Deal Reached

"Boss Yu, just do as I ask. You don’t need to worry about anything else."

As Gu Sheng spoke, he hooked his little finger around Liu Daimei’s palm behind him, signaling her to be careful. Something was off about Yu Xiaozhu; he still seemed unwilling to submit.

"Is that so? Then I’ll just tell you!"

Yu Xiaozhu let out a cold shout. He pressed his palms together and then spread them apart. More than a dozen masses of black aura appeared, each containing a giant python, while Yu Xiaozhu’s figure vanished again.

"Be careful. Only one of these is Yu Xiaozhu!"

Gu Sheng and Liu Daimei stood back-to-back. The dozen or so giant pythons around them were actually nonvenomous flower snakes, the same species as Yu Xiaozhu. However, they were all ordinary snakes without intelligence, tamed with Yu Xiaozhu’s demon power. In battle, they were used to confuse and attack enemies.

Boom~

A giant python lunged at him. Gu Sheng punched it in the forehead and unleashed a vibrating force. After a cloud of white smoke, only a little snake remained, limp as it fell back into the hot spring.

Clang~

Liu Daimei moved both hands rapidly, scraping sparks across the scales on the back of a giant python’s head. Then, while it was dazed, she accurately thrust one claw into the spot where its heart was. For a vampire, the location of the heart was the easiest thing to determine.

Hiss~

The giant python suddenly shuddered and turned into mist, leaving only a tiny flower snake dangling from Liu Daimei’s finger.

"Yu Xiaozhu, since you refuse a toast, don’t blame me for giving you a hard time!"

Gu Sheng dodged the bites of several giant pythons in a flash, grabbed Liu Daimei, and retreated to the edge of the hot spring. The Demon-Sealing Mirror in his palm shone brightly. Within the white light, a streak of azure flashed past.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~

The sound of arrows tearing through the air rang out. One giant python after another turned into white smoke and black mist, and flower snakes dropped down. In the hot spring, only one average-sized giant python remained, facing off against a three-foot-long little snake.

"We’re the same kind. Why are you attacking me?"

Yu Xiaozhu seemed helpless. He could feel the pressure coming from the other side—not pressure from cultivation, but pressure from bloodline. It was the pressure that higher-blooded creatures exerted on lower-blooded ones.

Ultimately, Yu Xiaozhu was merely an ordinary flower snake from the Wu Xin: The Monster Killer World that had gained intelligence and become a demon. Jade Azure Serpent Qing Ling followed a different path. In The Nine Cauldrons World, demon beasts did not transform into human form. Instead, demon beasts evolved toward Divine Beasts, an overall sublimation of life.

The Jade Azure Serpent was one of the most supreme kings among Demon Beasts, belonging to the most powerful handful of Golden Core Demon Beasts. An ordinary flower snake would not even dare move in its presence. Yu Xiaozhu could suppress his instincts only because he had already transformed into a snake demon. Otherwise, he would have knelt before Azure Spirit long ago.

"Yu Xiaozhu, my Azure Spirit is different from you!"

Gu Sheng walked to the edge of the pool and waved. With a whoosh, Azure Spirit flew back into his palm. "It has already successfully transformed into a flood dragon. In the future, it can even become a Divine Dragon. Dragons don’t live alongside snakes, so how could it be the same kind as you?"

"A flood dragon!"

Yu Xiaozhu transformed back into human form. When he saw the glistening little horn on the Jade Azure Serpent in Gu Sheng’s hand, his expression immediately turned much uglier. As a thousand-year snake demon that had surpassed the limit of a millennium of cultivation, his strength was no weaker than that of an innate demon beast. But compared with the Jade Azure Serpent, he was completely outmatched.

"Hand over the things and we’ll leave. Otherwise, Qingzhu Pavilion won’t exist anymore!"

Gu Sheng held out his hand toward Yu Xiaozhu. "If I remember correctly, your wife is already dead, right? You need this very badly, don’t you?" As he spoke, Gu Sheng shook the mass of Essence Blood Energy in his hand.

"You give me the information and the item, and I’ll give you this. The road is wide open to all beneath heaven; we’ll each go our separate ways."

Gu Sheng looked at Yu Xiaozhu. "But remember this: You can absorb people’s Essence Yuan to prolong your wife’s life, but you can’t kill anyone. Once people die, the nature of the matter changes."

People died every day in this chaotic Republican-era world. Gu Sheng couldn’t concern himself with every injustice. He was too lazy to interfere in Yu Xiaozhu’s affairs. Those people were innocent, but Yu Xiaozhu had shown restraint and had not taken their lives.

One had to act within one’s capabilities when standing up for justice. Yu Xiaozhu was already somewhat mad, and Chu Chu was the meaning of his existence. If Gu Sheng stopped him from using other people’s Essence Yuan to prolong Chu Chu’s life, that fellow would definitely fight to the death.

Gu Sheng was no Wu Xin. He didn’t have that much time to meddle in other people’s affairs. A desperate Yu Xiaozhu and the Yu Xiaozhu before them were two entirely different concepts. A thousand-year snake demon could land a vicious blow before dying. Gu Sheng might be able to withstand it, but what about Liu Daimei?

He had no intention of pulling chestnuts from the fire for someone else.

"Fine~ I agree. I won’t take anyone’s life."

Yu Xiaozhu nodded and dispersed the black aura in his hands.

Early the next morning, a man and a woman left Qingzhu Pavilion in a horse-drawn carriage. The curtain was lifted, and a beautiful face peeked out. She glanced at Yu Xiaozhu, who stood outside Qingzhu Pavilion, warmly welcoming guests, then sat back down in the carriage.

"Is it really all right for us to do this?"

Liu Daimei landed beside Gu Sheng, wrapped her arms around his broad waist, and rested her delicate face against his chest and abdomen.

"He’s harming people, after all. We can’t just encounter him and then ignore it, letting him continue absorbing people’s Essence Yuan. That doesn’t seem right, does it?"

Liu Daimei looked somewhat exhausted. Although Gu Sheng had reached an agreement with Yu Xiaozhu the previous night, the thought that they were next to a nest of poisonous snakes, with a giant snake constantly watching them, had left her completely unable to relax. She had barely slept all night.

"What difference would it make if we interfered? Do you think the people he harmed would be especially grateful to us?"

Gu Sheng stroked the beauty’s dark hair and closed her eyelids again. He knew she hadn’t slept at all the previous night.

"Besides, Yu Xiaozhu isn’t easy to deal with. Although this thousand-year snake demon is somewhat weaker than he should be, in terms of strength, without counting Azure Spirit, the two of us could at most end up mutually wounded with him.

"Even with Azure Spirit, if we force him into a corner, we won’t gain much. If our strength isn’t enough, what are we supposed to use to meddle in someone else’s affairs?"

As he spoke, Gu Sheng adjusted Liu Daimei into a more comfortable position. "Go to sleep. You didn’t close your eyes all night yesterday. I told you there was no need to worry with Azure Spirit here, but you refused to listen. Aren’t you just making yourself suffer?"

"I was worried…"

Liu Daimei muttered a couple of words, buried her head against Gu Sheng, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Pig Head Mountain was not far from Wen County. They had left Qingzhu Pavilion in the morning and arrived before noon. Pig Head Mountain was not steep; from a distance, it looked like a large, round pig’s head. The mountain was lush with vegetation, verdant and dripping with life, so it was still a green pig’s head.

Gu Sheng carried Liu Daimei out of the carriage. Nearby, several accompanying soldiers had already spread soft cushions over a large rock. Gu Sheng carried Liu Daimei over and sat down, moving gently because he didn’t want to disturb her sweet dream.

"Go find some firewood, then hunt some game nearby. Remember, don’t go up the mountain, and don’t act alone."

Gu Sheng instructed the few subordinates. After all, they had followed him here, and it would be troublesome if anything happened to them.

"Don’t worry, Chief of Staff. We understand!"

A middle-aged guard who looked experienced and steady nodded, then led the other two into the woods.