Chapter 113: Zhu Jiuyin

The massive snake head pressed against my nose, scales writhing everywhere—I don't know how to describe the shock to others. For a moment, my heart seemed to stop beating, and my whole body went stiff as stone.

Experiencing the immense power of this ability for the first time swept away even the last shred of doubt I had, yet this enormous black python was so real—every scale, the smell in the air, the ubiquitous rustling sound—none of it showed any flaw. I simply couldn't imagine how this thing had suddenly appeared. If the light had been on, would it have popped into existence with a bang out of thin air? Laoyang was still shouting something outside, but I had no mood to pay him any attention. I only felt that reptilian gaze, utterly devoid of emotion, roaming over me. The rock crevice I was in was already narrow, and now with this dragon-like giant python suddenly there, I didn't even have room to do calisthenics. At this moment, as long as the python casually opened its mouth and leaned to the side, I would be dead on the spot—finished.

My mind raced like lightning. Pythons have keen senses of smell and sight; there's no way it hadn't noticed me. My only hope was that it wasn't interested in someone my size. Pythons don't hunt things that are too small. If I just sat still and didn't provoke it, it might leave me alone. But if that didn't work, then this time I'd truly be at a loss.

I swallowed my saliva, trying not to tremble. The huge snake tongue licked past my ear, leaving a trail of extremely foul saliva. But luckily, it just raised its head and glanced at me, then immediately turned toward the light source of Laoyang's flashlight behind the rocks. Laoyang was hiding behind the boulder blocking the cave entrance. Seeing that the python hadn't attacked me but instead turned its head toward him, he instantly realized something was wrong. The rock blocking the passage was only as big as the python's head, and couldn't stop it. I heard Laoyang curse, then he quickly pulled back behind the rock and clicked off the flashlight.

The surroundings went pitch black. The python's two yellow eyes glowed in the dark. I still didn't dare to breathe. I vaguely saw the python gently push the rock twice, and when the stone didn't move, it suddenly retracted its neck into an attack posture.

In my mind, I saw the python's hunting moves from TV. I immediately knew what would happen next. In an instant, the python's retracted neck shot out like a bullet. A dull thud sounded, the whole cave shook, and the boulder blocking the entrance flew away like a kite. I heard Laoyang scream, followed by a continuous series of rocks colliding.

Although I knew the Laoyang outside wasn't real, that scream still triggered a conditioned panic in me. The python discovered the hollow space behind the rock, but its head was too big to get through. It kept arching its body as it coiled, and I dodged left and right to avoid being wrapped up—if its scales caught me, my bones would be crushed.

After several failed attempts, the python grew agitated. It swung its head and started ramming the rock wall around the cave entrance. The python looked terrifying enough coiled up, but now writhing like a dragon, it was spectacular beyond belief. After a few blows, the cave entrance cracked open. The python twisted hard and squeezed its head out, scales scraping against the rock, splitting the whole stone apart. It pushed all the obstructing rocks outward. I followed the python out and saw Laoyang lying in a pile of rubble, his body almost entirely crushed under the stones, barely breathing. When he saw me, he coughed a few times, as if trying to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, blood flowed from the corners of his lips.

I checked his injuries and tried to move the rocks, but one look showed his lower body was completely crushed—too horrible to even look at. I sighed and asked him, "Do you... do you have anything else to say?"

He glanced at me, gritted his teeth, pulled out the backpack he had gotten from Boss Wang from the crevice, and tossed it to me.

I took the bag, not knowing what I felt. He coughed a few times, spat out a lot of blood, then said nothing more and closed his eyes.

I hesitated, about to ask him exactly what had happened that day, when suddenly a huge boom shook the entire cave violently. I could barely stay seated; I slammed into the rock wall, and a long series of cracking sounds came from above.

I was terrified, thinking that the giant snake outside had started ramming again. I quickly crouched and crawled toward the cave entrance. At that moment, Laoyang suddenly called out hoarsely, "Old Wu!"

I froze, wondering what else he wanted to say. I turned back and saw him open his mouth at me. Then suddenly the ground beneath him collapsed, and stones fell like a waterfall from above. In a flash, he vanished into the rubble as if sinking into mud.

My heart lurched with a tearing pain, but I had no time to adjust my emotions. I rolled a few times to dodge the falling rocks and rushed outside, just in time to see a dark mass hurtling toward me. I quickly dove to the side. The dark mass crashed into the mountain, shaking the entire cliff face. Rocks flew everywhere, and a crack split the mountain, extending from where I stood down along the wall.

Seeing such violent impacts, I wondered—was this snake out of its mind? I turned to look. That was not the case. The black python that had crawled out earlier was now tangled with the fine-scaled giant snake that had emerged from the bronze tree, locked in a fierce battle. The fine-scaled giant-eyed snake was much larger than the python, but in the fight it couldn't gain any upper hand. Both snakes were black, and for a moment I couldn't tell which was which. I just saw two black whirlwinds constantly twisting around the bronze tree, their tails thrashing wildly, smashing the surrounding stalactites and stalagmites flying like cannonballs.

I had never seen such a thrilling scene; I was completely dumbstruck. Suddenly, a tail swept right to my feet, and the rock I was standing on was ground to powder. In panic, I grabbed around me, but found that all the nearby rocks had been loosened by the impacts—nothing to hold on to. I tumbled headlong into the abyss below. In the span of a few minutes, I had experienced life and death several times. I couldn't react in time. I yelled, then heard a roaring sound of water, and suddenly my whole body felt cold, the noise in my ears died away, and I found myself plunged into water.

Damn it, where did this water come from? I plunged six or seven meters into the water before stopping. I hadn't adjusted my entry posture, and I heard my neck crack—I didn't know if it was broken. My body had no strength, and I sank straight down.

Just as I was at a loss, a figure swam up from behind, supported me, and carried me upward. I turned and saw that it was Master Liang, who had been hiding in the cave below. He had probably been forced out by the rising water and saw someone fall in, so he came to help. As I broke the surface, I saw that the abyss we had climbed up from had somehow turned into a pool. Water surged in from somewhere, and the water level was still rising rapidly. I looked around, thinking—no wonder when they came here three years ago, it was a pool. But now, damn it, wouldn't that mean we couldn't go back? I was a better swimmer than Master Liang. After he pulled me up, he lost his strength and started sinking. I dragged him to the bronze tree, not wanting to hold past grudges. I asked, "What's going on?"

Master Liang coughed a few times before he could speak. "There must have been a rainstorm outside. This is a flash flood. This area often has flash floods this season. The floodwater drains into the underground river we came through; that river must connect to some of the rock openings in the wall here. The high-altitude floodwater rushes down, the water level rises, and it backflows in! Once the flash flood passes, the water level will drop again."

I cursed inwardly. Now we were stuck between heaven and earth, with no idea where to get out. I looked up and saw a huge black mass still locked in battle above. I thought, damn, if things kept going like this and they fell into the water, this place would truly become a dragon's pool and tiger's den; we'd be done for. Before I finished the thought, I heard a whoosh, and the black python came crashing down into the water. Water splashed everywhere, and the small pool boiled like a kettle.

Then the fine-scaled giant snake climbed down the bronze tree. When Master Liang saw its huge purple eyes, he was so scared he sank into the water. I pulled him up, and he stammered, "Oh my god! Where did that thing come from? That... that's a Zhulong Jiuyin!"

The name sounded familiar. I dragged him behind the bronze tree and asked what it meant. Master Liang bit his tongue and whispered, "Zhulong Jiuyin is a kind of dragon—ancient times called it Zhulong. Actually, it's a giant poisonous snake from a prehistoric era. In the time of Emperor Shun, they captured these things to render their oil for candlelight. They went extinct thousands of years ago. How is there still one here?"

I had never known any of this, and I felt strange. Since I didn't know it, it couldn't have come from my imagination. So was it real? Was there really a giant ancient poisonous snake inside this bronze tree?

Master Liang continued, "A Zhulong Jiuyin this big must have lived for who knows how many years. Have you noticed that from here you can only see one of its eyes? The eyes of a Zhulong Jiuyin grow horizontally. The one you see now should be the main eye. There's another eye above it, called the yin eye. Legend says that a thousand-year-old Zhulong Jiuyin's yin eye connects to hell. If you look into it, you'll be possessed by evil ghosts, and eventually you'll turn into a monster with a human head and a snake body."

I thought of Laoyang's venomous snake-like expression and felt a chill. I glanced back stealthily. Fortunately, the Zhulong Jiuyin's attention was completely off us. I could feel the water current under us becoming wildly turbulent, and I knew the black python was still underwater. The Zhulong Jiuyin stared at the water, probably afraid of a sudden attack from the python.

The water kept rising, and we were coming closer and closer to the Zhulong Jiuyin's body. Master Liang was nervously terrified. I looked up; there should be an exit at the top of the cave. If the water level rose high enough, we could get out that way. But I didn't know how high it would go. After all, we were very near the mountaintop. When we passed through the Thousand Coffin Array, the coffins showed no signs of water damage, so the water couldn't have gone higher than that. I had no idea exactly how high it would reach, so I just floated upward as far as I could.

I quietly told my thoughts to Liang Shiye, but he wouldn't listen. At that moment, a few white masks floated up from the water—they were the shells of chi gu. I suddenly felt something was wrong. I picked one up and saw that the mouth cavity was empty; the gu worm inside was gone.

"Damn it!" I cursed, suddenly realizing why that python had been submerged for so long without surfacing. I turned on my flashlight and dove in to take a look. I saw countless bugs like crab legs, some still carrying masks, some just bodies, attached to that giant black python like leeches—a vast white patch. The python's belly was facing up, and it was still tumbling continuously, but it clearly couldn't shake off these bugs. It slammed into rocks, knocking off the masks of some gu bugs, but the bug bodies were still firmly attached to the snake's body. It looked bizarre and abnormal.

Some gu bugs that couldn't grab a spot were roaming around the snake's body, moving very swiftly. The trouble was, as soon as they saw the flashlight in my hand, all the gu bugs suddenly paused for a moment, then quickly leaped off the python. Before I could react, everything went blurry, and all the bugs surged toward me like a massive school of fish in the sea.