a bit, take her to Wizard Street and try training her as a Psion."

The summoned mage declared it a "good omen," not demonic possession, but extraordinary talent.

Though psychic abilities are considered innate, in reality, most children only reach the intensity needed to interfere with reality after reaching adulthood.

Only after awakening and undergoing professional training can one become an extraordinary practitioner in this field, such as a Psion.

Awakening psychic abilities at birth was far too abnormal—even inhuman.

"Little Mind-Sucker! Little Mind-Sucker, come eat brains!" The children, spotting young Sha Li Man, began taunting her.

"Why call me that? I'm Snake-Snake, not a Mind-Sucker! I'm not!" Too young to argue effectively, young Sha Li Man could only protest with words.

"Father said only Mind-Suckers have abilities like yours (in truth, a few other bloodlines can be born with them too, though none are easy to handle)."

As a child, Sha Li Man was always driven to tears by her relatives' children, running to her mother and father to complain.

What she received instead was her mother's touch, tinged with fear, and her father's deliberate distance.

At some point, her father began wearing many protective items against psychic abilities.

This confusion didn't last long—psychic power's most basic ability is "accelerated growth"; legend says, when perfected, it even touches the domain of time. Young Sha Li Man grew faster than anyone expected.

At five or six years old, she already behaved like a miniature adult in every way.

"Mother, Father has gone to his mistress again; a bastard will be born next month."

What secret could hide from a tiny innate Psion? Had her mother not forcibly restrained her, Sha Li Man at this age could already have floated while walking.

"I can't control him—you know that."

Yet before this small Sha Li Man, her mother appeared far too weak.

After all, she was merely an ordinary noblewoman, neither an extraordinary practitioner nor possessing any power.

Sha Li Man knew early on that her parents' marriage was purely political.

One of the unspoken rules of such marriages: if the dominant party steps slightly out of line, the weaker side pretends not to notice.

Young Sha Li Man sighed, despising her mother's weakness even as she raged at her father's infidelity.

"In the future, I'll find a man loyal to me—never someone like this bastard of a father."

Yet even after witnessing her mother's silent tears countless times, she never planned to confront her father—after all, she too was part of the noble system; this was how the circle operated. Her father wasn't even extreme; everyone just made do.

She assumed this would be the ordinary, if unhappy, rhythm of her childhood, unchanged forever—until

"You—you actually dared to bring them in! Today of all days!"

Until the day of her sixth birthday, when she eagerly awaited her father's gift, only to receive a "surprise."

Her father entered the manor with her "younger brother and sister," holding his "Second Mother" and "Third Mother" by the hand.

Right there, Sha Li Man's eyes turned red; her anger made her hair lift—

Literally.

That night, the Sudar family faced a true monster.

She was far from as mature as she appeared; her first psychic outburst left three critically injured and one servant dead—including her own father.

From then on, "that monster" became her alias within the family.

Her unhappy yet barely sustainable ordinary daily life vanished.

She hadn't seen her father for a long time—when she saw him again, it was at an even darker moment.

"Aaaahhh! This doesn't match my childhood memories at all!" As time flowed, Sha Li Man in reality suddenly cried out.

"Sha Li Man?"

Li En watched her with concern; since this morning, she had been slipping into moments of mental daze.

Was there a problem with this Hero-Soul inheritance?

Noticing Li En's worry, Sha Li Man opened her mouth to speak—

"It's nothing. Nothing."

The next instant, she swallowed the words back.

What could she say? That her memories contained another childhood?

Her own childhood memories weren't exactly pleasant—her father was often away—but not to this extreme.

Her father strayed outside and never came home; her mother stayed weak and shut in; the vast mansion held only her, a tiny child walking alone. Her past memories were clearly ordinary: her mother was gentle, she was just a precocious child, and her psychic ability didn't awaken until age eleven.

". My memories have been altered."

Sha Li Man wasn't foolish; she had already sensed her memories had been tampered with.

As a Psion, she knew that only one thing could so perfectly revise her memories—even reshape her personality to this degree:

". Did I do it myself?"

Yes—only she herself could bypass the soul's instinctive resistance and defenses.

A person cannot forever deceive themselves—but perhaps only self-deception can construct a truly perfect logical chain.

Only when you choose to believe the lie and the illusion can you actively ignore all its flaws and details.

"I—I." Sha Li Man was lost; she had never imagined such things would happen after receiving the Hero-Soul inheritance.

It seemed she had accidentally torn open her own wound.

What had been a meticulously crafted "False Corridor" now trembled, on the verge of collapse before the overwhelming "flood" from outside.

Sha Li Man felt fear, unease—she had already sensed what hidden memories lay ahead.

And once the balance of the mind is broken, I fear I will see even more unbearable things.

"Hiss hiss hiss (Coward)."

The sudden voice made Miss Shaliman pause, then she suddenly glared fiercely at the little aunt behind her!

Using Parseltongue to secretly curse me again! Don't you know I can understand it now!

Although I don't know why I understood it today, I just did understand it!

I knew you followed me early this morning; you definitely had no good intentions (Purple Rose: Huh? I was worried something would go wrong with you).

Miss Shaliman did not know that a snake-haired head directly above her left was looking at her coldly.

"Hiss hiss (Idiot)."

"How about this dagger?"

At this moment, Li En took the initiative to ask Miss Shaliman.

He did not expect an answer; he was just worried that Miss Shaliman, who was occasionally dazed along the way, might suddenly crash into a wall.

This is one of the commercial districts of Mosodilka; Li En and his group came here specifically in the morning to shop.

This is the city of the Dark Elves; the Gray Dwarves are all excellent craftsmen, and the Dark Elves possess the Elves' unique enchantment techniques. Moreover, since this is the domain of the Shadow Deity, one can often find bargains on exotic imported goods.

Since they had come once, Li En naturally wanted to buy some specialties.

"Trash. Fake shadow enchantment; if you wear it and the sun shines on it, it will be ruined." Miss Shaliman replied coldly, having seen right through the trickery at a glance.

Those snake eyes, blue with a touch of gold, emitted a cold light, giving the Dark Elf merchant immense pressure. Li En also felt a bit of pressure; was this really Miss Shaliman?

"Uh, why are you looking at me like that?" The next moment, the girl lowered her head, her face red; being stared at directly by Li En made her feel a bit embarrassed.

Yes, this is Miss Shaliman.

"Hiss hiss (Love-struck fool)."

Miss Shaliman turned back to glare again; that stinky aunt is secretly cursing me again.

Seeing Miss Shaliman return to normal, Li En also shifted his attention to the goods before him.

He truly intended to use this opportunity to buy some good things.

Leaving aside other things, the Dark Elves are a rare race that practices both magic and martial arts; the Elven armor prepared for Sword Dancers and Spellblades, while having subtle defensive capabilities, has the least impact on spellcasting.

As a knight, Li En's desire for armor is probably endless.

If he could cheaply find a "Caster Armor," he would naturally be very satisfied.

But unfortunately, the armor he had seen along the way was really not up to par.

Perhaps to ensure agility and not affect spellcasting, this so-called "Elven Armor" is far too thin and hollowed out; its protective power is completely inadequate.

They call it armor, but its defensive capability is probably only at the light armor level; it simply cannot be used.

"If you want hardness comparable to heavy armor while not affecting spellcasting, I suggest you go slay a dragon; probably only a True Dragon's dragon-skin armor could meet your requirements."

The Gray Dwarf craftsman directly retorted to the picky customer.

"Snap." Li En directly threw out a piece of Shadow Dragon hide and spoke.

"Will this work?"

Now it was the Gray Dwarf craftsman's turn to break out in a cold sweat; the heavy elemental fluctuations on these dragon scales were clearly from a True Dragon. A surface-dweller who could truly slay a dragon was absolutely not someone he could afford to provoke.

But after observing carefully, he breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head.

"No, it is too young. It needs to be a young dragon at least eighty years old. If it is a Shadow Dragon, the hide must be from a dragon over 150 years old to be usable. Uh, but it would be enough to make two thief leather armors."

The Gray Dwarf craftsman's meaning was not that this dragon hide was unusable, but that it was insufficient for making "pseudo-heavy armor."

Even using the "layered hide" technique, young dragon hide is still too brittle.

But making two ordinary leather armors or the like would be sufficient; on the contrary, due to its toughness and smoothness, it is more suitable for agile classes.

Li En pondered for a moment; he really had no use for this thing. As a melee unit, armor that isn't hard enough is a death sentence, but for someone else...

"Miss Shaliman, do you want one? It should suit you very well."

Telepaths can wear light armor, and they do indeed prioritize various monster leather armors.

Li En still remembered that when they first met, Miss Shaliman had a very good monster scale armor, which might also have been of the dragon attribute.

"No need, I don't need it." Miss Shaliman knew how poor Li En was and did not want to take advantage of this.

"Hiss hiss (I want it, thank you.)"

Stupid woman, this is the first gift he has given you; how can you refuse it?

The power of the mind made Li En and the stupid woman ignore some slight inconsistencies.

For Li En, since Miss Shaliman wanted it, he would just give it to her.

He owed her quite a bit; being able to repay a little was naturally good.

The man turned his gaze to the next shop; he was very interested in the Dark Elves' unique techniques, especially their extremely famous "Under-Piercing Arrow" series of weapon enchantments.

"Are you planning to accept the commission?" After pondering, Miss Shaliman still asked.

Li En came here specifically to purchase supplies; no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like preparing for battle.

"Not necessarily... but there is a tendency toward it. If the plan is executed smoothly, our difficulty won't be great."

Li En did not intend to drag it out until the last day, because by then Kuk would have little time left.

It would be ridiculous if the power of the Heroic Soul vanished halfway through the fight.

And on Verna's side, they had added stakes; not only did they promise a heavy reward, but they also said they would let that "Daughter of the Black Dragon" join the mission as well...

Li En actually didn't care too much about these things, because Vitoria had already given him the information he wanted.

"Beasts have always been our enemies. The Dark Elves and the Beasts have no fundamental contradictions or hatred; being able to borrow their power to eliminate a few Beast Princes is hard to refuse."

Li En remained very calm; after the Mind Flayers were eliminated, the Beast Cult and the Dark Elves could be negotiated with.

If possible, he hoped they would also lock themselves into a relationship of mortal enmity.

"Uh, is that how you see it?" Miss Shaliman suddenly realized the truth, but after being looked at by Li En for a long time, she finally sighed.

You're the one who's the ambassador! This is your mission and your stance—how could you have forgotten it so completely? What on earth are you thinking?

"Hiss hiss (a fool in heat)."

(End of this chapter)