Chapter 24: Immortal? Evil Spirit!

The giant serpent seemed to understand her words, for it truly ceased its attack and, in cooperation, closed its eyes. It swayed its massive body as if accepting the prayers of the crowd. No longer fleeing, the people knelt even more devoutly. They prayed and kowtowed, their voices rising in volume, each fearing that the deity before them might not hear their wishes.

Hong Lei frowned as he surveyed the scene and looked up at the serpent. He noticed the corners of the creature’s mouth slowly parting along with the prayers of the crowd, as blue-gray, highly toxic saliva dripped from its jaws.

"Is it... smiling?"

Indeed, the corners of the serpent’s mouth had curled into a grotesque arc, its venomous fangs bared to reveal a chilling, human-like grin.

As Hong Lei stared at that smiling face, the rules of the "Chuma Street" flashed through his mind. "The danger level of Chuma Street is linearly correlated with the number of people on the street."

"Stop kneeling! Run!" Hong Lei realized the danger and roared at the crowd.

But it was too late. The serpent’s body lashed out violently, its massive tail—covered in razor-sharp scales—sweeping through the kneeling masses. In an instant, limbs were severed, and flesh and blood rained through the air.

Even the dullest villagers realized the serpent was no benevolent deity. They screamed and scattered, but how could they outrun it? It opened its cavernous maw and swallowed a burly man whole. Hong Lei saw clearly that the moment the fangs pierced the man’s body, a strand of black mist spread throughout his entire frame.

The old woman stood beneath the serpent, her eyes filled with a wild, frenzied light. She danced and gestured, chanting strange, incoherent ballads. The serpent behind her followed the rhythm of her song, rampaging through the crowd. In a heartbeat, the street became a living hell, littered with corpses. It was an indiscriminate slaughter.

Just as the serpent was immersed in its bloody feast, a blade of wind sliced directly into its body. The blade easily sheared through the scales, carving away a massive chunk of flesh. Accompanying the wind blade was a soft, melodic, yet furious shout: "Vile beast, over here!"

The serpent slowly turned its head, its blood-red eyes locking onto the woman in white hovering in the air.

Hong Lei felt the gaze of those blood-red eyes but showed no fear. He walked upon the air, slowly ascending above the serpent’s head. He calmly took out a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled a plume of blue-gray smoke. "A hideous monster that finds joy in slaughter—how do you have the gall to call yourself an ancestor and accept the offerings of the world?"

Before he could finish, the serpent opened its crimson jaws and lunged at him with a sound that tore through the air.

"Heh, you beast, you are quite impatient."

Just as the serpent’s jaws were about to snap shut, Hong Lei’s figure vanished, only to reappear instantly above its head, fist clenched. A blow fueled by gale-force energy struck the massive skull, sending the iron-hard scales flying and denting the bone beneath.

The serpent let out a piercing hiss and opened its mouth in a frenzy, spewing a torrential downpour of venom from its fangs. Anything the liquid touched was instantly corroded.

"Wind’s Brilliance—Flowing Wind Wall!"

Hong Lei remained unruffled. With ten fingers spread, a transparent wind wall appeared before him; the venom dissolved and evaporated upon contact. Though unscathed, Hong Lei lost sight of the serpent through the dark green spray. By the time his vision cleared, the serpent’s tail had lashed out, binding him tightly.

The serpent, knowing the strength of the person in its grip, did not hesitate. It exerted all its power, coiling its body into a tight knot. The scales ground against one another with a hair-raising screech, intent on crushing Hong Lei to death in moments.

The serpent squeezed with all its might, but the expected sound of shattering bones never came. Instead, it felt a violent, raging energy pulsating from within its own body, accompanied by the whistle of tearing air.

"Secret Technique: Gale Severing Slash."

Overwhelming blades of wind erupted inside the serpent’s body like a giant meat grinder, shredding its flesh and organs from the inside out. The serpent let out a shrill wail and collapsed, its massive body crashing into the nearby houses.

On the stage, the "mother’s" dance had become bizarre. It no longer resembled a dance but rather the movements of a monkey, crawling on all fours, leaping and rolling across the blood-stained ground. Simultaneously, the miasma of death and corpse fluid on the ground began to coalesce, seeping into the serpent’s body from every shadowed crevice the eye could not see.

Hong Lei, unaware of this, gathered wind blades in his hands, preparing for the final strike. Just as he stepped onto the ruins, a massive mouth lunged from the tiled house. Hong Lei reacted with lightning speed, pulling back, but the serpent had planned this; it still managed to bite off his left leg. Seeing its success, the serpent wore a venomous smile and began to coil its body once more.

Beneath it lay a freshly shed snake skin.

Watching the serpent, now completely unharmed, Hong Lei quickly stanched his bleeding. He frowned, his thoughts drifting back to his childhood.

"Little Lei, everyone prays to gods, but do you know the difference between them?" The young boy’s face was wrinkled in deep thought. After a while, he replied honestly, "I do not understand, Master. Please enlighten me."

"Faith is the ultimate concern for humanity, especially in these chaotic times. People pray to any Buddha they encounter, yet nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand prayers go unanswered. This is because of the difference between these so-called 'deities.'"

"Lower-realm deities are divided into three types: Righteous Deities, Evil Deities, and Malevolent Spirits. You cannot distinguish them by appearance alone."

"Righteous Deities have no temples; they accept the offerings of the people, and in return, they serve the people."

"Evil Deities have temples and are inherently greedy. They accept nothing but mountains of gold, silver, and precious treasures, and they act in the lower realm only according to their own whims."

"As for Malevolent Spirits, they do not accept offerings."

The young boy listened, mesmerized. "If they do not accept offerings, how do Malevolent Spirits enter the lower realm?"

His master stroked his beard and said slowly, "Malevolent Spirits do not enter the world through offerings, but through sacrifice. The more lives sacrificed, the heavier the blood and death, and the stronger the power of the Malevolent Spirit."

Though Hong Lei’s immunity was far beyond that of an ordinary person, the serpent’s neurotoxins were spreading through his body from the wound on his leg. He felt his entire body go numb and limp, and his eyelids grew heavy.

Before him, the serpent had absorbed the death energy and corpse fluid, its size swelling once more. Its scales had shifted from dark green to blue-gray, appearing even more terrifying. Hong Lei knew that even if he struck the serpent again, it would simply resurrect at full strength. The key to destroying it was to put an end to this accursed sacrifice!

Two wind blades shot from his hands. Having learned its lesson, the serpent dodged to the side. Hong Lei used this opening to launch himself into the air, heading straight for the old woman on the stage.