Chapter Eighty-Five: The Thirty-Six Alien Tribes, The Serpent People!

Parting the concealing bushes, a sizeable pool came into view, its clear and graceful waters shimmering with light—a rare sight in the desolate expanse of the desert. At that moment, a woman was bathing in the pool, her upper body exposed and turned away from Lu Zhe and the old physician, so that neither man could see her front. She lifted a handful of water with her slender, jade-like hands, letting it cascade slowly over her body. Droplets glided over her delicate, supple waist before returning to the pool. The woman slowly turned her head, gazing at her own soft waist.

As she turned, Lu Zhe was startled: her beauty was bewitching, enchanting, her figure exquisite beyond compare. She was, indeed, a rare marvel.

Suddenly, a series of heavy, snorting breaths—like those of a bull—sounded in Lu Zhe’s ear. Without needing to look, Lu Zhe half-lowered his eyelids and glanced sideways, rolling his eyes at the old physician, who was already panting heavily.

The old man’s face was flushed, his eyes fixed intently on the woman, breath coming in ragged gasps—clearly, he was terribly excited.

Just as Lu Zhe was about to speak, a sharp, feminine cry rang out from ahead, “Who is peeping at me while I bathe?”

Lu Zhe’s heart leapt—this was bad! They’d been discovered.

Before he could react, a faint whistle split the air. Glancing sharply forward, he saw a gleaming silver sword flying straight at him. In the blink of an eye, it was less than three feet from his head.

The reflection of the sword flashed in Lu Zhe’s pupils. Just as it was about to pierce his skull, a white blur darted past, and the sword halted an inch from his brow, motionless.

Staring at the blade hovering before his forehead, Lu Zhe realized that another step forward would have spelled disaster. He collapsed onto the ground in fright, cold sweat beading on his forehead, trickling down his face and onto the earth.

The old physician had caught the flying sword between two fingers of his left hand, and with a deft twist, sent the blade whistling back the way it had come, its flight as fierce as when it was first thrown—perhaps even more so.

The woman clearly hadn’t expected the old man to intercept her sword and return it with such force. She quickly reached out, grasped the hilt, spun gracefully, and dissipated the remaining energy from the blade.

The old physician rose slowly, stepped from the bushes to the poolside, glanced at the woman who had hastily covered herself with clothing, and clapped his hands with a smile. “Excellent skill, miss.”

By now, the woman was fully dressed, standing on the opposite side of the pool. She eyed the old physician warily, occasionally casting sidelong glances at Lu Zhe, who still sat helplessly on the ground.

Withdrawing her gaze, the woman scrutinized the old physician. Suddenly, she said coldly, “Who are you? How dare you spy on me while I bathe?”

The old physician smiled sheepishly, then offered a courteous bow. “We are but travelers passing through. The Boundless Desert is vast; we lost our way. The sun blazes overhead, and upon finding this oasis, we sought refuge from the heat. If we have offended you, miss, I ask your forgiveness.”

Her brows furrowed, clearly unimpressed by his explanation. After a moment, she asked icily, “Are you humans?”

The old physician was about to reply, but then paused, his expression darkening. His tone grew chilly. “And by that, you mean…?” His gaze sharpened. “Are you not human, then?”

Her brows lifted at his words, clearly surprised he would raise such a question. Her already stern face grew colder, her eyes glinting with a dangerous light as she gripped her sword tighter.

Tension hung in the air, ready to snap.

Suddenly, the woman leveled her sword, pushed off with one foot, and shot toward the old physician like an arrow loosed from the bow—so swiftly she seemed a streak of lightning.

The old physician’s face turned icy as the sword thrust at him. He sidestepped the blade, then deftly caught her sword arm with both hands, slipped under her arm, placed his right hand on her shoulder, and kicked her leg out from under her. She dropped to one knee, and he seized the opportunity to crouch, freeing his left hand to grip her throat. With a twist of her right arm, he forced her to release her sword, which clattered to the ground.

All of this happened in the span of a heartbeat. By the time Lu Zhe recovered his senses, the old physician had already subdued the woman.

“Such skill!” she spat coldly, immobilized. “You are no ordinary man.”

The old physician smiled faintly and whispered by her ear, “Just a simple trick, hardly worth mentioning. Forgive the display.”

Then, as if remembering something, he lifted the woman from the ground, twisted her right arm behind her back, and released her throat with his left hand. He swiftly removed her clothing, exposing her waist. Lu Zhe stared, dumbstruck—had the old physician’s lechery truly reached this level?

Yet the sight that met his eyes left him even more stunned: the skin at the woman’s waist on both sides was green—a vivid, emerald hue that extended to her hips and down the sides of her thighs. It was bizarre, and from their earlier distance, this anomaly had escaped his notice.

The old physician’s brow furrowed as he studied the green skin. Then, as if understanding at last, he smiled at the woman—whose face was now flushed with anger and embarrassment from having her clothing removed—and said, “So, we’ve encountered one of the Thirty-six Strange Tribes of Shenya—the Serpent People. What good fortune.”

He gazed into her furious eyes and continued, “Just as I thought, your pupils are inverted triangles.”

Both Lu Zhe and the captive woman were startled, though for different reasons. Lu Zhe was baffled by the mention of the Thirty-six Strange Tribes of Shenya, while the woman was likely shocked that the old man recognized her as one of the Serpent People.

Lu Zhe quickly got to his feet and approached the woman, closely examining the green skin on her abdomen. He even reached out to touch it, finding it astonishingly smooth.

The old physician glanced at Lu Zhe and said, “Well, it seems we have a destination now.”

Lu Zhe looked up in confusion. “Where?”

The old physician gestured toward the woman. “To her tribe, of course.”