Chapter 282: 282: It Can Talk? So Can I!

"What the hell is that?" Tun Shi Tian whispered in the smallest voice Han Xuhan had ever heard coming out of the owl's mouth. Even this brash idiot had lost its heart after a single glance at the titanic beast coiling around the Crimson Snow Sect's territory.

"Fucking....fuck."

That was the best response Han Xuhan's awestruck, terrified brain could come up with.

How had this monster appeared here? And why?

Did it intend to attack? If so, did the higher ups of the sect stand a chance? What was this beast's cultivation level?

A cold realization set in when he envisioned the possible battle.

Unfortunately, regardless of whether this monstrous serpent was about to go on a rampage, or if it had other intentions, he, Han Xuhan, couldn't do anything about it either way.

The most optimal strategy at this moment was to lie on the ground and feign death, hoping he'd be treated no differently than an ant. Maybe the snake wouldn't notice...

But such an end wasn't easy to accept.

"Is this how I will die? My entire sect will be eaten up by a monster out of the blue? After all I've gone through...

This feels so random that it almost makes sense. This IS a world of cultivation, a brutal world where only the strongest and the sneakiest can hope to survive..."

Turning toward his hut, Han Xuhan's eyes fell on a semi-finished rattlesnake spine in the living room. That too, was a snake; soon to be his third skeleton soldier.

His gaze flickered back towards the miles-long serpentine body encircling the mountains. The comparison was heartbreaking.

Perhaps the entire sect was just as thunderstruck as they were at the sudden, terrifying advent of death's serrated tongue. No one could stay in their huts, asleep or busy otherwise, with the unending waves of earthquakes.

Yet no screams, no chaos, not a peep could be heard amidst the dark mountains.

At that moment, the giant serpent opened its mouth, let out a soft hiss, and fixed its gaze upon the distant central mountain in the Crimson Snow Sect's territory.

"Sect master Xuan Zi, please accept this lowly envoy's greetings."

"...Oh. It talks too, I guess. That makes sense, sure," Han Xuhan concurred in a defeated tone.

Its voice was thick, low-pitched, and its speech was somewhat difficult to understand. But for some reason, Han Xuhan felt that this was exactly what a talking serpent of gargantuan proportions was supposed to sound like.

Perhaps this feeling was caused by whatever mystic art this snake was using to speak. It might even be his own illusion.

Nevertheless, these details didn't matter at all to him. After all, the serpent's first sentence had revealed significant implications!

It called itself a lowly envoy! That meant it wasn't here to launch a sudden attack and devour everyone in Crimson Snow Sect!

A rock seemed to go down from his chest, letting his stifled breaths turn normal. With the threat of dying horribly out of the way, he could think about the situation calmly.

An envoy carries a message. So, whoever sent this serpent must be a cultivator powerful enough to command such a terrifying beast!

What realm of cultivation would such a feat require? That person must not be any less powerful than Sect Master Xuan Zi himself!

Due to the distance between their mountain peaks and the darkness blocking their way, he couldn't tell what was happening on Sect Master Xuan Zi's mountain peak. But the old man had definitely come out. He could hear fragments of his familiar voice using a volume magnification technique to respond to the serpent.

A moment later, the beast nodded gently and extended its long tongue. To Han Xuhan's shock, as the tongue uncurled, it revealed an ostentatiously dressed woman seated inside the coiled space!

Had she been inside the serpent's mouth all along?

"Ugh! What about its saliva? Isn't that disgusting?"

The rhetorical question left his mouth like a bullet before his brain could catch up. Even though the woman was far away in the air, she still seemed to hear his exclamation...

From this distance, her face wasn't clearly visible, but she didn't seem pleased!

Seeing her gaze turn his way, Han Xuhan decisively slapped Zhanxian, who was standing right beside him.

"Impudent slave! How dare you sully the honorable envoy's dignity with your dog mouth?! Apologize, right now!"

Zhanxian: "....???"

He didn't feel any pain from being slapped. And he was familiar enough with his master's character to understand what he was being asked to do.

Falling to his knees, Zhanxian cried, "Please forgive this lowly subordinate! I was just too shocked at that moment and spoke carelessly!"

Han Xuhan anxiously looked at the woman, while Zhanxian resentfully looked at Han Xuhan. Both were cursing the same person in their heart.

Fortunately, the sect master's distant voice dragged the woman's attention away at that moment. The serpent's extending tongue carried her towards the central mountain, and she didn't seem interested in stopping it to deal with a random brat.

Han Xuhan took the opportunity to slip inside his hut and activate a privacy-oriented array, concealing his aura. It might not be enough to fool her if she specifically searched for him out of displeasure, but in any other case, she'd not notice him inside the hut.

Out of sight, out of mind.

To Han Xuhan's relief, after half an hour, the serpent's body started to slither backwards, out of the mountains. It took some time, but it eventually disappeared beyond the shroud of the night.

For something so massive, it didn't seem to weigh down on the ground as much, moving nearly silently. No wonder nobody had heard it coming from afar!

As for where it was headed, who cares? Han Xuhan was just glad that it was gone.

But right then, the assembly bell of the outer court began to reverberate throughout the sect.

This was the first time he had heard it ring at night! An ominous feeling gripped his heart.

The envoy from a powerful cultivator had come and gone... So what message had it delivered to the Sect?

Confused, curious, but most importantly, frightened, Han Xuhan slowly walked out of his hut, gazing at the distant mountains where torches, lamps, and artificial lights were blinking into existence, like startled fireflies moving in the dark night.

Alongside him, thousands anxiously descended from the mountains, all headed toward the assembly field.