Chapter 135: Enveloped in Black Qi

Lowering his gaze, he saw a fat man shaped like a leather ball laboriously crawling up the great serpent's tail.

"Damn it, you dead fatty are here again!"

Red Ling burst into a curse, completely abandoning her composure.

Over the past few days, this dead fatty had practically latched onto her, coming to harass her every other day. It was driving her mad. Although Red Ling beat him up mercilessly every single time, it had zero effect; instead, this masochist would wear an expression of pure enjoyment and become even more enthusiastic.

"Just in time, I'm in a foul mood anyway!"

Looking at the panting fatty who had crawled to her feet, Red Ling sneered, tightened her grip on her whip, and lashed viciously at that round body.

"Oh, oh! The goddess's whipping! Hit me harder!"

"Snap! Snap! Snap..."

The harsh, stinging sound echoed through the nearby space, causing the people riding atop the giant serpent to startle.

Kong Zhe looked at the merciless Red Ling and the ecstatic fatty in the distance, unable to keep his eyes from twitching.

It truly was Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai—one willing to inflict the blows and the other willing to endure them!

Beside him, Xiao Lei wore an expression of unbearable pity, burying her face in Kong Zhe's chest, covering her ears, and ignoring the cruel spectacle.

Not far away, Xue Feifei also furrowed her brow, hastily scooting a bit farther away and covering the sleeping Tuan Tuan's ears, as if afraid she might learn bad habits.

The sound of the whip only stopped a dozen minutes later. Red Ling held the whip in one hand and placed the other on her hip, panting slightly from the exertion.

Her voluptuous chest heaved violently, revealing a curve beneath her thin, tight-fitting clothes that would cause any man's blood to race.

Catching her breath, Red Ling frowned as she gazed at the figure on the ground.

At this moment, the fatty had fallen to the ground with stars spinning in his eyes, his entire body covered in blue and purple bruises. However, thanks to his thick layer of fat, he hadn't sustained any serious injuries. Even though he had passed out, a trail of drool still hung from the corner of his mouth, and a wretched expression remained plastered on his face.

Damn it, this fatty was simply too tough to beat!

Still, thanks to him, the lingering frustration deep in her heart had been swept completely clean.

Shaking her head, Red Ling swung her foot and unceremoniously kicked the fatty right off the giant serpent.

Retaining his silly, simpering expression, the fat man's plump body bounced a few times in the snow before finally coming to a halt.

Two days had passed since the group left Jinling University. Over the past two days, with the great serpent blazing the trail, they hadn't encountered any danger along the way.

Following closely behind Kong Zhe's group, Yang Fang was also leading several dozen students in their wake.

In the end, she had decided to leave. After her persuasion, only the thirty-odd students she mentored agreed to go with her. As for the rest, although some were tempted, the moment they approached the safety zone's protective barrier, their courage failed them.

After all, staying at the school meant they wouldn't face immediate danger, and with the large stockpile of food, they could live comfortably for at least a few months. Once they stepped outside, however, death could claim them at any second.

Yang Fang led her students, keeping a short distance behind the great serpent. Because Kong Zhe hunted along the way to level up, any magical beasts they encountered were casually dispatched by him. Combined with the terrifying aura of the giant serpent, miraculously, they hadn't run into any danger throughout the journey.

Even so, Yang Fang didn't dare to get too close to Kong Zhe, fearing she might provoke him. She could only trail hundreds of meters behind them.

With such a large group of people in tow, it was impossible for Kong Zhe's party not to notice. The fact that they hadn't driven them away could only mean tacit approval for them to follow.

"Look, they've stopped!"

Among Yang Fang's students, a young girl peered ahead and called out to alert the others.

"Alright, it looks like they're going to rest as well... You must all be tired, so take advantage of this opportunity to catch your breath."

"Yay!"

A cheer went off among the group of students. Disregarding the dirty ground, they collapsed and sat right where they were.

Although the great serpent's pace wasn't particularly fast, for ordinary people like them, keeping up through the snowy terrain was still a heavy burden, especially since the vast majority of the group consisted of young women.

By now, their legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

Yet, not a single person complained. They understood very well in their hearts that the only reason they were still alive was because the people ahead were clearing the path for them. Given the others' speed, they could have easily shaken them off and left long ago. The fact that they could still keep up, despite the fatigue, meant the people ahead were intentionally slowing down to look after them.

"That guy has a sharp tongue and claims he won't care about us, but it seems he's all bark and bite!"

Sitting on the ground, the girls immediately began to chatter and gossip.

"Exactly, exactly! I think he's much better than those cold-hearted bastards like Yu Qun. Nominally they were our teachers, but everything they did was purely for themselves. I heard several girls from Class Three were ruined by them."

"Ah? There's such a thing?"

"Yeah, that's right. I heard it too, and after those guys finished, they just tossed the poor girls a single piece of bread to dismiss them!"

"Gosh, when you compare people like that, the difference is just staggering."

Three women make a marketplace, and with so many young women gathered together, once they started gossiping, it seemed like it would never end.

"Yueyue, you're speaking up so much for the guy in front—could it be you've got a crush and want to marry him?"

"Ah? Wh-What are you saying? I, I..."

The girl who spoke was clearly still quite naive. Hearing her classmates tease her, her face flushed instantly. Completely unable to handle it, she stammered in a fluster right where she sat.

Fortunately, one of her close friends came to her rescue.

"Don't talk nonsense. Someone that powerful is way out of our league... But still, if our Teacher Yang made a move, she'd definitely have that guy head over heels!"

Yang Fang had been listening with a gentle smile to the students' gossip, never expecting the topic to suddenly shift onto herself.

Seeing all the students looking at her with mischievous smiles, Yang Fang couldn't help blushing. She then chuckled reproachfully, "You little imps, now you even dare to tease your teacher?"

"We're not teasing, Teacher Yang. You're still single, right?"

Unexpectedly, the girls turned unusually serious. One girl wearing glasses said, "Teacher Yang, I really think you should consider your life's big events. With conditions as good as yours—pretty and kind-hearted—you deserve to marry a good man. I think the guy in front is quite nice. At least he isn't hypocritical like Yu Qun."

"Right, right! Good men are hard to find these days, and powerful good men are even rarer. Now that you've run into one, Teacher Yang, you must seize the opportunity!"

The students chimed in one after another, talking until Yang Fang's face was burning red. In the end, she could only offer a helpless, bitter smile.

How could she not know what they were saying? She wasn't abnormal in body or mind. Under such immense pressure, no matter how strong her own abilities were, she was still a woman at heart, and naturally longed for something to lean on.

While finding a relatively strong man wouldn't be difficult given her appearance and background, she knew in her heart that the man up ahead would definitely never look twice at her.

Though their interactions had been few, in the way he looked at her, Yang Fang had never once seen a hint of romantic or physical desire.

This couldn't help but deal a blow to Yang Fang's ego. Was she really that lacking in charm?

Moreover, he had several women following right beside him, every single one of them superior to her. In particular, the frail girl who constantly shadowed him was breathtakingly beautiful, making even Yang Fang feel a sense of self-deprecation.

With a girl like that by his side, how could he possibly take a fancy to her?

Kong Zhe was entirely unaware of the girls' inner thoughts. At that moment, he was still intently studying the map in his hand.

Of course he knew about the group trailing behind him, but he didn't deliberately chase them away. He even had the great serpent slow its pace slightly along the way—partly to give the awakened ones in his own group time to level up, and partly to do these students a small favor.

While he didn't want to invite trouble, if someone was saved because of him, he wouldn't mind—provided it didn't compromise his own interests.

A moment later, Kong Zhe let out a long breath, finally lifting his gaze from the map to look at Xiao Lei beside him.

"What's wrong, Xiao Lei? You've been looking so worried since a while ago."

Hearing Kong Zhe's caring tone, Xiao Lei raised her head. Her face carried a look of perplexity, and deep within her eyes lurked a trace of anxiety.

Gathering her thoughts, Xiao Lei spoke with some hesitation, "Big Brother Kong Zhe, do, do you... um, feel any discomfort anywhere in your body?"

"Discomfort?"

Kong Zhe shook his head, not understanding what she meant. "No! Why do you ask?"

"Big Brother Kong Zhe, c-can't you see it?"

Xiao Lei blinked her large eyes, pointing at Kong Zhe's body. What she said next startled him greatly: "Your body is wrapped in a layer of black mist! Just like the one on Tuan Tuan. I thought you had fallen sick too..."

"Black... what? Black mist?"

Kong Zhe instinctively asked in return, but then realization dawned on him, and he spoke with even greater astonishment, "Wait, you said Tuan Tuan has it on her too?"

Naturally, Kong Zhe couldn't see any black mist on his own body, but he knew there was something special about Xiao Lei, so what she was seeing was likely not an illusion.

Furthermore, mentioning something ominous like black mist inevitably reminded him of the death prophecy he had received from divination the day before.

If Xiao Lei's good fortune allowed her to subconsciously sense a person's fortune and misfortune, then the fact that she could now clearly see black mist wrapped around his body... did that mean the Grim Reaper had already come for him?

It seemed he was truly in grave danger!