The Programmer Cultivator

Chapter 74: Chapter 72: Returning a Gift

Wenx Weichao was in dire straits, pursued by five Child Snakes at once.

Zhangg Xiu, beside himself with rage, seemed not to hear. His eyes were bloodshot and his fists glowed as he charged forward, mercilessly pummeling the mother snake.

”Go help him!”

Lu Ze shouted as he rushed over.

Zhangg Xiu still didn’t seem to register it. Lu Ze took a deep breath and roared, ”Zhangg Xiu!”

The enraged Zhangg Xiu finally snapped out of it and turned to help Wenx Weichao.

As he turned, a cold, clear voice rang out.

”Flying Knife Technique: Hundred Paths Lotus Blossom.”

Wenx Weichao tapped his toes lightly on the head of a snake attacking him and launched himself into the air. He flipped over, hanging upside down against the sky.

Countless Spiritual Energy Threads extended, connecting to the Flying Knives already embedded in the Snake Demon.

The Flying Knives trembled slightly before simultaneously pulling free from the snakes’ bodies and flying back.

Countless jets of blood spurted from the bodies of the five Child Snakes.

The returning Flying Knives enveloped Wenx Weichao, making him look like a hedgehog. After a brief pause, he began to spin rapidly.

A storm of daggers, like a rain of blades, shot out once more.

Having done all this, the upside-down Wenx Weichao fell from the sky, the whites of his eyes showing.

Zhangg Xiu’s legs tensed. He leaped into the air and caught Wenx Weichao in his arms, princess-style.

”Go on, keep going crazy. Why the hell are you minding me?”

Wenx Weichao said weakly, nestled in Zhangg Xiu’s arms against his chest.

”I...”

Before Zhangg Xiu could say anything, Wenx Weichao let out a final breath, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out completely.

It was as if he had held on with his last ounce of strength, fueled by sheer indignation, just to get those words out before fainting.

Zhangg Xiu landed. The auras of the five Child Snakes around them had grown feeble; finishing them off was now just a matter of time.

Meanwhile, Lu Ze brandished his twin staffs, locked in a fierce struggle with the mother snake.

A moment later, a vicious glint flashed in the mother snake’s eyes. The massive serpent’s tail struck again like a bolt of lightning.

”Again? You really think I’m afraid of you?!” Lu Ze said, his expression turning cold.

”Staff Technique: Prairie Fire!”

The long staffs in Lu Ze’s hands blurred, creating several afterimages that simultaneously slammed into the giant snake’s tail.

SQUELCH...

This time, it wasn’t the clang of metal on metal. The staffs struck the snake’s tail directly, shattering its scales and reducing it to a bloody pulp.

However, the immense force sent Lu Ze flying once more.

Prepared this time, he didn’t slam into the ground. Instead, he did several flips mid-air, and upon landing, carved a long furrow in the earth before coming to a stop right at the edge of the gorge.

”You beast. You may be treacherous, but it’s impossible for you to ambush me the same way twice,” Lu Ze said to the mother snake with a confident smile.

But in that instant, all the hair on his body suddenly stood on end.

Before he could even pinpoint the source of this sense of crisis, a massive tail shot out from the gorge, wrapped around the unprepared Lu Ze, and dragged him into the river below.

”Senior Brother!!!”

Zhangg Xiu, who had been watching the fight, let out an explosive roar. He abandoned the weakened Child Snakes and charged over, still carrying the unconscious Wenx Weichao on his back.

But the mother snake simply flicked its tail, blocking his path.

”Get the hell out of my way!!!”

”Fist Techniques: Hundred Battles Death!”

His muscles bulged in an instant. He threw a straight punch that slammed into the mother snake’s head, shattering its skull and plunging into its brain.

At the same time, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth; the Fist Skill was one that injured the user as well, a technique that cost five hundred to kill a thousand.

He ignored the mother snake and sped toward the edge of the gorge.

「In the gorge」

Underwater, Zhang Deming had been lying in ambush, waiting for his chance.

The moment Lu Ze turned his back to the gorge, he had lashed out with his snake tail, swiftly coiling around his target and dragging him into the water.

Lu Ze reacted almost instantly. Facing a life-or-death crisis, he unleashed an explosive torrent of Spiritual Power.

If it had been a genuine Shocking Water Snake at the Intermediate Apprentice level, he might have actually escaped.

But this was Zhang Deming, who wore the skin of a Shocking Water Snake but possessed the core of an Advanced Apprentice. Furthermore, the core of the snake’s tail was made of entwined Vines.

Thus, Lu Ze’s struggles were utterly futile.

Once in the water, the snake’s body constricted with rapidly increasing force, empowered by his Advanced Apprentice Cultivation and aided by the element of surprise.

The combination of factors was overwhelming. In a brief moment, Lu Ze’s sternum was crushed, his ribs snapped and pierced his internal organs, and compound fractures broke through his skin all over his body.

His bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets like ping-pong balls.

He choked on a few mouthfuls of water, twitched a few times, and died.

Still not feeling assured, Zhang Deming constricted again. Lu Ze’s body was torn in two.

’Hmph. At the Apprentice Stage, one is still mortal. In this state, I doubt even the Daluo Immortals could save him.’

’Senior Brother Lu, I did say we should exchange pleasantries. Consider this gift returned.

However, to avoid any potential investigations, I won’t be revealing myself to you. You can die a confused ghost.’

Zhang Deming thought silently as he looked at the corpse.

Just then, Zhangg Xiu leaped down into the gorge and landed by the river.

For a split second, he stared, stunned, at the two halves of Lu Ze’s body floating in the water.

Then, his eyes turned bloodshot and he charged at Zhang Deming.

Zhang Deming lifted his snake head, gave the man a cold glance, then immediately turned, plunged into the water, and vanished into the Qingshui River.

His eyes blood-red with fury, Zhangg Xiu carelessly tossed Wenx Weichao aside and charged madly after Zhang Deming.

But even without his Agility Technique, Zhang Deming’s current snake form alone was enough to easily lose his pursuer in the water.

Zhang Deming had no intention of tangling with him. With a few flicks of his tail, he disappeared down the river.

Zhangg Xiu pursued him relentlessly, heedless of his Spiritual Power consumption, until the gorge was far out of sight.

Suddenly, a snake tail shot out from the water. Caught completely off guard, Zhangg Xiu was ensnared.

The cold sensation brought a flicker of clarity to his blood-red eyes.

But it was too late. The immense force of the tail constricted around him. Already badly injured and having expended a massive amount of energy, Zhangg Xiu fell to the same trick. Zhang Deming crushed him into two pieces.

”Since you were so eager, I’ll let you be a pair,” Zhang Deming muttered, looking at the corpse.

He lifted his snake head and glanced back toward the distant gorge.

Then he turned and vanished completely into the river’s depths.

’If not for the numerous Cheng Family disciples on the bank, I would have actually killed them all.’

’But now that Lu Ze’s death can be perfectly passed off as an accident, it’s best not to complicate matters.’

Zhang Deming dove deep into the Qingshui River, not swimming upstream, but heading directly downstream.

Empowered by his Agility Technique, he swam for at least an hour.

At that speed, and moving with the current, even if the Cheng Family disciples did give chase, they wouldn’t catch up until nightfall.

Then, Zhang Deming steered the Shocking Water Snake to the riverbank, where it spat him out from its belly. He then canceled the Growth Technique.

The once-lifelike Shocking Water Snake instantly shriveled. Its head, which hadn’t been properly preserved, was already beginning to give off a faint stench.