Free Web NovelChapter 190: Chapter 190: Silver Horned Viper
Ning Xuan gathered a wisp of Vermilion Bird Fire on her fingertip while Yun Han unleashed the Annihilating White Light. The two of them struck almost simultaneously. The Vermilion Bird Fire pierced through the Exotic Beast’s heart, and the Annihilating White Light turned its entire head to dust.
"Tsk. Yun Han, you completely destroyed its head. How are we supposed to exchange it for Merit Points now? That was too violent. You should just stay on the sidelines and watch for a while," Ning Xuan said with disgust, looking at the Exotic Beast’s headless corpse.
"My apologies, Contractor. I originally meant to leave its horns intact, but I got anxious and my hand slipped," Yun Han explained with a smile.
Yun Han could, of course, feel Ning Xuan’s favoritism toward him. Although he didn’t know what she liked about him or how long this affection would last, her tenderness and consideration made him happy from the bottom of his heart.
"What’s the rush? Did you think our prey was going to fly away? It’s just... this thing is so big, how are we going to transport it back? It’s so inconvenient without a Space Button," Ning Xuan fretted, looking at the Exotic Beast’s corpse.
The two of them had left late and hadn’t driven, just run out empty-handed. The Exotic Beast hadn’t been hard to deal with, but transportation had become a problem. Ning Xuan crouched down, prodding the Exotic Beast’s green scales with her dagger. The sunlight cast fragmented shadows on her long eyelashes. As Yun Han gazed at her focused profile, his heart felt as if it had been squeezed, and he couldn’t help but move closer to her.
"How about I dissect it? We can take the useful parts and leave the rest," Yun Han suggested, moving closer to Ning Xuan. His voice softened unconsciously.
Ning Xuan turned and glanced at him. Although Yun Han was clearly taller than her, the way he was squatting beside her allowed her to look down at him naturally. With his fair skin, red lips, and exquisitely beautiful features, she found she loved his face more every time she looked at it. Ning Xuan couldn’t resist leaning in and kissing him.
Yun Han’s body leaned back slightly as Ning Xuan’s hand roamed his side. Yun Han was still in his heat, and at Ning Xuan’s touch, his face flushed and the tips of his ears burned. The hand that had lit the fire was now making his skin heat up inch by inch, his waist growing weak. He knew that in this environment, Ning Xuan couldn’t possibly have any other intentions; she just purely wanted to kiss him.
Sure enough, Ning Xuan noticed the change in his body. She nipped his lip and pulled away. "How could I bear to watch you do all the work alone? Let’s just leave it here. If we hunt any other Exotic Beasts later, we’ll leave them here too. We can find a vehicle to haul them all back later tonight." Ning Xuan let go of Yun Han and even pulled his clothes straight for him, as if to cover up what she’d done.
Seeing Ning Xuan’s slightly guilty expression, Yun Han couldn’t resist teasing her back. "Contractor, you’ve kissed me so much my legs have gone soft. I can’t stand up. What should I do?" Yun Han said, deliberately putting on a pitiful, ravaged expression for Ning Xuan.
Ning Xuan, who had just managed to straighten up, felt the urge to pounce on him again. Suddenly, Yun Han’s ear twitched. He spun around and shot to his feet, instinctively shielding her.
A serpentine Exotic Beast, three to four meters long and covered in a black-and-white pattern, had appeared silently before them. It had a triangular head and was now coiled upright in an attack stance. A cold, sinister light glinted in its vertical pupils as it stared at them. Seeing it less than three meters away, Ning Xuan’s heart leaped into her throat.
"Don’t be afraid. Leave it to me." Yun Han calmly patted Ning Xuan, then deftly drew a short sword and lunged forward, stabbing at the serpentine Exotic Beast.
The Exotic Beast was too close, and a snake’s attacks were too fast. Yun Han had no time to use his Talent Skill or even think too much. He could only attack first to draw the beast’s attention, luring it away so it couldn’t harm Ning Xuan.
As Yun Han’s short sword plunged into the great snake’s body, the Exotic Beast opened its bloody maw and spat out a cloud of eerie blue poison mist. Pained by Yun Han’s attack, the snake directed the poison mist right at him.
Ning Xuan shot out a vine, wrapped it around Yun Han’s waist, and yanked him back sharply, pulling them both into a retreat.
Yanked by the vine, Yun Han staggered but narrowly avoided the cloud of eerie blue poison. The mist grazed his sleeve, instantly corroding the fabric into a honeycomb of holes. His heart went cold. He reversed his grip on another short sword and hurled it at the great snake’s head.
THWACK! Yun Han had thrown the short sword with all his might, and it struck the great snake’s head dead center. Unfortunately, the blade only broke through the outer layer of scales before the snake flung its head and sent the sword flying.
Just then, the great snake’s scales bristled, gleaming with a cold, metallic light under the moon. Yun Han’s pupils contracted. He instantly leaned back as dozens of razor-sharp scales scraped past the tip of his nose and embedded themselves deep in the tree trunk behind him, making the entire tree tremble and rustle.
Ning Xuan’s ten fingers danced. Seven or eight Black-red Vines shot up from the ground and wrapped around the Exotic Beast’s body. The great snake thrashed in pain, its thick tail snapping a large swath of bushes. Yun Han seized the opportunity to leap onto the snake’s back, aiming his short sword for a gap between its scales. The moment the blade sank into flesh, the snake’s body twisted bizarrely, undulating like a wave and trapping the short sword.
Yun Han decisively abandoned the sword and backflipped away. Ning Xuan had already summoned her Vermilion Bird Fire. She gave Yun Han a look, signaling him to get clear. Yun Han nodded and rolled on the ground toward her as the brilliant flames bored into the great snake’s wound. "HSSS—!" The great snake let out a bizarre scream like a wailing infant. The sound started out shrill but grew higher and higher, piercing their eardrums.
Scorched by the Vermilion Bird Fire, the great snake thrashed with all its might but couldn’t break free. It whipped its tail toward Ning Xuan like a steel whip. Ning Xuan leaped aside. Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat. The inconspicuous bump on the great snake’s head was now blooming with an eerie blue light, and that light was engulfing her current position.
A look of panic flashed in Yun Han’s eyes. He unleashed a beam of Annihilating White Light at the great snake’s head as he ran toward her.
Ning Xuan stepped onto a Flying Disc formed from clustered Flying Elephant Ant Wings and shot into the air just as the blue light engulfed the area, dodging the attack. Looking down, she saw that in the area bathed by the blue light, the grass was charred black and the ground looked as if it had been corroded.
Yun Han stared at the corroded ground, his face pale with lingering fear. The Exotic Beast’s hiss vanished after the white light struck, and its massive, several-meter-long body crashed to the ground with a THUD.
Ning Xuan saw that the great snake’s triangular head had been completely sheared off. She extinguished the wisp of Vermilion Bird Fire inside its body, retracted the Flying Disc, and landed.
Snakes are inherently agile, not to mention this was a silent ambush. Though it takes a while to describe, the entire encounter had lasted less than a minute.
Ning Xuan walked over to the great snake’s corpse and found a silver horn next to its severed head. This was the bump that had just emitted the blue light. Seeing this Silver Horn, Ning Xuan said to Yun Han, "I can’t believe there are Silver Horned Vipers here too. This type of Exotic Beast excels at ambushes. There’s still mucus on the horn; this viper must have just finished molting and come out to hunt. Its nest must be nearby."
