Chapter 99: Life and Death Kill [Continuation 4: The Black Snake and the Girl]

Chapter 99: Life and Death Kill [Part 4: The Black Snake and the Girl]

*Swish—*

The girl drifted toward Chu Fei like a vibrant butterfly, coming to a halt just a few meters away.

She stood barefoot on the ground, her exquisite, snow-white feet forming a stark contrast against the withered, desolate grass. Her features were not only remarkably delicate but carried a subtle, alluring charm that stirred the heart at first glance.

Chu Fei, however, felt no such flutter. His expression remained grave. With a sharp step forward, he shielded Chen Yaxin behind him, his eyes fixed intently on the girl.

"Hee hee, you seem quite afraid of me," the girl said, her voice crisp and melodious, yet tinged with a languid, honeyed softness that was equally disarming.

A true siren.

Chu Fei frowned inwardly, though his face remained impassive. He offered no reply to her remark.

"What a bunch of losers. So many assassins, and not one could take you down," the girl sighed, looking at him. Her crescent-moon eyes suddenly brightened, though her tone remained wistful. "These assassins are truly useless. They couldn't even leave a decent wound on you."

Chu Fei’s expression soured; the girl’s self-centered rambling was deeply grating.

"But you are truly powerful. I’m actually starting to like you. What should I do?" Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. "I’m almost reluctant to kill you now, but I really do need the money..."

Chu Fei remained silent, his heart growing heavier. The more casual the girl acted, the more immense the pressure felt. This delicate, beautiful girl exerted more pressure on him than all the previous assassins combined—even more than the top-fifty super assassin he had killed earlier.

He knew she would strike; she was merely waiting for an opening—waiting for him to be severely wounded or exhausted. Yet, the results had been disappointing for her. Chu Fei was indeed injured, but only slightly.

The reality was exactly as he suspected.

The girl, who went by the name Xin’er, was not a professional assassin. She simply needed money badly. Having learned of the bounty, she had traveled thousands of miles, only to discover that Chu Fei was an extremely dangerous target. Her uncle, the "Old Poison Master," had been easily eliminated by him, proving the man's prowess.

*Chu Fei is dangerous.*

That was Xin’er’s assessment. She had planned to wait for the others to weaken him, hoping to swoop in once they had mutually destroyed each other. But the assassins appearing in the jungle were failing one by one, leaving no significant marks on him, while they themselves were harvested like wheat.

With no assassins having appeared for an hour, she had lost her patience. She realized no more would come; the rest were either dead or terrified away. Left with no choice, she had to act herself.

She felt frustrated. Had she known this would be the outcome, she would have struck from the beginning instead of wasting time. As for the tattooed man Chu Fei had killed, she felt no hatred. That man had constantly pestered her for "dual cultivation," and if not for their sect’s rules, she would have killed him herself. In a way, she was even grateful to Chu Fei.

"Are you certain you want to kill me?" Chu Fei asked, suddenly smiling as he noticed her staring at him.

"Yes. I don’t really want to, but I have no choice—I really need the money. How about this? Give me one hundred million, and I promise not to lift a finger." Her face blossomed into a radiant, innocent smile.

"Fine. I’ll give you one hundred million. You can go," Chu Fei replied with a grin.

The girl paused, clearly stunned. To her, one hundred million was an astronomical figure—a sum even billionaires wouldn't offer up so casually.

"What? You don’t believe me?" Chu Fei raised an eyebrow, buying time to recover his peak state.

"Do you think I should?" The girl burst into a giggle. "That’s a hundred million, not ten thousand."

"Is a hundred million really that much?" Chu Fei laughed. To him, it was just a number he could easily provide, though he didn't truly believe she would let him go. She had come with a clear intent to kill.

"I wish I could believe you..."

The girl’s smile grew even brighter, but in that same instant, she lunged toward him. "But I want to kill you even more..."

Before the words had finished hanging in the air, she was already upon him.

When she was barely a meter away, two flashes of light—one gold, one silver—erupted from her. They were two venomous snakes, no longer than chopsticks and thinner than a needle.

"Dammit!"

Chu Fei’s hair stood on end. He had been on guard, yet he hadn't anticipated such an abrupt strike. It was like having coffee with a friend who, after politely offering a drink, suddenly splashed the boiling liquid into your face.

It was impossible to defend against.

Despite the suddenness, Chu Fei was no ordinary man. As she lunged, he retreated rapidly, pulling Chen Yaxin with him. They managed to dodge the strike by a dozen meters, though Chu Fei’s face darkened further.

"Oh?"

The girl stopped, still a few meters away, her face showing a flicker of surprise.

Chu Fei felt the weight of the situation. The girl’s speed was unnatural, her movements as fluid and unpredictable as a snake. She was the most terrifying adversary of the night. He looked at the sea of writhing, multicolored snakes, his scalp tingling. The fact that she controlled them all was unfathomable.

His gaze settled on a withered tree trunk a few meters away. Coiled there was a black viper, about a meter long—the same one that had attacked him earlier alongside the tattooed man. It sat in a clear circle, a full meter in radius, where no other snake dared to tread.

"Black Dragon, it’s your turn," the girl said, turning to the snake.

The black snake seemed to possess intelligence; it turned its head toward her but did not move.

The girl frowned. She knew the snake was sentient. Although not as terrifying as the sect’s sacred relic, it had great potential. She had tolerated the tattooed man only because of this snake. She knew it was far more dangerous than he had ever been.

"Do you not want to avenge your master?" she prodded.

The black snake simply turned its head away, remaining motionless, though its eyes were filled with genuine, burning hatred. Its triangular eyes held faint, shimmering green specks that felt like they could pull a person’s soul into a chaotic abyss.

"Don’t look at its eyes!" Chu Fei warned Chen Yaxin, noticing her gaze drifting toward the serpent.

Chen Yaxin looked away, terrified. Perhaps due to the sheer intensity of the night, she was no longer paralyzed by fear, though she still trembled.

"Useless trash, just like your master," the girl hissed, biting her lip.

The black snake glanced at her and looked away again, as if in disdain.

"Fine—"

Enraged, the girl pulled out a short flute, no thicker than a chopstick, and began to play.

Following the shrill, mournful sound, the sea of snakes erupted into a frenzy. Thousands upon thousands of vipers surged toward Chu Fei and Chen Yaxin like a tidal wave.

Chu Fei’s expression changed, and a short dagger appeared in his hand.

*Swish, swish, swish...*

He hacked the leading snakes into pieces. The severed carcasses fell to the ground, still writhing, only to be swallowed by the mass of vipers behind them.

This was madness. Chu Fei had seen snakes before, but never so many, and never commanded like a military unit. Fortunately, these were common venomous snakes he could dispatch with ease. If they all possessed the strange power of the black viper, he would have been dead already.

*Swish—*

Amidst the chaos, the gold and silver snakes darted toward him, while the girl in the red dress charged in with lethal intent, knowing the common snakes were merely a distraction.

But then, a sudden change occurred.

*SCREECH—*

A霸气 (authoritative) cry pierced the night. A massive shape dove from the sky—a terrifyingly large, snow-white eagle. It slammed into the ground, its talons snatching up seven or eight snakes at once, tearing them apart with a single motion.

And that was only the beginning.

Following the giant eagle, a swarm of large birds—eagles and hawks of all colors—descended from the night sky. Dozens of them, like an aerial army, plunged into the writhing sea of snakes, blotting out the stars.

The girl in the red dress turned deathly pale. She halted her charge, retreated, and looked toward the edge of the forest, where a figure in green robes had appeared on a tree branch.