The night was hazy, the mountains shrouded in darkness, with only the rustling wind brushing through the forest, occasionally punctuated by the sparse calls of insects and birds.
Under the faint moonlight, the black-clad girl stood in the distance, yet she looked this way.
"Is... is that a person?"
Zhang Fan mustered his courage and asked, voice trembling.
"You're lost."
After a brief silence, an ethereal and melodious voice echoed in the night.
"Follow me."
With that, the black-clad girl turned and walked away.
Zhang Fan glanced at his surroundings, gritted his teeth, and eventually overcame his hesitation to follow her.
"Bea... beauty... are you a Daoist nun from Zhenwu Mountain?" Zhang Fan trailed behind, deliberately keeping his distance, and asked cautiously.
"'Daoist nun' is a derogatory term—like how people without magic are called Muggles." The black-clad girl replied without turning her head.
"Daoists watch Harry Potter?" Zhang Fan muttered inwardly.
But he'd heard Li Yishan say before, whether male or female, can be called Daoist—or men as Qian, women as Kun.
"May I ask for your Daoist title, Immortal Lady..."
"I don't have a Daoist title." The black-clad girl's tone remained utterly flat.
"Then how should I address you, Immortal Lady?" Zhang Fan was taken aback and couldn't help but ask again.
After another short silence, that ethereal voice once more resonated gently in the darkness.
"Jiang Lai!"
"Jiang Lai... that's a nice name, my name is Zhang Fan, I'm here to—"
Zhang Fan had barely introduced himself when the black-clad girl suddenly stopped. The mountain was dark and steep; Zhang Fan couldn't stop himself in time and bumped into her, a warm feeling transmitting through his body.
"Alive..."
Only then did Zhang Fan's anxious heart settle a bit. At the same time, a faint fragrance wafted from Jiang Lai—unlike the scent of perfume, it was more like the incense from a Daoist temple, comforting and calming to the soul.
"What's wrong?"
Zhang Fan asked, trying to cover up the commotion of his heart monkey and yima.
Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...
No sooner had the words left his lips than a wild gust of wind suddenly roared up, making the ancient trees on either side of the mountain path bend, sand and pebbles swirling, dark clouds rolling—like a sudden storm was coming.
"Why did the weather suddenly change?" Zhang Fan wondered anxiously.
Just then, Jiang Lai pulled him behind a large green boulder, her clear eyes staring dead ahead.
"Hm!?"
Zhang Fan's heart skipped, and he followed her gaze, seeing not far away an abandoned, desolate little earth shrine suddenly crack open—a massive black shape leaping out.
"Th-this..."
Zhang Fan's eyes widened in disbelief.
It was a giant black python; just the part of its head exposed was as large as a big dining table. Moonlight spilled on its pitch-black scales, reflecting an oily, menacing sheen.
"What kind of species is this? You can raise something this big?" Zhang Fan felt dazed.
The black snake slithered out from the derelict shrine, its huge body coiling into a mound. From afar, it looked like a small hill, and the wind roared even stronger around them...
At this moment, it raised its head toward the moon in the sky, tongue flickering, as the surrounding air rapidly chilled.
"W-what is that?" Zhang Fan couldn't help edging closer to Jiang Lai, asking warily.
"Moon worship... It already has five hundred years of cultivation." Jiang Lai said lightly.
"Five hundred years? This snake's lived five hundred years?"
Zhang Fan was stunned, finding it incredible.
"An animal's age is counted by each full moon cycle as one year..." Jiang Lai replied calmly and off-handedly.
One waxing and waning of the moon makes a month—the animal's one year equals one month of a human's life. That's why so many animals worship the moon, like foxes, weasels, snakes, cats, toads, and the like.
Calculated this way, a dog can breed at one to one and a half years old; in animal terms, that's equivalent to a human being twelve to eighteen.
So a snake with five hundred years of cultivation would be about fifty in human terms.
Most snakes, on average, live just ten to fifteen years.
"No wonder every other day it's 'a thousand years of cultivation'... So that's how it is... Which means..."
"That's a demon?"
Just as he spoke, the giant black snake's belly suddenly swelled, its throat squirmed, issuing a rumble like muffled thunder, as the wind whipped even more violently around them.
At that moment, Zhang Fan saw glimmering, milky-white mist drifting down from the sky, gathering around the moon, swirling slowly, as if flowing radiance converged—devoured and inhaled by the black snake.
Almost simultaneously, the black serpent's scales rippled rhythmically, a foul stench seeping from its body.
"Sun and Moon Essence!?"
Zhang Fan's heart surged with excitement; he'd only ever heard that mountain beasts absorb the sun and moon essence to cultivate—he never thought he'd see it for real tonight.
Roar...
Suddenly, the black serpent let out a furious bellow—almost like the call of a bull—tongue flickering as it twisted its head, now staring at the boulder they hid behind.
"It's found us."
Zhang Fan's heart skipped; before he could react, that hill-like serpent moved, flattening a stand of forest, a black shadow sweeping toward them.
In that instant, Jiang Lai slowly rose, positioning herself directly in front of Zhang Fan.
"W-what are you doing? Run—run!" Zhang Fan exclaimed in shock.
Rumble...
Almost at the same time, the black serpent charged. Jiang Lai stretched out a hand—her slender arm seemed to conceal endless power. She forcibly blocked the rampaging demon, the terrifying force rippling into the ground, cracking the earth.
"Is she even human?"
As the thought flashed by, Jiang Lai's hand gently sliced, and the giant black serpent flew off like a severed kite, smashing mountain roads to rubble with its massive body.
The tremendous impact made it spit a mouthful of old blood. Following that, a mass of milky-white energy shot out from the serpent's body.
"Moon essence!?"
Zhang Fan's heart stirred. The moon essence came flying straight toward him. Before he could react, it merged into his body.
Suddenly, a cool sensation spread throughout him.
Roar...
The black serpent was enraged. Its green eyes glowed fiercely in the darkness like lanterns, coiling as it summoned a shearing wind, surging toward Zhang Fan.
"Back!"
Suddenly, Jiang Lai flashed forward, blocking Zhang Fan with her body. One hand braced against the great snake's charge, the other shoved Zhang Fan clear. He lost his balance, thrown backward through the air.
"Jiang Lai..."
Zhang Fan cried out in alarm, suddenly waking with a start.
"You sure can sleep... Meditation's supposed to calm the mind, not put you out cold."
Li Yishan's voice sounded from across the room.
Zhang Fan still felt dazed; he was back in the hotel room, sweat soaking his clothes. He glanced over and saw Li Yishan lying on the bed playing with his phone. Outside the window, daylight was bright.
"I fell asleep?" Zhang Fan asked instinctively.
"Slept like the dead—couldn't wake you at all. I was gonna drag you for a night tour of Zhenwu Mountain." Li Yishan shot him a glance.
"Who's Jiang Lai? You kept mumbling her name in your sleep."
"So it was all a dream, huh... Must be the stress getting to me."
Zhang Fan let out a long breath, rubbing his aching temples as he looked out the window. Somehow, even the sunlight looked especially dazzling today.
"We interrupt for a brief announcement..."
Just then, the scenic area's broadcast suddenly crackled to life.
"Due to high winds last night causing road damage, the mountain path is currently under emergency repair. The Nanxuan Palace section is temporarily closed. Please take a detour and do not enter."