Tu Xiao'an's Snake Gaze was filled with ferocity. But when he raised his head, he was met with a breathtakingly beautiful face. She was like a peony bud on the verge of blooming—beautiful but not gaudy, glamorous yet refined, possessing a unique and unparalleled charm.

The stunning woman crouched down slightly, stroking her pointed chin as a smile played on her lips. "Pi Pi Snake, tell me, should I stew you into a soup, or maybe braise you?"

'Huh... how is it her?'

Tu Xiao'an froze. The anger in his heart seemed to vanish in an instant, and for a moment, he didn't know how to unleash his fury.

A pair of delicate Jade Hands scooped up his small snake body. A glint of cunning flashed in her eyes. "What a beautiful Pi Pi Snake. I almost don't have the heart to do it."

The moment that cunning glint flashed in her eyes, Tu Xiao'an's anger flared up again. 'She recognized me.'

"That's enough, you widow-faced woman! It's a good thing I haven't settled my score with you yet, and you're already talking about braising me?"

As if defying gravity, the Purple Gold Snake floated up out of her hands, its Snake Gaze filled with menace.

"Hehe..." She wasn't the least bit surprised to see the snake levitate. She fluttered her long eyelashes. "I never imagined your true form would be so adorable. You're utterly captivating."

Her eyes sparkled, like a child who had just laid eyes on a treasured gift.

The floating Purple Gold Snake opened its mouth. "You really did know who I am. You were just putting on an act the other day, telling me that story about the Snake Woman. What was that all about?"

The woman before him was, of course, the widow-faced owner of the noodle shop. Only now, she wasn't wearing the wrinkled, freckled face from the shop. She had shed her ugly disguise.

To this day, Tu Xiao'an still couldn't figure out the story she had told him about the Snake Woman.

What did it really mean?

"Oh, I knew you were a Snake Spirit, but I never thought you'd be such an adorable one," Luo Ziyun said, looking at the Purple Gold Snake floating before her, utterly captivated.

Its body, covered in purple-gold stripes, shimmered brightly in the dead of night, practically glowing like a Divine Beast.

As she spoke, she couldn't resist reaching out to touch the floating snake.

Tu Xiao'an quickly dodged her groping hand.

Setting the Snake Woman story aside, Tu Xiao'an scanned his surroundings, then said with fire in his eyes, "Are you insane? Fishing on a bridge over the Moat in the middle of the night?"

They were currently on a bridge, and below them was the Moat.

Luo Ziyun rolled her eyes and smiled. "If I'm insane, then you're not much better. You aren't a water snake, so why are you swimming in the Moat in the dead of night?"

"Because I felt like it! What's it to you? Did you hook me on purpose?"

For Tu Xiao'an, who was deep underwater, the odds of being caught by a fishhook were probably a hundred times lower than winning the lottery.

Besides, was he, a Snake King, so easy to catch?

'Isn't this all too much of a coincidence? It's like it was scripted.'

'And of all people, it had to be her.'

Tu Xiao'an felt that his entire reputation as the Bai Town Snake King had been thrown down the drain.

She said innocently, "I can't tell the future, so how would I know you were down there? It was a complete accident. I was actually planning to reel in that giant octopus from the depths. Who knew I'd end up hooking you instead?"

"Hehe... It seems our fates are quite deeply intertwined, wouldn't you say?"

'This psycho woman.' Tu Xiao'an wanted nothing to do with fate and her. He asked, "How did you know there was a giant octopus underwater?"

"I did my homework, of course. My noodle shop has been serving nothing but meat lately—dog meat, cat meat, ox head, pork. It's all so heavy. I wanted to switch up the soup base for my customers and try a seafood broth, so I came here to fish."

"I've had my eye on that octopus down there for a very long time. I made a ton of preparations and only came to fish for it today. I haven't even blamed you for getting caught on my line!"

She puffed out her cheeks and glared at the Purple Gold Snake. Just preparing a line of that length was no simple task. On top of that, the line had to be stronger than a steel wire.

'Sigh. As the old saying goes, "Of all people, women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with."'

'What the hell? I, the great Snake King, get reeled in like a fish by you, and it's somehow *my* fault?'

If Tu Xiao'an weren't so wary of this inscrutable woman, he would have blasted her with a Five Thunders Strike the Head right then and there.

"You've really gone to great pains, haven't you? Coming out in the middle of the night to fish for a giant octopus. With an octopus that big, forget a soup base—you could make a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast and still have plenty left over," Tu Xiao'an sneered.

Luo Ziyun arched an eyebrow and sighed. "Well, none of that's happening now. You've ruined everything."

'Dammit, I really want to blast this unreasonable woman with a Five Thunders Strike the Head!'

Luo Ziyun seemed to sense the snake's fury and decided to quit while she was ahead. "So, what were you doing at the bottom of the Moat so late at night?"

"Looking for treasure."

"....What kind of treasure?" Her pretty eyes lit up.

An idea—a malicious one—flashed through Tu Xiao'an's mind. "Deep underwater, there's a grotto. Inside the grotto is a Barrier, suppressing..."

He paused deliberately.

"Suppressing what?"

"It's suppressing a pink skeleton. Every night, it plays a mournful tune on a flute," Tu Xiao'an continued. "And let me tell you, that pink skeleton is something else. It's just a frame of bones, but it's still alive and kicking. The bones themselves are like Jade. You should consider making bone broth with them. I'm sure it would be incredibly nourishing."

'This woman is a psycho, and the thing suppressed in the Barrier is also a psycho. Let the psychos play with each other.'

Luo Ziyun stared at the floating Purple Gold Snake, a cold smile spreading across her face. "Are you trying to send me to my death?"

"But you're a final-boss type. I'm offering this treasure to you." Tu Xiao'an was still vexed that he couldn't figure this woman out, and now that she'd reeled him in like a fish, he had to even the score.

'If I don't mess with her a little, I'll never feel right about this.'

"That's a treasure I'm not fated to enjoy."

Tu Xiao'an gave her a strange look. Her words implied she knew something. He quickly asked, "You couldn't possibly know what I'm talking about, could you?"

Her expression turned serious. "A Barrier, a suppression, and a living skeleton... it's not hard to guess."

"Then let's hear it." The only reason Tu Xiao'an hadn't acted rashly was because he couldn't gauge the depths of the pink skeleton's power.

He was afraid of releasing some monstrously evil being that he wouldn't be able to handle.

Although his combat power was quite strong, he hadn't yet achieved Rank Three of Enlightenment. When it was time to be cautious, he had to be cautious.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. A snake also needs to know its place.

Luo Ziyun didn't answer right away, instead falling into a contemplative silence. Tu Xiao'an's Snake Gaze was fixed on her, awaiting her explanation. He had to admit, without that widow's face, she was becoming easier and easier on the eyes.

Seeing as she wasn't using that ugly face to frighten him in the middle of the night, Tu Xiao'an decided to grant her a little patience.

But several minutes passed, and the woman still showed no intention of speaking.

"Hey, have you gone mute? Spit it out!" He was impatient to find out just what the hell that pink skeleton was.

After all, Tu Xiao'an hadn't been in this world for very long. But the woman before him was different. She was shrouded in mystery and seemed to have lived for a very, very long time.

She was sure to know a great many secrets.

Luo Ziyun rolled her eyes and finally began to speak.

"If I'm not mistaken, what's being suppressed should be an Ancient Demon." Luo Ziyun's expression grew serious. "Do you know what an Ancient Demon is?"

"A Demon from ancient times?" Tu Xiao'an offered, based on a literal interpretation of the name.