"Qiu-shidi! What are you doing?" Fang Hai nudged Qiu Yunru with his foot. "Don't just sit there! Be ready to run!"
Qiu Yunru was sitting on the ground with his hands rubbing his temples furiously. This trick, for some reason, had always helped him back in school when trying to remember formulas for advanced math exams. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and scrambled to his feet, bowing. "Sorry, Fang-shixiong. I had a headache for a moment."
"A headache? Right now?" Fang Hai was about to go on snapping when, from between the tall bamboo stalks, out slithered the enormous beast. Truly loyal to his position as an NPC, Fang Hai called out: "This is called the Three-Headed Snake. It's found only in the Demon Realm. Shizun's younger sect brother hunted this one down himself. Its scales are coated in poison, and if you cut off one head without the others, it will regrow!"
Every playthrough of Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits had a variety of great beasts and magical creatures. Unfortunately, unlike the potions system, the variety of beasts and their characteristics differed each playthrough, always reset by the AI. This type of beast was the typical sort that appeared in the game: poisonous, with an unnatural number of limbs and a demonic size.
But even if it was typical for the game, it certainly wasn't a monster that a beginner-level player should be fighting!
Qiu Yunru made a courtesy with his hands. "This shidi has an idea. Please excuse me!" He promptly ran off down the hill, followed by Fang Hai's curses all the way.
The herb storage was not too far. Qiu Yunru sprinted straight there and barged inside. Fortunately, since it was late at night, no one was inside to be shocked by his unruly behavior. While the sounds of hissing and clashing echoed down the hill, he rummaged through the drawers, stuffing herbs into his sleeves. On the way back out, he grabbed a nearby mortar and pestle. Just to be polite, he made sure to close the door properly before scrambling back up the hill.
Things were not going so well. Fang Hai was running in wild circles, trying to distract the heads while waving his sword like a madman. In truth, though Fang Hai's technique was exceptional, this situation was too much for him to handle alone. All he could think to do was shout and swing wildly until his Shizun could make it to the scene!
Nearby, Lei Ruolan was throwing rocks at the head opposite Fang Hai. Though this didn't do much, it annoyed the snake enough that its attention was split, reducing its ability to attack.
"Shimei! Stop it! I'll take care of it!" Fang Hai shouted nobly. Sweat poured down his face, and he clumsily swung his sword at one of the snake's necks that was as thick as two grown men's torso's. It glanced off like a pebble. Lei Ruolan raised an eyebrow, throwing another rock.
"Of course you can take care of it." Though her voice was quiet and seemed respectful, there was a hint of sarcasm in it that made Fang Hai's face redden. "I'm just trying to make Fang-shixiong's load lighter."
At that moment, Qiu Yunru hobbled up the hill, clutching a mortar and pestle. Seeking an outlet to vent the hurt at his noble image being insulted, Fang Hai called out: "Shidi! Don't be stupid! What the hell are you doing? Mixing potions right now? Do you think you're an alchemist?"
Qiu Yunru bowed his head, shoving herbs into the mortar. He rolled up his sleeves. "Apologies, shixiong. This shidi has a solution. Please bear with me." Then he rigorously started grinding everything to a pulp with the pestle. He internally praised himself--look at that elbow grease! How diligent! When it was all crushed, he stood up and threw it at the snake, bowl and all.
"Shidi!" Fang Hai yelped. "That's a good bowl--!"
The bowl smacked against the snake's skin, cracking to bits. Herb dust scattered all over the snake and the grass surrounding it, descending over it in a cloud of powder. Qiu Yunru quickly lit a match and tossed it into the cloud. With a strange cracking noise, the dust went up in flames all around the snake, which writhed in confusion. Only, these flames were not red--they were blue.
After a brief flash of blue light, the flames died down. A quiet crackling noise echoed in the air. In front of the three of them, the snake was...encased in ice!
Qiu Yunru patted himself on the back. Ice Fire Dust--named adeptly, it was an herb dust that, when lit, burst into flames that dissipated into a flamelike structure of ice. Being cold-blooded, snakes were especially susceptible to being slowed down and frozen by the cold. Now, the great Three-Headed Snake sat frozen solid inside flames of ice, its primary-color eyes wide with rage and shock.
Fang Hai gaped. Lei Ruolan stared. Qiu Yunru coughed. "Fang-shixiong," he said awkwardly. "Fang-shixiong has good sword skills. Could he perhaps cut all three necks quickly?" Conveniently, the ice flames had frozen in a way that left all three necks exposed. Must be a feature of the Medium difficulty!
Fang Hai shook himself out of his stupor and hurriedly ran up to the snake, slicing through all three necks with a few graceful strokes. Steaming green blood spurted out of them, spraying out in a wildly unrealistic radius. Fang Hai yelped as some seared into his shoes. Lei Ruolan sidestepped. Qiu Yunru ducked.
A burning pain gripped his shoulder. Qiu Yunru wept internally for himself. Even if he solved all the problems in the world, would he still be slapped in the face after? He'd been caught in the spray of acidic blood! When he looked down, he felt suddenly faint. The shoulder of his white and jade robes had been eaten through, and his skin was a red, bleeding mess beneath it. He stumbled, feeling suddenly sick.
Even though he'd been sick his whole past life, he'd never learned to not pass out at the sight of his own blood! And this--this was really too much! The skin being eaten into from acid, looking pockmarked and disgusting...
Like a fragile maiden, his eyes rolled up to his head, and he toppled over.