Stronger with Crimson Modifier

The voice was forced from deep within its throat, a grating sound like rusted metal, wet and viscous. Each word was deliberately drawn out, articulated with a stiff, laborious effort.

At the same time, a putrid gust of wind pressed down on him.

The Young Man’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He seemed to realize something, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

His neck, as stiff as a rusted machine, slowly lifted. His gaze followed the source of the putrid wind.

A massive snake’s head hung low, looking down at him.

The snake’s head was terrifying, its scales glinting with a cold light. Viscous, murky fluid hung from its curved fangs, dripping down one drop at a time.

It made a faint SIZZLING sound as it hit the ground, corroding the earth.

The ground turned black and scorched.

The venom it contained was clearly terrifyingly potent.

A pair of Crimson serpent eyes stared at him silently. It was obvious now: the speaker was the very giant snake that had him coiled in its grip.

The Young Man looked at the snake’s body. The white spots on its Black Scales writhed with its movements, looking like countless blinking eyes that made him dizzy and sick.

’...This is... a Spirit Monster?’

The Young Man finally snapped out of it. He bit down hard, and the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.

He averted his eyes, his heart filled with terror.

"Great King, I want to live! Please... I have an eighty-year-old mother, and... uh..."

Before he could finish, the snake’s coils tightened around him.

Instantly, his face flushed red, and the rest of his words were choked back down his throat.

"Enough nonsense. I’ll ask, you’ll answer. If I find you’ve deceived me in any way... you know the consequences."

Hu Qi’s serpentine mouth opened slightly, and the cold words slithered out.

His speech was much smoother now, a stark contrast to his earlier stiffness. The improvement was astonishing.

It had been this way ever since he condensed his Demon Power.

He was now considered a Top-tier Spirit Monster.

This was equivalent to refining his Transverse Bone, allowing him to speak human words.

As for how he knew the language of this world, that was thanks to the Taichu Demon Refining Talisman within his Rune Spirit Seed. The information it had fed back to him included the local language.

"Yes, Great King! Ask anything. As long as I know the answer... just please don’t do anything rash."

The Young Man said, forcing a smile.

He wasn’t entirely ignorant about Spirit Monsters. He had heard the lovely tales of Scholars meeting Fox Demons.

He’d also heard of weasels seeking titles and all sorts of stories about Spirit Monsters harming people.

But he had always dismissed them as fictional tales spun by scholars. Only now did he realize that Spirit Monsters truly existed in this world.

"What is this place? How far is the nearest city?"

Hu Qi continued his questions.

His voice was still deep and hoarse, but it had lost its bizarre inflection.

"This is Lu Mountain, named for its many wild deer. I’m from Broken Vine Village, about twenty li from the foot of the mountain. The nearest city is Tai Lake County, a hundred li away..."

The Young Man spilled everything he knew, as if pouring out beans, terrified that the slightest delay would anger the creature and get him killed.

From the Young Man’s account, Hu Qi gained a general understanding of his location.

He was in a place called the Da Ye Dynasty.

The nearest city was Tai Lake County, a hundred li away.

But this Young Man was just a Hunter who had only been to Tai Lake County once, so he didn’t know much more.

As for something like a Cultivator, he had never even heard the term.

The closest thing he’d heard were tales passed down by the elderly and stories told by teahouse storytellers in the city.

After a moment, having gotten the answers he wanted...

CRACK.

The black serpentine body tightened slightly, and the sound of cracking bone immediately followed.

Before the Young Man could even beg for mercy, blood seeped from his pores, and his body went limp.

His eyes were fixed on Hu Qi.

"You..."

He opened his mouth, wanting to ask Hu Qi why he was still killing him when he had answered every question obediently. But after spitting out just one word, a horrifying gush of bloody foam erupted from his mouth and nose.

"When did I promise to let you go?"

Hu Qi said.

Hearing this, the Young Man opened his mouth, but his injuries were too severe. He couldn’t hold on and fell completely silent.

Hu Qi merely glanced at the body before looking away.

’Devouring a person is rather distasteful, anyway. Besides, he’s just an ordinary human, too filthy. Eating him would probably make me sick.’

’If it were a Cultivator, perhaps, I might have been more interested.’

Shaking his head, Hu Qi slithered away, his body making faint rustling sounds as he moved over branches.

He soon reached the rock and glanced at Ah Huang, who was lying on the ground.

Ah Huang was in a sorry state, having lost many of its scales. However, perhaps due to being nourished by Spiritual Energy, its body was far hardier than an ordinary snake’s, and its life wasn’t in danger.

Just then, a red snake’s head emerged from the nearby water. It was Ah Hong.

Hu Qi had followed the auras of the two to find this spot quickly. Ah Hong, being slower, was only just now arriving.

Once the two snakes had gathered, Hu Qi led them away, following the mountain stream.

According to the Young Man, following this stream downward would lead to a village, and eventually to Tai Lake County.

In ancient times, fetching water wasn’t as convenient as in a modern city with its running water.

Villages and towns were generally built near a water source.

Furthermore, crops needed water to grow.

Proximity to a water source made irrigation easier, ensuring a stable water supply for the fields and increasing crop yields.

...

The dim, setting sun hung in the west, a counterpart to the slender crescent moon in the opposite sky.

As dusk fell, a village appeared ahead.

It had about forty or fifty households, and wisps of cooking smoke were rising from within.

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