"Eh?"

Fen Ziyan body froze, and her eyes widening as a huge, grotesque mouth suddenly appeared out of nowhere....so close she could see every crooked, jagged tooth glistening in the darkness.

Before she could even react, a powerful shove came from behind, pushing her forward.

WHOOSH!

A violent gust of wind rushed past her head as the world blurred for a moment

She hurriedly look back in shock , only to see something massive dragging Li Feng away , its enormous maw clamped around him as it vanished into the dark forest with terrifying speed.

"Junior Brother Li!" she cried , her voice trembling as realization struck her that Li Feng had pushed her out of the way of that attack.

Gritting her teeth , Fen Ziyan yanked on the rein, turning her horse sharply before charging and chasing after the creature.

_

_

BOOM!

BOOM!

BAAM!

The once quiet , dark forest suddenly seemed to be struck by a massive earthquake, as trees began to toppled, and the earth exploded violently.

The shadowy figure tried to bite Li Feng down , who was currently holding its mouth open, but to no avail.

Sensing it couldn't crash Li Feng with it mouth, it then slammed Li Feng's body through the ground and forest trees as it frantically moved around.

Trees and rocks were smashed apart as Li Feng felt the impact hammering into his back.

"...Ugh! The hell is this thing?" he couldn't help but frown , feeling the force trying to bite onto him while he trying to keep its mouth open.

But through the dust and earth splattering , and the frantic thrashing, he couldn't see clearly what it was.

BAMM!

Li Feng's body slammed into another massive tree trunk , splintering it clean in half before crashing through another.

The shockwave sent leaves and dirt flying in all directions.

"Dammit! Enough of this ! " Li Feng let out a roar as he gripped hard and twisted his body , trying to slam whatever the thing was in his hands toward the ground.

But just as he was about to slam it down , he felt something slimy in his hand, and the thing managed to slip free from his grip before rushing back into the trees.

Whoosh—

It moved so fast and slippery despite its seemingly huge size, slithering between the dark trees around Li Feng.

Li Feng stood on guard, his eyes following the shifting shadow.

Ssshhh... skrrrhhh...

Soon, the moving shadow slowed down and turned toward him.

Under the faint moonlight shining through the canopy, Li Feng finally caught a clear glimpse of its appearance.

"…A serpent?" he muttered.

Despite saying the word, there was hesitation in his voice.

As the thing before him only resembled a serpent in outline....long, coiling, and sinuous but the similarity ended there.

Under the pale moonlight, its massive figure loomed taller than Li Feng.

It had no eyes....only deep , hollow sockets where they should have been and its skin gleamed wet and sickly.

It was not covered in scales, but in uneven patches of dark, pulsing flesh that looked half-rotted.

From those patches oozed a viscous black slime that hissed as it touched the ground, eating into the earth.

But what made Li Feng's expression harden was its mouth.

Or rather... its many mouths.

A massive, loosely hinged maw dominated its head, splitting wider than any creature's jaw should.

The corners stretched back unnaturally, almost to where its neck began, revealing rows upon rows of thin, needle-like teeth that trembled and clicked restlessly, as though eager to chew.

From that gaping pit of a mouth came a low, wet rasp "sllrrrchhh... ssshhhrrk..." the sound of something both breathing and drooling at once.

And as it shifted, Li Feng noticed smaller mouths opening along the length of its body.....each one twitching, biting at the air, whispering faint squelches in unison.

The sight was grotesque, unnatural , like a hundred starving maws forced into one body that never stopped writhing.

Even for someone like Li Feng, who had seen countless horror designs in movies back on Earth, the sight was enough to make his scalp tingle.

"...Disgusting," he exhaled softly, eyes narrowing as his hand tightened, ready to smash this abomination into pieces.

Just as the tense standoff stretched thin, Fen Ziyan's clear voice echoed from the distance.

"Junior Brother! Are you alright?!"

Li Feng's gaze flicked briefly toward her direction but the serpent seemed to notice that momentary distraction.

Its body coiled, then suddenly turned and bolted away.

Despite its enormous size, its movements were unnervingly fast and silent as it slipped between the dark trees.

"What?" Li Feng blinked in disbelief, then immediately gave chase.

He leapt through the forest, following the trail of disturbed air and faint black residue.

But after several breaths, he abruptly halted.

As the forest had gone silent.

"…Its presence… disappeared?" he muttered, frowning.

He had clearly locked onto the creature's aura, yet just now, it vanished completely.

As if the monster had never existed at all.

Soon, he heard the sound of galloping hooves from behind, accompanied by Fen Ziyan's worried voice.

Fen Ziyan let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Li Feng seemed unharmed, aside from his robe being a bit dirty.

"Junior Brother! I'm glad you're okay. Where did that monster go?" she asked, scanning the forest with alert eyes.

"…It escaped," Li Feng replied softly, still lost in thought. Then his eyes suddenly widened as he looked at Fen Ziyan.

"Senior Sister! Let's hurry toward that village!" he urged, leaping onto the horse and holding her tightly by the waist.

Fen Ziyan seemed to understand his urgency.

She stopped questioning and quickly steered the horse toward the village, their intended destination.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

The horse's hooves echoed as it hurriedly galloped forward.

Li Feng felt the wind rushing past his face and frowned.

'Just now… that thing came from the direction of the village… Don't tell me something happened?'

He silently hoped his thought was wrong.

Soon, through the trees, they noticed a light in the distance.

Fen Ziyan saw it too. "Junior Brother, that…"

With a swift leap, the horse jumped out of the forest into a clearing.

"W-What!"

"Monster!?"

"Wait!"

Panicked voices from multiple people suddenly rang out.

Neigh!

Fen Ziyan reined in the horse, looking around to see many villagers holding their farming tools like makeshift weapons, their eyes wary as they stared at her.

Li Feng quickly raised his hand to calm them. "Wait! We're not your enemies!"

The villagers froze, their eyes flicking between the man and the woman on the horse.

Torches in their hands flickered nervously, casting distorted shadows across pale, tense faces.

An older man, likely the village head, stepped forward, clutching a rusted spear.

His voice trembled, but his eyes were sharp with fear. "You two… who are you? Did you met that thing?"

Li Feng's brows furrowed. "That thing? You mean… the serpent monster?"

At the mention of the word, several villagers flinched, some even stepping back, as if afraid the mere mention might summon it.

Fen Ziyan dismounted swiftly, her expression serious. "What happened here? We came from the Sect at the request of exterminating a monster."

The villagers, who had been tense and fearful moments before, suddenly relaxed and their eye brighten when they realized a disciple from the Sect had arrived.

"Y-You really… from the Sect? Oh… finally, we're saved!" The old man's eyes welled up slightly with tear as he lowered his spear , his voice trembling with a mix of hope and exhaustion.

Li Feng slowly dismounted, his gaze sweeping over the frightened villagers.

"...How about we go and have a proper talk about the situation?" he asked softly.

For some reason, a faint feeling of inconsistency tugged at his heart the moment he arrived in this village.

It wasn't anything threatening or alarming, but it was unlike anything he had ever sensed before, and it puzzled him a bit.

"O-of course. Please, follow me to my house." The old man said, then motioned to the crowd to make way.

Fen Ziyan nodded and followed the elderly man.

Li Feng was about to follow when he paused for a moment.

He reached into his pocket space inside his brick and took out Goldie.

A nearby villager gasped in surprise at the sudden appearance of the huge , cloaked figure.

"Patrol around the village. Let me know if there's anything unusual," Li Feng commanded Goldie, ignoring the villager.

"…" Goldie silently nodded and slowly disappeared into the dark forest.

Li Feng crossed his arms and stood there, frowning slightly at the strange feeling that subtly gnawing at him from his senses.

He scanned the village carefully once more.

And nothing seemed out of place....no danger, only some tension from the villagers, while no indication of any threat.

Only a small, uncomfortable feeling lingered in his chest , as if the air itself were subtly off.

He then shook his head slightly.

" Hmm... It's useless to overthink.... Let's go and understand the situation in the village first."

Then Li Feng headed toward the modern size wooden house that look like an inn, which Fen Ziyan and the old man had gone into.

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