Chapter 556: Mysterious Beast Hide

Jiang Fan pressed her shoulder firmly and said coldly, "What am I afraid of? You should be grateful I didn't kill you. What's there to be shy about a body search?"

After speaking, his hand slid from her shoulder down her arm, inch by inch, exploring.

Concubine Yunxia's delicate body trembled uncontrollably, and she cried out, "Stop it!" She felt as if Jiang Fan's palm emitted lightning arcs; wherever it touched, an electric current surged through her, causing pink bumps to appear on her fair skin.

Soon, Jiang Fan's hand reached inside her sleeve. A hiss. A slender black snake suddenly darted out from her sleeve. It bit fiercely into Jiang Fan's palm. Fortunately, his hand was covered with Tianshan silkworm silk, preventing the snake from biting through immediately. When its attack failed, it swiftly lunged towards Jiang Fan's neck.

A whoosh. With a flash of purple light, the small black snake was cut in half. Even so, it fiercely lunged at Jiang Fan's foot, only to have its head crushed under his foot.

Hissing sounds. What was horrifying was that several more small black snakes emerged from her sleeve, swarming out in overwhelming numbers. One of them, a black snake with golden markings, moved with lightning speed. Blending in with the common black snakes, it suddenly attacked, leaping onto Jiang Fan's chest. Its fangs bit into the crystal, causing it to immediately turn black and decay.

At the critical moment, Qiu Shengnan unleashed her powerful cultivation at the sixth stage of Core Formation. She fiercely struck the small black snake's head with her sword. A thud. The snake's head was severed and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The venom from its fangs flowed out, corroding the pure white ice layer into a black pit several yards in diameter.

Qiu Shengnan gasped, "A venomous snake at the sixth stage of Core Formation?" If she had touched it just now, the consequences... She quickly retreated, maintaining a safe distance.

Xia Chaoge and the others also retreated in surprise. Jiang Fan had indeed been right. This woman carried dangerous items, and quite a few of them!

"I knew you weren't honest!" Jiang Fan said, still feeling lingering fear. Fortunately, he had been cautious! He immediately and roughly pulled everything out of both her sleeves. Mostly small everyday items, and a few very old books. Among them, Jiang Fan recognized an amber, which was the Demon Emperor's essence blood she had previously held in her mouth, emitting blood-red lightning arcs. Jiang Fan took it into his palm.

After a brief thought, he frowned, "Why is there only one drop? No, where's your box of Demon Emperor's essence blood? There were at least a hundred drops!" He had personally watched Concubine Yunxia dip her finger into the jade box and sprinkle the Demon Emperor's essence blood onto seven Battle-King level demonic beasts. It was impossible for only one drop to remain. His gaze shifted, landing on her bulging chest.

Concubine Yunxia's delicate body trembled, and she urgently said, "Don't move! I'll... I'll get it myself!" She was afraid of Jiang Fan now. This guy would definitely not treat her as a Demon Emperor's concubine. He really dared to reach in and search! Therefore, she could only do it herself. Her bound hands clumsily reached into her bosom and fumbled for a while. Only then did she retrieve the jade box.

Jiang Fan saw it and snatched it away. He inspected it carefully; it was indeed that jade box, filled with extremely volatile Demon Emperor's essence blood. "This is it!" Jiang Fan let out a long breath. He had finally found this dangerous box of essence blood that could impact the decisive battle.

Concubine Yunxia's eyes showed a trace of solemnity, "The task given by the Demon Emperor has ultimately failed." She sighed deeply. But suddenly, she noticed Jiang Fan was still staring at her. Her heart skipped a beat, "You've already got the Demon Emperor's essence blood, what else do you want?"

Jiang Fan showed a thoughtful expression, "If it's such an important item, why did you give it to me so readily? Is there something even more important on you? Did you abandon the rook to protect the king, throwing out the Demon Emperor's essence blood?" His gaze slowly moved to Concubine Yunxia's chest, and he said, "It seems I'll have to search again myself."

Concubine Yunxia, enraged and embarrassed, covered her chest and said, "How dare you?" Jiang Fan didn't waste words. He pulled her arm away and forcibly reached in. "Jiang Fan! Stop it now!" Severely wounded, Concubine Yunxia was powerless to resist. Feeling the strange sensation in her bosom, tears welled up in her eyes from shame, and her small feet stomped repeatedly. Jiang Fan, however, did not stop at all.

After a detailed and thorough search, he actually found a soft object. He pulled it out and looked. It was a wrapped, tattered animal hide; judging by its age, it had been around for some time. "Didn't I say you weren't honest?" Jiang Fan held up the animal hide in his hand. Concubine Yunxia gritted her teeth, glaring hatefully at Jiang Fan. She used to be a very gentle person. Since meeting Jiang Fan, gentleness had become increasingly distant from her.

What made her even more distraught was that Jiang Fan did not stop there! He eyed Concubine Yunxia's waist and thighs, contemplating, "Just in case, it's better to search her entire body thoroughly." He extended his thigh, forming a bow shape, then roughly pressed her onto his thigh. His hand moved from her waist to her thighs, then from her thighs to her calves. Finally, he even removed the small white calfskin boots on her feet. Every inch of her body, inside and out, was thoroughly inspected and touched by Jiang Fan.

Concubine Yunxia's eyes blazed with shame. She felt an unprecedented humiliation. Gritting her teeth, she cried out in furious embarrassment, "Jiang Fan! I will definitely kill you!"

Jiang Fan acted as if he hadn't heard her. Only after confirming she had been thoroughly searched did he examine the animal hide she had protected in the deepest part of her bosom. She was willing to abandon the Demon Emperor's essence blood just to hide this item. Clearly, it was no ordinary object. He unfolded it and found crooked, squiggly characters on it.

The others realized Jiang Fan had made a significant discovery. They all stepped forward to observe.

Seeing this, Concubine Yunxia became nervous.

"Are these demonic characters?" Xia Chaoge frowned. Everyone looked at Wu Manyue in unison. She was the only one among them who recognized demonic characters.

"Heh heh!" Wu Manyue preened, proudly swaying her waist, and walked over unhurriedly. "At crucial moments, you still have to rely on me." She snatched the animal hide with one hand, then pushed Jiang Fan away with a thrust of her hips: "Give it to me, you illiterate!" She rolled her eyes at Jiang Fan and slowly brought the animal hide closer. She emphasized her words with careful enunciation and varied intonation: "Such trivial demonic characters only stump you unlearned people, hmpf."

However, when her gaze fixed on the characters, her smile froze. She looked again and again, her expression stiffening, "Wh-whose characters are these?" Liang Feiyan asked in surprise, "Aren't they demonic characters?" Wu Manyue shook her head, awkwardly finding an excuse, "No. I don't claim to know all demonic characters, but I recognize over ninety percent of them. Of the hundreds of characters before me, I don't recognize a single one. They can only be characters from another race."

Hearing this, everyone felt a wave of disappointment. They would have to take the animal hide back to Boundary Mountain and find someone else to study it. No one noticed Concubine Yunxia subtly exhale a breath, her expression showing immense relief.

But a sudden voice made Concubine Yunxia's face abruptly change. Immediately, an expression of disbelief appeared on her face.

"Heh heh," someone chuckled. "And you call others illiterate. A proud elite of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, yet you can't even recognize the characters of the Great Sun clan of the demon race?"