Water splashed everywhere, and huge waves occasionally lashed at Wan. The fight in the water was still fierce, but judging from the noise, the lizard probably wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.
Snakes aren't afraid of water, but lizards are, so when Xiang Wan heard the sound of water, she came over without hesitation. Xiang Wan secretly thought it was better that the snake had the upper hand; the fact that it fed her fruit first before asking for a favor showed it was intelligent, and she liked dealing with intelligent animals.
The movements in the water gradually subsided, with occasional ripples, but the frequency decreased. Xiang Wan waited for a while, making sure there was no more movement underwater, before climbing to the edge of the rock to look down.
The snake tightly coiled around the lizard, its head surfacing, its searchlight-like eyes no longer shining brightly.
Using the light from the bioluminescent insects overhead, Xiang Wan saw the lizard motionless in the water, letting the current sweep around it.
"Hello!"
The snake did not move.
"Hey, are you still alive?"
The snake still didn't move.
Holy crap, is it a case of mutual destruction?
"Is the snake dead?"
Xiang Wan spoke again uncertainly, and saw the snake suddenly look up at her before slowly descending.
She was startled, thinking the snake was dead. She threw five or six stones at the lizard in a row, and when she saw that the lizard was no longer reacting, Xiang Wan slowly climbed down the rock and beckoned the snake to come and get the fruit.
"Hey, don't say I didn't help you. Here's the fruit, you eat it, I'm leaving!"
The snake's eyes were fixed on Xiang Wan. Its coils gradually loosened, and before Xiang Wan could walk far, the snake slowly swam over, swallowed the fruit, and then with a "thud," lay motionless on the shore.
What the hell is going on? Could this fruit be poisonous? Could she have killed herself for a poisonous fruit? Xiang Wan observed it carefully for a moment, a little uneasy. She slowly walked over and nudged the snake's head with her hand, but there was no movement. She circled it again, reaching out to touch its body; it was icy cold, seemingly truly lifeless. Xiang Wan sighed and plopped down on the ground.
"Snake, you're practically a spirit, and you killed yourself for such a worthless fruit. People say that people die for wealth and birds die for food, and you're no exception."
"Just because you knew to ask me for help, I'll leave you alone for now. Growing up isn't easy. Since I've already picked the fruit for you and given you some to eat, we're even. I'll let you stay here for a few days. When I leave, consider it a good deed and offer some scales. Since we'll all return to dust eventually, I might as well make the most of them. Use them for my protection, and it'll be a good deed for yourself. Maybe you'll be reborn as a human in your next life—how wonderful!"
Xiang Wan symbolically recited a sermon about cause and effect in this life and the next to the snake, then found a high rock and sat down on it.
She had initially thought that with snakes in the cave, there wouldn't be any other large animals. Now that the two largest ones were dead, there shouldn't be any other animals coming for the time being. She needed to hurry up and catch up on the plot so she could continue on her way; she didn't want to be trapped in this cave forever.
"Xiao Qi, come out here!"
There was no response.
"System? 007? Answer me now!"
There's still no activity. What's wrong with the system?
"If I don't make a sound, the snake is going to eat me!"
"Hey, I'm here, what's up?"
"...Where have you been slacking off these past few days?"
"You've completely wronged this system! To find you a suitable body, this system went to great lengths to find someone in this world who is closest to a fragment of someone's soul..."
Xiang Wan's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly asked, "Where are the fragments of the soul from the previous world? Who is this world possessing? Tell me quickly!"
"Don't worry, don't worry, with this system involved, how could it be wrong? I have good news for you: this system has already placed the soul fragments from the previous world into the body of this world. In other words, the two fragments have already combined. Isn't that amazing?"
The system's smug, praise-seeking tone made Xiang Wan's face instantly fall.
"What did you say?"
"A small piece of your soul has been pieced together. You're welcome!"
"I thought you would send it back directly, why did you put it together?"
"It's good for nurturing the soul, aren't you happy?"
Why didn't you say so before?
Thinking of Qu Chiyang telling her on his deathbed in the previous world that he wanted to be with her in the next life, Xiang Wan felt frantic! The longer she spent with Qu Chiyang, the stronger his suppressed desire for her became, eventually turning into an obsession. Even before he closed his eyes, he was still thinking about her. Xiang Wan was so scared that she immediately had the system take her away.
She thought things would be easier after coming to this world, but the system tricked her again. This unreliable system seems determined to push her into a fire pit.
"What this system wanted to say was that you were too impatient, rushing me to take you to the next world. I'm busy extracting soul fragments, finding a suitable body for you, and getting you to the world where the soul fragments are attached. Taking you through this world is already exhausting enough, and now I have to carry another one along. Do you think this system doesn't need to expend energy?"
Ha, so it's all her fault. Xiang Wan couldn't refute the excuse the system came up with, since she needed its help right now.
"You've already got the rewards from the mission in the last world, right? What about mine?"
"Not a single hair left. Don't you remember the portion this system helped you with? The one I lent you has already been deducted from your reward, no more, no less, just right!"
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