"You two, use your Dou Qi to block out the scent here. Otherwise, you'll end up like her." Xiao Tian gestured pointedly toward She Yuyan.
She Yuyan jabbed a finger at her own chest, her face a mask of pure bewilderment. *Are you talking about me?*
Han Yue and Qing Lin immediately shrouded themselves in Dou Qi, sealing out the foreign scent. They understood at once what Xiao Tian meant. No wonder their thoughts had wandered in such strange directions earlier. Both their faces flushed faintly. They exchanged a glance—and recognized the same guilty truth mirrored in each other's eyes.
She Yuyan caught on a moment later. She had been so consumed by indignation that she had completely forgotten this place's nature. No wonder her mind had spiraled into such absurdity. She hastily wove Dou Qi around herself and shoved the intrusive thoughts aside.
She had actually been overcome with infatuation earlier, genuinely contemplating "tasting tender grass." And her reasoning had been even more ridiculous: find someone close to her son's age. That way, her son and stepfather wouldn't have an awkward generation gap. They'd have things to talk about. If Xiao Tian had known, he would have refused without a second thought. *Sorry, Madam. I appreciate the "married woman" vibe, but I'm no Cao thief who hunts other men's wives.*
If he were to name someone with a truly full "married woman" aura—someone who still radiated charm—a very different face came to mind. He cut the thought off there.
"Qing'er, go ahead. Do as I told you before." He turned to the girl beside him.
Qing Lin's heart fluttered with nerves. "Alright, Young Master. Leave it to me. I won't disappoint you."
"No need to be nervous. Just relax. For you, this is simple. With me here, you don't need to worry about anything." Xiao Tian ruffled her emerald-green hair, his voice utterly assured.
His words flooded her with strength. *Yes. With Young Master here, Qing Lin fears nothing.*
"Little Sister Qing Lin, you can do it!" Han Yue cheered from the side.
She Yuyan watched the exchange in deepening confusion. Shouldn't Xiao Tian be the one to retrieve the item? Why was it this girl—the one who looked so innocent on the surface but possessed such an unfairly gifted figure? She scrutinized Qing Lin more carefully. That sense of unease that had been prickling at her since long ago now sharpened into something unmistakable. Something bad was about to happen.
Qing Lin walked slowly toward the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent and stood before it. She drew a deep breath, gazing up at the nine massive, ferocious snake heads. Then she activated her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
Emerald-green light erupted from her eyes, flooding over the dried corpse.
And She Yuyan, seeing that blazing green radiance—even though Qing Lin's back was to her—felt a sealed memory crack open inside her mind.
*This… this is… the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils?* She was absolutely certain. The girl before her possessed the very ocular power her Heavenly Serpent Mansion had spent countless years searching for.
*Oh no!!* She finally understood what Xiao Tian and the others had come for. Her heart seized with panic. This was one of the critical keys to whether the Heavenly Serpent Mansion could ever make a powerful return to the Central Plains.
She lunged forward to stop it—but a strong hand clamped down on her shoulder, pinning her in place.
"Mansion Master. I strongly suggest you do not act rashly. You already agreed we could take one item."
She Yuyan nearly cursed aloud. *Yes, I agreed! But I never imagined there was someone among you with the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils! If I had known that, you could have killed me and I still wouldn't have agreed!*
A crushing pressure bore down on her. She understood with absolute clarity now that she was no match for Xiao Tian. But she still wanted to struggle. Just as her aura began to surge, an unfamiliar—yet devastating—presence pressed against her from behind, forcing her own energy back into her body.
"Dou… Dou Zun!!"
She felt it clearly. A Dou Zun was hidden in the shadows. She had never imagined such an existence would be here.
Her eyes found the soul of the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent already being drawn out, and she knew there was no turning back. Her body went limp. She crumpled to the ground as though every bone had been removed. Even setting aside the Dou Zun concealed in the void, Xiao Tian alone was beyond her ability to fight. And the soul was already being extracted—there were only two possible outcomes now: success, and the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent was taken by the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils; failure, and the residual soul simply dissipated.
She no longer had the luxury of worrying about the serpent's soul. What she feared now was whether the other party would kill her to silence her. She was utterly trapped, a fish on the chopping block. A long, defeated sigh escaped her. Her face twisted with a complex, lifeless despair. She could only sit on the ground and wait for death.
Xiao Tian glanced at the Heavenly Serpent Mansion Master—restrained and broken—then dismissed her from his attention. His focus locked entirely onto Qing Lin and the soul extraction, watching for any sign of trouble.
As time stretched on, the emerald-green light poured from Qing Lin in an unbroken stream, enveloping the soul of the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent. The soul no longer possessed consciousness—only residual, automatic resistance.
"Roar!"
The nine serpent heads of the soul thrashed, their mouths gaping in silent roars at Qing Lin. But only faint, guttural growls emerged. When the emerald light had completely covered the ancient serpent, it began to contract, dragging the massive soul with it. The light pulled the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent directly into the inner space of Qing Lin's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
Inside that space, on the central head of the serpent, a flower-like mark bloomed—the seal of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
White Fang, who resided within that inner space, stared at the newly arrived soul. A crushing bloodline suppression hammered its entire body flat against the ground. The snake couldn't move. It nearly wet itself in sheer terror. Its voice came out in a coarse, undignified shriek. "What the hell?! This—this is an Ancient Heavenly Serpent! An extinct bloodline! And it's a Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent—a king among its kind!"
Sensing the upheaval within the pupil space, Qing Lin acted swiftly, isolating the Ancient Heavenly Serpent and White Fang into separate sealed areas.
The moment the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent's aura vanished, White Fang finally released a shuddering breath. It had genuinely nearly been scared to death. Next time, it had to speak to its master. If something this terrifying was going to be thrown in again, it needed a warning. Otherwise, a snake could easily die of fright.
*It seems I truly chose the right master. As expected of my master—and the Honored One. Truly magnificent.* White Fang adopted a casual, exaggerated swagger, pacing within the space, and made sure to include Xiao Tian in its praise. It had long since learned this trick: whenever it praised its master, mentioning Xiao Tian as well was twice as effective as praising its master alone. It was a proven formula—every time it followed this script, it earned a chance to go outside for a walk.
Just after Qing Lin absorbed the soul, a tattoo of the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent bloomed across the skin of her back, impossibly lifelike. No one saw it. Only Qing Lin herself knew, for she was still fully clothed.
Then her body went limp. She began to fall.
Han Yue surged forward to catch her—but a figure moved faster, arriving at Qing Lin's side in an instant.