# 396
Chapter 396 – Serpent Eyes Reappear
“But if you do that, you’ll lose the protection of [Immortality]. Are you sure?” Cao Yuan asked with a frown.
Jialan shook her head, stretched out a fair arm, and flexed with a show of strength.
Cao Yuan smiled, bent down, and hoisted the badly-wounded Qin Kai onto his back.
“Molly, how did your captain end up like this? Isn’t he a Sea-realm expert too? Is that Lord Baylor really so strong?” Baili Pangpang couldn’t help asking when he saw Qin Kai’s injuries.
Molly’s brows knitted. “No, it’s not that simple. If it were just [Bell Cranel], our squad would never have been driven this far into a corner… the Church of the Ancient Gods is pulling strings behind it!”
“Church of the Ancient Gods?”
At those four words, Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan’s faces both darkened.
“Last night, not long after this mental-contamination fog appeared, we analyzed its properties and the captain led us in. At first everything seemed normal; we searched carefully for a long time but found no trace of [Bell Cranel]…
Just as we were about to leave the fog to purge the contamination and then re-enter, two figures appeared.
One was a bizarre woman who could petrify people with a glance; the other man could turn his body into sand and stone, pinning all of us in place.
We fought them, but lost. That man’s terrifying—at least ‘Infinity’ realm. If the captain hadn’t carved an escape route through the sandstorm, we’d never have gotten out.
After that, the rest of the squad, still trapped, were mentally corrupted and controlled by [Bell Cranel]. They’ve been hunting us ever since…”
Baili Pangpang asked doubtfully, “What about you? You’ve been in the fog so long—why weren’t you contaminated?”
“Earlier we eliminated a powerful Mystery, and headquarters rewarded us with a mental-protection relic called the Clarity Talisman. I was the rookie then, so the captain gave it to me for protection…” Molly unfastened a sachet-like object from her neck; it glowed faintly blue.
“An Infinity-realm member of the Church of the Ancient Gods…” Cao Yuan’s brows locked tight. “Using [Bell Cranel] to set this trap—what are they after?”
“Their target is Team [Phoenix],” Molly said, looking up. “They have something specifically designed against them. For some reason, though, it’s you who came instead…
But even so, that Infinity-realm man isn’t something you can handle. The priority is to get out, report to headquarters, and let either [Mask] or [Medium] squad take over.”
She raised her head, speaking with utter seriousness.
Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan exchanged glances, then both looked at the grey rat crouching in the corner.
The rat lay motionless.
“What’s going on?” Baili Pangpang muttered. “Qingyu’s gone offline? He hears intel this big and doesn’t react at all…”
Cao Yuan pondered. “He and Qiye have their net spread through the whole fog; maybe they already sensed those two.”
“Then why not let us leave?”
Baili Pangpang reached back to touch the hilt of Lin Qiye’s Straight Blade, worry in his voice. “You don’t think those two have already caught them?”
“Impossible. With Qiye’s strength, even if he couldn’t win, he wouldn’t just vanish without giving us a sign…” Cao Yuan thought for a moment, uncertain. “Could they already have a plan?”
“So what do we do now?”
“Since they haven’t signaled, we stick to the original plan.” Cao Yuan drew a deep breath.
“All right.” Baili Pangpang nodded.
“You’re not leaving?” Molly’s eyes showed confusion. “But—”
“We trust Qiye.” Baili Pangpang’s tone left no room for doubt.
Cao Yuan, carrying the wounded Qin Kai, strode out of the office. Baili Pangpang and Jialan followed; Molly stared after them, hesitated, then hurried to catch up.
They’d gone only a few steps when the group ahead suddenly stopped.
“Old Cao, why’re we stopping?” Baili Pangpang asked from behind.
Cao Yuan stood outside the office, sweeping the corridor with a gaze graver than any of them had seen. He lifted a hand and said slowly:
“When we came in… were there this many eyes in the hallway?”
Baili Pangpang blinked and looked around.
Near the elevator, the walls were now covered with eerie serpent eyes—simple black strokes yet unnervingly sinister. Not just the walls: ceiling tiles, floor tiles, elevator doors, flowerbeds, glass… even the up-down buttons had turned into vertical pupils!
The entire floor was blanketed in staring snake eyes.
“It’s that woman!” Molly exclaimed, remembering. “The one who petrifies with a glance—whenever she strikes, serpent eyes appear.”
“Looks like we’ve been marked.” Cao Yuan’s hand settled on his blade.
Baili Pangpang’s face darkened. Pulling Lin Qiye’s Straight Blade from his back, he pressed it into Jialan’s hands.
“Sis Lan, you’ve lost [Immortality]—sit this one out. Leave it to us.”
He met her eyes, deadly serious.
Jialan stared at the weapon, about to protest, when Cao Yuan eased the injured Qin Kai toward her as well.
“Fatty’s right. You’re as vulnerable as any mortal now. Stay back and look after the wounded.”
Fzz—fzz—fzz—
The overhead lights flickered, dimming from white to blood-red. Under that crimson glow, a huge serpent iris materialized at the center of the elevator platform.
A woman appeared atop it, vertical pupils glacial as they swept over the group. A scarlet tongue flicked across her lips, curving into a spine-chilling smile.
In the pulsing red light, the Sha Monk and Zhu Bajie masks gleamed as their wearers stepped calmly to the platform’s center, locking eyes with the eerie woman.
The air froze solid.