Chapter 194
Chapter 194
“Holy mother! Are we going to lose our lives here today?!”
Deep within Ailao Mountain’s eerie, fog-shrouded forest, the party fled for their lives.
A monstrous blue-purple python raced after them.
This was the target of their entire expedition: the King Serpent.
But the creature was unbelievably venomous. Its two sharp fangs could spray poison, and a single drop corroded a deep hole in the ground.
It was also unnaturally fast and pursued them without pause.
Ji Yi carried Jiang Yunsui tucked beneath one arm.
They had found the King Serpent four hours earlier. The moment they entered its territory, a dense mass of snakes surrounded them.
Fortunately, they had the Nuqing Roosters, Shen Qingzhu’s strongest snake-repelling powder, and medicine made specifically to counter snake venom. They suffered several bites but crossed the swarm without serious danger.
Soon they discovered an enormous shed skin, wide enough for an adult to crouch and walk through.
The skin was three or four times thicker than Jiang Yunsui!
The dogs had sensitive noses. By following the scent on the shed skin, they finally found the King Serpent’s lair.
Then they discovered they could not defeat it at all, leading to their current desperate flight.
“Its hide is even more absurd than the giant centipede’s!”
Jiang Yunsui hurriedly took out several small spheres containing Parasitic Yellow Mushroom spores.
“Here. Use these.”
Ji Yi accepted them. When the King Serpent opened its jaws to bite Fat Chef, Ji Yi drew a dagger and threw it.
The dagger struck one venomous fang with a metallic clang.
Fat Chef seized the chance to escape.
The King Serpent’s fury shifted to Ji Yi, and it turned to chase him.
As it closed in with its jaws spread wide, Ji Yi threw a spore sphere straight into its mouth.
At the same instant, Jiang Yunsui desperately tossed in an Imperial Flowing Essence Ball to stimulate the spores.
The King Serpent’s open mouth swept toward them. Ji Yi shielded Jiang Yunsui and rolled across the ground, narrowly slipping past its fangs.
But the serpent’s saliva splashed across his waist and abdomen. It ate away a large patch of flesh.
His face went white with pain, and cold sweat poured from him.
Terrified, Jiang Yunsui pressed one cluster of Imperial Flowing Essence after another into his body.
“There’s a cave over there. Get inside!”
Perhaps the spores had no effect on the King Serpent. Or perhaps its body was so vast that any effect was not yet visible.
Either way, it showed no obvious change.
Ji Er and Ji Si supported Ji Yi and carried Jiang Yunsui as the party hurried into a cave large enough to hold them.
Boom!
The King Serpent’s body slammed against the entrance. The entire mountain seemed to shake.
Fat Chef dropped onto his bottom and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“That thing is terrifying.”
Without Jiang Yunsui, several of them would surely have died.
“Hiss… hiss…”
The King Serpent remained outside, its huge head pressed against the opening. Cold vertical pupils stared savagely into the cave.
Its forked tongue reached inside.
Everyone swallowed.
“What do we do now? We can’t hurt that thing from the outside.”
The King Serpent’s defenses seemed invincible. No matter how they attacked, they caused only limited damage.
Meanwhile, almost everyone in the party was injured.
Jiang Yunsui ran from person to person, healing them and stuffing several Verdant Jade Mushrooms into each mouth as though the mushrooms cost nothing.
Fortunately, before the journey Shen Qingzhu had used rare ingredients such as lingzhi, ginseng, and dendrobium to make many candy pills. Since entering Ailao Mountain, they had also found aged medicinal herbs and prepared them as medicinal meals or sweets for her.
Jiang Yunsui grew many Verdant Jade Mushrooms every night. Otherwise, they would never have had enough.
The poison corroding Ji Yi’s waist was especially troublesome. Ordinary antidotes could only slow it.
“We can only cut away the corroded flesh,” Shen Qingzhu said with a sigh.
“But we have no anesthetic.”
Cold sweat still beaded Ji Yi’s forehead. “Do it.”
He bit down on a wooden stick.
“Cut it away.”
Shen Qingzhu laid out his tools and immediately sterilized a dagger.
He drew a deep breath. “Endure it.”
The King Serpent continued battering the cave entrance, but Shen Qingzhu’s hands remained steady.
“Ngh…”
The agony of having flesh cut away without anesthetic was unimaginable.
Several men held Ji Yi down. His entire body shook from the pain, and cold sweat streamed off him.
Jiang Yunsui’s eyes reddened. She could think only of using her stored Imperial Flowing Essence to ease his suffering.
Shen Qingzhu worked quickly. Once the damaged flesh was removed, he applied hemostatic medicine and Verdant Jade Mushroom powder, then bandaged the wound.
Jiang Yunsui hurriedly took out a handful of Verdant Jade Mushrooms.
“Yi Yi, eat these. Eat lots.”
“No,” Song Jin said. “Ji Yi has no strength left.”
“Crush them and feed them to him,” Shen Qingzhu ordered.
Only after everything was treated did the party look outside again.
“Huh? Has the King Serpent slowed down?”
Fat Chef scratched his head. “Maybe it’s tired. I hope it leaves soon. If it keeps ramming the cave, I’m afraid the whole place will collapse.”
“Mycelium is growing from its body,” Jiang Yunsui said.
Everyone brightened. Were the spores working?
Clearly, however, the mycelium had only slowed the King Serpent.
It was nowhere near enough to kill it.
Poison was useless, and blades caused little damage.
“The only weakness we can exploit is inside its body,” Song Jin analyzed.
But close combat was impossible. Even the King Serpent’s saliva was venomous.
Song Jin’s gaze turned thoughtful.
“We’ll use red-hot iron. Ji Er, how accurate are you with a bow?”
Ji Er pointed at Ji Si. “Ji Si is the best archer among the hidden guards.”
“Then Ji Si will do it. Someone fast will have to act as bait. When the King Serpent opens its jaws, shoot the red-hot iron into its mouth.”
“But even that won’t cause a fatal wound. The only thing we possess that truly affects it is Jiang Yunsui’s spores.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Little Yunsui, how many do you have left?”
Jiang Yunsui produced a handful of spore spheres.
They could be recycled. The party had used these spores to parasitize many venomous snakes, insects, spiders, and centipedes.
Jiang Yunsui had then happily followed behind and collected the new spores.
Her supply of spore spheres had only continued to grow.
Now they had found the perfect use for them.
“Good. Whether we kill the King Serpent will depend on these spores.”
Of course, they would never place Jiang Yunsui in danger.
They had been fortunate to find a cave within solid rock. The entrance was too small for the King Serpent to enter.
That gave them a safe refuge.
As long as the mountain did not collapse, they had all the time they needed to wear the serpent down.
The mycelium seemed to irritate the King Serpent. After exhausting itself against the cave, it gave the people inside one final stare and left.
The next day, Jiang Yunsui and the others carried out their plan and went to harass it.
They found the King Serpent, provoked it, and immediately ran. Enraged, it chased them.
Whenever it opened its jaws, they threw spore spheres while Jiang Yunsui added Imperial Flowing Essence Balls.
When it reached the cave, Ji Si, already waiting in ambush, fired a red-hot iron block into its mouth.
“Hisssss!”
For the first time in its long reign over this land, the King Serpent suffered such humiliation. Pain drove it into an even greater frenzy, and it began smashing against the cave.