162: Chapter 162 This person looks like a snake-man

As Xie Feng noticed the serpent men, the serpent men naturally also saw this odd group of humans.

They immediately raised their throwing spears, which flashed with bursts of green light.

Xie Feng grabbed Tu Ziguan's cuff, his mouth splitting all the way to his ears:

"Look, Tu Wu! A serpent man! Alive! Did you see that green light on the tips of those throwing spears? Serpent-man poison! Carotid toxin! You only need a tiny drop smeared on the blade, and once it breaks the skin, the target's entire body will be paralyzed within a few breaths. This is my first time seeing the real thing!"

The serpent men on the opposite side were momentarily stunned, then immediately put away their spears and began pulling a small pinch of black powder from the small leather pouches at their waists.

"And that powder! Look at the small leather pouches hanging from the waists of those serpent men in the back—that is definitely black lotus powder!"

Carotid toxin is a rather rare poison that causes the condition of the carotid artery to gradually deteriorate. This poison slowly erodes the victim's carotid artery, leading to massive internal bleeding and almost irreversible death.

Black lotus powder, on the other hand, is a baffling hallucinogen, also known as "The Pitch-Black Styx," used by the serpent men as a torture method to extract more information.

When ingested in very small amounts, black lotus powder is a mild psychedelic, with effects comparable to hallucinogenic mushrooms; however, when ingested in large doses, this drug turns a person into a raving, babbling idiot.

The serpent men holding throwing spears on the opposite side were all dumbfounded. What is wrong with this person? Is this person a serpent man compatriot who used some kind of transformation method?

Otherwise, how could a human become so incoherently excited after seeing them?

The leading serpent man gripped its throwing spear tighter, the muscles beneath its scales tightening slightly.

The Third Princess stepped forward from the side and kicked Xie Feng on the knee.

"Finish what you were saying before getting excited."

Xie Feng was kicked and staggered half a step forward, his excitement finally interrupted.

Looking up at the vigilant serpent men before him, he realized that this negotiation could still only rely on him.

Xie Feng rubbed his knee, took a deep breath, pressed the corners of his mouth back to a normal arc, and took a step forward.

He opened his mouth and switched to fluent, standard serpent-man language. His use of guttural and sibilant sounds was as natural as if he had grown up in a serpent-man settlement since childhood.

"By the Father of Serpents, Yig, your craftsmanship in refining poisoned spears is truly wonderful. Black lotus was extremely rare even during the famous Valusian era, and to think you still have a stockpile—it is simply extraordinary."

The leading serpent man leader lowered the throwing spear in its hand, its slit pupils sweeping back and forth across Xie Feng.

This person was practically a compatriot; to actually even know the yield of black lotus?!

They had never heard of a human—or rather, something that looked somewhat like a human—capable of praising their poisoned spear-refining craftsmanship so fluently in the serpent-man language, while also accurately stating the grinding time and tools for black lotus powder.

Black lotus powder was a core craftsmanship of the serpent-man race and was never leaked to outsiders. Being able to know the grinding time meant that this person had at least been exposed to the internal knowledge of the serpent-man race. For an outsider to obtain such knowledge, the most likely path was to have gained the approval of the Father of Serpents, Yig.

"What kind of person are you? Why do you know the grinding time of black lotus powder?"

Every syllable of the serpent-man language carried a hissing sound, which Xie Feng still found quite interesting to listen to.

"I am Xie Feng. These beside me are my companions. We harbor no ill intentions; we are simply passing through these ruins and looking for some supplies and intelligence."

"We won't take them for free; we will pay a reward."

"The grinding time of black lotus powder is your serpent-man race's craftsmanship. The reason I, an outsider, know it is because the Father of Serpents, Yig, is also revered in distant places, and I am someone who has studied this aspect."

Xie Feng lied effortlessly as soon as he opened his mouth.

How could researching it in a past life not be considered researching? How could a past life being so far away not be considered distant?

"If it's convenient, we'd like to enter the settlement to ask for a sip of water and incidentally ask some questions about this continent."

The serpent-man leader turned its head and hissed a few words to a slightly smaller serpent-man behind it. That serpent-man turned around and disappeared deep into the ruins.

After a while, it reappeared by the leader's side and nodded.

The serpent-man leader put its throwing spear aside.

"You may enter. But do not touch things randomly, especially do not touch the black lotus on the altar. That is offered to the Father of Serpents, and outsiders who touch it will pay with their lives."

Xie Feng hurriedly nodded in agreement, turned back to make a gesture at the others, and took the lead in stepping into the ruins.

None of the group could speak this serpent-man language, and they could only rely on Xie Feng, a patient with spring-outing syndrome, to communicate. Tu Ziguan couldn't help but feel worried about the gloomy future of the group.

The serpent-man settlement was built among several semi-collapsed stone halls deep in the ruins. The walls of those stone halls were carved with markings in both Voormis and serpent-man styles, overlapping and covering multiple eras.

This was also normal; after all, the Voormis were originally the slave race of the serpent men.

The serpent-man leader led Xie Feng and his group into the largest stone hall. Inside, a campfire burned brightly, and several elderly serpent men curled up beside the campfire, their slit pupils gleaming with a reptilian luster in the firelight.

The Third Princess and the others sat in a circle behind Xie Feng. Although they couldn't understand the serpent-man language, the serpent men had temporarily put down their throwing spears, which at least showed that the negotiations hadn't collapsed.

The serpent-man leader sat coiled opposite the campfire, its slit pupils sweeping back and forth across Xie Feng several times.

It laid its throwing spear horizontally across its knees, the green fluorescence of the spear tip dimming slightly under the campfire.

"Where did you come from? There is more than one deity's aura on your body. Many, very mixed."

Xie Feng held a bowl of meat soup handed over by a serpent man and replied in extremely fluent serpent-man language, his tone having completely calmed down from his previous excitement and agitation.

Of course, Xie Feng still had his wits about him; while drinking the soup, he used flames to evaporate it.

"We come from Jiuzhou. Jiuzhou is to the south of Hyperborea, separated by the Northern Barren Tundra; it is neither very close nor very far. This is my first time coming to Hyperborea, and I'm not very familiar with this place."

"We followed our previous Senior here to learn about things. Our Senior told us to go take a look at the Northern Cities, but we got lost and now don't quite know our bearings."

"The north can no longer be reached; there are only the worm's slaves there."

The serpent-man leader hissed a few words.

An elderly serpent man raised its slit pupils and thought for a moment. There was nothing much to hide about such matters, so it also began chatting with Xie Feng.

"The Northern Cities? You mean Mu-Thuran; it has fallen for a long time. The White Worm landed from the sea and crushed the entire city. There are no living people there now, only the White Worm and its minions."

"Coming from the south, you probably haven't seen that kind of thing. It's best not to go see it."

That being said, the Northern Cities are gone? Let me ask about something else.

Xie Feng's eyes rolled, and he began to inquire about the status of the other two cities.