Chapter 381

Chapter 382: Serpent Princess

Yu Sheng jumped when he saw the giant snake, and it was for two reasons: first, he had never seen a snake this big, since the largest monster he had ever met was a fox spirit about the size of two vans; second, he had never seen a creature with so many heads, and one of them was even a human head. But what shocked him most was the way someone had tied the snake into a hard knot. [So messed up.]

The big snake was cursing as she lay there: “Are you even human? Where did you find this bunch of heartless bullies to pick on a protected animal like me? If you’re going to tie me up, at least make it a pretty bow!”

As soon as she finished, Yu Sheng watched two Thunder Titans walk in from the edge of the plaza and, in just a few moves, untie the mess and retie her into a neat bow.

Now he knew who had pulled that dirty trick.

After being handled again, the snake flopped on the plaza and kept cursing, but she was clearly weaker than before. Then one of her seven heads, the one that looked like a husky, suddenly perked up and tugged hard, trying to bite into a cultivator’s rations nearby.

“Stop eating already! What sin did I commit to end up like this… Old rascal Yuan He, one day I’m going to eat you!”

Sitting on Foxy’s head, Yu Sheng stared at the scene until he finally looked down at Xuan Che and asked: “Who is that? She really doesn’t match the style of the other captured beasts. Did she also escape from the Demon Suppression Tower?”

“She is the Serpent Princess,” Xuan Che said with a sigh as he explained, “She used to be a great demon near Nethergloom Valley. She burned out her mind by eating fruit from a poison bog and, during Tribulation Crossing, she fell into madness and did many terrible things. My master and I worked together to subdue her. The right punishment would have been to shatter her demon bones and scatter her mind. But my senior uncle remembered that before she went mad, she once carelessly ate food that villagers offered to a mountain spirit, felt guilty, and honestly served the locals as their ‘mountain god’ for several years. She had a kind, simple side. Because of that, we spared her life and kept her in the Demon Suppression Tower.

“She behaved fairly well for years. None of us expected she would take advantage of the chaos this time to escape and try to wash away her shame. She made a huge mess… thankfully, Miss Snow White stepped in to help.”

Yu Sheng glanced at the snake tied into a bow and mumbling curses: “It feels like she has a huge grudge against your senior uncle.”

“My senior uncle showed mercy, but he also felt that just keeping her locked up wouldn’t fix anything. He wanted to try saving her, to bring her back to the right path using the Beast Taming approach he’s proud of. Strictly speaking, he’s a veterinarian from the Borderland, so it matched his field,” Xuan Che said, looking a little embarrassed, “But there was a medical accident.”

Yu Sheng’s eyebrow twitched as his eyes landed on the dog head among the seven.

Seeing his look, Xuan Che nodded, still embarrassed: “That head was something my senior uncle refined onto the Serpent Princess to calm her demonic qi and violent temper, and to draw out her original kind, gentle heart. For some reason, it turned out like this. It did work in a way. Before this head, she was far crazier than now. With this head… she went crazy in another direction. Now she’s focused on one thing: eating my senior uncle.”

Yu Sheng was stunned. Even Irene on his shoulder was shocked. The little doll finally reacted and glared at Xuan Che: “Hey… hold on. Does Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain have any good physicians at all?”

Bowing, Xuan Che said: “My senior uncle has been very remorseful and has tried many ways to fix it, but the Serpent Princess refuses to cooperate.”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t cooperate either! What a quack!” Irene waved her hand, then pointed at Yu Sheng: “Give his heart and liver to him. He eats anything.”

Seeing the topic slide off a cliff, Yu Sheng coughed to stop the doll’s chatter. He did his best to ignore the bizarre serpent demon nearby, then turned to Xuan Che: “Anything else here that needs help? How is your master?”

“I’m fine here. We just have some wounded to treat, and since this is the Parted Clouds Palace, top elixirs are not in short supply,” Xuan Che answered at once. “My master sent word that several parts of the Demon Suppression Tower took heavy damage. He used divine powers to seal every leak for now, but the damaged mechanisms and sealing arrays must be repaired quickly, so he can’t leave yet.”

He paused, then added: “Luckily, Immortal Qian Ji is here. He’s a master of mechanisms. He’s working inside the tower, so repairs should go fast. Also…”

Xuan Che looked up at Immortal Yuan Hao, who was flying in midair while standing on a Chainsaw Sword.

“Elder Senior Uncle, Master asks you to help in the tower as soon as possible. Other than Immortal Qian Ji, you understand mechanisms and refining the best.”

“Alright,” Immortal Yuan Hao nodded, “I’ll go now.”

“I’ll open the Door and go with you. I want to see the situation there,” Yu Sheng said at once, then looked to Xuan Che, “Anything else to pass on?”

Xuan Che clasped his hands and said: “Nothing else. The mountain is still chaotic. Many demons, criminals, and strange entities escaped from the Containment Zone and are still at large. Please warn the Fairy Tale group not to wander alone in the woods. I know the masters among you are strong, and ordinary demons cannot beat them, but the younger kids shouldn’t go out the Door for now.”

“Got it,” Yu Sheng answered, then called to Cinderella, who sat in the pumpkin carriage parked in the plaza: “Head back and tell the ‘parents’ waiting in the valley to keep a close eye on the little ones. Also notify Dorothy and the others who are helping out around the area to be careful when they act. This isn’t the Borderland, so there may be things beyond our usual battle experience. Never show off or take risks.”

Cinderella nodded: “Okay!”

“Rapunzel, go with Cinderella,” Yu Sheng added to Rapunzel, who was sitting with him on the demon fox while seriously petting Foxy’s fur. “You fight well. After you get back, guard the Cloud Viewing Terrace and help everyone as they return.”

“Oh,” Rapunzel lifted her head from the silky, silver fur, then could not help burying her face in it again and rubbing hard as she muttered, “So comfy… Brother, can Foxy give me a tail? I like hugging something when I sleep.”

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow: “Only if you don’t mind it suddenly exploding while you hug it. Foxy’s tails blow up harder than the bombs Dorothy throws.”

Rapunzel shrank her neck at once, curled into a golden furball, and rolled off Foxy’s back straight into Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage.

Standing in front of the carriage, Zheng Zhi hesitated and pointed at himself: “Brother Yu, what about me?”

“Come with me,” Yu Sheng said without a pause. “Let’s see what’s going on inside the Demon Suppression Tower.”

Zheng Zhi grinned: “Alright.”

As he spoke, Yu Sheng and Irene jumped down from Foxy’s back. He lifted his hand and opened a Door to the core Containment Zone of the Demon Suppression Tower. Foxy rolled aside, changed into human form, and ran up with a face full of excitement. No one knew exactly what she was expecting, but she always looked like this whenever she went out the Door with her “benefactor.”

Then Yu Sheng’s group stepped through the Door and vanished from the plaza outside the Grand Hall of the Parted Clouds Palace.

On the plaza, the Serpent Princess, still tied into a bow, lifted her many heads as Yu Sheng’s group left and suddenly shouted: “Monster!”

Xuan Che rubbed his temples: “Serpent Princess, can you please settle down?”

“Look at them,” all the heads shouted over each other as the only movable tail-tip jabbed the stone floor hard enough to chip it. “That hair monster. That fox monster whose tails float off her body. That mechanism monster covered in iron with blade fingers. And that door-opening monster I can’t even identify. Which of them doesn’t look more evil than me? Why am I the only one locked in the Demon Suppression Tower to listen to your master and disciples nag me every few days? Catch them too!”

“They aren’t monsters. They are righteous folk,” Xuan Che said seriously, patient even though he knew she was being unreasonable. “They are experts from the Borderland.”

“They say they’re righteous, so they are? Do they have a license?”

“They do. A Borderland-issued Spirit Realm Detective license, recognized by about eighty percent of the universe. Also, we didn’t lock you up because you’re a monster. We locked you up because once you get out, people get hurt.”

“So what?”

Xuan Che was silent. He could not reason with her, so he sighed and left her there while he led his junior brothers and sisters to keep handling the scene.