Invincible Snake Emperor

The woman and the snake left the Snake King Temple. When Shu Yao appeared again, she was in a cozy little apartment.

A two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment—the love nest she had shared with her boyfriend.

A brilliantly glowing Gold and Silver Snake floated in the air, leisurely cruising through the space of less than a hundred square meters as if taking a stroll in a garden.

Ten minutes later, an unparalleled, regal aura surged from the snake’s body. ’Nothing,’ Tu Xiao’an realized after a moment. ’How can this be?’

He was in Shu Yao’s apartment, yet he couldn’t sense even the faintest trace of a snake’s presence. Even with his dominance ability activated, he’d found nothing.

’This doesn’t make any sense.’

’If an Awakened Snake had been here, it would have definitely left a lingering presence. But forget a snake’s presence—there wasn’t the slightest trace of any animal in the room at all.’

’Was my guess wrong?’

’Was it really just a strange dream she had? Was I getting carried away with these fantastical ideas?’

’Then how do I explain the Snake Embryo?’

This was awkward. Tu Xiao’an had been convinced that Shu Yao had been targeted by an Awakened Snake, which was why he’d had her bring him here.

But now that he was here, the reality was the complete opposite of what he’d imagined.

At that moment, Tu Xiao’an glanced at Shu Yao. It was as if she, too, were a first-time visitor to this apartment. She was tense from head to toe, filled with nervous apprehension.

She gazed around at the apartment’s layout and furnishings, tears streaming down her lovely cheeks. To her, this place was now both familiar and strange.

It was familiar because this apartment held the memories of every moment of her life for the past few years. It was strange because it was now empty, the person she shared it with gone. It felt like a lifetime ago.

The beautiful memories had become a cruel irony.

Tu Xiao’an watched Shu Yao cradle a photo frame. The picture showed a couple snuggled together in a sweet embrace. She seemed lost in the image, unable to tear her eyes away, a deeply buried memory surfacing in her gaze.

’What is she thinking? Is there something she hasn’t told me?’

Tu Xiao’an felt the trail had gone cold. He couldn’t find an answer to why she had a Snake Embryo.

’Let’s see what you’re thinking about right now.’

Tu Xiao’an’s Snake Gaze fixed on Shu Yao, and a powerful wave of Consciousness Power suddenly enveloped her head.

’System, show me the images of her current thoughts.’

Suddenly, an incredibly sweet scene appeared before Tu Xiao’an’s eyes. It was exactly what Shu Yao was reminiscing about.

”Honey, I love steak more than anything. I wish I could eat it every day.” In a steakhouse, a young couple sat across from each other. The girl speared a piece of steak with her fork, popped it into her mouth, and spoke with a contented smile.

The boy across from her, only about eighteen or nineteen himself, smiled back. ”I know you love steak, babe. Why else would you be working as a receptionist at a steakhouse, huh?”

The girl’s eyes crinkled as she nodded, then added smugly, ”Perks of the job. Plus, working at the steakhouse means I get fifty percent off.”

This was Shu Yao’s first job: cashier at a steakhouse.

The boy gave her a thumbs-up and vowed, ”My wife loves steak. So when I, your husband, make it big, I’ll open a steakhouse just for you. You’ll be the owner, and you can eat all the steak you want.”

A young couple in love, full of sweet promises and dreams.

”You said it, you know! Heehee... I’ll be waiting.” The girl’s smile was radiant, and she didn’t doubt his words for a second.

That was a memory from three or four years ago.

Then another scene materialized.

On a grassy lawn, a couple lay looking up at the brilliant night sky.

”Honey, can you let me have a turn? My legs are falling asleep from you using them as a pillow,” the girl complained.

The boy gazed contentedly at the starry sky. ”Be a good girl, babe. Just let your husband rest here for five more minutes.”

”You’re so annoying! How can you steal my signature move? Fine, but later I get to use you as a pillow for a whole hour.”

”Okay, okay. You can use me as a pillow for a lifetime.”

”Heehee... Then I’ll hold you to that for a lifetime! You can’t take it back.” The girl’s bell-like laughter echoed across the lawn.

The past was like smoke, and memories like dust. As Shu Yao recalled these moments, tears poured down her face.

When the final scene appeared, her body trembled violently, as if plunging into a nightmarish abyss.

The man, now older and more mature, pointed at her, his voice demanding, ”Why are there snakes in your stomach? What are you, a human or a Demon?”

The man’s eyes were filled with terror and fear as he stared at the woman before him with an incredibly complex expression.

”I don’t know! I don’t know how this could happen!”

All she could do was cry. And as she cried, the man turned and ran, leaving behind nothing but his decisive back. He couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t bear it.

He was just like her.

They had thought a little angel was on the way, but instead, she got a belly full of snakes. It was an unspeakable tragedy.

CRASH...

The photo frame fell to the floor with the sound of shattering glass. Shu Yao snapped back to reality. She fell to her knees before the Gold and Silver Snake, utterly devastated. ”Lord Snake King, I’m begging you!” she cried in anguish. ”Please, help me get rid of this Snake Embryo! I want to find my husband and explain to him... I’m not a Demon!”

She desperately wished this was all just a nightmare, that she could wake up and her peaceful life would be back to normal.

Tu Xiao’an quietly watched the suffering woman kneeling before him, unable to help feeling a pang of pity for her. The Snake Embryo had cruelly torn apart a couple who could have been on their way to the altar.

In fact, on their way here, Tu Xiao’an had asked Shu Yao about it. He learned that she had tried many ways to abort the Snake Embryo, but all had failed.

She had even gone so far as to drink pesticide, but it had no effect whatsoever.

It couldn’t kill the snakes inside her, and it couldn’t poison her either. The only option left was surgery—a C-section. To cut open her abdominal wall and uterus to remove the snakes.

But how could Shu Yao dare go to a hospital? Other people have C-sections to deliver a baby; she would be having one to remove snakes. It would be an unprecedented, world-shocking, horrifying event.

She would rather die than try that.

Tu Xiao’an had also been thinking about how to deal with her Snake Embryo. Through his internal inspection, he saw that the snakes in her belly were like a fetus, but they behaved more like living parasites.

Whether they could actually be born was a separate question. He feared that if this continued, it wasn’t impossible that the snakes would eventually devour her internal organs.

It was like a ticking time bomb inside her.

’Without surgery,’ he wondered, ’is it possible to lure the snakes out of her stomach?’

’That’s it! Since they’re snakes, if I use the Snake Race’s dominance ability, can I summon them out?’

’If that trick works, this will be simple.’

Originally, Tu Xiao’an had assumed Shu Yao had a run-in with an Awakened Snake Species. He had planned to deal with that Awakened Snake first before addressing her Snake Embryo.

But after coming to her apartment, all his theories had been overturned.

There was no trace of any snake, yet she was pregnant with a Snake Embryo for no apparent reason. It was bizarre. The whole affair was inexplicable and shrouded in mystery.

’Whatever,’ he decided. ’I’ll deal with the Snake Embryo first. For any woman, knowing you have a belly full of snakes must be terrifying torture, every second of every day.’

It was a fate worse than death.

”Get up,” Tu Xiao’an said to Shu Yao. ”I’m going to try and lure the snakes out of your stomach. But you need to be prepared. If this works, the snakes inside you will most likely crawl out of your mouth.”

The moment he said this, Shu Yao’s expression turned to one of pure terror. Her face went deathly pale, and she looked as if she was about to collapse.

Just the thought of such a scene was enough to send a chill down one’s spine. It was utterly horrifying.