Chapter 1263: Fierce Beast
With that, he leapt forward, his bare upper body charging straight at the Heavenly Snake's face. But the moment the White Snake began to move, the Heavenly Snake had already started evading, stepping back while casually grabbing a rusty scalpel from the table.
As expected, the White Snake's attack missed entirely—that heavy punch only grazed past his opponent, exposing the vulnerability on his own back. The Heavenly Snake, scalpel in hand, drove it viciously into one of the eyes already festering on the White Snake's back. In an instant, black blood sprayed everywhere. The White Snake let out a muffled groan, turned around, and leaped backward.
The White Snake paused, a hint of pain flickering across his face, but he didn't stop. This time, he lowered his head, trying to hide his eyes as best he could, and charged forward once more. Yet the Heavenly Snake had already seen through his intentions before he even looked down, retreating again to dodge the attack range, then gripping the knife in reverse and slashing a deep, long gash from the White Snake's fist to his wrist.
These two brief exchanges had already left the White Snake injured. This was exactly the situation he had anticipated—how could an ordinary man possibly counter "mind-reading"? Unless his fists were so fast that the opponent couldn't dodge in time, he would never win. But if he could just manage to land one hit...
"That's an interesting thought," the Heavenly Snake nodded. "You think that if you touch me, 'Mourning' will render me immobile for a short time. But would that really let you kill me?"
The White Snake merely clutched his injured fist, remaining silent.
"I haven't even started using 'Immortal Arts' yet, and you're already on the verge of death," the Heavenly Snake shook his head, pointing at the White Snake's arm. "A laceration wound over ten centimeters long from a blade—do you know what that means? If you don't treat it immediately, your life is already on a countdown."
The White Snake's face darkened upon hearing this. He turned to glance at Xiao Ran.
If anyone here could help him, it would be this pitiful woman, wouldn't it? She shared a similar fate with him—perhaps she could empathize.
"Hey..." the White Snake called out weakly. "Are you willing to end up like this?"
Xiao Ran seemed not to have expected the White Snake to speak to her. She paused slightly, but quickly broke into a smile. This smile was more arrogant than any she had ever worn before, as if she no longer needed to disguise herself with sweetness, but only had to follow her own heart.
"Talking to me like that... how dare you?"
Her question left the White Snake momentarily stunned.
"You..." He stared at Xiao Ran for a few seconds, then asked, "Who are you?"
"I am... 'Qiongqi,'" Xiao Ran grinned. "You're just a mere 'Earth-level,' and you dare to ask me a question directly... aren't you afraid I'll slap you to your knees right now?"
The White Snake seemed even more puzzled.
"'Qiongqi'... what kind of identity is that?" he frowned. "I've been here so long, and I've never heard of any 'Qiongqi.'"
"That's because your rank isn't high enough."
Xiao Ran took a step forward. Even though she found this blood-soaked 'Zodiac' utterly repulsive, she had nothing to fear now. She just smiled and said, "Listen carefully... I am a 'Divine Beast' personally appointed by the Azure Dragon."
"You say 'Qiongqi'... is a 'Divine Beast'?" The White Snake paused, books he had once read began surfacing in his mind. "That's clearly the name of a famous 'Fierce Beast'..."
"How arrogant. Someone as low-grade as you... how could you possibly know who is a 'Divine Beast' and who is a 'Fierce Beast'?" Xiao Ran stepped forward disdainfully, raised her hand, and slapped the White Snake across the face.
But the slap felt like hitting a piece of iron, jarring Xiao Ran's hand painfully. The White Snake only felt as if someone had lightly scratched an itch, and he grew even more bewildered by Xiao Ran's actions. Such a feeble strength... could she really be a 'Divine Beast'?
"What's going on...?" Xiao Ran looked at her hand in disbelief. "Where is my power...?"
"This stupid woman... when would I have time to find 'Twin Flowers' to copy a powerful body for you...?" The Heavenly Snake muttered with a frown.
He felt that protecting this woman was even harder than protecting himself. Once the White Snake realized that she was now both stupid and weak, the consequences would be disastrous.
Not giving the White Snake any time to think, the Heavenly Snake immediately launched an attack, slashing the scalpel toward the White Snake's chest. The White Snake instinctively dodged to the right, but found the Heavenly Snake had anticipated this—the blade followed his direction and left another deep gash across his chest.
Blood slowly dripped down, staining the White Snake's abdomen. He didn't bother covering the wound, but his eyes grew increasingly serious.
An enemy like the Heavenly Snake—one couldn't land a hit on him nor dodge his strikes. Killing him would naturally require more cunning. But this woman before him... claiming to be a 'Divine Beast' appointed by the Azure Dragon—that detail was worth pondering.
Why hadn't he thought of it earlier...
On her back were four eyes moving independently—a number exceeding that of a 'Heavenly-level.'
"A 'Fierce Beast' cub not yet fully hatched..." The White Snake gave a bitter smile. "That's quite a shocking revelation you've just given me."
"The thoughts you're having right now are very dangerous." The Heavenly Snake twirled the scalpel in his hand and spoke softly. "If Qiongqi dies, the Azure Dragon will surely take my life, so I will protect her at all costs."
"Heavenly Snake, I've followed you for so long, and you've told me the story of Xuanwu countless times." The White Snake clutched his chest. "This 'Fierce Beast'... is probably only missing 'loss of reason' and 'body duplication.' I can't let her go..."
The Heavenly Snake thought for a moment and gave Xiao Ran a signal with his eyes: "I'll hold him off. You go quickly. Report back to the Azure Dragon and tell him 'the masterpiece is complete.'"
"What's there to be afraid of?!" Xiao Ran looked confused. "You're 'Heavenly-level' and he's 'Earth-level.' You can't even kill him?"
The Heavenly Snake's temper flared: "Stop making trouble! Do you have any idea how critical this situation is?!"
"You'd better watch your tone!" Xiao Ran said arrogantly. "Since we're on the same side now, I won't stand idly by this time. If it looks like you're losing, I'll step in to help—but I'll also report this truthfully to the Azure Dragon."
"You..."
Xiao Ran still didn't seem to realize that all the problems stemmed from her, leaving the Heavenly Snake so furious he couldn't even speak. Stranger still, the moment Xiao Ran said the words "same side," the Heavenly Snake's vision blurred momentarily.
Before he could figure out what was wrong with his eyes, the White Snake, taking advantage of their exchange, lowered his stance and shot forward like a bolt, exploding toward the Heavenly Snake in a spray of blood.
A pale fist came from an awkward angle. The Heavenly Snake, startled, tried to sidestep, but there was no way to avoid it now. That solid, heavy punch landed square on his cheek, sending his glasses, the scalpel, and years of the White Snake's pent-up hatred flying together through the air.