Chapter 214: Please Save Me
Those three snake heads are really huge!
Or rather, they could no longer be considered ordinary snake heads.
Because there were two bulges protruding from the position above the snake eyes, just like horns were about to emerge.
Not only the position above the eyes, there were bulges in many places on the snake heads, perhaps they weren’t bulges, but something like scales?
Moreover, the area below the snake mouth had also mutated, becoming angular.
Xuan Xia immediately associated it with a dragon head.
However, a dragon head tends toward sacred majesty, while these mutated snake heads exuded a feeling more inclined toward evil and ferocity.
Perhaps it was also because those three snake heads were pitch black in color.
The three snake heads were already as big as an adult, and as Xuan Xia looked downward along them, she could hardly see the snake body.
To be precise, she couldn’t see it clearly.
The snake heads rose from behind that row of chanting old women, and the snake body was hidden in the darkness behind the old women.
Now, the three snake heads were each swaying, as if each searching for something.
Zhou Shiqing was startled at the sight of the three snake heads rising and nearly cried out; at the critical moment, it was Xuan Xia who pinched his wrist, stopping his almost-voiced shout.
He silenced himself, but his mood could not calm down.
Zhou Shiqing wanted to say that this was the reason he had fled for his life, but it wasn’t just that, because the scene he had seen earlier went far beyond this.
Just as he thought that, the three massive snake heads lunged forward at the same time.
Almost in the same second, three prostrating women were swallowed.
Saying all three were fully swallowed wouldn’t be accurate; only one woman was swallowed whole, while of the other two, one was bitten in half at the waist, and the last one had her head bitten off.
Blood soon overflowed around the latter two, and the fishy smell immediately drifted out with the sea wind, wafting into Xuan Xia’s nose.
“……”
This sudden visual impact made Xuan Xia involuntarily grip Zhou Shiqing’s wrist tighter, silently drawing in a breath.
Zhou Shiqing suddenly suspected that the first time Xuan Xia pinched his wrist, it wasn’t to stop him, but because she herself was also frightened!
But that wasn’t the point!
The scene he had just seen was exactly like this!
Three women: one fully swallowed, one bitten in half, one with only her head taken.
It matched the scene he had seen before exactly.
Ex-act-ly!!
Zhou Shiqing now believed even more that this was indeed his dream.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain events that had already happened occurring again.
“Ah——”
Almost right after the three women met their fate in the snake mouths, a terrified scream suddenly rang out from the cave.
This scream also vented the current mood for Xuan Xia and Zhou Shiqing, allowing Xuan Xia to refocus on the situation in the cave.
The scream came from the side of the woman whose head had been bitten off.
Right beside the woman whose head had been bitten off, a young girl collapsed on the ground, staring in full terror at her companion who was left with only a headless body.
The impact from the corpse beside her was so great that she screamed out.
With her scream, the situation in the cave began to change.
The old women who had been chanting stopped their strange incantations, their gazes aligning with the three snake heads toward the girl.
The three snake heads even narrowed their eyes in unison, their vertical pupils staring at the girl like some novel prey.
One of the old women then scolded the girl.
Of course, the scolding was Xuan Xia’s guess, because she couldn’t understand a single word the old woman said.
But judging from the expression, it shouldn’t be wrong.
With the old woman’s scolding, the girl finally stopped looking at the headless corpse beside her and turned her gaze to that row of old women, or perhaps the snake heads behind them.
The girl supported her body with her elbows, kicking her legs backward while answering something, her words a jumble mixed with sobs.
Xuan Xia guessed that the girl was probably saying she didn’t want to die, didn’t want to be swallowed by the snake.
Because, putting herself in the girl’s shoes, Xuan Xia wouldn’t want to become a sacrifice victim to be eaten.
And those men who had been dancing also stopped their dance movements at this time.
The old woman who had spoken earlier waved her hand at them, and the men immediately surrounded the girl like hunters closing in.
The old woman’s words didn’t stop, continuing to berate the girl.
The girl’s choking sobs didn’t stop either.
Just as the men reached out to grab the girl, she suddenly sprang up, dodging the hands around her, twisting her body lightly and squeezing out from between two men.
Once she squeezed out, the girl didn’t pause for a moment and ran straight outside.
The three snake heads let out sharp hisses in unison, and the old women became even angrier than before, immediately directing the men to chase her.
Xuan Xia instinctively wanted to pull Zhou Shiqing to hide first, but this place was so open that there was hardly anywhere to hide.
So before Xuan Xia could find a hiding spot, she locked eyes directly with the girl who had run out.
The girl was also startled to see them, and in the next second, she grabbed Zhou Shiqing’s arm, “Save me, please save me.”
Zhou Shiqing immediately frowned.
He really disliked being touched casually by strangers, let alone by a woman.
Xuan Xia also tilted her head slightly.
Her attention was on what the girl said; she could actually understand it.
Just as the girl called for help, the men chasing her had already reached behind her.
The men saw Xuan Xia and the others and were momentarily stunned, but they quickly turned their attention to the girl.
“Shi Mei, come back with us quickly!”
The leading man spoke, seeming to want to give the girl a chance to return on her own.
But the girl called Shi Mei’s action was to hide behind Zhou Shiqing, not forgetting to grab the hem of his T-shirt.
She continued to call for help softly from behind: “Please, save me.”
Zhou Shiqing’s frown deepened.
He even had the urge to drag the girl called Shi Mei out from behind him.
He didn’t want to save her, because he didn’t have that much sympathy.
Especially since it was in a dream.
But the men opposite, after seeing Shi Mei’s actions, turned their hostility toward Zhou Shiqing.
“Who are you? This isn’t a place you should be, and she’s not someone you should save. You’d better leave quickly!” The leader’s tone was very fierce, his words hurried, as if he was pressed for time.
After speaking, he glared at Zhou Shiqing several times.
As for Xuan Xia and Chang Xi, he seemed unconcerned.
And the ignored Chang Xi chose this moment to hand something to Xuan Xia, adding softly: “It’s up to you now.”
Xuan Xia looked down at the thing stuffed into her hand and whispered back to Chang Xi in the same volume: “What is this?”
Chang Xi had a matter-of-fact expression: “A brush, a cinnabar brush. You don’t recognize it?”
Xuan Xia certainly recognized it; she was just very puzzled how Chang Xi carried this around.
Chang Xi saw Xuan Xia’s confusion and, regardless of the current situation, calmly explained: “Daoist Master Qin said you’re very good at finding various objects to use as a cinnabar brush, but there are times when you can’t find one, so he specially had me keep one, to spare you the trouble.”
For a moment, Xuan Xia didn’t know whether to thank Daoist Master Qin or Chang Xi.
They were both very thoughtful.
Forget it, thank Chang Xi first.
She hadn’t even thought of taking action; it was Chang Xi who reminded her.
