Chapter 506: Ancient Ferocious Beast

“Ah Zu, are we really going to die here?” Pei Mianman looked down at the massive ball of strange snakes below, clearly seeing the hideous and disgusting appearance of each snake on it.

Although the ball of snakes was still some distance away from them, it was clear that soon more and more strange snakes would climb onto it and then shoot towards the two of them.

“Don’t give up until the last moment,” Zu An said in a deep voice. He was pondering all possible methods, but unfortunately, facing these dense strange snakes, one idea after another he rejected.

At this moment, Pei Mianman looked up at him and asked, “In your last moments, aren’t you regretful that Chu Chuyan isn’t by your side?”

Zu An flicked away a few strange snakes that shot towards them, then shook his head. “What’s there to regret? I’m quite content to have you by my side at a time like this.”

Hearing his answer, Pei Mianman’s lips curved slightly upward, a hint of joy appearing on her pale cheeks. Suddenly, she thought of something and couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. “If only we had met earlier, how wonderful that would have been.”

Zu An instinctively replied, “If we had met earlier, you wouldn’t have given me a second glance.”

“You certainly know yourself well,” Pei Mianman chuckled. She thought about it and realized it was true. Had he not been Chu Chuyan’s husband, piquing her curiosity, her nature would indeed prevent her from ever bothering with such a lazy, rogue-like fellow.

Zu An chuckled. “Suddenly saying these strange things to me… What, have you fallen uncontrollably in love with me?”

To his surprise, Pei Mianman neither grew angry nor shy. Instead, she quietly looked up at him, her eyes as clear and captivating as a pool of autumn water. After gazing for a moment, she suddenly leaned in and kissed his lips.

Zu An was stunned. The soft, red lips and sweet scent sent a jolt through him, and he nearly lost focus, almost getting bitten by the strange snakes shooting towards him. He hastily swung his sword, deflecting them.

After a long moment, their lips parted. Pei Mianman’s normally frail, pale face now seemed to be flushed with rouge, and she shyly turned her head away. “I just thought it would be a pity to die without ever having been kissed, so I tried it. Don’t overthink it.”

Zu An felt exasperated. “By your tone, it sounds like any man would do?”

“It’s not like it had to be you,” Pei Mianman said, a hint of a smile on her face.

Zu An laughed heartily. “Well, there are many more things you haven’t done yet. I can take you to experience them one by one!”

“Get lost!” Pei Mianman spat, her face flushing. However, no ‘anger value’ registered from her, indicating she wasn’t actually angry.

The ambiguous atmosphere in the air added a touch of warmth to the terrifying and perilous giant pit. However, both understood that their time was running out.

Just then, the massive ball of snakes stopped. Evidently, they deemed the distance sufficient and ceased expanding. Instead, other strange snakes climbed onto the spherical mass, each one craning its neck, poised to strike.

The number of snakes about to shoot out this time was unknown, many times the previous amount. Zu An had no confidence he could block them all. Even if they managed to fend off this wave, countless more would follow, leaving the two of them with no escape.

Just as despair set in, a nearby wall suddenly cracked open, and a thick, grayish-blue object shot out, plunging directly into the ball of strange snakes. It then retracted, coiling around an unknown number of desperately struggling snakes.

From behind the hole in the wall came chewing sounds, as if someone were munching on spicy snacks.

The two suspended in mid-air exchanged glances. Zu An swallowed hard. “Was that just now… a tongue?”

Pei Mianman’s face also turned pale with fright. “It seems so.”

Such a huge, long tongue… What kind of creature could possess such a thing?

Furthermore, Zu An clearly remembered that the strange snakes’ blood was poisonous and corrosive. Did the unknown creature behind the wall just coil them up and eat them like that?

Was it not afraid of stomach perforation?

No wonder the tongue was grayish-blue. It certainly looked unhealthy.

Thoughts raced through Zu An’s mind. Below them, the previously aggressive strange snakes seemed to have encountered a natural predator, and scattered in terror.

The enormous ball of snakes instantly disintegrated. The strange snakes were no longer brave as before, scattering in all directions.

However, too many had gathered before. The strange snakes at the very core of the ball were in a miserable state; they couldn’t escape quickly. Instead, in their panic, many snakes got tightly tangled together, unable to disentangle themselves.

At this moment, the grayish-blue giant tongue shot out from the wall again. This time, Zu An saw it clearly: the tongue was not soft as imagined, but like a steel spear. It almost instantaneously pierced the massive snake ball, with its tip protruding from the other side. An unknown liquid, a mixture of strange snake blood and mucus, dripped continuously from its tip.

The tip of the tongue was a sharp triangular pyramid shape. Along the edges of the entire tongue stood horrifying barbs, which made anyone who saw them tremble with fear.

“This… what kind of monster is this?” Pei Mianman whispered, afraid of startling the creature.

Zu An shook his head, staring intently at the nearby wall. That should have been where they fell from, originally a path to safety. But now a terrifying monster had appeared, blocking their escape route entirely.

After two acts of predation, and with the strange snakes scattering, the massive snake ball had almost vanished. The terrifying tongue shot out a few more times but returned empty-handed.

The monster in the wall’s tunnel was clearly impatient. It stomped out with heavy, rumbling footsteps.

The first thing that came into view was an enormous mouth. Inside were two rows of menacing teeth, each one like a blade.

Saliva constantly dripped from the corners of its mouth onto the ground. The saliva was incredibly viscous and looked disgusting.

Zu An swallowed. “Why does this thing look like a Tyrannosaurus Rex from a movie?”

However, he quickly changed his mind. Aside from the mouth being somewhat similar, the rest was not. Firstly, its size was vastly different; this monster was only about three meters tall. Additionally, its four limbs were relatively evenly proportioned. Though its hind legs were visibly thicker, its two front paws were not small, stubby arms. The sharp claws on them were clearly not decorative.

It had a long tail, extremely sharp at the tip. Along the entire tail, extending up to its spine, were small, sharp spikes. It closely resembled the tail of an Alien from a movie.

The strangest part was its head. Its head was large and elongated. Despite clearly being a carnivore, it had two horns, like a goat, something only seen on herbivores.

This wasn’t the most bizarre thing. The most bizarre thing was that there were no eyes visible on its entire head!

Furthermore, between its head and the goat-like horns, a strange pattern was naturally formed on its crown. It looked both fierce and enigmatic.

Pei Mianman whispered to Zu An, “That pattern is almost identical to the one sealed above just now!”

Zu An nodded. Indeed, there was no difference. It was also the same as the patterns on Shang and Zhou dynasty bronze artifacts from his previous life.

Then the monster opened its massive mouth and let out roars. However, unlike the earth-shattering roars one might expect, its cries were not mighty at all; instead, they were very… very weak. They sounded like the cries of a baby.

Yet, when the strange snakes in the pit heard this sound, they scattered like mice seeing a cat. Many even forgot to flee, freezing in place and trembling.

Zu An and Pei Mianman also turned pale. This sound, with its extreme contrast, was incredibly eerie. Combined with the surrounding environment, if it were played in a movie theater in his previous life, it would likely scare the audience to death.

With a single leap, the monster reached the densest cluster of strange snakes. Its tongue shot out again, piercing the frozen snakes on the ground directly, and pulling them back into its mouth.

Only then did the other strange snakes awaken from their trance, and continued their frantic escape.

It was then that Zu An finally saw its eyes. Its eyes were not on its head, but on its shoulders.

A legend about an ancient fierce beast suddenly came to his mind.