Lady White Snake (Bai Suzhen) stood on the Broken Bridge, commanding the waters of West Lake. She was a spirit of immense power, capable of flooding cities. Essence Alchemy. She needed to cross the bridge to find her husband.
Blocking her way was Ammit. The Devourer. Part lion, part hippo, part crocodile. She sat haunch-heavy on the stones, sniffing the air. She wasn't an obstacle; she was an executioner.
"Move," White Snake commanded, summoning a Tidal Surge.
The Scales Tip
Ammit ignored the water. She looked at Bai Suzhen and saw not a woman, but a soul. She smelled the theft of the immortality herbs centuries ago.
"Guilty," Ammit gurgled.
White Snake lashed out with Serpentine Soul-Coil, magic ribbons designed to bind gods.
Ammit opened her Composite Maw. She bit through the magic as if it were smoke. She was a creature of the Duat, immune to the spells of the living.
Devourer of Hearts.
Ammit lunged. White Snake tried to transform into her giant serpent form, but Ammit pinned her with a heavy, hippopotamus foot. She plunged her crocodile snout into the spirit's chest and tore out the glowing essence-heart. The White Snake crumbled into white petals, her immortality revoked by the final judge of the dead.