This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 161 Life is like a snake coiling around you
Xinhe slowly raised his head, his eyes swirling with a murky green light that was instantly recognizable as the power of life.

His expression was strange, carrying a hint of human gentleness, yet also an ethereal indifference and intense wildness. All of this combined to create an eerie aura, an aura often described as divine. The green light from the snake egg shone on him, casting two motionless rings in his eyes. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that they were formed by countless tiny snakes intertwined.

“You should believe me,” he said softly, his dark skin and handsome, androgynous face highlighting his eyes. The language he spoke was unlike any human language today, but somehow, Hua understood what he meant: “I was once just like you, just like them, vulnerable, helpless, adrift in the struggles of wealth, disease, and life…”

"But now, I have received the mercy of the Mother of Life and become a descendant of the great God—behold me."

He sat cross-legged on the vine-woven flower platform with his arms outstretched. His nearly naked, dark body was wrapped in a long white cloth, and between his legs and chest, the snake egg radiated a glow.

Crystal-like light cascaded down from the flowerbeds, spreading throughout the cave—it was their pollen, their means of reproduction.

“I am no longer the same. I am completely different from who I used to be.” His voice was soft and seductive. “By ending their miserable, inferior lives, Mother Life will grant these two poor children a purer and greater power.”

"They are very talented, aren't they? They deserve a better life... a renewed body, a renewed life form, and you and they will all join a greater evolution..."

Hua murmured, "Talent..."

She didn't seem to care about power, form, or great evolution; she simply knelt down slowly, placed the dagger on the ground, stretched out her arms, and hugged the two children.

"Yes, you...you are so talented..." Her voice trembled, choked with sobs, "But I'm incompetent, and people these days aren't capable either. We can't cure your illnesses...what can I do, what can I do? I can't cure your illnesses..."

The two children did not react; they just knelt on the ground with blank stares, letting her hold them.

“Their talents were too great, their bodies too weak. Therefore, their fragile bodies could not protect their souls, causing them to lose too much,” Singh said softly. “Do you want to see their souls wandering outside, devoured by evil spirits?”

"Ni'er!!!" The old Taoist priest's voice echoed throughout the cave, almost hoarse: "Don't fucking believe his nonsense! He's trying to scare you!! This is a cult! A cult! You should read more anti-cult propaganda! This isn't some kind of mental breakdown, this is autism! Autism!!!"

"Master! Please stop talking!!!"

Not far from Han Jiangxue, the hidden Taoist Xuan Yun couldn't help but jump out. Holding a peach wood sword, with tears in his eyes, he shouted, "Your life force is almost gone! If you're gone, we'll all die too. Then who will be the next 'Bi Xu'!"

The old Taoist priest gritted his teeth and kept silent, but stared intently at the two innocent children, tears streaming down his face. The tears fell to the ground, splashing up a blue light.

His energy was already unstoppable.

Han Jiangxue frowned.

She waved for the others to continue hiding, and those who could stealthily move aside. She herself emerged from behind the rock where she was hiding, her cold hands tucked into her sleeves and rubbing against each other.

“I have some experience with autism,” she said expressionlessly. “Was the child born with it or acquired it? I know some experts who might be of some help. I just don’t know if they’re still alive or not…”

Her voice echoed in the cave. "Sister, I've seen you before. You work at the city gate, haven't you? It seems your family is struggling, so the higher-ups specially arranged a good job for you."

"By the way, I heard you have a relationship with Nie Weiyang," she said. "Are you friends? He's here too, aren't you going to see him?"

Hua kept her head down in silence, not saying a word, but as if she had remembered something.

She remained silent for a while, then took out a paper package soaked in grease from her backpack, and from it, she took out the last small piece of roasted meat. Thanks to the backpack's preservation function, even after more than half a month, the meat was still fresh, carrying the lingering warmth from the stove that day.

Under Xinhe's slightly disgusted gaze, Hua carefully broke the meat into pieces and slowly fed them to the two children.

"Eat meat, oh, eat meat," she said gently, her voice trembling with tears, as she soothed the children. She then took out half an egg yolk and gave it to two children. "Eat meat, then eat eggs, drink some milk and you'll grow tall... When we grow up, we little branches and leaves will surely become smart and strong adults..."

Everyone was staring at her, but she seemed oblivious to it all.

She simply held the children tightly, watching them swallow their food stiffly, their voices growing increasingly strained with sobs.

"I'm so sorry..." Her voice trembled. "I'm so sorry... Why did I... make you suffer so much... until now..."

"Mom and Dad don't want us anymore... I beg you, please stay with me..."

"...Do I love you, or am I torturing you?"

Her voice was hoarse, like the last roar of a trapped beast in a desperate situation, yet as faint as a wisp of smoke.

"If you... can be freed..."

"You're not freeing them!" Han Jiangxue suddenly raised her voice, her usually low and cold voice sounding unusually loud and anxious for the first time, sharply pointing out the problem: "This isn't freeing them, their deaths will only free you! What good can this cult do! If you think they'll give these two children a new life, you're sorely mistaken!"

Hua's body suddenly trembled.

She broke down in tears, holding the two vibrant lives tightly in her arms. She loved them so intensely, and hated them so intensely. Living the old life in the new world, the endless existence choked her. In her entire life, she had only spoken a few truthful words to one outsider, but that person was now coming with a knife and a sword, right above her, dissecting her hope—a hope she knew to be so false!
"What should I do!" she cried out hoarsely. "I don't want to kill people, I don't want to kill them, I love them! But, but!"

She turned around and cried to Han Jiangxue, "I can't even make sure they're well-fed and have enough nutrition to nourish their nerves!"

Han Jiangxue clapped her hands sharply, and a burst of crystalline light shot out from between them! With a roar, a small iceberg the size of a sword mountain pierced through the platform from bottom to top, sending Xinhe flying high into the air!
At the top of the cave, Qiao Xing, who had been hanging upside down for three hours, suddenly opened his eyes and lunged at the snake egg!

(End of this chapter)