What kind of beast is this!
Dai Xiaomei almost fainted. Just then, Yao and Panda attacked together.
Yao's short staff danced with great force, instantly dispersing large masses of mist.
Panda also roared and swung its fists, surprisingly fighting a set of military combat techniques.
Despite her fear, Dai Xiaomei almost burst out laughing. When did Panda learn military combat techniques?
You have to admit, Panda's military combat techniques looked quite proficient.
After finishing his punches, Panda clenched his fists at his waist and squatted on the ground in a horse stance.
Then, with a wild roar, his two sharp claws moved like the wind, unleashing a series of frenzied combos.
"Forward Stance Punch! Throat Pierce Kick! Horse Stance Side Strike! Inner Block Hook! Cross Side Kick!"
Dai Xiaomei had seen instructors demonstrate these moves during her military training. She never expected Panda to know them too. This must have been taught by Jiang Fan at some point.
Panda, on the other hand, was quite pleased with himself. After all, this was a technique used by the Panda of the War God Chiyou, who had actually been on the battlefield.
The so-called military combat techniques were the condensed and refined killing moves from the ancestors' battlefield experience, perfected over thousands of years. They were indeed very suitable for Panda to use.
Yao and Panda, flanking left and right, had already charged into the bushes.
Screams continued to erupt, indicating that the enemy was not few in number.
"Hiss."
A colorful lizard soared into the air.
"Croak!"
A blue horned frog with horns above its eyes also flew into the sky.
"Wait, wait."
Dai Xiaomei felt something was wrong. Why did these animals look so familiar?
She pushed aside the grass and looked. Indeed, they were the reptiles that had been following them during the day.
The lizard raised its dry head, and the frog held up its skull ornaments.
Yao had also noticed something was amiss long ago, but Panda, not recognizing these reptiles, was still immersed in the fight.
These reptiles were timid. Some of the snakes and lizards among them appeared venomous.
But after Panda's set of military combat techniques, they immediately scattered in fear.
"Stop fighting, stop fighting."
"Hold on."
Dai Xiaomei and Yao, one on each side, held back Panda's hands.
Panda looked at them with a strange expression, pointing at the reptiles and then at himself.
The implication was that he, the noble Panda, could be friends with them, but when did these reptiles become your friends?
The reptiles' eyes welled up with tears.
They had followed Jiang Fan and his group to the oasis, but had lost contact with them.
At night, they saw the campfire and the reptiles quickly gathered around.
Unexpectedly, they were met with a beating.
No wonder Yao and Panda could barely sense any life signs. Reptiles are cold-blooded and can enter hibernation, appearing as good as dead.
Since they were all reptiles, it was entirely normal not to sense their life signs.
"Ah, you fellows, have you all come to pledge allegiance to this Empress?"
Seeing that they were not ghosts or monsters, Dai Xiaomei immediately became arrogant.
These reptiles actually understood and nodded one after another.
"Then, all of you will obey this Empress's commands."
Dai Xiaomei divided the reptiles into three groups, rewarding each with three fish bones and a pig-rabbit skeleton.
Then, she selected three of the larger animals and conferred upon them the title of general.
Speaking of which, these three large reptiles were exceptionally imposing. In the outside world, humans would likely flee upon seeing them.
One was a vividly colored lizard that could constantly change its color.
However, its color changes involved multiple hues simultaneously, failing to provide camouflage. It was like a continuously shifting neon light.
Another was a large hammerhead snake, with a big head and a small body.
In the neighboring island nation, the hammerhead snake was considered a legendary mascot and was highly venomous.
The last was a glittering golden frog with horns above its eyes, a type of horned frog.
In the past, if Dai Xiaomei had seen these strange reptiles, she would have trembled all over.
After training with Jiang Fan, Dai Xiaomei no longer felt afraid of these reptiles.
"General Lizard, lead five hundred lizard troops to guard the east tonight."
"General Hammerhead Snake, lead five hundred snake troops to guard the west tonight."
"General Croak, lead five hundred frog troops to guard the south tonight."
"This Empress will guard the present location. Thus decreed."
The reptiles, having received their rewards, left with beaming faces.
Yao looked at Dai Xiaomei with a strange expression. This girl had truly transformed into an empress.
Dai Xiaomei chuckled, saying it was making the best use of everything.
Nothing further happened, but the surrounding mist grew thicker and thicker.
Dai Xiaomei could only hope that the night would pass quickly so that Jiang Fan, Zhou Niannian, and the green-maned sea lizard could take over the watch.
Her watch was broken, so Dai Xiaomei looked up at the moon, but judging by its height, it was still a long way until the second half of the night.
Those reptiles on watch were also eerily silent, not making a sound.
The night seemed almost too quiet.
The mist became even denser, coiling around Dai Xiaomei's hair tips and the corners of her eyes.
Dai Xiaomei suddenly felt a bit nervous and wanted to say something to ease her emotions.
She waved her hand to disperse the mist and turned to say.
"Yao, have you ever encountered such thick fog in the wild?"
Before she could finish, Dai Xiaomei screamed.
In her eyes, Yao's face had become distorted. His nose, eyes, and other features were all jumbled together, appearing bizarre and terrifying.
This was definitely not a human face.
Dai Xiaomei's scalp tingled, and a chill ran down her spine. She stumbled backward, nearly falling to the ground.
She staggered, screaming and scrambling away from Yao.
Yao touched his head, not knowing what had happened.
From his perspective, all he saw was Dai Xiaomei glance back at him before screaming and scrambling away.
He immediately moved quickly towards Dai Xiaomei, asking.
"What's wrong?"
"Don't come near me, don't come near me!"
Dai Xiaomei shrieked, her emotions completely out of control, yelling at Yao not to come closer.
At this moment, Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian were woken up. They rubbed their eyes and emerged from the tent to see what was happening.
When they came out, they saw the extremely thick fog.
Although the mist wasn't so dense that one couldn't see their hand in front of their face, it was late at night, and visibility was severely limited.
The oasis at night was extremely quiet, with no chirping of cicadas or croaking of frogs.
They also found no signs of an attack by any external creatures. They only saw Yao trying to approach Dai Xiaomei in a friendly manner.
But Dai Xiaomei's expression was as if she had seen a ghost.
She lay on the ground, screaming and retreating repeatedly.
Her legs were so weak with fear that she was crawling on all fours.
Zhou Niannian immediately jumped up and went to ask Dai Xiaomei what was wrong. However, upon seeing Zhou Niannian approach, Dai Xiaomei not only didn't feel relieved but screamed even louder.
In Dai Xiaomei's eyes, strange tentacles were sprouting from Zhou Niannian's back, and her face had turned purplish-blue.
This was absolutely not what a human should look like!
"Monsters!"
Dai Xiaomei screamed and scrambled away, rolling and crawling towards the distance!
Leaving only a bewildered Zhou Niannian standing in place.