Chapter 394 - Snakes in Winter
Winter wasn’t usually a favorable season for snakes, but Bai’s bloodline as a Three-Eyed Silver Snake had evolved to withstand the cold. On top of that, his foundation element was Cold itself, so the season barely affected him.
If anything, it empowered him.
Bai stared out at the snow-covered forest that had been his territory for months.
No humans had passed through here ever since he was assigned to guard this part of the border.
Even if they had, he would’ve let them go since some other beast would have dealt with them. But it seemed humans were preoccupied with their own affairs… and far greater problems.
Liu Feng hadn’t explicitly forbidden him from eating any humans that wandered into his territory. Logically, doing so might even help maintain his cover.
But Bai wasn’t stupid enough to test the boundaries of Liu Feng’s commands.
Sure, part of that caution came from the mind control placed on him.
But another part of him simply knew better.
Liu Feng studied everything. Human techniques. Beast techniques. Anything he could get his hands on. He had no prejudice when it came to research, and that made him a bit scary.
Bai shifted slightly, his coils tightening around the branch as his thoughts wandered.
Where had things gone wrong?
Recently, he had received new orders through their mental link from his “Lord and Savior,” Liu Feng.
The title was purely sarcastic. Because the man had just handed him an impossible task.
He was supposed to organize an attack against the Blazing Sun Sect.
And not just any attack, it had to involve at least two Core Formation beasts.
…How?
Bai hadn’t even spoken to a Core Formation beast since arriving here.
And even if he had, he wouldn’t want to. He disliked dealing with those stronger than him. Creatures in a higher position.
Because that meant playing by their rules, and Bai hated that.
Damn it… why did Liu Feng have to be such an overbearing master?
If snakes could cry, Bai felt like he would have by now.
Technically, snakes could produce tears, but only to lubricate their eyes. Nothing as dramatic as emotional crying. Humans, on the other hand, leak water from their eyes when emotionally overwhelmed. Bai still found that strange.
He even had a theory that the less a human cried, the smarter they were. The eyes were so close to the brain, and crying dehydrated the mind.
After all, Liu Feng was intelligent, and Bai had never once seen him cry. Not even showing much emotion. Meanwhile, human babies as creatures incapable of thought, cried constantly.
The pattern was obvious.
Even though Liu Feng had dismissed this theory entirely. But Bai remained confident.
It was simply human bias that prevented the truth from being acknowledged.
…Anyway.
He was getting distracted again, and this couldn’t help him avoid the real issue.
How was he supposed to fulfill Liu Feng’s orders?
With a deep sigh, Bai spread out his senses to try to sense any Core Formation beast nearby.
Sadly, today was not his lucky day.
He sensed the presence of some local Core Formation beasts in the area. They were only meant to hold the frontlines, so Bai had to come up with a way to convince them.
Bai slithered toward their location. The two Core Formation beasts lived in the same area, ensuring they wouldn’t be caught off guard and no enemy could gang up on one, eliminate it quickly, and then move on to the other.
After all, humans had strange techniques. Barriers that could block even a Core Formation cultivator’s senses for a time.
The place they resided in was a small mountain, with a large hole carved into its side. It looked out of place, almost like a gaping mouth lined with jagged stone teeth. Most likely, some cultivator from millennia ago had punched straight through it.
Bai approached the opening and released his Qi in rhythmic pulses, making no effort to conceal himself.
“Come in, Bai,” a deep voice echoed from within.
Even though Bai wasn’t part of the leadership of this so-called Beast Sect, he was still considered an officer purely due to his strength. Among the dozen Foundation Establishment beasts stationed along the border, he stood out.
Bai slithered inside.
Within, he saw the two Core Formation beasts in charge of this region. There had once been a third, but it had already moved to the frontlines.
One was a golden-furred gorilla, seated in meditation, resembling an overly muscular monkey-like Buddha.
The other was a weird-looking white horse, standing tall, with a single horn protruding from its forehead.
A unicorn. Bai recognized the creature from basic myths. Beasts with such forms typically possessed exceptional bloodlines.
There was even a small chance that this unicorn could one day reach Nascent Soul.
Perhaps he should have Liu Feng enslave it as well. After all, the last thing Bai wanted was for others to surpass him or possess a higher potential.
But those thoughts could wait.
“I have obtained intelligence on the location of the Blazing Sun Sect’s battlefront leader,” Bai said.
Beasts didn’t follow rigid hierarchies like humans. Titles like “Lord” or “Master” were reserved only for Nascent Soul beings.
“How did you come across such information?” the unicorn asked, her voice unexpectedly feminine.
She spoke in human language, despite Bai addressing her in the tongue of serpents. But beasts with strong enough souls could understand all forms of communication.
“Back when I was a lone beast, I resided in a remote area where I was worshipped as a god by a human village,” Bai explained. “One of those followers had some talent. Through effort, he joined the Blazing Sun Sect and by chance, was assigned to this battlefront.”
As for how a mere human cultist would gain access to such information or why a cultivator would still obey a beast like him…
None of the beasts here knew enough about human culture to question it.
Liu Feng might be a pushy bastard to have as a master, but he had taught them modified human techniques, cultivation methods used by humans, and even educated them on treasures found in the wilderness and human culture in general.
If they didn’t have a master–slave relationship, Bai wouldn’t have minded working with someone like that.
“Heh, humans worshiping us like gods,” said the golden-furred monkey, smiling with a disturbingly human-like expression. “Now that sounds quite nice. After we take over the continent, I’ll ask the great lords to keep a small human population in my territory to worship me. I like those hairless monkeys.”
“Either way, we will keep some alive,” the unicorn added. “After all, humans make perfect cattle. They live enclosed within walls, and they can eat almost anything while needing very little to survive.”
The two Core Formation beasts seemed pleased by the thought of humans worshiping them. To them, this was the natural order with humans as cattle, never meant to rise beyond their station.
“Yes, of course,” Bai agreed.
If a world like the one they described were possible, he might have sided with his fellow beasts, at least until they won the war.
But there was a human called Liu Feng, someone with a technique that could control beasts.
As long as he existed, no matter how much the beasts advanced against humanity, he could destroy their armies from within by turning their own kind against them.
Bai also knew that Liu Feng was usually very careful, so his making avoidable mistakes was also unlikely. So Bai would rather stay on the winning side.
Besides, it wasn’t like he had a choice. Liu Feng could turn his soul and brain into mush with a single thought.
…
A handful of Foundation Establishment beasts gathered to hold back the cannon fodder. Then Bai, along with the two Core Formation beasts and the rest of the group, set off toward the Blazing Sun Sect.
Even though they hadn’t yet openly attacked the sect, the Beast Sect’s target was clearly humanity. It was only a matter of time.
Eliminating someone like Song San, a very dangerous poison user, early would be a massive advantage in the coming war.
Bai positioned himself near the middle of the group as they flew toward the destination he had provided, silently hoping Liu Feng’s information was correct.
They tore through the landscape like a living avalanche, with some crashing straight through trees without slowing, others gliding above the canopy as the ground trembled beneath their advance.
But as they approached the location, Bai couldn’t sense a single human.
A flicker of unease crept into his mind.
Had Liu Feng sent him here to walk into an ambush?
It seemed unlikely, as this wasn’t the most efficient setup.
But then again… Who could truly understand what went on inside that man’s head?
The thought sent a chill through Bai.
Because if this were an ambush, then he would likely be nothing more than collateral, and erased to hide Liu Feng’s involvement.
Liu Feng, that ruthless man!
Bai complained internally, but what else could he do but follow the plan? If he actively went against Liu Feng, the failsafes in the technique would activate, and he would go from a slave to nothing more than a puppet.
If snakes could sigh, he would have sighed by now.
They reached a strange canyon not much later, its lower half carved by a rushing river filled with sharp chunks of drifting ice.
“I do not sense anyone here,” said one of the Foundation Establishment beasts that had come along, a three-headed wolf with dark fur and six glaring crimson eyes.
“Because you aren't looking beyond the surface,” said the golden monkey. “There is indeed no group of humans here, but while most beasts, after a while, rely on their Qi senses, they shouldn't abandon their primal advantages. Especially a wolf like you, you should try to smell a human. No matter how good someone hides their Qi, they have a harder time hiding their scent.”
Bai's tongue flickered through the air, and he immediately smelled the so-called human. It was a very strange, inhuman scent, reeking of burnt cinnamon and something foul.
They immediately followed the smell, and it led them to a small cave on the opposite wall of the ravine. There were many caves, but this one specifically reeked of a human.
Though often diverse, all humans had that smell of wet wood about them.
“Do not go further ahead, this could be a trap,” said the golden monkey in a sage-like voice. Unlike most beasts, who lacked the experience humans had when it came to scheming, this monkey was wiser than most.
He stood on the edge of the ravine and pointed his index finger toward the other side. A colorful light gathered at the tip before shooting out like a beam.
The Qi beam moved so fast that Bai couldn't even track it, and the next thing he saw was a mountain-sized cloud of snow, rocks, and dirt erupting into the air.
But the golden monkey didn't stop there. Humming softly, he fired another beam, causing a second explosion that dispersed the first. Rocks flew everywhere, and the ravine crumbled, crashing into the river below and forming a makeshift dam.
Bai sensed a flicker of Qi in the distance. Qi concealment usually worked by suppressing it to the extreme, but when someone used it to defend themselves or attack, that Qi became easy to detect once again.
“Wow, human cultivators are quite scary,” said the golden monkey, a mocking smile spreading across his thick lips.
The dust cleared, revealing a dark-robed figure wearing a porcelain mask, his clothes slightly disheveled and marked with small cuts.
That was the target.
Despite the commotion, no other human appeared.
Despite Liu Feng being rather bastardly in the way he did things, enslaving beasts without a second thought, at least he was considerate enough not to leave behind fodder that would end up as casualties.
Even if this left a blemish on the operation, and if someone investigated they might suspect it was an inside job, Liu Feng took risks personally as long as it didn't cause needless casualties.
Bai found it easier to follow someone like that than to follow an emotionless schemer. At least this showed that Liu Feng had a moral bottom line.
What a commendable guy, if only he weren't a scumbag.
“How did you beasts find my hiding spot?” Song San asked calmly. “I don’t recall pushing you enough to warrant such a desperate attack.”
“We simply saw an opportunity and took it,” said the golden monkey. “We hold no enmity toward you, human. This is merely a fight for survival.”
“It seems we have a traitor on our side, heh,” Song San snorted, his voice distorted behind his mask. “I can already guess who it is. My sister has really been a bad influence on him, teaching him to resort to violence so quickly. I remember him being much nicer when we first met.”
A sense of dread filled Bai's heart as Song San spoke, but his companions didn't take his words to heart and didn't reveal that Bai was the source of that information either. They might not know much about human hierarchy, but they knew not to reveal needless things to an enemy.
“You stay behind,” the golden monkey said, stepping forward and cracking his neck and knuckles. “This human specializes in poison. He has the advantage against groups.”
Suddenly, the golden monkey stopped moving.
Silence fell.
In the next instant, a sharp crack split the air, and Song San was sent flying, smashing into a pile of shattered boulders.
The golden monkey now stood where Song San had been, his fist still extended, faint smoke rising from it.
Bai was stunned.
It wasn’t unusual for Foundation Establishment beasts like him to fail to react to a Core Formation strike, but Song San was a Core Formation cultivator himself.
“Weak,” the golden monkey muttered, glancing at his fist. “Humans have grown complacent after millennia at the top of this continent.”
A cough echoed from the rubble.
Song San rose to his feet, his porcelain mask webbed with cracks, yet still intact.
“Heh, I never thought that beasts would one day begin using human martial arts,” Song San complained, his voice coming off a little ragged. “The results are truly exaggerated."