Riding on a massive snake through the swamp felt extremely weird to He Zhi. He felt it was like riding a strange rollercoaster meant for little children while also inducing seasickness. The snake was actually swimming at some points, proving how deep the place could get.

Eventually, instead of coming across an old cave, they arrived at a nice little cottage that was built on massive stilts. There were stone steps leading to the entrance.

As the four approached, a coughing came from inside.

“Momma! We’re here!”

“I thought you said she wasn’t back?”

“Oh, that’s because she sometimes travels. She had left a while ago but finally came back after you left.”

Convenient, he thought.

Inside was an old woman who seemed kind of familiar, but not someone from the Misty Turtle Tribe. She wore a gray robe and had a crooked pointy nose, almost like how an old witch would be represented in his original world.

“Momma! Look, I brought friends!”

“Hmm…so I see…”

She didn’t even turn around. Was she blind as well? Why were these people blind? Could it be from Mana? Maybe it is some sort of process they perform in order to see Mana. Hmm, that makes sense, He Zhi thought.

The snake slowly coiled its tail lightly around the elderly woman, making sure not to squeeze too tightly.

“Hehe, I’m getting better, right?”

The old lady started to chuckle before having another coughing fit. It sounded really bad as if there was liquid in her lungs.

“Elder, are you alright?”

“Of course my Momma is alright! She is the best!”

The snake seemed to puff itself up, almost like it was boasting.

‘Could the old lady be hiding it?’

The lady shuddered a little but gestured for the snake to leave while she rubbed its scales.

“Let me speak to the guests, Kuroda, I need to ask them some things.”

“Alright, Momma!”

Kuroda let go and left through a round door like hole big enough for it to fit through.

“My apologies, you will have to forgive Kuroda, she is impetuous and reckless.”

“I will get right to it. Do you know the Black Water Turtle?”

She didn’t seem to be startled, but her response told otherwise.

“How do you know about that creature?”

Her voice was strict and spittle flew.

“He helped us. Are you actually Kuroda’s mother?”

“…No. I am her…chaperone. I aim to make sure she doesn’t cause too many problems until she can become the Poison Snake Tribe’s new Guardian.”

“So the previous one is now gone.”

It wasn’t a question, He Zhi had already heard of similar stories in his old world.

“Yes. Why did you come here?”

“Because I wanted some help. I thought finding another Guardian would be beneficial to us. We met the Wood Bear, but”

“He is not at the level you would want. He is merely a Fifth Stage Magic Beast. The Black Water Turtle is a true monster, while our previous Guardian was equivalent to a Sage. Unfortunately, we lost her many hundreds of years ago. I have managed to hatch this young one within my lifetime, hoping to raise our Tribe back to its previous glory.”

“So you plan to use a child to further your useless ideas?”

Her blind eyes narrowed, obviously slightly offended by his words.

“Don’t you patronize me, you idiot Beast. I could have you dead in an instant. Isn’t that what you planned on doing?”

“No, I only wanted tips and hints, so to speak. Oh, and tell me how you would kill me. We do have you surrounded if you actually planned on doing anything.”

“Kuroda!”

“Yes, Momma?”

“Kill these things.”

‘So that’s how it is. She must have brainwashed the poor thing.’

“Why?”

‘Oh?’

“Because I said so.”

“But they’re my first friends.”

The snake seemed to be having a difficult time in trying to understand what was going on.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a test. Your mother wants to know how you truly you appreciate your friends.”

“Oh! Well, I am really happy! Can I play with them, now?”

The old lady began to fume, but for some reason, it felt forced. Like she was trying to get mad on purpose.

‘Is she testing Kuroda? Or…me?’

“If that is what you wish.”

He Zhi answered instead, watching the elder’s face as he did. She slightly nodded and turned back around to do what she was doing before.

When they went outside, He Zhi taught the three girls how to play tag, making everyone use their most powerful movement techniques. The winner was actually He Ya! It wasn’t that she was fast, it was the fact that she was too elusive.

Of course, that was whenever someone besides He Zhi was ‘it’. Kuroda was having a difficult time, so she asked several questions about how the Froglings could do what they did. Eventually, she was taught the special rotation. The others took the time to cultivate as well, following He Zhi as he cycled through using the turquoise threads.

He noticed that by performing the rotations, his body’s strength increased as well as widened his meridians. The turquoise threads were more powerful than the regular double threads, so this was a good way for He Zhi to get to the point to combine the double threads.

However, he was more astounded by Kuroda’s transformation. Apparently, the more powerful the basic creature, the more human they look. Kuroda actually formed arms and legs! A head! Ears! All sorts of human features! Her tail remained as well as some scales that covered her important bits and extremities.

In fact, she seemed to look more lizard-like, than snake like, but that was because of the four limbs. The weird part was that she looked like a little kid! How young was she? Even Hu Lao looked like a teenager.

The elderly lady slammed open the door and was heavily breathing in shock.

“Kuroda! Is that you?!”

“M…Momma? *yawns* I’m tired…”

Apparently, the transformation was too much. She might have to sleep for longer than the frogs did. Wait, could the process of waking up be the rebound of transforming into a human? That would explain why the bipedal bird that had four limbs was quicker to wake up and why the brat and Gui Ya woke up only a couple hours later.

“How did you awaken an Ancestral Bloodline within her?”

“What is that?”

“The thing that caused you to become the way you are right now.”

“You mean my cultivation? How can I unlock a bloodline when a snake shouldn’t have human blood in them?”

“Everything is related to each other. All comes from one. We are related to each other by one specific thing.”

“What, God?”

“The Creator. He took his self and split it, creating the things you see, hear, and smell. From him, we are descended. In all of us lies the blood of the Creator. How did you awaken that power?”

“I…don’t know. I guess from forcing certain energy pathways that form in similar patterns as humans do?”

She seemed confused until she made an attempt to reiterate.

“So you force yourself to become human, awakening a bloodline for the humans in the process?”

“I guess so, I don’t know the details.”

She sat and thought, before coming to a conclusion.

“I can’t make her our Guardian anymore. We worship the snake, not a snake-human. I will just say that I was forced to put her down when she went out of control. You must take care of her now.”

“Excuse me? She thinks of you as her mother!”

He Zhi was surprisingly adamant about the old woman staying to raise the poor girl.

“Fine, but once she wakes up, we will need to discuss how she will go to live with you.”

He Zhi didn’t have too bad of a life when he was younger, or so he thought. It was good to be ignorant. His parents had troubles, his dad was cheating on his mom. There was barely any food on the table because his dad would build debt or owed his child support for his other children. One time, his dad was stuffed into the trunk of his car by gangsters while the car was set on fire! If there wasn’t a crowbar in the trunk, He Zhi wouldn’t have had a father for very long!

He had always been angered by parents who were selfish towards their own children, neglecting them or even ignoring them. These kinds of parents never even thought of their own children when they made decisions. For example, when going through a divorce, who suffers the most? The children!

“That is fine, but you must visit her every now and then. She loves you, I can tell. She is not some brain dead Beast that can’t even communicate.”

The elderly lady’s face softened into a small smile, but it was immediately gone.

“I know. And she was my daughter if I ever had one. Don’t think I do this lightly.”

‘Hm? Is she trying to say that she was looking forward to something like this?’

“Well, we will return sometime later. Maybe two days from now?”

“Sure. Be careful, there are some tough people around right now.”

“Really? Thanks for the warning. And…uh, see you later.”

“Thank you for becoming Kuroda’s friends.”

The three waved goodbye before disappearing into the swampy fog.

The old lady reached into her robes and clutched an ancient bone fragment that looked like a fang.

“Oh Merciful One, your daughter has chosen some powerful people to follow. I only wished you could have seen it…Master…”

The once cloudy blind eyes shifted to appear more reptilian, activating the nictitating membrane given to her from the Guardian of the Swamp, allowing her to see the flow of Mana. She watched as several figures approached the three Froglings at high speed.

But before they even got close, the old lady coughed a purple cloud that flew over to the ambushers at a fast speed. They then collapsed, only to awaken many hours later, unaware of what had happened.