Realm of the Night God

At this moment, the sloppy man emanated a green light, holding a can of beer in one hand and a sword in the other, his expression indifferent.

As his feet touched the ground, he didn't bother to look at the serpent demon writhing in pain on the ground. Instead, after taking a big gulp of beer, he glanced around.

Moments ago, he had sensed the presence of power fluctuations within the ancient tomb, along with Yin Qi.

However, soon after, this power fluctuation completely disappeared, leaving behind only strong Yin Qi within the ancient tomb.

Recalling how the serpent demon had fled all the way here, even enduring injuries to arrive, indicated that there should still be allies of the serpent demon here.

So, the sloppy man was cautious. Even though the power fluctuation had vanished, he remained vigilant.

Because he couldn't be certain whether the opponent had left or had sealed their own power fluctuation, hiding in the shadows, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment. Thus, he had to be cautious.

After a careful inspection yielded no discoveries, the sloppy man turned his gaze to the serpent demon amidst the rubble.

"Monster, it seems your ally has already left," the sloppy man said casually to the serpent demon, taking another swig of his beer.

Upon hearing this, the serpent demon suppressed her sadness. She lifted her massive snake head, looking down at the sloppy man from a higher vantage point, her snake eyes filled with cold killing intent and resentment.

"Even if I die, I will never let you off easy," the serpent demon threatened.

The sloppy man didn't take the serpent demon's threat seriously. He downed the rest of his beer in one gulp, then tossed aside the bottle and pointed his sword at the serpent demon.

"You and I are natural enemies. If you die by my hand, it's because of your own incompetence. And if I die by your hand, I won't blame you."

With that, a battle ensued between the serpent demon and the sloppy man, where Yang Haoran and the malevolent spirit had previously clashed.

In fact, at this moment, the serpent demon deeply regretted her actions. After leaving the ancient tomb, instead of immediately departing from Shilin Town, she had spent the whole afternoon wandering the streets. Although she had no money to buy anything, she had enjoyed herself immensely.

Before leaving the ancient tomb, she had sealed the Demonic Qi within her body, as Yang Haoran had requested before coming to Shilin Town.

However, there still remained a faint trace of Demonic Qi on her, remnants from the sorcery she had cast within the ancient tomb, not yet completely dispersed.

The serpent demon could naturally deal with that tiny bit of Demonic Qi, but she had chosen not to bother. In her eyes, even demons might not detect such a small amount of Demonic Qi, and it would soon dissipate. So, she paid it no mind and happily wandered around Shilin Town.

Meanwhile, after learning from many merchants and tourists that they hadn't seen the serpent demon, the sloppy man decided to try his luck at the Shilin Forest Scenic Area.

However, just as he was about to leave, he sensed a very faint Yin Qi, so faint that even he almost couldn't detect it, along with a trace of Demonic Qi.

Due to the faintness of the Demonic Qi, determining the exact location of the target was somewhat difficult, but not entirely impossible. Unfortunately, before he could employ any means, the Demonic Qi vanished completely, beyond his perception.

Although he couldn't sense the presence of Demonic Qi anymore, years of experience and intuition told him that the demon was still in Shilin Town, but had sealed the Demonic Qi within herself, rendering her undetectable.

Knowing that the demon was in Shilin Town, the sloppy man decided not to head to the Shilin Forest Scenic Area. He was tired of searching for the serpent demon and couldn't be bothered to continue. Instead, he found a secluded place, drank some wine, and waited patiently for the serpent demon to use her demonic spiritual power again.

In his view, since the serpent demon had appeared here, she must be here to prey on humans. Once she acted, there would undoubtedly be Demonic Qi emanating from her. By staying in Shilin Town without leaving, he would naturally sense her presence when the time came.

Of course, whether his speculation was correct and whether the outcome would unfold as he expected, he couldn't be sure. All he could do was his best and leave the rest to fate. If the serpent demon managed to escape again, he had no choice but to accept it.

It was precisely because of such considerations that the sloppy man stayed in Shilin Town. If he hadn't made that decision and had gone to the Shilin Forest Scenic Area instead, it would have been a different story.

Unbeknownst to him, the serpent demon had unknowingly spent the whole night in Shilin Town, satisfying her shopping desires. Only then did she think of leaving Lecheng in a hurry, lest she be seen by Yang Haoran coming out of the ancient tomb. If he caught her, he might come up with a reason to keep her and restrict her freedom, which would be tragic.

So, she found a remote place, used her demonic spiritual power, and quickly left Shilin Town.

However, just as she used her demonic spiritual power, the sloppy man sensed it.

Without any hesitation, the sloppy man followed the faint Demonic Qi. He could have torn through space to quickly catch up with the serpent demon, but he refrained from doing so because Shilin Town was crowded, and any action on his part would surely affect ordinary people.

Sealing his own power fluctuations, he followed far behind the serpent demon until she reached a deserted area, where he unleashed his power and blocked her path.

What followed was a fierce battle until the serpent demon managed to escape to the Shilin Forest Scenic Area.

The reason the serpent demon regretted was precisely because she regretted going shopping and not heeding Yang Haoran's advice to leave Shilin Town immediately after leaving the ancient tomb. If she had left like an ordinary person, none of this would have happened, and she wouldn't be facing the current situation.

However, regret, besides being a profound lesson, couldn't save her life.

If there was still a chance to live, learning from mistakes would be useful, at least to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

But if death was inevitable, what good was learning from mistakes?

What good was regret?

Some mistakes couldn't be made because they couldn't be afforded. Once made, they might cost one's life, and even the right to regret would be lost.

Meanwhile, in a remote corner of Shilin Town, a spatial crack suddenly appeared, and a figure emerged from it.

This person was none other than Yang Haoran, who had just left the ancient tomb.

With Yang Haoran's current abilities, although there were distance limitations to traversing through spatial rifts, crossing the entire Shilin Town posed no problem. Yet, inexplicably, he appeared within the boundaries of Shilin Town.

Stepping out of the spatial rift, Yang Haoran wore a puzzled expression, as if something was troubling him.

Previously, when the top of the ancient tomb was broken open by a tremendous force, and a large number of rocks fell, he seemed to see something white falling along with the rocks.

At that time, he didn't have the inclination to take a closer look. With the single-minded desire to leave, he subconsciously stepped into the space rift.

However, after stepping into the space rift, he felt that something was amiss when he recalled this incident. That white thing that fell alongside the rocks felt somewhat familiar to him. Therefore, he randomly chose a remote location, temporarily walked out of the space rift, intending to understand this issue before leaving.

Yang Haoran frowned, scenes of the ancient tomb's top being broken open flashed through his mind again. That white thing falling with the rocks would naturally not be a stone because the white thing was twisted and irregular. What kind of stone would grow in such a manner?

Of course, he wouldn't be foolish enough to think it was a person either. He had never seen such a deformed person, nor had he seen such a white person, let alone one so large. Therefore, the possibility of it being a person was almost zero.

As he pondered, Yang Haoran suddenly remembered sensing a strong Demonic Qi before the ancient tomb's top was broken open.

The reason he had decided to leave immediately was precisely because he sensed this strong Demonic Qi. Not wanting to cause trouble, he made the decision to leave immediately.

Thinking of the Demonic Qi and then the twisted white thing, Yang Haoran suddenly thought of something, his expression changing instantly.

"Damn, could that white thing be a white snake? Could the Demonic Qi I sensed have come from it?"

Yang Haoran couldn't be sure if that twisted white thing was indeed a white snake because he hadn't seen it clearly at the time.

If that twisted white thing was indeed a white snake, but he couldn't be sure if the Demonic Qi he sensed came from the white snake because the situation was urgent, and he didn't have the mind to pay attention to it.

However, if that white thing was indeed a white snake, and the Demonic Qi did emanate from the white snake, then the significance would be different.

There were many white snakes in the world, and there were countless enlightened white snakes. Yet, this particular enlightened white snake would appear in the Shilin Forest Scenic Area, which was probably not a coincidence.

Thus, Yang Haoran thought of the serpent demon Bai Xue.

"Could something have happened to that serpent demon?"

Thinking of this, Yang Haoran frowned, showing a hint of hesitation on his face.

Then, Yin Qi surged in his hand, and a palm-sized snake scale appeared in his hand.

Looking at the snake scale in his hand and recalling the scene where the serpent demon Bai Xue had endured severe pain to tear a piece of flesh from his arm, his frown deepened.

If the white snake he saw at the ancient tomb was indeed the serpent demon Bai Xue, it meant that Bai Xue was probably in danger now.

Bai Xue's strength hadn't recovered and had always been in a weakened state. But even a starving camel was bigger than a horse. If someone could expose her true form, it indicated that the opponent's strength was quite formidable.

If he intervened in this matter, he would have to face a powerful enemy. As for how strong the opponent was, he didn't know. It might not be as strong as he imagined, but it could also be stronger than he imagined.

And now he was injured, although his Yin spirit power had been repairing his injuries and his strength had been continuously increasing due to the soul pill, his strength had not yet fully recovered to its peak. Faced with an unknown powerful opponent, he might very well risk his life.

But if he ignored this matter as if nothing had happened, he couldn't get past this hurdle in his heart.

After hesitating for a moment, Yang Haoran sighed, showing a helpless expression on his face.

"Ah, why bother giving me this damned snake scale if there's nothing wrong? It's all just a setup!"

Yang Haoran's sigh was not his true inner thoughts.

When the serpent demon Bai Xue gave him this snake scale, it wasn't a setup; it was sincere, and he naturally could feel that.

The reason he made such a sigh was merely to adjust his mentality in this way and relax his tense nerves.

The snake scale disappeared from his hand, stored away in a separate space. Then, he waved his hand, and a crack appeared in the space in front of him.

This space rift didn't lead to the Lecheng urban area but to the ancient tomb.

In the end, Yang Haoran couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart because the snake scale blocked his way out.

With a wry smile on his face, he stepped into the space rift.

"Too many damn things!"

In the instant before the space rift closed, there was a voice of extreme helplessness from Yang Haoran.