Ying Hua's body which had previously disintegrated into the air element had now completely solidified. The vortex of wind that twisted and smacked the tree branches instantly gathered together, dragging more dry leaves until they formed a perfect pair of legs, climbing up to the last strand of hair.
The necklace around her neck glowed with light, but she still couldn't find anyone she could help.
Old Man Mo's body stopped right beside her, along with strands of extremely beautiful white hair. "Skeleton Crow won't come with us, Princess," he reported, casting a glance around the forest. "There is no one here. Are you sure you stopped at the right point?"
"The energy pull of a reincarnated soul is very strong. That's why I stopped here."
But sadly there was nothing they could find, except the screams of someone coming from somewhere. They immediately teleported back, darting through the forest and its thickets, wiping every veil of supernatural energies that hindered their journey.
Until finally they arrived at a very large and sacred area, which was guarded by more demons. Ying Hua's necklace glowed brighter in that area, causing her and Old Man Mo to jump back into their solid bodies.
"Did one of those souls reincarnate into a demon, Princess?"
Ying Hua looked unconvinced. "Perhaps we can approach their lair, Old Man Mo."
After agreeing, they immediately approached the area, which was inhabited by the serpent demons. Big, fishy-smelling tunnels, then giant eggs that were no longer inhabited. Animals that died leaving only their skulls behind, human corpses that left only their clothes. The scales of the serpent were stuck and formed a fairly high hill.
"Looks like we've gone too deep into the forest, Princess," whispered Old Man Mo, who was avoiding a giant snake-shaped path. On the path spilled a thick, smelly liquid, which turned out to contain a fairly deadly poison. "But it's strange because we can hear screams since we were still in the hut. I worry if this is just a trap."
Ying Hua jumped on a high and rough solid rock, which was eroded by the air and droplets from above. The area did look normal when they first entered, which was only dominated by shrubs. But the further they went in, they would find a cave tucked away in a very large recess as if they had sunk at the bottom of the abyss.
Narrow steep rocks become a place for thousands of snakes to hide and breed. From the underground would appear children of snakes that looked like worms because there were too many of them.
"But my necklace won't lie, Old Man Mo." Unfortunately, Ying Hua's voice didn't even sound convinced.
They soon entered the cave, a place where countless snakes rushed at them as if they were nothing but dirt or tree branches. Even though Ying Hua couldn't bear to do anything, she persisted by not making any aggressive moves.
A snake the size of an adult's thigh appeared from one direction, which was a passage from a cavernous branch. It twisted, then craned its neck so that it looked like it was standing, fixing its yellow eyes on Ying Hua and Old Man Mo. Fangs sticking out, tongue split in half, sticking out checking something.
"A godchild is coming to visit." The snake hissed, showing off the pretty motif on the skin. "Is there anything we can do for you?" Its tail curled and circled Ying Hua and Old Man Mo.
"I'm looking for a reincarnated soul," Ying Hua replied, preventing Old Man Mo who wanted to expend a few moves to defeat the giant snake. "Can you show us?"
"What kind of soul do you mean?"
"That soul was once a human, which might need help right now. Did you guys just catch a human?"
"Of course, it's none of your business, Princess. We're not going to tell you what we've caught and what we're going to eat."
"You might regret saying that," Old Man Mo said annoyed. "We can destroy your nests."
"Is that what you guys did to the spiders?" The giant snake stretched out, its head almost touching the ceiling of the cave. "If it was you, of course, we would be very scared. Come with me! Our leader naturally wants to make negotiations with you!"
Ying Hua and Old Man Mo looked doubtful, but they finally nodded. Following the giant snake, they were led to a throne, where another snake was, a larger snake with very dark scales, and eyes that glowed red. Beside him was a limping-legged girl, whom Skeleton Crow had met earlier.
Ying Hua's necklace glowed so brightly, that it shook her so she knew she had been brought to the right place. "That girl is a human," she whispered to Old Man Mo. "And she is the one we have to save."
Old Man Mo nodded, gripping the stick in his hand even tighter, as if ready to fight.
"Leader, I found a very special guest. It looks like you will be very pleased to meet them." The beautiful patterned giant snake lowered its head and whispered with its whole body slithering on the ground as if to give a greeting.
Their leader, the Red-Eyed Black Snake, turned his head and pulled out fangs, giving Ying Hua a focused gaze. "Oh, is that you Emperor Heng's daughter? Do you want to fulfill the amount of goodness to be able to be reincarnated immediately?"
Ying Hua and Old Man Mo stared at each other. 'How did he know?'
"The news has spread since you destroyed Zhibao's lair. You should have been more careful. But it looks like it's already been done."
"Yes, that's true. That's why I came here to save her," Ying Hua pointed at the crippled girl who was currently unconscious, standing in the middle of the coiled tail of the Red-Eyed Black Snake.
"We don't intend to eat her, Princess. So you don't have to bother to save her. But we need your help to do something. That's why we detained her so that you would help us."
"Are you trying to threaten Princess Ying?" pointed Old Man Mo in annoyance, brandishing a wooden stick in his hand.
The cave boomed as the Red-Eyed Black Snake laughed. There was the rumbling of falling stones, among the hisses of countless snakes. "No, we have great respect for Princess Ying. But because we need her, that's why we did this."
Ying Hua took a deep breath, glancing at the limp-legged girl. Now she looked up at the Black Snake, "What do you want from me?"
"We need the Black Crown which is the most important talisman for our clan," said the Red-Eyed Black Snake. "But unfortunately the Qing Emperor Family kept it in the palace. So do you want to get it and give it back to us, Princess?"
"Aren't you very powerful? Why don't you take it with your own hands?" asked Old Man Mo.
"You must know that there are spells and magical people possessed by nobles. Even though they hate the practice of witchcraft, they still often use it to gain power. And because they know the Black Crown holds a lot of divine energy from the heavens, they seize it so that the empire will still fall in their descendants."
"What impact will you receive if you don't have the Black Crown?" Ying Hua asked.
"The ecosystem will be disrupted, and many of my people will not listen to me. By now you must know why the number of deaths caused by snake bites has increased in the last few decades. It's because I can't command them directly. A part of my soul has been taken."
"But if the Black Crown finally comes back to you guys, will the Qing Family empire collapse?" Ying Hua asked.
"Perhaps it does seem that way," said the Red-Eyed Black Snake. "But what is happening is that the process of appointing the imperial leader will return to the true rules of the universe. In other words, the leader chosen by the heavens will survive in the future, and the life of this land will be more and more prosperous."
Ying Hua turned to Old Man Mo, appearing to be asking each other for opinions.
"I must save Prince Dwei. If I take the Black Crown, will he be killed?"
"Precisely because it is in the wrong place, an innocent life must be sacrificed one day. It is a form of karma that must be borne in a region because it does not maintain the balance of the universe," replied the Red-Eyed Black Snake. "If you have to save Prince Dwei someday, the presence of the Black Crown is a threat to him."
***