Chapter 1556: Snake People

Volume Seven: Traversing the Human World — Volume Nine: The Hundred Races of the Spirit Realm

Despite its enormous size, the giant crab was surprisingly fast, charging to within seven or eight *zhang* of Han Li in a short moment. It was almost close enough to attack him with its two huge pincers after just one more lunge.

Han Li's eyes flashed with a sharp glint, his lower abdomen bulged slightly, and his lips moved as if he was about to spray something.

But just then, a piercing whistle ripped through the air, followed by a flash of silver light. An object shot from a distance, plunging into the giant crab's enormous body.

The crab's light blue, pointed shell armor seemed impenetrable, but as the silver light struck it, a dull thud sounded. The sharp carapace was forcefully pierced, and the object embedded itself in the shell.

A stream of green blood splattered out.

The silver light was, in fact, a silver trident about ten feet long. Its upper half was firmly embedded in the giant crab's back, with only the lower portion visible and swaying.

Wounded, the giant crab let out an earth-shattering shriek. Its charging body halted, then immediately changed direction and rushed towards the valley entrance. The previous attack hadn't caused significant damage to the behemoth; instead, it had merely enraged the monster, provoking its inherent ferocity.

Witnessing this development, Han Li was naturally startled and quickly turned his head to look towards the valley entrance as well.

At the valley entrance, he saw seven or eight—or perhaps a dozen—figures of varying heights standing there, having appeared at some unknown time. The upper halves of these figures showed both men and women, each holding glittering silver throwing weapons such as javelins and flying tridents. The men's sturdy arms were exposed, while the women wore tight, short-sleeved leather outfits. All of them exuded a fierce and powerful aura.

As Han Li's gaze swept over the lower halves of these figures, an expression of surprise immediately appeared on his face. From the waist down, these individuals did not have a pair of legs but rather snake bodies of varying thickness and color, some even adorned with faint, barely visible scales.

These were alien beings, a race he had seemingly never encountered or heard of before! Han Li immediately came to a conclusion in his heart.

Before he could ponder further, the giant crab had already charged close to the alien men and women. However, at a low shout from a large man who appeared to be their leader, the figures swiftly repositioned themselves, forming two orderly rows: six men in front, and seven women behind.

The large man let out another sharp cry, and instantly, those in the front row simultaneously hurled the silver spears they held with great force. Six silver lights flashed, all striking the giant crab's enormous body. However, they only penetrated halfway, failing to truly gravely injure the monster. Instead, with green blood flowing, it drove the giant crab into a complete frenzy. It opened its mouth and sprayed a mass of foul-smelling white foam from a distance.

Upon seeing the white foam, the leading man's expression changed slightly, and he quickly muttered a few words to himself, a hint of frustration in his tone. But with one hand, he reached behind his back and pulled out a grayish-white, flat, round stone tablet. Faint glowing light shimmered on it, making it appear somewhat unusual.

Without hesitation, the large man threw the object in his hand directly at the mass of white foam. The moment the stone tablet left his hand, it transformed into a ball of red light and shot out. Upon colliding with the white foam, it unleashed an earth-shattering explosion. A raging blaze engulfed the white foam, and moments later, both vanished into nothingness.

The giant crab, however, seized this opportunity to charge to a distance of over ten *zhang* from the alien beings. But at this moment, the six individuals in the first row suddenly split into two groups with continuous swaying motions, shooting out to the sides. Then, with a simultaneous flick of their wrists and a lean back, the giant crab, which had been aggressively charging, suddenly froze and temporarily halted in place.

Blue light flashed in Han Li's eyes! Only then did he clearly see six translucent threads, as thick as thumbs, connecting each person's wrist to the giant crab. These threads were pulled taut as the six alien individuals simultaneously exerted force with their single arms.

These six alien men clearly possessed extraordinary arm strength, but what caught Han Li's attention more was that each wore an earthy yellow wristguard, which shimmered with spiritual light on its surface, appearing to be a low-grade magic tool. Relying on their brute strength augmented by these wristguards, they managed to halt the giant crab's charge.

However, this pause lasted only an instant before the giant crab's two enormous pincers snapped out like lightning. Immediately, two dull thuds sounded as two of the six fine threads snapped, their ends as clean as if cut by a knife. This caused the two alien men, who had been desperately straining, to tumble backward. It seemed that after just a few more swings of its huge pincers, the crab would be completely free of its restraints.

But at this moment, the female alien beings in the second row perfectly timed their throws, launching their silver tridents. After a series of dull thuds, the giant crab let out a shrill shriek. Something glittering silver was simultaneously embedded in the joints of all seven of its walking legs, causing them to immediately buckle and bend. Only its last hind leg remained intact.

But it absolutely could not maintain its body balance.

With a colossal "boom," the giant crab's enormous body crashed to the ground, creating a crater several feet deep in the nearby grass. At this, the alien beings, who had previously appeared somewhat tense, immediately burst into cheers, as if victory was now certain.

The giant crab, having lost its ability to move, was indeed utterly powerless to fight back. The alien beings, regardless of gender, swarmed forward. From about ten *zhang* away, they collectively hurled the weapons slung on their backs towards the crab's various vital points. At such close range, and with the giant crab unable to rise, their attacks naturally found their mark without fail. In a short moment, the giant crab was pierced through by dozens of javelins and flying tridents, finally dying.

Han Li lay on the ground, watching all of this with a calm expression, though thoughts rapidly churned in his mind. Judging by the methods these alien beings used to kill the giant crab, and the weapons and low-grade magic tools they employed, they seemed to have some notable origin. However, if these were their only abilities, even in his current state, they couldn't pose any threat to him.

While these alien beings were agile, they didn't exude any spiritual energy, suggesting they weren't cultivators. Instead, they bore a resemblance to the body cultivators found among humans.

As Han Li pondered, the alien figures swiftly dismantled the giant crab. They meticulously separated and arranged all edible parts, such as crab meat and roe, into portions on the ground. Their methods were incredibly skilled, clearly indicating that killing monsters like this giant crab was not their first experience.

At this moment, a beautiful female alien being with a remarkably flexible waist suddenly walked with a few twists to stand beside the leading large man. She then pointed at Han Li, who was lying on the ground some distance away, and spoke in a pleasant voice. Her words sounded somewhat similar to human language, but upon closer listening, it was unclear what she meant, and it sounded somewhat muffled.

The large man had bronze-colored skin. Not only was he the tallest among all the alien beings, but he was also the only one whose lower body was a snake tail as black as ink. The lower halves of the others were either light green or light white, completely different from the large man's appearance.

Upon hearing the woman's words, the large man's sharp, shining gaze instantly swept towards Han Li, meeting Han Li's calm eyes. Seeing Han Li's eyes as calm as water, the large man's heart tightened. After glancing at Han Li's lower body, his face suddenly changed dramatically. He hastily said a few words to the woman, then hurried over.

Although the large man's lower half was a snake body, he moved incredibly fast. With just a couple of twists, he covered over ten *zhang*. In just a few breaths, he was standing before Han Li.

Han Li quietly watched the alien being before him, saying nothing. However, a careful observer would have noticed that his bulging lower abdomen had not returned to its normal state; it was still slightly distended. Of course, since this was the large man's first encounter with Han Li, he naturally wouldn't perceive this difference.

The large man paused in front of Han Li, then suddenly bowed, placing one arm across his chest, as if performing a respectful salute. At the same time, he spoke words that Han Li couldn't understand at all.

Han Li's lips twitched into a bitter smile. Even though he had learned almost all known alien languages of the human race during his time in Tianyuan City, the language spoken by the large man before him was clearly none of those he knew.

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li asked two questions in a language more commonly used on the Fengyuan Continent. However, the large man looked completely bewildered, clearly unable to understand. Frowning, he consecutively switched to several other alien languages. But the large man merely scratched his head with one arm, evidently still unable to comprehend.

Han Li sighed and said nothing more.

But at this moment, the large man carefully examined Han Li's current state, seemingly realizing that Han Li was unable to move. He suddenly turned his head and shouted a few words to the other alien beings. Immediately, four women among the alien beings put down what they were doing and swiftly ran over.

The large man solemnly gave a few instructions to the alien women. The women looked at Han Li with surprise, then immediately showed reverence. After these women also saluted Han Li, they surprisingly walked towards the only dozen large trees in the valley.

With a flash of silver light, several of the smaller trees were felled by the strange silver blades they held. The alien women waved the silver blades in their hands, and in a short moment, they used the felled trees and some animal hides they carried to construct something resembling a giant stretcher.

Then, these alien women, two by two, lifted one end and quickly walked towards him. By this point, Han Li naturally fully realized that these "snake people" harbored no ill will towards him, and the bulging part of his lower abdomen quietly returned to normal.

Then the four snake women placed the "stretcher" in front of him. Two of them came closer and respectfully said a few words, seemingly asking him something. Even with the language barrier, Han Li understood their intention at this moment. After a brief thought, he nodded slightly.

Immediately, the several snake people in front of him all showed great joy. The two snake women, after bowing even more respectfully, then carefully lifted Han Li's feet and upper body, gently placing him onto the "stretcher." The two women meticulously helped Han Li adjust his posture, ensuring he wouldn't feel uncomfortable.