He Lan Tianxia

Just as everyone was watching intently as the triangular-headed golden ringed snake fought with Murong Junlan, the old tree spirit who had been so frightened that he wet his pants suddenly stared at the back of the triangular-headed golden ringed snake's head. Its sixth sense told it that the triangular-headed golden ringed snake was about to use a bad trick.

Sure enough, when the tail swept towards Murong Junlan, the triangular mouth split open and a strange sound came out. Instantly, all the giant snakes surrounded him again. The triangular head flicked to the left, and the poisonous snake on the left lunged at Murong Junlan; the triangular head flicked to the right, and the poisonous snake on the right lunged at the Pavilion Master in the restriction.

Murong Junlan had just swung his thin rope to block the venomous snake's attack when he turned back to protect the Pavilion Master. However, he did not expect that the triangular-headed golden-ringed snake's move was a dirty trick. Its ultimate goal was not to defeat him, but to use a feint to kidnap the Pavilion Master from the forbidden area.

When the triangular-headed golden ringed snake used Murong Junlan to attack its tail, it suddenly leaped up and lunged straight at Murong Junlan's face with its triangular mouth.

That was a brilliant move! If Murong Junlan had dodged it, the Pavilion Master would have been captured. If he had taken the attack head-on, he could have driven away that terrifying triangular-mouthed creature, but the Pavilion Master would still have been captured. In other words, whether Murong Junlan took the attack or dodged it, the Pavilion Master would have been captured anyway.

Murong Junlan stopped moving; he intended to make this wave of snakes suffer greatly. He neither met their attacks head-on nor tried to protect his master, but instead lashed out with a thin rope at the triangular-headed golden-ringed snake. The snake was startled; it hadn't expected that its opponent would disregard everything and aim the rope directly for its life. In this critical moment, only speed mattered; its head had to be at least twice as fast as the rope in its opponent's hand to have any chance of winning.

Ah! Everything froze for a moment when the triangular-headed golden-ringed snake lunged at Murong.

Something shot up from the ground, intending to leap between the two to shield Murong Junlan from the blow. However, the snakes nearby spotted it the moment it shot out, and one of them, without thinking, leaped straight at it. The old tree spirit was thrown off course, its body flying uncontrollably, and it crashed into the back of the triangular-headed golden-ringed snake's head.

The golden-ringed snake, out of control, accelerated and rammed its triangular head towards Murong Junlan's face. Murong Junlan was shocked; this unexpected turn of events caught him completely off guard. Now, he had no choice but to duck to avoid the triangular head's gaping maw.

"Your Highness, be careful," Lingyi said worriedly.

Murong Junlan crouched down, and the triangular-headed snake roared past him. However, he underestimated the wickedness of the triangular-headed golden ring snake. Its vicious tail coiled around Murong Junlan's neck. As Murong Junlan tore at its body, the triangular-headed snake ignored the pain and turned around to spray a mouthful of venomous gas at Murong Junlan.

Murong Junlan shook his head repeatedly, but finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed to the ground with a thud. The triangular-headed golden-ringed snake and its swarm coiled around him, tightly surrounding him.

At this moment, Lingyi, who was unable to move, fell out of Murong Junlan's chest pocket.

……

Murong Junlan, the Pavilion Master, and the old tree spirit were all bound hand and foot. The injured triangular-headed golden-ringed snake, ignoring its wounds, enthusiastically discussed with the other snakes how to deliver the group to the Nine Demon Lords for their reward. A sycophantic snake spirit even offered the golden-ringed snake some healing medicine. The atmosphere inside the seven-story pagoda was electric, and the triangular-headed golden-ringed snake even brought out a jar of century-old wine to celebrate.

After a few rounds of drinks, the snakes were slightly tipsy. The only one still awake, the old tree spirit, was hanging from the tower beam. It quietly stretched out its roots, not daring to exert too much force or be too ostentatious, simply shrinking them to their smallest possible size. It didn't know if Ling Yi was awake or if he had been poisoned, but it had seen Ling Yi soften. Its intuition told it to find Ling Yi; it trusted its intuition, especially at this moment.

"Old man," Lingyi suddenly called out softly.

The old tree spirit was startled and delighted. It touched Lingyi with its roots, and Lingyi responded with its tail. A warmth was passed between them, and they comforted each other.

What to do next?

"I've been poisoned by sulfur powder and can't move. Do you have any way to help me detoxify? Have you been poisoned too?"

No. How do you dissolve the sulfur powder?

"I need lots of water." Lingyi waited a long time but the old tree spirit didn't respond. "Old man, old tree spirit..."

Another half hour passed, but the old tree spirit still didn't respond. Ling Yi didn't dare to act rashly and wake the group of drunken snakes. Ling Yi knew very well that snakes sober up faster than humans, so to rescue the prince and the pavilion master, he had to do so before the triangular-headed golden-ringed snakes woke up.

That old tree spirit could have helped, so why did he suddenly disappear? Lingyi called out several more times but received no response, so he had to find a solution himself.

Lingyi looked up at Prince Murong and the Pavilion Master, and felt that the two of them were deeply poisoned and could not be cured in a short time. It could only give up and start by saving them.

Although the snakes around him were his own kind, sometimes those of the same kind can be enemies. At this critical moment of life and death, he dared not gamble. He himself was not afraid, but he could not gamble with the lives of the prince and the pavilion master.

The little snake next to him stirred, perhaps still hungover, stretched, and fell asleep again. Then another snake stirred, stretched, but this one yawned after stretching. This yawn made Lingyi even more anxious, proving that this snake was more likely to wake up sooner than the first one.

Suddenly, Lingyi felt the soil beneath him move, and then an earthworm crawled out. Lingyi was startled, but thankfully the earthworm ignored him and crawled away. Just as Lingyi breathed a sigh of relief, something suddenly constricted his body. Lingyi panicked; he was now completely at the mercy of others, powerless to resist any infringement.

The thing tugged at him again, tightening its grip. Lingyi was unable to move. He felt a little panicked. At this critical moment, if he couldn't save the prince, could it be that he himself had been eaten by something?

Could it be a rat? Or a pangolin? Or a centipede…? In short, he felt like he could devour even a spider if he encountered one. For the first time, Lingyi felt utterly helpless. He exhaled a puff of mist into his body, hoping to scare away whatever was constricting him. The thing seemed genuinely frightened and paused, then stopped. Lingyi didn't want to exhale anymore, because exhaling poison gas also consumed his internal energy, and that movement had made his body even weaker.

Suddenly, with a thud, Lingyi's entire body was pulled into the soil. A feeling of suffocation immediately surged up. Lingyi didn't even have the strength to struggle. The poison gas he tried to expel was blocked outside the soil. Lingyi was pulled into another kind of darkness.