"Sss...s..."

With the sound of something rubbing against the ground, the noise of birds taking flight could be heard from within the forest. Shen Qing felt an indescribable sense of intimidation enveloping his whole body-

Escape!

Will be eaten!

Run away quickly!

The intimidating force transformed into tangible sensation, and Shen Qing suddenly felt his mind go blank. Other than the instinct to escape, he couldn't perceive anything else. His body instinctively began to tremble, while the only remaining shred of sanity screamed at him to run away.

He trembled uncontrollably, like a dried leaf being incessantly blown by a strong wind. He should have immediately turned around and fled, but an unknown persistence deep within his heart overwhelmed his fear and kept him rooted in place.

The appearance of the cave's master gradually emerged at the cave entrance, and Shen Qing was completely paralyzed with fear. He didn't understand why he was so scared but still chose to stay.

I am going to die.

Until the end, the only thought left in his mind was this one. Numbly, he sensed the fear deep within his heart, gradually becoming so numb that he couldn't even feel the existence of fear anymore.

He passively accepted the scene that appeared before his eyes.

At the moment when Shen Qing completely stiffened, a hand grabbed him by the neck and once again stuffed him into a sleeve — it was the hand of Bai Suzhen.

The moment Bai Suzhen touched him, the overwhelming sense of intimidation that made it hard for him to breathe disappeared instantly. Shen Qing felt his whole body becoming lighter, but at the same time, his entire body also became weak. The ensuing exhaustion took away even his strength to move.

Reason slowly returned, and Shen Qing finally realized that he had just been scared to death. He condemned himself inwardly, feeling angry and then uncomfortable.

Being so impatient and cowardly, he was actually scared to the point of blanking out, feeling uncomfortable and also embarrassed at himself for being such a disgrace.

Shen Qing, however, was unaware that this was quite normal. The hierarchy among monsters varies, and the difference in levels is not just a tiny bit. The fact that he wasn't scared out of his wits directly was already quite rare.

The deterrent power of demons comes from the suppression of their strength. The stronger their power, the stronger the intimidation brought by their demonic aura. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to say that it is not so much intimidation, but rather a deep-seated fear from within.

Shen Qing finally experienced the tangible feeling of crossing over to another world.

The yellow giant snake, its scales shimmering with a golden glow, finally slithered out of the mountain cave. Its appearance was so dazzling in the sunlight that it stung the eyes. The snake's body was huge, with a waist as thick as four adults held together. It led a mass of densely packed little snakes and appeared at the cave entrance.

It stood up, looking down at Bai Suzhen who appeared very small from its perspective.

"You stepped foot on my Qingcheng Mountain before I even had the chance to find you, yet here you are, delivering yourself right to my doorstep." The giant snake spoke words, its upright, earthy yellow beast pupils staring fixedly at the weakly demonic fellow of its kind, once again intensifying its intimidating aura.

For it, Bai Su was truly too strange.

As a thousand-year-old monster, Bai Su's demonic energy was so weak that it seemed as if she only possessed the cultivation of two hundred years. But if one were to say that she became a human because she was influenced by someone, then how could she not be afraid of him?

- Just like the green snake hidden in Bai Su's sleeve, it is impossible for her not to fear him.

From the moment Bai Suzhen set foot on Qingcheng Mountain, it knew. It should have sought to demonstrate that it was the true master of this mountain. However, the abnormalities that Bai Suzhen showed made it reluctant to act rashly.

It originally planned to turn a blind eye, but Bai Suzhen has brought trouble upon herself. If it doesn't teach her a lesson, how can it establish its authority?

There were numerous snakes swirling around the big snake, ranging in size and all staring at the arrogant monster with fierce eyes. Some even wanted to coil around it. However, the truth was that every inch those snakes crawled towards Bai Suzhen, they would involuntarily retreat two inches.

Invisible dread.

Bai Su didn't say anything, she just raised her hand again. However, this time it was her left hand, because Shen Qing had been pocketed in her right sleeve.

This time, what appeared at his fingertips transformed into a chilly stream of water, winding around his fingers and morphing into a serpent shape. Invisibly, it shot out snake venom towards the giant serpent—

"Hmph! Arrogant little brat!" The giant snake opened its mouth, unexpectedly spitting out a sturdy man. "It's not just you who possesses a thousand years of cultivation!"

The man was like a puppet that had lost its string, spat out from the mouth of a giant snake. He crashed onto the ground, which the snake swarm automatically parted for, mixing with the foul-smelling mucus and kicking up dry dust. Almost the moment he hit the ground, the man's body twitched, and then, astonishingly, he managed to prop himself up with his hands and stagger to his feet.

This is the Taoist who was devoured by the big serpent. It almost killed him in the past, but the Taoist managed to cultivate inside its belly and became a puppet, perfect for dealing with demons.

Bai Suzhen stood upright, quietly watching the puppet before her. As the puppet Taoist rushed towards her, she narrowed her eyes slightly and the small snake coiled around her finger let out a cry, flicking its tail.

A drop of water was flicked from the tail of a small snake, directly aiming at the charging Taoist. Then, with a "pierce," it penetrated the Taoist's head, with such force that it even flipped the Taoist over, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Hmph, arrogant!"

The serpent snorted coldly, opening its mouth once again. Another humanoid puppet was spat out, falling to the ground. Then, it stood up again alongside the Taoist whose head had been pierced by water droplets before.

Bai Sugen's mouth curled downward, finally no longer restraining her demonic aura.

A powerful aura of demonic energy emanated from his body. The surging tide of snakes froze in that moment as if someone had pressed the pause button, before quickly retreating backwards in the next instant. And because of this attempt to escape, the infuriated giant snake devoured them.

Shen Qing, being immobilized in Bai Suzhen's sleeve, finally regained a bit of strength. However, this time, he no longer had the desire to crawl towards the man's collar. After all, he didn't know if he would end up getting frightened and turning into that appearance again – although even if he wanted to climb, he didn't have the energy to do so.

Shen Qing didn't have the energy to look, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention to what was happening outside. He obediently stayed in the man's hands, listening to the sounds outside. He held his big monster tightly and didn't say a word, while the other not-so-pleasant monster kept talking.

Then, Shen Qing caught onto that sentence, "It's not just you who is a thousand-year monster" - It turned out that the monster that nearly scared him to death was also a thousand-year monster!

They are all thousand-year-old monsters. Why do men always have to go and provoke them? What if they get injured-

This thought lingered in Shen Qing's mind, making her unable to settle down. She urged herself to once again climb towards the man's collar — not knowing where she found the strength.

"Ka-cha!"

As they advanced towards their forearms, they could only hear the sound of trees breaking and collapsing, accompanied by thunderous roars not far away. Following closely were crackling sounds of electric currents, and ultimately, a shrill screech echoed through.

The sound was too agonizing and piercing, causing Shen Qing to speed up even more in fright.

After a struggle, he finally managed to stick his head out from the collar, only to find that everything before his eyes had already settled in dust.