Chapter 117: The Witch in the Lake

Su Che stepped out of the underground hall, intending to leave. Yet as soon as he returned to the surface hall, one of the totems on the wall glowed faintly, and a mental wave pierced into Su Che’s mind…
“Another map?”
Lao He muttered, “What’s going on? Another map has appeared, with an arrow indicating the direction too.”
Su Che thought to himself, “I guessed it would give me new directions. Perhaps this is a trial that every sorcerer boy must go through, like some kind of initiation ritual.”
“Possible,” Lao He passed the map to Su Che.
Su Che examined it carefully. The map started from this temple, with an arc-shaped arrow circling around a large mountain ahead—there seemed to be a lake on that side.
“Lao He, connect these two maps. Maybe by the end, we’ll have explored the entire Xiao Mi Immortal Realm, thus obtaining a complete topographic map.”
Su Che was determined. “I must take this path. If it brings benefits, why not?”
But Lao He was worried. “I’m afraid it’s some kind of trial designed to make things increasingly difficult. Master, you might not be able to complete it.”
Su Che said nothing more. With his usual stubbornness, he followed the map’s directions and set off at a brisk pace.
The distance wasn’t far. At Su Che’s speed, it took just over a quarter of an hour to reach the lake. From afar, he saw a group of treasure hunters gathered on the other side—no less than thirty of them.
“So many people there. What have they discovered?” Su Che wondered curiously.
“Should we go take a look?” Lao He asked.
“No, no, no,” Su Che shook his head repeatedly. “If I go over there, what if ‘it’ gives another order to ‘kill them’? With so many people, I really wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
At that moment, people on the other side of the lake also noticed Su Che. They pointed at him from afar, unsure whether to signal him to come over or what…
Su Che pretended not to see them and carefully observed the surroundings, wondering why ‘it’ had sent him here. Could it really be to make him kill those thirty-plus people again?
By then, Lao He had made a discovery and immediately warned, “Master, there’s a building underwater—quite large!”
“That’s it!” Su Che realized. “The reason ‘it’ sent me here must be related to that building underwater.”

Su Che once again demonstrated his decisive nature—acting on impulse without hesitation. With a splash, he dived into the lake and swam toward the deepest part at its center. On the opposite shore, someone immediately said to their companion, “Look, someone jumped in! What boldness!” His companion sneered, “Acting so recklessly is just seeking death.” A few others nodded in agreement, all thinking Su Che’s behavior was extremely foolish and that he would be among the first to die in the Little Mi Immortal Realm. These thirty people had arrived here two hours ago and were now gathered in front of a stone tablet, discussing something in hushed voices. The tablet was only a little over three feet tall and was blocked by their bodies, so Su Che, who was far on the opposite shore, couldn’t see it. Moreover, the distance between the two shores exceeded a hundred zhang, making it impossible for Lao He to detect anything. The tablet was covered in dense inscriptions, not in the Witch Clan’s script but in the common script used in the cultivation world today. The inscriptions indicated that the tablet had been left by treasure hunters from hundreds of years ago, pointing out that there was a giant structure on the lake bottom filled with treasures. However, this structure was guarded by a monster with a human body and a snake tail, which had taken many lives. It warned latercomers to be cautious and never to dive in rashly if they weren’t sure. The person who left the inscription was indeed kind-hearted, but it was unknown whether this benevolent predecessor had left the Little Mi Immortal Realm safely… Thus, the thirty-plus treasure hunters gathered around the tablet, discussing how to dive in to retrieve the treasures and how to deal with the “human-bodied, snake-tailed” monster. They never expected that Su Che, a latercomer, would dive in without joining them, leaving them no choice but to label him reckless. Although Su Che didn’t know what kind of monster awaited him in the lake, he could guess that he would face some danger once underwater. Surely, if there were no danger, “it” wouldn’t have forced him to do it. After swimming dozens of zhang, he saw a giant structure at the center of the lake bottom. Rather than calling it a building, it was more like a complete complex—with courtyard walls, gardens, rockeries, bridges, several rows of houses, and even a three-story main building… It must have been built millions of years ago, yet it remained intact, with even the exquisite carvings on the courtyard walls still clearly visible. What did this imply?

Su Che realized that, judging from its exquisitely crafted style, it could definitely not be a building built by the Witch Clan. After all, the Witch Clan paid no attention to such delicacy; they preferred simplicity and ruggedness. This meant it must be a masterpiece created by ancient cultivators.

Moreover, such a mansion had remained intact for millions of years submerged in water—could this not imply that it was itself a high-grade magical artifact, what cultivators often referred to as a “celestial residence”?

The concept of celestial residences had long disappeared from the cultivation world today; no one could craft such advanced objects anymore. Legend said that high-grade celestial residences could not only be shrunk to a pocket-sized form for portability but also combined defensive and flying magical artifacts, allowing one to live comfortably in their own home while freely soaring across the land.

However, even if this courtyard was indeed a true celestial residence, Su Che didn’t have the ability to claim it. As the books stated, controlling and acquiring such things required the true energy of at least the Yuan Ying stage, while Su Che currently only possessed a faint amount of true energy.

Still, he had to go in and take a look—perhaps there would be other treasures inside the celestial residence.

Su Che swam straight toward the three-story main building in the courtyard. When he was about twenty zhang away, he noticed that the entire courtyard was enclosed within a huge semi-circular energy barrier. Through this barrier, there was no longer any water inside.

Swimming up to the barrier, Su Che tentatively touched it. His palm passed through effortlessly, yet not a single drop of water could penetrate this thin barrier.

Of course, this was nothing unusual for cultivators. Carrying a water-repelling pearl could also achieve similar results. However, the barriers created by low-grade water-repelling pearls could only enclose one person and couldn’t reach such a large scale.

Huh!

Su Che passed through the barrier, and gravity suddenly changed. He quickly used a lightness technique to land gently in the courtyard where the three-story main building stood.

The courtyard was exceptionally tidy. The crystal-clear white jade slabs beneath his feet were spotless, cleaner even than ordinary tables.

Before Su Che could take another step, with a creak, a window on the second floor suddenly opened, revealing a stunning face before his eyes.

A beautiful woman stood by the window, draped in a light veil. Her curvaceous figure was faintly visible through the black veil, sparking endless imagination.

This woman was truly extremely beautiful. Su Che thought that among all the women he had ever seen, in terms of facial features alone, none could surpass her.

“Of course, no one can surpass her,” the old black man said in a strange tone. “Master, she’s not even human—she’s a snake demon. Good heavens, didn’t you see her tail hidden under the window? It’s over thirty feet long… My little tail can’t compare to hers at all.”
“A snake demon?”
Su Che’s heart skipped a beat as he asked in confusion, “How could a snake demon exist in the Little Mi Immortal Realm? For the Witch Clan, humans, demons, and monsters are all their enemies—they should all be treated equally.”
Just as he was thinking, he heard the snake woman speak in a gentle, melodious voice. Unfortunately, her words were incomprehensible to Su Che.
“What did you say?” Su Che asked, tilting his head. “I don’t understand.”
“Huh?”
The snake woman looked surprised before switching to human language, “You’re clearly a young man from the Witch Clan. Why are you speaking human language?”
Su Che was constantly surrounded by the energy of Black Stone Clear Flow. He hadn’t expected her to think of him as a Witch Clan member as well.
So, Su Che explained, “I do have Witch Clan blood, but there are no Witch Clan members left these days. I grew up in the human world and only know human language.”
“No wonder, no wonder.”
The snake woman murmured softly before repeating her earlier words in human language, “Young man of the Witch Clan, have you come to take my life?”
“What?”
Su Che was stunned for a moment. Since he hadn’t received any instructions from the sacred land’s protective forces, he didn’t know why he was here.
“Don’t you know?”
The snake woman smiled bitterly, her beautiful face haunting. “I know my fate. One day, I will be killed by the Witch Clan. Your arrival means that day has come.”
After thinking for a while, Su Che asked tentatively, “If I kill you, will you resist?”
“Of course!”
The snake woman’s expression turned cold, and her voice rose. “You’ve trapped me here for over a thousand years. I naturally hate you Witch Clan to the bone. Even if I can’t defy fate, I will still…”
At that moment, she let out a scream of pain and terror, as if some invisible force had cut her off mid-sentence, preventing her from continuing.
It was then that the delayed mental impulse reached Su Che’s mind: “Kill her, kill her, kill her, kill her, kill her…”
Another endless repetition, another endless nagging.

Su Che was extremely annoyed by it and boldly shouted to the sky, “I know, I know! Isn’t it just about killing her? I get it!” His mind immediately became calm, and those mental fluctuations indeed stopped. In the Immortal Prison, Lao He muttered under his breath, “I guessed it. It’s not only stupid but also stubborn. Master, you don’t need to be too polite with it.” Though he said that, Su Che certainly wouldn’t dare risk his life by showing disrespect to ‘it’. Hearing Su Che’s shout, the snake woman’s eyes turned fierce—or rather, she showed a will to resist, unwilling to yield. “Even if I’m to die at his hands, I’ll do my best to make him pay a price too!” At this moment, Lao He sighed and said, “But, Master, you agreed too quickly. You don’t realize how powerful this snake woman is. You won’t be able to kill her. You’d better think about how to save your own life…”