385 Unparalleled Prodigy! (1/2)

The group who was surrounded by the swarm of snakes was ecstatic, their eyes gazing hopefully in the direction where the flute's melody seemed to originate.

Had their savior finally arrived? Has an expert recluse come to save us?

This was their one and only hope of survival.

”Help!” Young Master Lan cried, tears streaming down his face. He did not look anything like the graceful young master of a wealthy home he actually was.

”Help, help!” The others regained their senses as well, crying aloud pathetically; the girls’ cries were especially shrill.

At this point where life and death hung in a balance, what was elegance? What was grace?

The melodious flute continued to play the unfamiliar tune. The crowd was delighted to see that the serpent king seemed to grow anxious upon hearing the sounds of the flute; it coiled into itself, although the remaining length was still tens of feet long.

The small snakes began to thrash in agitation.

The flute was approaching!

Everyone’s yearning eyes finally spotted a silhouette that was still a distance away. It was walking over from the other side of the field with a fife in between his lips, oblivious to the venomous snakes all around him.

The fife's notes rang and ricocheted in the forest while the snakes began to retreat. Those within the outer-most layer were already turning to leave as if a death threat was looming; it was as if they had collectively decided it wasn't the best idea to stay.

Swoosh, swoosh…

The group was weeping with joy as the venomous snakes left, beginning from the outermost layer followed by the inner layers that slithered away.

In the end, only the serpent king stubbornly remained, forming a huge coil to begin battling it out with this strange expert.

The crowd was relieved. It seemed there was some hope of survival after all.

Although the clothes of this expert looked quite tattered, they were clean. His age was unfathomable from his looks, but he could not be all that young. Someone who could contend with this serpent king must not have been able to do so without a certain number of cultivation years…

How could the age of such a matchless expert be figured out from his face?

The slightest of hints could betray the entire story; the image that this expert portrayed hinted at the long years he stayed in this forest!

Just as they were thinking of how they should ask for help and for the gigantic serpent king to leave, they were unprepared for what came next, which stunned them to insensibility.

The recluse of an expert walked to the front of the giant serpent king and roughly kicked a shiny scale while shouting, ”Rubbish! Bullying the weak and harming lives again! I see that you remember the food, but not the beating!”

The group’s eyes were about to shoot out from their sockets.

The serpent king that had coiled itself into combat position immediately collapsed and laid flat on the ground, retreating backward instead. It obviously wished to avoid further chastisement.

”Go away quickly!” Yun Yang, the unknown expert, hollered authoritatively, ”I shall debone you if I see you eat someone again!”

Hearing the words of dismissal, the serpent king was instantly gone, as if receiving the royal amnesty.

Finally, the shadow of death had left.

Seeing that the ominous fog of death had dissipated and the light of life shone brightly again, Young Master Lan and the other sixteen survivors collapsed at once as their high strung state was replaced with relief. They could only shudder, and words failed them utterly.

The unparalleled expert kept quiet for a bit after seeing the piles of bones and murmured, ”The only constant in life is change; life and death can come within the blink of an eye; I’ve come too late after all…”

Surviving the calamity, Young Master Lan, who was a descendant of a noble family recovered the elegance he was meant to own instantly. He stood up at once and took a step forward to kneel on the ground with all the courtesy he could muster. ”Thank you for your saving grace, senior! This junior is grateful and regrets the fact that he has nothing to give as compensation. Nothing can repay even one-tenth of a thousand of senior’s saving grace.”

The rest of the group seemed to have come alive with a start as they saw the scene and forced themselves up to kneel on the ground to thank the expert.

Yun Yang said faintly, ”There's no need for that. It’s only a casual favor. Return to where you’ve come from. It’s not good to linger here, leave quickly.”

Young Master Lan looked troubled and pleaded, ”I ask for senior’s kindness. A few of my friends here have been bitten by the venomous snakes. Their energy has been depleted and they can’t save themselves. Senior, please...”