I took out the half bag of realgar from LuoQiong's bag, and there were still some scattered on the ground. The black snakes dared not come over, only swimming back and forth, apparently eyeing the three of us.
"Fat man, how long do you need here?"
I asked without turning around.
"It will take at least five or six minutes!"
"Give me a precise time!"
"Five minutes, help me stall for five minutes!"
"Okay!" I nodded and turned back to LuoQiong, "Count for me, we need to stall for five minutes."
The fierce wind continued to blow, and the realgar powder that LuoQiong had scattered on the ground was quickly dissipating. Several large snakes kept approaching, and the realgar powder on the ground divided the world between us and them, but under the fierce wind, the realgar powder had already been blown away, and it would probably disappear completely soon.
"Hiss..."
The large snakes kept moving, LuoQiong held a iron rod behind him, and was now counting down. At this moment, another strong wind whistled past, and a large gap appeared on our right side. The snake closest to the gap immediately pounced, trying to rush in through the gap.
"Be careful!"
LuoQiong shouted, and I quickly sprinkled some realgar. The yellow-red powder fell from the air and spread on the body of the large snake. The large snake trembled slightly, then spasmed and quickly retreated, twisting its body as if trying to wipe off the realgar powder on its surface.
I slowly stood up and walked forward, sprinkling realgar powder as I went. A few black snakes screamed and retreated, but they still didn't give up attacking us.
I could hear continuous loud noises behind me, obviously Ling Jiong and the others had already engaged with the monster. This also meant that the ambushed snakes around could possibly move around and the longer we stalled, the more poisonous snakes might gather in front of us.
"It's been two minutes already!"
LuoQiong shouted, but in my heart, I was thinking, why does it feel like it's been such a long time? Just casually reading a newspaper, five minutes would pass unnoticed, but now time feels so long?
My bad premonition was getting stronger, and it soon started to manifest. Distorted figures were appearing in the darkness, the sounds of snakes hissing were getting louder, and the number of snakes crawling here was only increasing. Panic flashed through my mind!
"Can we stall for over 5 minutes?"
I thought with no confidence, as if facing an exam paper I had never studied for. But luckily, I still had realgar in my hand, and the air was filled with a stimulating smell, which was our fundamental survival tool!
"Three minutes have passed!"
Luoyong shouted, there were still two minutes left, that is 120 seconds, my eyes were fixed on the snake on the ground, but my heart also began to count down on its own.
"Hiss..."
Suddenly, there came a different sound from the front of the woods, unlike the cries of all the other black snakes. I squinted and looked over, a giant black snake slowly crawled out of the woods, its body several times larger than the surrounding venomous snakes, with rock-like skin and a slightly protruding horn on top of its head.
"Why is it not dead yet?"
The giant snake in front of me looked almost the same as the one I had killed, with a body over three meters long and those evil green eyes that moved in the darkness. It was almost identical to the former, but how could the dead snake come back to life?
Could it be that such a terrifying giant black snake is not just one?
A dreadful idea popped into my mind, then there were similar sounds from the left and right. I nervously looked around, and there were two more large snakes quickly crawling towards us.
Three! Such terrifying black snakes suddenly came in a group of three?
"One more minute."
Luoyong shouted, the last minute, but even if Fatty can summon a spirit, can we dash out? It's not that I don't trust Fatty, but the current situation is just too critical!
Three huge snakes surrounded us from the front, and we couldn't possibly run back. The monsters in front of the old temple could easily kill the three of us. At this moment, I have to say, the three of us are completely driven into a corner.
"Hiss..."
When the three large snakes appeared, the other black snakes immediately backed away. They lingered around before the realgar powder, apparently also repelled by its pungent smell. I grabbed another handful of it and sprinkled it, forcing back the three large snakes.
"The time's up! Five minutes are up!"
Luoyong shouted loudly. I felt relieved, and turned to look at Fatty. He was facing away from us, but did not turn around when the five minutes were up. I asked in surprise, "Fatty, is it done?"
He suddenly turned his head, his face in a mess with layers of red and blue, looking quite ridiculous.
"No, I didn't summon it..."
He said softly, Luoyong still a bit bewildered, but my heart had already cooled a lot. This son of a bitch dropped the ball at a critical moment!
"Why didn’t you summon it? Didn't you guarantee it?" I wanted to kick him, just now we had pinned all our hopes on him. But now, we have no more chances, with the strong wind, the realgar on the ground will eventually be blown away and when the snakes attack, we won't be able to get out alive.
"I'll summon it again, give me five more minutes, it will work this time!"
Fatty sat cross-legged, there's nothing for him to do in this situation, I could only help him delay for another five minutes.
Sitting with his legs barely together, Fatty sat with his back to me, his right index finger and middle finger extended, his left palm supporting his right wrist, chanting in his mouth.
"I am an outer-disciple of Zhengyi faction, Cui Zhen, respectfully asking the Patriarch to bestow magical power, to help me through this difficult situation..."
He kept muttering constantly, with three incense sticks in front of him. The last time he invited the spirit, the incense in front of him didn't show any reaction. But this time, it seems different!
The three lit incense sticks suddenly burned rapidly, emitting a large amount of green smoke. Incense is a form of offering, and if it burns quickly, it indicates that the one being invoked is about to appear. The fat man, who had his eyes closed at the moment, could not see this scene, but his complexion was getting better, even though his face was painted with messy makeup. Still, one could see that his face was gradually reddening. Then, a faint green light descended from the sky, but I couldn't see clearly; the light flashed and vanished.
"The realgar is almost gone, dammit!"
I cursed, as the bag of realgar was down to the last bit. The snake group outside was increasing, and three large black snakes coldly stared at us, seeing us only as their prey.
But at this moment, a hand gently placed on my body. Subconsciously looking back, I saw the fat man standing solemnly behind me, with a completely different aura from before. At such a close distance, I could clearly feel that there was a particularly strong energy circulating inside him. His serious face was completely different from the playful fat man of the past.
"It's done!"
I knew that the fat man had succeeded this time.
He nodded at me, but didn't speak, because speaking would release the breath from his mouth, causing the invoked spirit to leave. He quickly walked out, and Luoqiong, unaware of the fat man's transformation, kept shouting, "Cuige, don't go out, there are snakes!"
But I smiled and said, "Just watch, the fat man rarely shows his might!"
The fat man, who was over 1.8 meters tall and weighed over 200 kilograms, at that moment, gave the impression of a moving titan from behind.
When he stepped out of the vicinity of the realgar, three large black snakes suddenly lunged at him, biting his ankle and wrist.
"Why isn't he dodging?"
Luoqiong asked anxiously.
"Xiao Luo, the fat man has a spirit invoked in him now, it's a divine technique. This technique is widely promoted by Maoshan, and the fat man has just begun to learn it. After the spirit is invoked, the body becomes indestructible and immensely powerful. But it all depends on one's breath; he can't breathe, and once he does, the divine technique will naturally disappear."
Luoqiong only half understood my explanation, but saw the fat man at that moment reach out his arms and grab a black snake in each hand, then pulled with force, breaking off a piece of the fangs of the two large snakes. The three-meter-long snake bodies were flung into the air.
"Bang!"
The fat man pressed down with his arms, and the heads of the two large snakes slammed heavily into the ground.
"Amazing!"
Luoqiong exclaimed in astonishment.
The fat man stepped on one of the large snakes, then fiercely pulled up with his arm, and the resilient snake body was instantly broken into two sections. In front of the fat man possessed by the invoked spirit, this kind of large black snake, similar to an earth demon, couldn't last five seconds!