After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 74

Chapter 74: The Underwater World

Jiang Huaiyi’s mind immediately flashed to scenes from Nature Channel documentaries giant pythons swallowing their prey whole. The Jiao behind them was far larger than any python; devouring them would be as easy as flipping a hand. It wouldn’t even need to constrict them. One bite, and they would be gone.

She ran until her lungs burned. Why had the creature’s aura shifted so drastically the moment they arrived here? As the thought crossed her mind, a realization snapped into place like a breaking string.

She reached behind her and grabbed the lampstand, tearing off its cloth cover in one violent motion. The artifact was the same as before its tiny scales flared open like serrated blades but the ruby eyes, though glittering, seemed to have lost their inner light. The “throat” of the snake-head was a hollow, dark void. The spiritual energy that had previously pulsed from it was gone. It felt like a dead object, mundane and cold.

A sudden gale swept past them as the Jiao’s powerful trunk smashed through a stand of trees. The falling branches blocked their path. Behind them, the Jiao’s voice rose, sounding oily and sinister.

“Thank you for returning the source of my malice. Without it, I might never have broken through that seal.”

The voice was unrecognizable. The light, airy tone from before had been replaced by pure, concentrated spite. Yu Cheng slithered in front of them, but its previously dark eyes had turned a piercing, malevolent red—identical to the rubies on the lampstand.

“What do you mean?” Jiang Huaiyi asked, her heart tightening.

“My benefactors,” Yu Cheng hissed, “why run so fast?”

It was a nightmare version of the creature they had traveled with. Its scales were now jagged and flared, mimicking the “evil” design of the lampstand. Jiang Huaiyi instinctively grabbed Shen Wensi’s wrist and pulled her back, stepping in front to shield her. Shen Wensi didn’t speak; she merely watched the creature with narrowed, calculating eyes, her gaze occasionally flickering to the back of Huaiyi’s head.

Jiang Huaiyi’s hand was shaking, yet her grip on Shen Wensi remained firm and protective. “Why are you doing this? What are you?”

“I am Yu Cheng,” the creature tilted its head, a mocking gesture. “Or perhaps you can call me by my other name: Yu Sui (Jade Fragment).”

It made no move to strike. It possessed the absolute confidence of a predator that knows its prey has nowhere to go.

Dual Souls

As they stood their ground, the Jiao’s eyes began to flicker like a malfunctioning film reel—switching rapidly between black and red. It remained frozen for nearly thirty seconds, as if two souls were warring for control of the massive body.

Finally, the flickering stopped. The eyes remained a steady, blood red.

Jiang Huaiyi understood. Without external help, the “good” soul of Yu Cheng stood no chance against the “evil” soul of Yu Sui. It was a rare case of dual-souls inhabiting one body, fused yet distinct. In humans, this would be called possession or a split personality; in a spiritual beast of this magnitude, it was catastrophic.

“To repay you,” Yu Sui hissed, “I shall grant you the mercy of being eaten. I can sense it… you will be delicious.”

Before it could lunge, Jiang Huaiyi acted. She whipped out a talisman and slapped it directly onto the Jiao’s brow. She had hesitated before, fearing to harm a spiritual beast that had cultivated for centuries, but with their lives on the line, she had no choice.

Thunder descended. A bolt of pure, silver-purple lightning struck the Jiao with surgical precision, avoiding the surrounding trees. The creature’s head slammed into the dirt, its body seizing as the holy electricity coursed through it.

Jiang Huaiyi dragged Shen Wensi back as more bolts rained down. Facing such raw power twice in twenty-four hours was enough to turn anyone’s nerves to stone. Huaiyi gasped for air, her heart pounding. “How are you so calm?” she asked Shen Wensi.

Shen Wensi shrugged. “You’re too capable. You didn’t even give me a chance to step in.”

“Are you even human?” Huaiyi muttered under her breath, though she didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Yu Sui lay prostrate, smoke rising from its scales. Spiritual beings often face “Tribulations” of lightning when they attempt to transform into dragons; the talisman had likely triggered a premature, miniature version of that judgment.

Into the Deep

They didn’t stay to see if it would wake. Jiang Huaiyi spotted the weasel they had dropped earlier. It was groaning, trying to slink away.

“Don’t even think about it,” Huaiyi cold-eyed the creature before turning to Shen Wensi. “If the Jiao wakes up, the weasel will serve as a temporary distraction.”

They sprinted back to the Spiritual Spring. The path was easy to follow—the Jiao’s massive body had flattened the terrain into a literal highway.

At the edge of the steaming pool, Jiang Huaiyi prepared. She took a waterproof bag and fashioned a makeshift breathing apparatus that would give her about five minutes of air.

“Your body… can you handle it?” Shen Wensi asked, reaching for Huaiyi’s arm.

“I can. If I feel bad, I’ll come up immediately,” Huaiyi said firmly. “I know you want to go instead, but this is my mission. I want you to stay safe on the bank to pull me up.”

Shen Wensi fell silent, her hand tightening on the safety rope they tied around Huaiyi’s waist.

Jiang Huaiyi stripped down to her thermal layers and dove. The water was wonderfully warm, immediately soothing the chill of the mountain air. She clutched a heavy stone to overcome the buoyancy of her air bag and her waterproof goggles (actually mountain hiking goggles) provided a clear view.

As she sank, the sunlight from above turned into shimmering shafts of gold. The deeper she went, the more the silence of the underwater world pressed against her ears.

She held the silk paper in her hand. The moment she had entered the water, the text had vanished, leaving the page blank a sign that the quest’s requirements were met.

Her feet finally touched the bottom. It wasn’t mud or sand. Her toes met a flat, cold, and unnervingly smooth surface. She reached down to touch it.

Her eyes widened behind the goggles. The bottom of the “natural” spring was a massive, circular platform made of black stone an altar exactly like the one she had seen in the scroll.

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