Duoluo Dalu: Hail Hydra

As Xiaotian and Xiaogang strolled through the crowded streets of Skywater City, Xiaotian couldn't help but feel a dozen or so eyes glued to them. Members from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Spirit Hall, and some no-name extras were all lurking around like nosy neighbors peeking through their curtains.

He sighed. "Seriously, what's with these clan names? I always thought 'Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan' was pushing it, but 'Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan' sounds like a fancy ceramic shop. Are they planning to fight us or sell us overpriced porcelain?"

Xiaogang, ever the serious one, frowned. "We should be careful. They might be assessing our strength."

"Assessing? Have you learned nothing about typical young master behaviour? They are more like waiting for us to slip on a banana peel so they can swoop in and flex their superiority."

They had to lose them. There was no way Xiaotian was going to let these people keep breathing down his neck like a bunch of overenthusiastic tax collectors.

He turned to their bodyguard, a man built like he personally wrestled bears for a living but had the facial expression of someone who had worked customer service for far too long. The kind of man who looked like he had a tragic backstory but would never tell you about it.

"Mr. Bodyguard, you're at least a Spirit Saint, right?"

The man barely blinked. "Yes."

"Power-type?"

"Agility."

"How fast?"

The bodyguard raised an eyebrow, now realizing where this was going. "Fast enough."

Xiaotian nodded. "Load limit?"

"Two kids are easy."

"Now would be good."

The bodyguard sighed the sigh of a man who was deeply regretting all his life choices. Then, with a simple movement, his body transformed. Large peregrine falcon wings sprouted from his back, his hands and feet turning into sharp talons. Before Xiaogang could even protest, they were both snatched up like sacks of potatoes and launched into the air at an absurd speed.

Below, their stalkers were left gaping like goldfish. Some even rubbed their eyes, as if hoping that would change what they just saw.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking!" Xiaotian announced cheerfully, his voice barely audible over the wind. "We have successfully taken off, leaving all annoying tailgaters behind. Please fasten your seatbelts, and in case of an emergency, well... good luck!"

Xiaogang, who had never been a fan of heights, looked like he was deeply reconsidering his life choices. "I hate this already."

Xiaotian grinned. "Oh, come on, think of it as a free super fast carriage ride."

"Super fast carriages don't drop you into forests filled with man-eating spirit beasts."

"That's just added excitement."

As they soared through the sky, Xiaotian waved at a group of travelers below. One particularly confused merchant waved back instinctively before realizing what he was doing and immediately pretending he hadn't.

Eventually, they approached the designated drop zone. The bodyguard slowed down and hovered just above a dense section of the forest.

"This is as far as I can take you," he said, his tone making it clear he was looking forward to getting back to his normal, non-babysitting duties. "Any further, and the Void Eye Snake will sense both your presences and flee."

Xiaotian raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to protect me?"

The bodyguard shook his head. "Your father said, and I quote, 'Don't worry about Xiaotian, that brat will handle himself. Take good care of Xiaogang, I don't know how that kid will survive.'"

Xiaotian let out a dramatic sigh. "Great. My dear father has abandoned me in the wilderness like a disposable side character. Truly, I feel the love."

Xiaogang, still dangling in the air, looked unimpressed. "You'll be fine."

"That's not the point! The point is I deserve at least some dramatic concern. Maybe a tearful goodbye? A 'stay safe, son'? A token of affection?!"

The bodyguard stared at him blankly. "Do you want me to cry?"

"Yes, please."

"No."

"Fine. Just come back fast. But before you leave, try sensing the area. Any heavy concentration of energy nearby?"

The bodyguard closed his eyes for a moment before pointing towards a specific direction.

Xiaotian squinted. "Hmm. Interesting. You may leave now."

With that, the bodyguard flapped his massive wings and took off with Xiaogang, leaving Xiaotian alone in the dense forest. Before leaving, he tossed Xiaotian a dagger, which was probably meant to be reassuring but really just made it feel like he was in a survival game.

Climbing up a tree, Xiaotian pulled out a pair of binoculars and peered in the direction the bodyguard had pointed. His eyes widened. "Oh-ho! Would you look at that? The legendary… uh…" He wracked his brain for the name of the immortal herb he had read about. "Ah! It's the Radiant Sun Dew Herb! That means the Void Eye Snake should be nearby."

With renewed enthusiasm, he got to work setting up a trap. First, he needed bait... a small, unsuspecting creature. A few minutes later, he successfully caught a squirrel, which, given its unfortunate luck, was now the chosen sacrifice.

Sorry, little guy, but this is for the greater good.

Pulling out the concoction he had prepared earlier, he carefully made the squirrel drink it. Then, with zero hesitation, he yeeted the poor creature toward the targeted area.

Now came the waiting game.

A rustling sound echoed through the trees. Xiaotian grinned. "And there it is."

The Void Eye Snake had slithered out, its sleek black body moving like liquid shadow. Its eerie, glowing eyes fixated on the bait, its tongue flicking out as it swallowed the squirrel whole.

Xiaotian frowned. Normally, that concoction should've knocked it out almost instantly. Instead, the snake just seemed… sluggish.

"Oh, great," he muttered. "I've read enough manhua to know what this means. The snake's older than expected, and the medicine is only half as effective. Classic."

From the faint rings on its body, he estimated it to be over 700 years old. A lot older than ideal, but with the help of some melted whale rubber, it was nothing he couldn't handle.

"Welp, looks like we're doing this the old-fashioned way."

With that, the fight began.

The Void Eye Snake was a living cheat code. It had ultra-fast reflexes, night-vision goggles built into its eyes, and the ability to predict movements like it had read the script in advance. The moment Xiaotian so much as twitched, the snake flickered like a horror movie jump scare, its body coiling and striking with terrifying speed.

"Alright, this is fine," Xiaotian muttered, immediately rolling to the side as the snake's fangs slammed into the dirt where he had been standing a second ago, leaving two deep holes in the ground.

Yeah. No. Not fine. Definitely not fine.

He gripped his dagger tightly. "Okay, not getting bitten today. I do not want to find out if poison resistance is something I have to unlock manually."

The snake lunged again, fast enough to give Olympic sprinters an existential crisis. Xiaotian barely dodged, pivoting just in time to slash at its side. The dagger hit scales and barely left a scratch.

He blinked. "Oh, come on. Plot armor? Really? Even the wild mobs get this now?"

The snake hissed angrily, as if personally offended. Its eerie, bottomless eyes locked onto him, and Xiaotian suddenly felt like he had just opened the wrong browser tab in public.

This was bad. If he made even one mistake, he'd be starring in the next episode of 'Spirit Beasts Eat Idiots.'

The battle became a game of inches. Xiaotian had agility on his side, but the Void Eye Snake was still ridiculously fast despite being drugged. Whoever made this beast must have put all their skill points into speed and reflexes because it was moving like it had Ultra Instinct activated.

He needed a strategy. Fast.

Then he saw it.

An opening.

The snake was coiling up for another strike, but the sluggish effect of the medicine created a tiny delay. Not much, but just enough.

Xiaotian didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, dagger aimed straight for its head.

The snake realized too late. It tried to shift, but its slowed reaction doomed it. The dagger plunged into its left eye with a sickening crunch.

The Void Eye Snake convulsed violently. Its body thrashed, knocking over small trees and kicking up dust like an overdramatic action scene. Xiaotian wisely took a step back. No way was he getting taken out by death throes after all that effort.

Finally, after what felt like an entire anime filler episode, the snake stilled.

Xiaotian exhaled. "And that's how you solo a mini-boss."

He stared at the corpse, hands on his hips. "Man, if this were a game, I'd be looting a legendary dagger right about now. Instead, I get trauma and responsibilities."

With the fight over, he pulled out his flask and took a deep swig of the melted whale rubber. Instantly, a weird heat spread through his body. It wasn't painful, but it felt like his insides were being upgraded like a phone getting a forced software update.

"Okay, okay, not bad," he muttered, flexing his fingers. "If I survive this, I'm adding 'Snake Slayer' to my title. Maybe 'Hydra Tyrant, First of His Name, Lord of Scaly Corpses'... nah, too long."

He looked down at the lifeless snake and sighed. "Alright. Time to absorb the ring. Please don't explode me."

And with that, he sat down and began the process. The next few hours is going to involve some crazy, painful screaming.

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