Chapter 51: Black Snake. 

She hadn’t run far before her left foot tripped over her right, and she fell flat on the ground.

“Ouch.”

Xing Lian took a hard fall, tears almost streaming from her eyes.

“I told you not to move, so why did you run? See, you fell.”

Even though she was a stranger, even an enemy, seeing Xing Lian fall, softly sob with teary eyes, the black-clad beast-girl couldn’t help but feel pity. She walked over and helped her up.

Xing Lian blinked in confusion.

‘Is this right? Just a moment ago she was pointing a gun at me, now she’s so gentle?’

Xing Lian was still dumbfounded, but Yue Li was about to go crazy.

She had wanted to finish the enemy quickly, but the enemy’s ability was disgustingly troublesome.

The misty form prevented her from quickly defeating her opponent, and now their base was being raided.

Hearing Xing Lian’s scream, catching a glimpse of Xing Lian being captured from the corner of her eye, Yue Li ignored the large white dog and, without regard for cost, summoned several wind blades to force the enemy back, then turned and ran toward Xing Lian’s location.

The black-clad beast-girl sensed the danger. Seeing Yue Li rushing at her, her face turned pale with fear.

Realizing Yue Li cared about Xing Lian, following past experience, she should immediately grab Xing Lian, put a knife to her throat, and make Yue Li surrender.

But Xing Lian was so beautiful that her heart couldn’t bear it, and she simply couldn’t bring herself to do it.

‘No, how could I be so rough with the little beauty? What if I accidentally hurt her?’

The black-clad beast-girl was blinded by lust, standing there tormented.

Yue Li didn’t expect this idiot to be such a fool. She rushed to the two, slapped the beast-girl away with a claw, then wrapped her tail around Xing Lian, intending to escape with her.

Unfortunately, her plan didn’t work. The large white dog arrived at that moment, turning its mist into chains that tightly bound her body.

“Obnoxious dog! You’re asking for death!”

Yue Li was about to explode with rage. She turned and struck at the dog with her claw, but it turned into mist and dodged.

Though she desperately wanted to take Xing Lian away, with the white dog clinging to her, she simply couldn’t.

Xing Lian was no longer focused on the battle. She had been watching too intently and nearly got captured. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Run, she had to run immediately. Seeing more and more black-clad beast-girls appearing around her, knowing that staying any longer would bring no good, Xing Lian stumbled and turned to run deeper into the forest.

The forest floor was rugged, littered with broken stones and plant roots. Xing Lian didn’t run easily.

Even with the Gemstone Necklace’s assistance, she still stumbled and almost fell several times.

Going this fast, falling was no joke—she would be seriously injured.

But this wasn’t the time to worry about that. The black-clad beast-girls seemed to have received orders and were searching everywhere in the forest.

Xing Lian was afraid of being caught and didn’t dare stop for a moment.

She didn’t know how long she had run until her legs went numb and she had no strength left. Only then did she stop by a large tree, leaning against its trunk and panting heavily.

Huff, puff.

Having done so much exercise in a short time, Xing Lian’s body couldn’t take it. She was drenched in sweat.

After resting for a while, she finally recovered. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and carefully observed her surroundings.

An ordinary little forest, nothing special around, and more importantly, no black-clad beast-girls in sight. That relieved her.

But then came the problem. No black-clad beast-girls, and no Yue Li either.

She had fled in a panic earlier, not even knowing where she had run. Could Yue Li find her?

This was a desolate mountain wilderness. She had nothing with her. If Yue Li couldn’t find her, how would she survive?

The more Xing Lian thought about it, the more worried she became. She paced back and forth anxiously.

She knew that only by staying here could Yue Li possibly find her, and the two could reunite.

But what if someone else found her first?

Xing Lian was very conflicted, unable to decide for a long time. But soon she no longer had to worry.

Crack.

A sound came from afar. She activated the Gemstone Necklace to shift her perspective.

Under the black-and-white view, several black-clad beast-girls suddenly appeared, startling Xing Lian.

‘Damn! They came first!’

Xing Lian had no choice. She had to leave even if she didn’t want to.

To avoid being discovered, she crouched low and carefully jogged away.

After running a few dozen meters, she felt they couldn’t see her anymore, so she straightened up and sprinted again.

Xing Lian ran for over ten minutes, feeling like she was about to die of exhaustion. She finally slowed down, crawled into a tree hollow, and wearily closed her eyes.

She was so tired. She wanted to close her eyes and rest for a bit, but once she closed them, she couldn’t open them again.

Her body was drowsy, her mind fuzzy, and she unknowingly fell asleep.

She didn’t know how long had passed when her eyelids fluttered and she gently opened her eyes.

Familiar darkness greeted her. She didn’t pay it much mind and activated the Gemstone Necklace.

The instant the necklace activated, Xing Lian’s heart pounded wildly, almost scaring her to death.

Under the black-and-white view, she could clearly see the situation inside the tree hollow.

The ground was piled with dried leaves, and small white mushrooms grew on the floor. She lay in the center of the hollow. A black snake was coiled among the leaf pile, its head facing her, its black bead-like eyes fixed on her.

‘Where did this snake come from? Had she run into a snake den?’

Xing Lian didn’t know much about snakes and wasn’t sure, but she knew her situation was terrible.

The snake was pitch black, clearly venomous. It was so close to her—if it suddenly bit her…

The more she thought, the more uneasy she became. Her breathing grew rapid. She wanted to pull her feet back and slowly crawl out of the hollow.

But as soon as her feet moved, the snake stirred. It lowered itself and slowly crawled toward her.

Xing Lian broke out in a cold sweat. She pushed herself back with her hands, trying to move away from the snake.

But for every step she retreated, the snake crawled two steps forward.

The hollow wasn’t big. Her back soon hit the tree trunk, and she had nowhere left to escape.

Xing Lian could only watch helplessly as the snake crawled up to her and onto her ankle.

Cold and slippery, the sensation was awful. Xing Lian’s scalp crawled.

She was terrified the snake would suddenly bite her.

But the worst didn’t happen. The snake just crawled over, coiled around her hand, and then… stopped moving.

‘What was going on?’

Xing Lian was utterly confused.

‘Was it not going to bite her?’

After waiting a long time, the snake didn’t move. Xing Lian wasn’t as panicked as before.

Though she didn’t know what the snake wanted, she couldn’t just sit here. She had to leave as soon as possible.

Thinking this, she mustered her courage and moved her hand.

The snake still didn’t move. Xing Lian felt more reassured.

She found a small stick on the ground. Starting from the end of the snake’s tail, she carefully pried it off in reverse loops. After several loops, she finally freed her right hand.