Tu Xiao'an took a single step, using Shift Form and Position to appear directly in the man's path. He frowned slightly. "What's going on?"

"Snake... Snake... Snake..."

The man's face was a mask of sheer terror as he repeated the word over and over.

Tu Xiao'an's eyes lit up. "Where is the snake? What does it look like?"

"Snake... snake... No... It's not a snake... That snake isn't a snake, it's her! She's back! She's staring at me, she wants to kill me! I'm a dead man, a dead man!"

The man was starting to speak incoherently. Tu Xiao'an felt a surge of frustration. Seeing the man's delirious state and jumbled words left him speechless.

"I am here! How dare the Snake Spirit act so wantonly?"

Having eaten his fill and drunk plenty of wine, a radiant Celestial Master Zhang leaped out, Treasure Sword in hand, looking utterly majestic.

"Where is the Snake Spirit? Tell me, and I shall go vanquish the demon this instant!" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Tu Xiao'an had the urge to just kick him away. 'This guy is so annoying.'

"Snake... Snake... No... No... It's the woman! She wants to kill me... I'm doomed..."

The man had been scared out of his wits, babbling complete nonsense.

"His mind is in chaos. One of his souls and two of his spirits have been frightened away. Behold my Settling Spell!"

Celestial Master Zhang set down his Treasure Sword and began muttering an incantation at the man, his words so soft and fragmented that no one could make out what he was saying.

Tu Xiao'an was just about to roll his eyes when he realized the Daoist's chanting seemed to have some substance to it. It was as if some kind of power was being generated; he wasn't just putting on a show.

He quieted his mind to listen and actually managed to make out a few lines, though he didn't understand their meaning.

Finally, Celestial Master Zhang's eyes flew open and he bellowed, "Supreme stars of the celestial court, respond to all without cease! Expel evil, bind phantoms, protect this life and guard this body! Let wisdom be bright and pure, let the mind and spirit be at peace! May the three souls be eternal and the seven spirits never be lost... Swiftly, as the statutes and laws command!"

"Awaken!"

He formed a sword-finger sign with his index and middle fingers, pointed it at the man, and stared with intense concentration.

"Snake... Snake... Don't swallow me... No, the woman! Don't kill me... I didn't mean to..."

But the man continued to babble incoherently, curled up on the ground and trembling uncontrollably.

'Alright, I was wrong. This Daoist is just a charlatan putting on an act. He has no real skills. His story about the giant Snake Spirit must have been a lucky guess.'

"Daoist Master, you should go back inside to eat your meat and drink your wine. You're not needed here."

Tu Xiao'an was once again left speechless.

"Ahem..."

Celestial Master Zhang felt he had lost some face. He had been muttering for ages, and it seemed to have had no effect whatsoever.

'That's not right,' he thought. 'My Settling Spell is supposed to calm his spirit, but it was completely useless.' He couldn't figure it out, muttering to himself, "Could it be that the wine I drank made my Mana fail?"

"Drinking gets in the way of important matters, it truly does. Amitabha."

Tu Xiao'an: "..."

"It's her! She's come for revenge! More people in the village are going to die, everyone's going to die, everyone!" The man suddenly burst into tears, snot and tears streaming down his face. "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

'Maybe he's not spouting complete nonsense after all.' Tu Xiao'an's intuition told him something strange was afoot. 'A snake, and a woman... Could the two be connected?'

'Or maybe something happened in this village in the past that I don't know about.'

Tu Xiao'an patiently tried to question the man, but no matter what he asked, the man suddenly fell silent. His expression grew vacant, and his body trembled intermittently. He seemed trapped in a world of terror, unable to break free.

"This man's soul and two of his spirits have been scattered by fear. Even my Settling Spell had no effect. He will never recover. He'll be mentally ill, unable to care for himself."

Celestial Master Zhang heaved a long sigh, shook his head, and turned to go back inside. And then... he went right back to eating and drinking.

Tu Xiao'an felt he was reaching his limit with this Jianghu swindler. He had a strong urge to kick the man to death.

"Village Chief, who is this man?"

Tu Xiao'an asked the old village chief.

The old village chief glanced at the man trembling on the ground. "His name is Tie San," he said. "He's a lazy, good-for-nothing scoundrel. Almost forty and still a bachelor. He's done more than his fair share of petty thievery."

Realizing who it was, the village chief's sympathy vanished. He even seemed a little disappointed that the man hadn't caught the strange illness himself.

"Where does he live?"

The village chief replied, "He lives in a thatched hut at the edge of the village. But lately, with so many people dying and entire families being wiped out, their houses have been left empty. This Tie San has been ecstatic, moving into a new place every few days."

It seemed heaven had eyes after all. The scoundrel may not have caught the strange disease, but being scared out of his mind served him right.

Still, what could have scared a hardened scoundrel so badly that he lost his mind?

This question hung in the air, filling the hearts of the Ping'an Village residents with fear. Was a Snake Spirit really about to come and devour them?

"Celestial Master, Celestial Master! What are we going to do if the Snake Spirit comes to eat us?"

Many people looked toward the inner room, only to hear the so-called Celestial Master snoring loudly. It seemed he had drunk too much and was completely passed out.

Everyone: "..."

'We're all too terrified to sleep, and you're just snoring away. Is that really appropriate?'

"Everyone, there's no need to be afraid," Tu Xiao'an said, trying to reassure them. "No Snake Spirit is coming to eat anyone. Just go home and get some sleep."

Tu Xiao'an tried to comfort the crowd, but his words obviously lacked conviction.

Regardless, they still had to try to sleep. One by one, the villagers slowly dispersed, their hearts still filled with terror.

"Village Chief, I'll leave this man in your care," Tu Xiao'an said, before heading off for a stroll.

"Little Divine Doctor, you shouldn't wander off. It's best if you go back inside and sleep."

The village chief was worried about him.

Tu Xiao'an just smiled and continued walking into the distance.

「Over an hour later.」

The lights in every home had gone out. The entire village felt more like a massive tomb, filled with a deathly silence and a sinister chill. The night was as black as the finest ink, without a single fleck of color. Even the moon hid behind dark clouds, allowing only a sliver of faint, eerie light to peek through.

A cold wind howled past, accompanied by the RUSTLE of dense foliage, as Tu Xiao'an walked through the unfamiliar, darkened village.

In such a sinister atmosphere, an ordinary person wouldn't dare wander about, terrified of running into a ghost—especially not in a village where more than half the population was already dead.

But Tu Xiao'an's skill gave him courage. He didn't know if ghosts existed in this world, but he was absolutely certain that demons did.

For he was one himself.

And he was out in the middle of the night to find one. What exactly was this hidden Snake Spirit? It seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once, with not even the tip of its tail to be found.

CREAK... CREAK...

A figure swayed in the hazy darkness. Tu Xiao'an narrowed his eyes, peering intently. As the person emerged from the shadows, the faint moonlight illuminated a pale, weathered face.

"Daoist Master, what are you doing here?"

When Tu Xiao'an saw clearly that it was Celestial Master Zhang, he was quite surprised. The man's face was now pale, no longer radiant, and he showed no sign of being drunk.

'This guy was pretending to be asleep before.'

Encountering the Daoist in this environment added a layer of mystery to him.

It made Tu Xiao'an wonder if his initial judgment had been mistaken.

Discreetly, Tu Xiao'an used Conscious Insight on him, but the result...

...was that he was just an ordinary person, a mere mortal with no signs of having reached the Awakened Realm.