Chapter 216: Wasting Talismans Is Shameful
When the stone wall was shattered by Fierce Thunder, countless stone fragments uniformly smashed into the hollow cave, attempting to fill the entire space.
Soon, panicked screams came from inside, mixed with the hissing of the three-headed snake.
However, the three-headed snake was not calling out from being hit painfully, but because of the Fierce Thunder summoned by Xuan Xia.
Fierce Thunder sweeps away all evil spirits and ferocious creatures. Xuan Xia felt that the three-headed snake was most like the controller of this Illusionary Scenery, followed by those chanting old women, and the other people participating in the sacrifice, so she showed no mercy when she made her move this time.
She only hoped to end the battle quickly and escape this Illusionary Scenery back to reality as soon as possible.
Under the enhancement of Xuan Xia’s multiple Thunder Spells, the cave was completely buried in no time, with lightning wandering through the gaps between the stone fragments, crackling away, just like a natural power generation field.
“…” Behind, Shi Mei seemed frightened by such a scene, one hand grabbing Zhou Shiqing’s clothes, the other covering her mouth, continuously gasping.
Zhou Shiqing’s attention was entirely on the skills Xuan Xia displayed at this moment, so he had no time to pay attention to Shi Mei, who for some reason had fixated on him.
The electric current crackled again, and in the next second, a gap was suddenly pushed open in the stone pile, as the three-headed snake poked its head out from the stone pile.
Like a person about to drown finally surfacing, as soon as the three-headed snake rushed out of the stone pile, it raised its heads high, with its entire field of vision filled only with the boundless sky.
It even seemed like it wanted to ascend to the heavens.
Seeing this, Xuan Xia immediately chanted another spell swiftly, accurately, and ruthlessly, switching to a new talisman between her fingers.
The previous one had already taken effect, with the cinnabar mark dimmed and unable to be used again.
Fierce Thunder fell again, this time even more ferocious and powerful than before, as if a giant in the sky was holding a wooden stick and smashing it down with all its strength onto the three-headed snake’s heads.
The three-headed snake was instantly dazed by the blow, crashing straight back onto the ruins of the stone pile, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Soon, a fragrance began to waft into people’s noses.
“It smells so good…” Shi Mei sniffed, unable to hold back as she whispered: “It seems like the smell of roasted meat.”
Zhou Shiqing: “…”
He smelled it too, and corrected in his mind: It was the smell of roasted snake meat.
This aroma was much more enticing than plain roasted meat.
But no matter how fragrant, with the three-headed snake looking like this, it was hard for Zhou Shiqing to feel any appetite.
Additionally, seeing the struggling three-headed snake, he thought of a phrase: Crispy Outside, Tender Inside.
The current situation was indeed “Crispy Outside, Tender Inside.” The wandering lightning bound the three-headed snake tightly like ropes, and whenever the three-headed snake showed any intent to resist, the power of the lightning would increase accordingly.
The charred aroma continuously emanated, eventually overwhelming everything, no longer a pleasant roasted meat scent, but a cloying stench that destroyed one’s sense of smell.
Zhou Shiqing and Shi Mei both frowned and retreated another distance.
But this distance was useless; as long as the sea breeze carried it, no matter how far they stood, they could still smell it clearly.
Shi Mei covered her nose, on the verge of tears as she asked Zhou Shiqing: “How much longer will she keep this up? Are you uncomfortable? I’m so uncomfortable, I feel like vomiting.”
After saying that, she dry-heaved twice, hoping to evoke Zhou Shiqing’s pity.
However, Zhou Shiqing still ignored her.
Shi Mei stared at Zhou Shiqing for several seconds, confirming he really wasn’t paying attention to her, then quickly blinked, her eyes actually welling up with a layer of mist.
Zhou Shiqing had no intention of paying attention to Shi Mei until he heard whimpering sounds from beside him, then he spared some attention and glanced to his side.
At this look, he couldn’t help but be stunned.
She was actually really crying, though she deliberately kept her voice low, her eyes brimming with tears.
Not wanting to pay attention to this Shi Mei he didn’t even know was one thing, but since she was crying, Zhou Shiqing couldn’t just continue ignoring her.
Zhou Shiqing could only control his tone, not sounding too irritated as he asked: “Why are you crying?”
Shi Mei choked out: “It’s too smelly, I feel so awful.”
“…”
Although he had heard her say earlier that the smell was unbearable and she wanted to vomit, Zhou Shiqing hadn’t expected her to actually cry from it.
Compared to the sniveling Shi Mei, Xuan Xia was even closer, yet she showed no sign of being bothered by the smell; this comparison made the difference clear.
Thinking this way, Zhou Shiqing still managed a few words of comfort: “Then retreat a bit further; it should be over soon.”
Though the comforting words were stiffly said, Shi Mei was genuinely comforted, nodding repeatedly through her tears, “Mm-hmm, I believe you.”
Zhou Shiqing was speechless again; why believe him? She should believe Xuan Xia instead.
The one doing the work had always been Xuan Xia.
Even in his dream.
Thinking of this, Zhou Shiqing felt a bit annoyed. He didn’t quite understand; it was clearly his dream, so why was Xuan Xia the capable one, while he himself was like a useless snack, unable to do anything.
But on the flip side, it was fortunate it was his own dream; if it were Xuan Xia’s dream, he might die of frustration.
Just as he was distracted, the three-headed snake, after countless resistances and suppressions, finally had no strength left to continue struggling.
Then, with three successive hisses, its three heads slumped to the ground one after another, the originally fierce vertical pupils suddenly dilating until the eyelids closed.
The lightning originally wrapping around it dissipated soon after, as it confirmed the target was eliminated.
Xuan Xia, however, maintained her hand seal posture unchanged, anticipating a change in the scene, but its delay made her a bit puzzled, somewhat disappointed, and worried.
After a while longer, Xuan Xia, unwilling to give up, switched to another talisman and quickly chanted an incantation.
As the talisman activated, sorcery attacked the three-headed snake and the stone pile again, yet this world still existed, and the setting sun on the horizon even seemed brighter than before.
Xuan Xia pursed her lips, unwillingly trying two more sorceries, but the successive spells were like hitting cotton—utterly ineffective.
Chang Xi couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up: “Alright, admitting your mistake isn’t a big deal. Why abuse the corpse? It’s fine if you have endless energy, but wasting talismans is shameful.”
Xuan Xia: “…”
After thinking it over, Xuan Xia finally lowered her hand. Chang Xi was right about one thing: she couldn’t waste talismans.
Since the three-headed snake wasn’t the controller of this Illusionary Scenery, she needed to save some talismans to deal with the real controller.
With that thought, Xuan Xia turned and walked to Shi Mei. She hadn’t had time to properly look at her before, but now she finally did.
The girl felt her heart pounding under Xuan Xia’s gaze, panic in her eyes as she shrank back with small steps behind Zhou Shiqing, her little hand naturally grabbing his clothes hem.
Zhou Shiqing’s brow furrowed tightly again because of her action.
“What are you hiding from?” he asked irritably.
Shi Mei whispered: “Whimper.”
Zhou Shiqing: “…”
Xuan Xia raised an eyebrow, ignoring Zhou Shiqing’s expression that looked about to explode, and asked Shi Mei: “You’re safe now. Do you mind introducing this place to us?
