They came upon another cavern hall.
It was wider than the last, with a pool of water upon the center. Water dribbled down into the pool, the droplet echoing across the entire space. The air was stifling, that dense thicket of resentful energy was back. But it wasn't as powerful this time, their spirit lights were still powerful enough to bring visibility into the room. Dim blue lights outlined a tall ceiling. Though strangely, this hall was not littered with dozens of tunnels, with only an explicit few traveling through it in and out.
"It's here." Yu Yanlin said with certainty.
Footprints resounded, bouncing off stone walls with the sound of stone crunching below their feet. There was no question of 'what now' because their next step of the quest was quite obvious. The cavern was wide but had no obvious crevices where a giant snake could take refuge without being seen.
That was true for the large space aside from the pool of water that rested within. Even from where they stood, they could see the water shift and rippled, something broke the surface and disappeared back into the water.
Zhang Wang was cautious with his approach, gripping his bow and readying it for anything that might happen. Ariunbayar was less careful and bounced toward the water with little care. Zhang Wang couldn't hold back his sigh, wanting to facepalm at her actions. When he looked to his side he saw Yu Yanlin draw Ermei, keeping his pace slow and relaxed.
When the Princess of the Steppes was out of earshot, Zhang Wang leaned in and whispered. "How are you doing?"
Yu Yanlin gave him that gentle smile that made Zhang Wang itch for physical contact for no particular reason. "I'm getting by."
"Just getting by? Then…"
"Kiss me."
How could Zhang Wang not laugh at the demon king's shameless demand? It was endearing, and so utterly adorable. The smile stretched his face involuntarily and Zhang Wang couldn't help but abide by Yu Yanlin's command, leaning in to capture the demon's lips. Their tongues entwined and Zhang Wang shuddered, holding himself back from leaning in for more.
Because he wanted more.
Even now with the air thick with resentful energy that made his spirit itch he wanted Yu Yanlin as though the demon was some sort of drug he couldn't keep his hands off. When they separated, eyes were glassy and full of lust. Zhang Wang was already aching to leave this place.
"If you two are done then come down over here already!" Ariunbayar's voice cut through the mood but it wasn't enough to wipe the smile off Yu Yanlin's face. The demon, handsome even hidden behind his blindfold said with his silken voice, "Should we go then?"
Zhang Wang gulped, unable to admit that his nerves were set aflame. 'Alert, alert,' he thought desperately in his mind, 'my dick is out of control!' Alas there was nothing he could do aside from shift his legs awkwardly to make sure his crotch did not look strange in the angle in which he stood. Luckily there was still darkness abound that helped obscure his embarrassing state. "Okay," Zhang Wang's voice was admittedly a little hoarse, "Let's go."
They went toward the water, bringing a wave of spirit lights that joined the ones surrounding Ariunbayar. The area around them brightened, multiple hues reflected off the pool's dark surface; shimmering but revealing nothing beneath the surface aside from a murky depth.
Ariunbayar took a few steps back and Zhang Wang had a bad feeling so he did the same, assuming she was up to some sort of trouble without properly conveying her plans. He stopped as he backstepped, "So, Princess. What exactly is your plan?"
Ariunbayar raised her bow upward, "What do you think? Obviously I'm going to draw it out!"
"And just how-- okay." Zhang Wang sighed in the middle of his question, seeing how light formed at her fingertip, shaping itself into an arrow.
She pulled the string back taut. Though she was pointing her bow up, she was looking forward, gauging the distance between herself and the underground spring.
Fingers loosened and her arrow of light shot upward before dispersing into a barrage of a hundred more. They shot toward the ceiling before making a sharp turn in the air. Like some sort of homing missiles they angled themselves toward the pool and dove within the water.
Loud pitter patters echoed, shooting into the underground spring at high speeds. Zhang Wang pulled a face and thought it was cheating. He couldn't make his arrows turn on a dime or multiply his arrows in the middle of the air, turning a single attack into some overpowered AOE that could hone on a target.
Would he be able to access those kinds of skills too if he could use his system properly? He thought about this absently as bubbles began to surface.
He took a few more cautionary steps backward as the water swished back and forth, the pressure of something evil shot out from the water, suffocating.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
A gaping jaw shot out, Zhang Wang barely even had the time to curse when it came at them. But this time the Immortal of a Thousand Blossoms didn't allow himself to freeze from fright and shock. Even though he knew he'd been slow to raise his bow in time, he knew that Yu Yanlin would be more than fast enough. So even as shadow was upon him, Zhang Wang still snapped his arms up with bow and arrow.
Yu Yanlin suddenly appeared in front of him, Ermei clashed with the snake's elongated fang when it attempted to snap down. Zhang Wang didn't let go right away and waited for the perfect opportunity.
The demon king was momentarily startled at the sheer force and speed the snake emitted. Its eyes were glowing red, unlike the dull gray caps they had before. The serpent's power had increased sometime between when they left it and now.
No, that wasn't right. It didn't suddenly just become stronger. But the evil spirit that Yu Yanlin had 'displaced' was now using this snake as a host rather than those old eroding bones.
To confirm his thoughts, a screeching voice, barely female echoed around them, coming from no direction in particular.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you all. How dare you betray me! What did I ever do to you!?"
"..." Ah. Yu Yanlin did feel a little bad. After all, Ariunbayar had declared that she would blame Zhang Wang if the spirit were to cause them any more trouble in the future. He did not wish for that to happen. But now that the demon snake had increased in strength he had to wrestle it a little more.
Yu Yanlin shoved the demon backward, the snake's enormous head reeled back right at the same time venom shot out of its fangs. The liquid sprayed out in a wide arch, its long body thrashing about.
"You bastard! How dare you! How dare you! How dare--!"
Ariunbayar had enough. "Shut up, you old hag!" She shouted and pulled her bowstring. Another barrage of arrows descended upon the beast, impaling its body with dozens of little arrows.
Zhang Wang waited for the perfect moment and unleashed his arrow. His attack didn't strike the demon's body at random but instead was aimed at the snake's bottom jaw when it was rearing backward.
The arrow struck true, embedding itself into the serpent's soft underjaw. The blood that spewed out was black and corrupted. The demon's thrashing movement became even wilder, its head slamming into the nearby wall with a loud crash before swaying to the other side. Ariunbayar cursed and jumped out of the way of its large blackened body.
The Immortal of a Thousand Blossoms wasted no time and readied another arrow. This time he did now wait and shot it the moment his target came in sight. The serpent was in the middle of stretching its jaw as Zhang Wang's arrow wedged into the soft gums, right above where the outstretched fang was.
The snake shook its head wildly and couldn't retract its fang properly, "It hurts! It hurts!' And when it slammed its giant head on the ground, the outstretched back lodged into its own gum.
The venom was unleashed in its body, so powerful that it began to slow the serpent's movements almost immediately.
"It hurts!" the ghost's voice screeched, "It hurts so much! How dare you do this to me!"
It hammered its head into the ground; debris flew and shot everywhere. Zhang Wang raised his arm, protecting his face as he jumped back to avoid the serpent. It's gigantic body lifted from the pool, where a sharp black aura permeated, healing the wounds on its flank. It stretched then twisted into a slight ball, slithering as it attempted to reorient its bearings.
As the beast weakened, Yu Yanlin was given the perfect opportunity. He took Ermei and jabbed the blade in the snake's eye when the beast came too close with its long flexible fangs. And before the snake could find a way to counter, he extracted the blade and elbowed the thing under its bleeding eyes, sending the giant head flying.
In a split moment where a long soft throat was revealed to him, the demon king took Ermei and jammed the blade straight into the serpent's throat, ripping the whole thing open.
Zhang Wang's eyes widened and a flash of panic thrummed through him.
Though he wasn't alarmed that the snake was being torn apart by Yu Yanlin…rather, the demon king's hair was starting to turn silver!