My Ability Pool is Superior-Chapter 134 - 133: The Strange Village

Alone in the deep mountains and forests, encountering a coiled Black-Scaled Great Serpent, it’s a scene that sends shivers down one’s spine.

Not to mention the odd look in the serpent’s eyes.

Lv Bai gazed at it thoughtfully, the whispers inexplicably echoing in his ears seemed unlikely to be a noise that ordinary animals could make.

Could it be this time... a Death Arena with a demonic background?

The serpent’s vertical pupils maintained a scrutinizing attitude.

Man and serpent stared at each other for a while, and finally, the Black-Scaled Great Serpent was the first to break the deadlock.

It began to move.

Crack~ Crack~

Its scales scraped against tree bark, the hefty snake body undulated along the trunk, pushing the parts above its neck to hang in the air gradually.

The serpent’s snout opened slightly, spitting out a long crimson forked tongue, seemingly assessing Lv Bai’s background.

The hanging serpent body extended over two meters before starting to slowly retract.

Seeing this, Lv Bai’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He did not relax, instead he heightened his vigilance.

Because the upper half of the serpent’s body was coiled like a spring, poised in preparation for a definite attack stance.

"Hold on."

Lv Bai called out tentatively.

Unexpectedly, whether out of reluctance to communicate or simply lack of understanding, once he spoke, the serpent lunged at him like lightning.

At this point, Lv Bai could not just surrender.

Instantly he shut off the surrounding light, enveloping the area in darkness, and simultaneously activated [Flash Time] to dodge the serpent’s strike.

Serpents mainly rely on scent and touch to perceive prey, vision is not absent, but generally not very good.

Of course, Lv Bai was aware of this fact.

So he wasn’t trying to completely block the serpent’s vision, but rather to confuse it.

Thanks to the existence of [Flash Time], accomplishing this was not difficult.

Hiss~

The serpent struck at empty air, maintaining its attack stance, recoiling back to the trunk, continually flicking its tongue to sense the environment.

Determining Lv Bai’s position, it shot toward him again.

However, this strike missed as well.

The Black-Scaled Great Serpent was finally stunned.

It couldn’t understand what was happening now, certain that it had indeed detected this human’s whereabouts, yet repeatedly missed.

Without any apparent dodging process, this puzzled the serpent greatly.

Could it be some kind of Nightmare Technique?

Seems to have some skills, no wonder he dares to venture into the forest alone.

"How about a chat?"

Hidden in the darkness, Lv Bai’s voice carried a hint of humor.

In the ears of the Black-Scaled Great Serpent, this clearly seemed to be fearlessness.

It suddenly whipped its tail towards the direction of Lv Bai’s voice.

What returned was merely the sound of something cutting through the air, having hit nothing substantial.

The final surprise attack missed, and the Black-Scaled Great Serpent decisively emitted a spray of deep green poison mist, retreating swiftly under its cover.

Given Lv Bai’s peculiar behavior, it truly couldn’t grasp his true nature.

Watching the serpent’s tail vanish completely into the vegetation, Lv Bai waved away the surrounding darkness.

He could clearly sense that the Black-Scaled Great Serpent possessed intelligence, but unfortunately, it had no desire to communicate.

He exhaled deeply: "Snake Demon?"

As soon as he spoke, dizziness hit him.

Fortunately, the sensation came swiftly and faded even faster.

He wasn’t sure if it was merely an illusion.

...

By the time he stepped out of the forest, it was already dusk.

Lv Bai gazed at the distant rising smoke, quickened his pace.

He was still quite befuddled about the situation in this world, so he might as well first find a local to ask.

He sped along the rural path for four or five kilometers, eventually reaching his destination... a small village.

Not the idyllic scenery imagined with interlinked pathways and the sound of chickens and dogs.

Instead, it was somewhat desolate.

The village consisted of about a hundred households, not large in scale.

A half-person-high wooden fence encircled run-down, low earthen houses, sparse stacks of hay dotted around.

Stone paths connecting the village occasionally showed puddles of water, wet and muddy.

Overall, there was a strong sense of decay.

It’s the kind of place officials seeing it would immediately start poverty alleviation efforts.

Maybe it was rare to see strangers, but Lv Bai stood at the village entrance and soon a few families opened their doors, their gaze toward Lv Bai curious yet wary.

Not long after, the men pushed their women and children back inside, shutting their doors in the process.

An elderly man, past his fifties, emerged under the people’s watchful eyes, shouting confidently: "May I ask what business brings you, young lad?"

Whether it be the patched-up coarse cloth on these villagers or the way they spoke, there was no trace of modernity.

Considering the principle of adapting to local customs, Lv Bai randomly cupped his hands: "Passing through your land, seeing it’s late, might I request lodging for the night."

At these words, the villagers began to discuss in hushed tones.

Some pointed at Lv Bai.

The village elder coughed twice, then inquired: "Might I ask whence young lad comes from?"

Lv Bai pointed toward the mountains behind him.

The atmosphere instantly cooled. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Cyan Ridge Forest?"

"There must be some issue here."

"Shush..."

Many villagers retreated in shock, slamming their doors shut.

The elder’s initial reaction was to hide too, but having already stepped out he could only awkwardly stand in place, unnaturally forcing a smile.

"Which house do you wish to stay in?"

Such a drastic change?

Lv Bai paused for a moment, then revealed a harmless smile.

"Do I pick?"

"Naturally, naturally."

Seeing this smile, the elder couldn’t help but shiver, his wrinkled face twisted as though caught between laughing and crying.

Squeak~

A door at the village’s entrance opened, and a dark-skinned little girl stepped out.

Her gaze toward Lv Bai was full of awe and fear, yet hospitably invited, "Please... Please come stay at our house."

Lv Bai glanced at her, then refocused his attention on the elder.

"Can I?"

"Of course, of course, then I’ll take my leave."

The elder, feeling absolved, turned away quickly.

The dark-skinned village girl opened the gate, trembling as she called out, "Come... please."

Lv Bai stepped forward immediately.

He guessed the villagers’ drastic attitude shift was probably because they took him for some non-human entity.

...

The room was very simple.

A wooden table for meals, a small wooden stool with a bit of polish, a corner fireplace now extinguished.

Further in, nothing to block the view, one could see the entire layout, a wooden water trough near the stove, above it hung a grayed towel.

In its simplicity, it held some ancient quality.

Yet none of this really captured Lv Bai’s attention, for all his focus was on the base of the wall.

It was a shrine-sized miniature structure.

At first glance, it seemed like a scaled-down replica of the entire house.

It even had an interior setup, as meticulously crafted as a miniature figurine.

Moreover, right in front of this microstructure, there was a porcelain bowl serving as an incense container, piled with incense ash and burnt sticks.