Invincible Snake Emperor-Chapter 201 - 197: Collective Panic

Near the Snake King Temple were the serpent-battling grounds. The crowd was exceptionally large, and the atmosphere was electric, reaching one climax after another.

The annual Bai Town serpent-battling tournament had begun.

A large crowd surrounded two venomous snakes in the center of the arena, cheering them on.

On the outskirts of the crowd, a handsome young man wore a wry smile. He found that he couldn't squeeze his way in; the crowd was packed so tightly it was impossible to move an inch.

'Is it really this hard just to watch a serpent battle?' Tu Xiao'an was speechless, blaming himself for arriving too late to get a good spot.

The Battle serpent event also had another name: the Contest of the Snake Gods. If one's snake managed to win first place, its value would skyrocket, and many people would offer a high price to buy it.

However, winning first place in the Bai Town Snake King Festival's serpent-battling tournament was no simple matter. Countless Snake Catchers had secretly been preparing for this day long in advance.

The venomous snakes they held had all undergone special training. If you were to casually pit an ordinary snake against theirs, it would be bitten to death in the blink of an eye.

Bai Town once had a "Snake King" that won the serpent-battling tournament championship for three consecutive years. It was later bought by a wealthy tycoon for the sky-high price of five million.

This price was even higher than that of a rare Snake Species. Yet that "Snake King" wasn't a high-grade breed; it couldn't even be considered a rare Snake Species. It had simply been painstakingly trained by a Snake Catcher and molded into a killer among snakes.

A snake's prowess couldn't be judged by its species alone. After all, they were all mortal snakes. If trained by a professional Snake Catcher, they could become extraordinary.

They would become extremely vicious and savage, their bites instantly fatal.

'I wonder which Snake Catcher's venomous snake will take the crown this year and dominate the competition.'

Tu Xiao'an already knew that the first-place prize for this year's serpent-battling tournament was one million, sponsored by a wealthy tycoon from Bai Town.

To enter the serpent-battling competition, one had to register several days in advance. It was too late to join today.

Otherwise, for the sake of one million, Tu Xiao'an was actually a little tempted.

Unable to squeeze through, Tu Xiao'an could only stand on his tiptoes to try and see the action. He couldn't use his Flying Technique, either. With so many people around, it would be a mess to deal with if he were discovered.

Suddenly... he seemed to sense something. Looking down at his arm, he saw that a white mosquito had landed on it. Its long proboscis was already piercing his skin.

Huh... He was immediately taken aback.

This mosquito was white. Moreover, it looked much larger than a typical mosquito, a full centimeter in size.

With a single glance, Tu Xiao'an determined this was no ordinary mosquito. The ones people usually saw were pitch-black; a white mosquito was a truly rare sight.

In fact, he'd never seen one before.

'Could this be a rare species of mosquito, too?'

Mosquitoes were drawn to crowded places, but when Tu Xiao'an used Insight on this one, he was shocked to find it was actually Level 5.

In the early days, Tu Xiao'an had used the system to subdue many mosquitoes, but ordinary ones didn't even have a Level.

For this mosquito to be Level 5 was simply absurd; it completely defied common sense.

An ordinary adult venomous snake, after all, was only rated as Level 5 by the system.

'Could this mosquito's Life Force really be comparable to that of an adult venomous snake?'

As the white mosquito's proboscis pierced Tu Xiao'an's skin, its tiny form suddenly froze, seemingly bewildered. A moment later, a teasing voice spoke.

"Having trouble finding any blood?"

The white mosquito trembled, instantly pulled out its proboscis, and shot into the air.

But a fair hand swept through the air, snatching the white mosquito between two fingertips.

"Sorry, this body is a fake. There's no blood here for you."

Tu Xiao'an held the white mosquito and examined it with a cool, penetrating gaze. The more he looked, the more he realized how unusual it was.

The tiny mosquito struggled with surprising strength, a force Tu Xiao'an could clearly feel.

He gave it a light squeeze, but surprisingly, it didn't pop. The mosquito's body seemed to have been specially enhanced; it was anything but ordinary.

'Why would this kind of mosquito suddenly appear in Bai Town?'

'If this thing bit someone, it could probably drain a terrifying amount of blood.'

A thoughtful look appeared in Tu Xiao'an's eyes. Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the crowd. Someone began to shout, "Help! Someone just fainted!"

Hm?

Hearing this, Tu Xiao'an had a bad feeling. He instinctively squeezed his fingers, and the white mosquito popped.

A moment later, reports of people fainting came from all over the street. A widespread commotion erupted, plunging the crowd into chaotic panic.

'What's going on? Is someone causing trouble in my, the Snake King's, territory?'

When things are this strange, there must be a Demon at work.

Tu Xiao'an had no time for further thought and quickly ran toward where someone had fainted.

In the spot nearest to him, a middle-aged woman had collapsed on the ground. Her face was deathly pale, and her breathing was faint.

A large group of people surrounded her, all at a loss for what to do. The scene was noisy and chaotic.

"Make way! I'm a doctor, let me take a look."

Tu Xiao'an had to first find an excuse to check the woman's condition.

Hearing Tu Xiao'an claim to be a doctor, many people didn't think to doubt him and quickly moved aside.

Tu Xiao'an immediately knelt to examine her. The woman's breathing was weak, as if from severe blood loss.

If he hadn't just encountered that white mosquito, Tu Xiao'an would have been completely baffled. But now, he began to check the woman's body for any wounds.

Soon, he spotted a large, red, swollen patch on the woman's neck, the wound clearly festering.

At a glance, the wound looked remarkably similar to a venomous snakebite.

"Did she accidentally get bitten by one of the snakes in the crowd?" someone asked immediately upon seeing the wound.

Tu Xiao'an stated with certainty, "This isn't from a venomous snake."

"How could it not be a snakebite? The wound is festering and her breathing is weak. She's clearly been poisoned!"

"The streets are packed with people and snakes. It's not impossible that she was accidentally bitten by a snake someone was carrying."

The person who spoke was not a local from Bai Town.

"She is poisoned, but it's not snake venom."

Tu Xiao'an's expression turned grim. He didn't need his eyes to tell if it was snake venom; he could recognize it by scent alone.

'Blood loss, a red and swollen wound that's festering... Could this be the work of that white mosquito?'

The thought surfaced in Tu Xiao'an's mind. A normal mosquito bite couldn't possibly be this severe.

But that white mosquito was completely different from an ordinary one—it was Level 5, after all.

It couldn't be judged by common sense.

But with people asking questions, Tu Xiao'an couldn't just tell everyone she'd been poisoned by a mosquito. He'd be laughed out of the town.

Who in their right mind would believe that?

Most importantly, he wasn't completely certain himself yet. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Someone fainted over here, too!"

"There are three people down over here!"

In the span of just a few minutes, screams echoed from all around as more and more people collapsed. The situation was escalating rapidly.