After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 64

Chapter 64: The Crossing of the Jiao

Jiang Huaiyi felt she was acting a bit like a “fox borrowing the tiger’s terror.” If it weren’t for the steady, unwavering gaze from Shen Wensi, she wouldn’t have had the nerve to speak such bold, almost theatrical threats.

But the girl below couldn’t wait another second. Hanging upside down for that long was a death sentence.

Finally, whether out of a genuine fear of death or a desperate need to save what little remained of the old man’s dignity, the crowd moved. They began to turn the winch, hauling the girl up. These “Dragon Hunters” mostly had more money than sense; they weren’t desperate outlaws, and they certainly didn’t want to die in the middle of nowhere. When a conflict leaves no room for retreat, even the most stubborn people become compliant.

When the strong side offers reason, the weak side had better listen otherwise, they lose their bargaining chips and risk inciting wrath. Right now, Jiang Huaiyi’s group held the power. Despite being outnumbered, they held the gun, and the freezing wind seemed to have finally cleared the “fog” from the veterans’ heads.

Jiang Huaiyi breathed a sigh of relief as the girl was pulled onto the deck. She was unconscious, her face a terrifying shade of crimson from the blood rushing to her head, her skin icy to the touch.

Mu Ze stepped forward and picked her up. The girl was so thin that Mu Ze carried her with ease. Jiang Huaiyi checked her pulse it was thready but there. Her forehead was burning; she was likely suffering from a severe fever.

The group retreated to a long, sheltered corridor at the back of the deck to gain some distance. Wary of the shotgun, no one dared to follow or interfere. They wrapped the girl in a thin blanket and managed to get a fever reducer down her throat.

The Secret in the River

While the others kept watch over the girl, Jiang Huaiyi returned to the edge with her binoculars. This was the prime observation point—the place where the “Dragon” was said to be most active.

Instead of looking into the distance like everyone else, Jiang Huaiyi aimed her binoculars straight down at the water. The river here was crystal clear, like mountain spring water, but it was deceptively deep.

Through the high-powered lens, she could see massive boulders on the riverbed and the darting shadows of black fish. Occasionally, sunlight would catch a scale, sending a glint of light back up to her.

Shen Wensi leaned in close, her voice a soft murmur. “What do you see?”

Jiang Huaiyi, looking grim, handed her the binoculars and pointed toward a patch of dense aquatic weeds. “Look down there. It looks like a massive piece of snake skin.”

Shen Wensi took the binoculars, her long, elegant fingers wrapping around the device in a way that Jiang Huaiyi found distractingly graceful. Under the surface, a translucent, shimmering skin swayed with the current. Based on the distance, the skin was at least two meters wide, its length stretching beyond their field of vision. It was almost invisible, blending perfectly with the water.

Jiang Huaiyi thought of the snake-like lampstand in her bag. Who would design a ‘Dragon-seeking’ tool to look like a snake? She recalled the two small protrusions on the lampstand’s head.

“Have you considered,” Shen Wensi whispered, her breath warm against Jiang Huaiyi’s ear, “that the ‘Dragon’ here might not actually be a dragon?”

Jiang Huaiyi blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Look at the scale of that skin,” Shen Wensi explained calmly. “Given its size, we should be able to see limbs or claws. But this skin seems… incomplete. It’s just a tube.”

“Maybe the skin on the claws didn’t stay intact?” Jiang Huaiyi suggested.

Shen Wensi shook her head. Usually, when a serpent molts, it uses friction to peel the skin off in one piece. Does molting in water provide more friction? Jiang Huaiyi wondered, trying to apply logic to a supernatural event.

The Human Sacrifice

By late afternoon, the river remained calm. The sun was dipping toward the horizon. Jiang Huaiyi felt anxious; they couldn’t stay here after dark. The other teams might seek revenge, and the memory of the bear attack was still fresh.

The only good news was that the little girl had woken up. She didn’t speak, her eyes darting around with deep suspicion, but she was alive. They decided to take her with them and find a reputable orphanage once they were out of the mountains.

The group began to pack, preparing to descend while there was still light. Their departure drew mocking looks from the veterans on the deck those people seemed to have “forgotten the pain” once the gun was tucked away.

But as they stepped off the wooden deck onto the soil, a blood-curdling shriek rang out behind them.

It was followed by a massive splash.

They spun around. The crowd on the deck had converged at the spot where the girl had been hanging. Through her binoculars, Jiang Huaiyi saw a figure bobbing in the turbulent water: it was the white-haired old man Chu Lianxue had stabbed earlier.

He was struggling frantically, swallowing mouthfuls of water. None of his teammates moved to help. In fact, an argument had broken out on the deck.

“Are you crazy? Why did you push him?” one man shouted.

“Stop acting,” a middle-aged man sneered back. “You wanted to see what would happen just as much as I did. If you wanted to stop me, you would have moved sooner. Don’t play the saint now; you didn’t even throw him a rope.”

They had replaced the girl with one of their own. A human sacrifice to force the Dragon’s hand.

The Arrival

Suddenly, a cry went up from the crowd. “Look! Over there! What is that?”

In the distance, a massive, black, serpentine shape was cutting through the water toward them at incredible speed. In the fading sunlight, its black scales shimmered with an iridescent, oily glow.

It was too fast for binoculars. The creature reached the deck in seconds. It was impossibly large thicker than the ancient trees surrounding them. Standing before it, a human felt like a mere insect.

It had vertical blue pupils, and its body lines were fluid and powerful, like a black king snake magnified a thousand times. But the most striking feature was its head: two sharp, antler-like protrusions.

The realization hit everyone at once. This wasn’t a dragon.

It was a Jiao a powerful serpent on the verge of transformation, and it was here for its “meal.”

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