Invincible Snake Emperor-Chapter 146 - 144: Tit for Tat

With a nod from the Snake Spirit, Tu Xiao'an breathed a secret sigh of relief. The mission was complete. All that remained was for the Snake Spirit to leave the borders of Bai Town entirely.

"I promised not to cause them trouble. Now, return my child to me."

The Snake Spirit spoke, her words clearly premeditated, and she was practically seething with hatred.

'The child of a mighty Snake Immortal, nurtured with such difficulty inside a human, could never be someone's pet.'

This truce was, first, for the sake of Crossing the Tribulation, and second, to reclaim her child from Tu Xiao'an.

"Let's be clear. The Two-headed Snake is my pet now. Besides, its soul bears my life imprint. It will be under my control, no matter where it goes."

'This ridiculously powerful Mutated Two-headed Snake has limitless potential. There's no way I'm giving it back to the Snake Spirit. Nice try.'

"You're venomous! How could my child be enslaved by you? If you don't hand over my child, our deal is off. This will be a fight to the death."

The Snake Spirit's killing intent erupted like a fierce gale. This was her final line, and she would not let him cross it.

Tu Xiao'an gave a cold smile. With a mere thought, the Mutated Two-headed Snake appeared before them.

"Believe it or not, with a single thought from me, it will be annihilated."

'Threats? I'm not afraid of threats right now. Your child is in my hands, and you're threatening *me*?'

"Don't! Don't!" The Snake Spirit immediately panicked. She had gone to such great lengths to use a human to incubate her child, one with such a high-purity bloodline that would be impossible to replicate. It was her everything. She instantly suppressed her temper. "What will it take for you to give me back my child? Make any request you want. I will grant it."

But Tu Xiao'an just shook his head. "It has already accepted me as its master. Even if I returned it to you, it would remain under my control. Don't worry, I will raise it well."

"You're ruthless... ruthless!" The Snake Spirit was so angry she felt she would explode on the spot. Her powerful Qi whipped up wild gusts of wind all around.

But there was nothing she could do. It turned out she had tried to steal a chicken, only to lose the rice she'd used for bait. All her efforts had just helped someone else incubate an ultimate-grade pet.

He had her right where he wanted her. Her only way out was to abandon her own child.

"If anything happens to my child, I swear I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and kill you."

The Snake Spirit had no choice but to swallow her anger for now. 'I'll wait until I break through to Rank 3,' she thought. 'Then, I'll devour this Gold and Silver Snake to finally satisfy my hatred.'

"I am leaving. Take good care of my child. I will come find you after I've endured the Celestial Tribulation."

The Snake Spirit gave the Two-headed Snake one last, deep look, then transformed into a black shadow and vanished from the peak of She Mountain.

Watching the Snake Spirit depart, Tu Xiao'an let out a huge sigh of relief. He had achieved his goal without a single drop of blood being shed.

To be honest, he had been terrified the Snake Spirit would fight him to the death, a fight he couldn't afford right now.

'This Two-headed Snake... you're my ace in the hole now.'

As long as he had this pet, the Snake Spirit would never dare to act rashly or cause him any trouble.

The night was long and silent. The Gold and Silver Snake hovered in the air, gazing into the distance, and murmured as if in a dream, "Snake Spirit, believe me. Not only will you never get your child back, but one day, you yourself will become my pet."

...........

In an apartment of about a hundred square meters, a young man held the deathly pale, unconscious Shu Yao on the sofa, weeping bitterly.

"Yao'Er, I'm so sorry. I misunderstood you."

Chen Xiang woke from a stupor, his mind suddenly flooded with memories that were not his own.

Once he finished processing these memories, a cold sweat broke out all over his body. The things he now knew felt like an abyss staring back at him; it was all too incredible to believe.

After who knows how long, Chen Xiang accepted the fact that he had been possessed by a Snake Spirit. The entire tragedy had started simply because he'd eaten some snake stew.

An atheist, he could scarcely imagine that Demons actually existed in the world.

When he saw his pale, unconscious girlfriend on the sofa, he burst into tears, overwhelmed with regret.

So, his girlfriend carrying a Snake Embryo... it wasn't because she was some monster. It was his fault. He had done this to her.

Chen Xiang was trapped in a state of extreme, inescapable agony. He struggled like an ant on a hot pan. It felt as if every shred of his sanity and every inch of his skin was being ripped apart and crushed together. It was a fate worse than death.

Now, his girlfriend lay unconscious with a faint breath, which terrified him even more.

Ever since he'd learned his girlfriend was carrying the Snake Embryo, Chen Xiang had been scared and had run away. He had considered looking for Shu Yao, but he lacked the courage. He lacked the courage to face her and the Snake Embryo.

"Yao'Er, I was wrong, I was so wrong. Please, wake up. If you just wake up now, I'd be willing to die."

Chen Xiang covered his face with his hands and sobbed, his trembling shoulders a silent testament to his grief.

"If she were to wake up, would you truly be willing to die?"

An icy voice echoed eerily through the apartment.

"Who... who's there? Show yourself!"

Chen Xiang frantically looked around, but the room was empty.

"You're that malevolent Snake Spirit, aren't you? You've come back to hurt us again!"

"Come on! Kill me! Just don't hurt my wife!"

Chen Xiang leaped to his feet, shouting and screaming like a madman.

The cold voice emerged from thin air again. "You ate my beloved in a stew. Now, I want your wife to die. That's only fair. An eye for an eye."

"No, no! It's all my fault! If you're going to kill someone, kill me! Don't hurt her anymore!"

The Snake Spirit had forced his girlfriend to carry a Snake Embryo, and now it was back to take her life.

Chen Xiang was consumed by terror—the terror that his girlfriend might suffer even the slightest bit more harm.

Now that Chen Xiang knew the whole story, he finally realized just how much his girlfriend had suffered.

She had once been such a sweet and innocent girl. He could only imagine her despair upon discovering she was carrying a Snake Embryo. And what had he done? He had simply abandoned her.

Now, as if waking from a long nightmare, Chen Xiang desperately shielded his unconscious girlfriend with his body. His eyes darted everywhere, trying to find the hidden Snake Spirit.

But in the end, he was disappointed. He couldn't find a thing.

The apartment was a mess, yet it felt unnervingly empty and strange.

That bizarre voice was like a Ghost, a phantom swirling around him. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

SHING...

A sharp dagger materialized out of thin air, hovering before Chen Xiang's eyes as if weightless.

"Show me your resolve. Plunge this deep into your own heart, and I will spare your wife."

Chen Xiang stared blankly at the sharp, gleaming dagger. His face was ashen, and he stood frozen to the spot as cold sweat trickled down his spine.

"Heh heh heh... Can't bring yourself to do it, can you?"

The hovering dagger's tip swiveled to point at the unconscious Shu Yao on the sofa, looking as if it might dart forward at any second.

The sight snapped Chen Xiang back to his senses, and he frantically grabbed the hovering dagger.

"Snake Spirit! You'll keep your word? If I die, you'll let her go?"

Chen Xiang spoke to the empty air, then turned for one last, desolate look at the unconscious woman on the sofa. A stream of hot tears rolled down his cheeks as he said, his voice choked with unbearable grief, "Yao'Er, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I have to break my promise. I can't spend the rest of my life with you... and I don't deserve to. You deserve to be protected by a better man."

Before his voice faded, Chen Xiang turned back and roared at the empty air, "Snake Spirit, if you go back on your word, I'll come back as a ghost and never let you go!"

The sharp dagger glinted coldly. Gripping it with both hands, Chen Xiang plunged it toward his own chest with all his might, leaving no room for retreat.

If only he could turn back time, he would wish for all this suffering to have fallen on him alone.