Chapter 138

"Let's go."

The Crocodile God dived slowly; the two held their breath and gripped the spines on its back.

Fortunately, this stretch of water was very short, and the Crocodile God swam fast; ten or so breaths later, it surfaced and didn't dive again.

The two let out a long breath.

In fact, the turtle nest was very close to County Magistrate Village. He Lingchuan guessed that Lu Yao and the others were still smashing ice on the West Road; to avoid the eyes of this group, he specially asked the Crocodile God to take a detour and land from the east.

For the giant crocodile, that was just a few more flicks of its tail; it climbed onto the east bank leisurely without much effort.

Unexpectedly, there was a bandit under Lu Yao wandering here; seeing movement by the lake, he immediately rushed over.

His view was blocked by vegetation, so he didn't see the Crocodile God at first, only seeing two people limping and emerging, thinking they were villagers hiding in the grass, and excitedly wanted to come over and rob them.

But when he got closer, *ha*, what a big monster!

"Crocodile, Crocodile, Crocodile God!" The man yelled and turned to run. How could He Lingchuan let him have his way? He reached out to...

"I want him alive." Wu Shaoyi suddenly emphasized.

He Lingchuan took out the broken blade, only then remembering his poor aim: "Uh, I can't aim."

"..."

Wu Shaoyi was helpless; he didn't know where he pulled out that spear and threw it like a javelin.

With a *whoosh* of breaking air, the spear tip pierced the bandit's pants and pinned him to the road.

He Lingchuan hurriedly stepped forward; just as the man was about to draw his saber, he was struck on the back of the neck and passed out.

Looking at the spear again, it only pinned the bandit's pant leg and didn't hurt him at all.

He Lingchuan subconsciously looked at Wu Shaoyi; this man was full of the dying look of someone on the verge of death, yet when it was time to strike, his strength and aim were flawless.

A centipede dies but never stiffens.

For this kind of person, one should never let their guard down at any moment.

Of course, Wu Shaoyi not hurting the bandit's life certainly wasn't out of kindness; he panted and said: "This person can save, save my life!"

This spear throw caused his wounds all over his body to tear open again.

Just then, there were footsteps on the shore; clearly, the bandit's shout before fainting had attracted unnecessary attention. He Lingchuan took out a dagger and sneaked behind a tree, just about to launch a sneak attack, when there was a *rustle* in the grass, and something rushed at the bandit first.

This thing moved extremely fast; the bandit only felt a blur before his eyes, felt sharp pain in his left eye, and couldn't help but scream, his hands flailing wildly.

He Lingchuan took the opportunity to close in and stabbed him in the back with the dagger.

The world was immediately quiet.

He turned his head and found something moving nimbly on the ground; although its body was hidden in the darkness and couldn't be seen clearly, a pair of green bean-sized eyes still reflected some faint light.

What kind of thing was this?

He Lingchuan flicked the dagger, but heard Wu Shaoyi behind him speak: "Coal Ball, come here!"

That thing vanished and pounced into his arms with a *zhi* sound.

He Lingchuan turned back and walked over, only then discovering it was a purple sable, but its back color was very dark, as if an ink tray had been overturned; the name "Coal Ball" was quite fitting.

The purple sable wandered over Wu Shaoyi's body, very carefully avoiding the wounds, and then looked at He Lingchuan, tilting its head.

"This person saved my life from the crocodile's mouth." Wu Shaoyi stroked its head, "Where are they?"

"Thought you were dead, so they all scattered." The purple sable suddenly spoke. With the Crocodile God speaking human language first, He Lingchuan wasn't very surprised, "Some were taken in by Lu Yao, and most of them slipped away, but they haven't gone far yet; I came over to see the situation."

"Go and chase them back." Wu Shaoyi changed his mind as soon as the words left his mouth, "No, wait two quarters of an hour before going."

He Lingchuan glanced at him, thinking this man was very suspicious, not even fully trusting the subordinates he spent day and night with, unwilling to let them see him in his most vulnerable state.

At this time, the sun was bright, and several giant crocodiles were lying on the lake shore in the east of the village sunning themselves, with a few even comfortably opening their mouths wide.

He Lingchuan made a quick trip to the east of the village and didn't find a single person, only a few free-range chickens wandering around. It seemed Lu Yao had only left two bandits to guard/loot County Magistrate Village.

It was clear that the bandits' recent days had been tight; they wouldn't even let go of the wealth of a small village.

He found a spacious house, moved Wu Shaoyi and the bandit in, and asked Wu Shaoyi: "How are you going to use him?"

"Exchange injuries." Wu Shaoyi said with difficulty, "I learned a secret technique that can transfer injuries to other animals or humans, but the conditions are very strict, and it's best if the birth dates match; this person, this person actually doesn't quite meet the conditions, fortunately you have the turtle pearl, so he can barely make up the numbers."

Even injuries could be exchanged? He Lingchuan was suddenly interested: "Is this secret technique hard to master?"

"Not hard, but there's only one set of materials, and there are many sequelae." Wu Shaoyi smiled bitterly, "I can't care about that; saving my life is the most important."

"Can you handle it yourself?" He Lingchuan stood up and stretched, "I still have to chase the team."

Don't say he didn't save him; he and Wu Shaoyi were strangers, even standing on opposite sides, and he had already fished this person out of a desperate situation; wasn't that benevolent and righteous enough? What's more, saving someone would cost a turtle pearl, which sounded like a priceless treasure.

"I can't; I can't do it without you." Seeing him about to leave, Wu Shaoyi couldn't help but grab his hem and point to the spear beside him, "This spear is named 'Soaring Dragon,' originally belonging to the famous general Liao Mozhao of the Xuan Kingdom. The spear tip is made of black gold mixed with extraterrestrial meteorite iron, and the spear shaft is taken from a seven-hundred-year-old twin vine. Do you know about twin vines?"

He Lingchuan shook his head very honestly.

"Twin vines specifically refer to two types of vines that parasitize on immortal plate trees; because they compete for the tree's nutrients, they entangle each other, trying their best to strangle the opponent; over time, they become stronger together. The immortal plate trees, which can reach twenty or thirty zhang in height, are eventually strangled to death. You've seen how tough the Soaring Dragon spear shaft made of twin vines is."

This spear was jammed in the giant crocodile's mouth, and no matter how it bit, it wouldn't break; although the crocodile demon's cavity made it afraid of pain, the toughness of the spear shaft had indeed left a deep impression on He Lingchuan.

"In recent years, immortal plate trees have become rare, existing only in deep mountains and great marshes where human footprints are scarce, and twin vines are even harder to harvest." He sighed, "Anyway, I won't be able to dance with a spear in the future, so I'll give this treasure to you."

He Lingchuan stroked the spear shaft: "If I heal you, when your accomplices arrive, they will turn around and deal with me instead."

The Soaring Dragon spear was wonderful, but not enough as a reward.

He also understood that he was Wu Shaoyi's only hope for survival.

This kid, he wasn't a good person. Wu Shaoyi was also helpless, knowing He Lingchuan was going to negotiate terms with him. He could be indifferent to death when fighting the Crocodile God, but once back on land, breathing the scent of soil and lake water, he had an extreme desire to live.

(End of chapter)