Tonight is destined to be no ordinary night.
Long Miao galloped along the narrow mountain road. The person who always kept a distance in front of him was an important target of this operation. The target ran very fast. Despite her small size, she jumped up and down like a little mouse and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The chase began while it was still daylight and continues to this day. Previously, Long Miao did not consume much physical energy because he could use his wings to fly in the air. But although this mountain is not high, it is densely covered with many trees, mainly pine trees. Even after a cold winter, their greenness remains undiminished. Here he had to drop to the ground and chase the guy on two legs. Maoyuejun is not suitable for direct pursuit, especially because the terrain she is passing through this time is complex and changeable. Even interception through spiritual veins is uncertain, and she is still far away from Long Miao.
The hill is inaccessible and there is no established road. Long Miao finally caught up to a wide area, but the target was nowhere to be seen. He looked around and sniffed the air, trying to find any clues. The enemy's aura has not dissipated, he must be nearby, just listen carefully to the sounds around you...
"You are really persistent."
Unexpectedly, the target would be exposed in front of him without any defense. He also didn't expect that the guy who ran so hard before would show up now? Her breathing didn't look like she was tired, but Long Miao would never give up so easily. The girl walked towards him, calm and composed, as if she had rested for a while while waiting for Long Miao to catch up.
"We can't let you escape easily."
"Really? But there is one with two legs and a pair of wings, and there is no one with no legs at all."
The girl chuckled. Her words are indeed traceable. Long Miao looked at her through the moonlight, finally looking at her more carefully than ever before today. Is this girl... an adult? Probably fourteen or fifteen years old. Her long hair was originally black, but under the moonlight it gave off a cold, almost blue-green polarized light. Although the bangs are neat, they are cut at an angle. They are obviously quite high from the left eye, but they touch the eyelashes when they reach the right eye. The girl's clothes are ordinary, but her skin is a little special. In the dim light, Long Miao could see some fine lines on her face, outlining the shape of scales. But those are not fish scales, but smaller and harder reptile scales, which blend perfectly with human skin. Long Miao also saw that the skin of the girl's arm at her waist, the one exposed to the light, was also covered with such scales, and it was more obvious. When there is no light, they are an ordinary light brown, as if the human body is covered with a thin layer of dry soil crust. When standing under the light at a certain angle, green or blue light spots will appear on each scale. It looks beautiful on its own, but it's extremely weird on a human body.
Utsuki-kun is indeed right, this is a monster related to pythons... but is it really a monster? Long Miao felt very strange, because he vaguely felt that this girl was clearly closer to a human being - this was not judging from the appearance, but the unique senses only monsters had. Even the half-demon Taki Miao can detect this. Is it because he is half-demon that he cannot completely determine her identity? The previous judgment was never wrong, and according to the news, this guy is definitely a monster. What Long Miao found strange was that he clearly felt that the other party had human qualities, but was also very different from a half-demon.
What is she? It's a monster... This should be an indisputable fact. Can--
"Shall we talk?" The girl spoke again.
"I have nothing to talk to you about. I should catch you now and deal with you, that's all."
After saying that, Long Miao stepped forward without hesitation. The girl took a few steps back, spread her hands, and asked him with a smile:
"You are so honest. Don't you think it's strange why I stopped to wait for you? Did I give you a chance to catch me because I thought I had a long life?"
"I don't care, you're probably tired."
"It's easy to get rid of you, but I didn't do it. Do you know why? Because I wanted to tell you something. You are not impermanent. I can feel it. You are a half-demon, right?"
Although Long Miao didn't want to give her too many opportunities to speak, he still stopped. After hundreds of years of experience, he has almost completely mastered the method of confusing the real with the fake. In front of people, he can only emit human breath; in front of demons, he can also make them completely believe that he is the same kind. Of course, over such a long period of time, there were some top onmyojis or great demons with extremely powerful demon powers who could determine his true identity without knowing it. But in the end, these are only a minority. It's hard for Longmiao to be sure now. How did this girl make the decision? Does she really have such a strong perception, or did she get her information through some way? But it's not a dirty secret.
"so?"
"It's okay, it's not important." She shrugged, "What's your name?"
"I thought you knew me well."
"Okay? Let me introduce myself first. It doesn't make sense to arrest someone whose name you don't even know, does it?" The girl put a hand on her chest and said, "I have a human name, but now people call me Snake."
The so-called demons and monsters are just a collective term for ghosts, demons and monsters. However, in many places, this also refers to four separate monsters. The so-called sprites are spirits transformed from mountains, rivers, wood and rocks, and there is also a snake character in their name. Could it be that it is a snake demon that absorbs the power of mountains, rivers, wood and rocks, or is the snake absorbing their essence and becoming a demon? No, that's not the time to think about that.
"You are a monster, that's enough for me."
"Aren't you? Well, you count as half. Hahaha..."
The snake laughed again. When she opened her mouth, Long Miao caught a glimpse of the tongue in her mouth, like a nobuko sticking out of a tube. I'm afraid that's also bifurcated. After finally finishing laughing, she continued:
"Then you work for the vagaries of human beings? You are really willing."
Long Miao didn't answer. He knew that the other party was just laughing at him. But there was one thing that he couldn't figure out yet. All the tasks assigned by Yama Demon to the impermanent ghosts basically take into account the characteristics suitable for each impermanent ghost, or deliberately cultivate certain abilities necessary for them. But over the years, Uoyue-kun has rarely participated in pursuit missions. It's not about searching or tracing, but a simple, exhausting manhunt. But this time, Lord Maoyue was temporarily changed his mission, and Lord Maoyue himself said: Demon General Yama himself is also counted as a force that can be used. Taki Miao is curious as to why Yama Luo Demon so easily divides himself into Utsuki-kun's companions, subordinates, or shikigami, etc. In short, he ties them together instead of being two independent individuals. Did Lord Maoyue say something to Yama? He didn't know clearly, but he just felt that although he and the other party were closely connected, they were not able to cooperate perfectly all the time. What's more, if something goes wrong and I get injured, give up, or refuse from the beginning, these endless possibilities will disrupt Yama's original arrangement. According to this calculation method, can Uoyuki-kun really be able to handle the tasks assigned to her by herself? He is not a subordinate of Yama Demon, and he has never been directly assigned any tasks or missions. He can ignore or defy emotions and reasons. And is it really a good thing to be taken seriously by Yama Demon from this perspective?
Long Miao no longer thought about it. He shook his head, cleared his mind, and looked at the person in front of him silently. The hostility in his eyes did not diminish. After all, the opponent was the opponent and should not be taken lightly.
"Let me tell you, don't you feel it's a shame that you worked so hard for that woman? Even if you are impermanent, how can humans really treat you as the same kind? In the final analysis, you are easier to use and you have been domesticated."
"If that's all you have to say, I'm going to do it."
"Why are you always so impatient? Delaying time is good for you. The impermanence is slowly catching up with you."
"I won't listen to you if you start a fight, so you can shut up."
The Demon Snake raised his hand: "Wait a minute, wait a minute - I'll make a long story short. I'm not here to analyze the stakes with you. I want to talk to you alone to tell you a secret, an absolutely true secret."
"My patience is very limited."
"I ask you, please listen carefully," the snake bent down, stretched out a finger, and said slowly, "What would you do if there was someone who could know everything that is going on in your heart? "
Long Miao didn't know why she suddenly said such words, let alone which topic it was related to at the moment. He felt that the monster was just stalling for time, but why? She doesn't have any reinforcements, so what does she want to do by saying this?
But if Lord Uoyuki asked this question seriously, he would probably answer seriously: It depends on the situation. If it is an enemy to be dealt with, it will be a big trouble. But if you are one of your own, you will still feel awkward after all. After all, everyone has things that they don’t want or are inconvenient to let others know. Even if one's wealth is innocent and there is nothing suspicious about it, it would be unpleasant to be invaded into such a hidden personal space as one's thoughts. However, Takimiao would not answer this monster so seriously. He just stared into her eyes and guessed what the other person was thinking. The snake's eyes changed from human to snake at some point, with a slender and irregular black pupil in the center and a withered yellow background. The pupils looked as strange as two keyholes.
"Are you unhappy?" She said, "What I want to say is the secret about Uoyuki-kun - she is such a person. There is no person in the world that she cannot see through, and there is no thought that she cannot see clearly. There is no secret that she cannot see. No matter how complicated a person is, they are like a blank sheet of paper in front of her, and everything they think in their mind is clear. You are no exception."
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Long Miao suddenly became a little angry. He couldn't explain why. Maybe she was slandering Lord Maoyue.
"I won't lie to you." Demon Snake nodded slightly and stared at him from bottom to top. "She has such ability because she got a treasure and kept it for many years. Yama thinks, She is the most suitable person among all the Six Paths of Impermanence to keep that treasure. Do you know the seven magic weapons from the Biluo Islands? The red pearl of Mahuluojia has the power to see through people's hearts. Although it still has many functions, But it’s best understood simply as mind reading.”
Long Miao took two steps forward and was about to catch her. She backed away and said with a smile:
"You can ask her, I won't lie to you - the blood of the python god's family members flows in my body."
