Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Because of their faith, Qin Ying’s influence over the area around Black Stone Mountain had strengthened.

She realized this the moment she noticed the change in the box’s perspective.

Now, she could adjust her field of vision to see a much larger area, almost as if she were operating a tablet. Furthermore, she could pull over a patch of thick clouds to shroud herself, preventing her shadow from being projected into the box.

No one had provided a handwritten manual for these changes, but she simply knew them intuitively.

Qin Ying amused herself by pulling the clouds within the World in the Box, hovering her palm over the box and clenching her hand to knead the ink-dark clouds into various shapes.

After playing for a while, she tossed in some grass she had plucked from the backyard for Han Lie and the others to feed the Sand Lizards.

Then, she closed the lid and took a closer look at the miniature jewelry and woven rugs offered by her Believers.

These items were exquisitely handcrafted, and their tiny size added a touch of cuteness. Qin Ying felt she could buy a Dollhouse to display them properly.

As she fiddled with the trinkets, time slipped away until it was three in the morning.

Having eaten Jiarong Grass, Qin Ying didn’t feel sleepy at all. Estimating that two days had passed inside the World in the Box, she reopened the lid.

As it happened, she saw the six men, led by Han Lie, performing a sacrificial ceremony before the altar at Black Stone Mountain before their departure.

Afterward, they stepped out of Black Stone Mountain and into the scorching, fierce sun.

When the Sand Lizards first left the village, the sun was still high and bright. However, by the time Han Lie and the others pushed their crude, almost comical Lightning Avoidance Cart out of the village, the sound of thunder rumbled.

Thunderclouds gathered in the sky, and the sound of a Giant Bird flapping its wings accompanied the booming thunder. Lightning, like silver whips, slashed across the horizon.

After a flash of brilliance, everyone heard the thunderous cry of the Giant Bird within the clouds.

The Lightning Avoidance Cart made by the Aman Tribe featured a tall iron antenna and an iron chain that trailed along the ground. The men were wearing high-toothed wooden clogs over their boots, making every step across the wasteland a struggle.

If the Giant Bird in the sky called down lightning, they wouldn’t even be able to dodge.

“Wait, brother, is this method of yours actually reliable?” Wang Chang asked Aman, his heart pounding with uncertainty.

Aman’s skin was smeared with an ointment made from Immortal Grass and wrapped in bandages. His eyes shifted unnaturally as he replied, “Of course it’s reliable!”

“I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

Even if sixty-four others who went with him that time had died.

Aman was wrapped in bandages, making his exposed eyes particularly prominent. Consequently, when his gaze shifted guiltily, even Wu Er became a bit unsettled.

“Brother Aman, is it really reliable?” Wu Er swallowed hard several times. “Can’t we do something to increase our chances of success?”

Aman said firmly, “Of course there’s something we can do!”

Five pairs of eyes from Han Lie and his companions turned toward him simultaneously.

Then they heard Aman say, “At a time like this, you must pray loudly, of course!”

Hearing this, Han Lie remained relatively calm; he believed the Supreme Deity’s claim about being great at Badminton wasn’t just talk. The other four, however, were far from calm. Coming from different places, they let out a chorus of curses and regional slang directed at Aman.

Wang Chang opened his big mouth, ready to unleash some choice words. But in the next instant, a thunderous boom echoed.

A bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket fell from the sky, zigzagging down to strike the wooden cart they were pushing.

The current was channeled away through the grounded iron chain. Standing with their feet together, the men were not injured, but their hair and beards stood on end like chestnuts.

“It… it actually seems to work.”

Wang Chang was about to say more, his heart still racing, when the Giant Bird in the sky recognized exactly what that rickety cart they were pushing was.

The Giant Bird, dancing amidst the lightning, was incredibly vengeful. It dived straight out of the thunderclouds.

For the first time, it revealed its true form to Han Lie and the others.

“It really is a Thunderbird!”

As members of the Jade Balance Army who hunted Monstrous Beasts, identifying various creatures was a basic skill. When the Giant Bird in the sky spread its wings, Han Lie finally confirmed his previous suspicion.

The phoenix bore nine chicks, and the Thunderbird was the eighth-it was an Auspicious Beast of extremely high status.

Wu Er’s heart trembled as he turned to look at Aman. “You bastard, you people actually tried to poison a Thunderbird?”

Aman had no idea what an Auspicious Beast was. He just gaped and asked, “Eh?”

“‘Eh’ my foot! This is an Auspicious Beast!”

Wang Chang wanted to curse more, but Han Lie, who had been staring solemnly at the sky, barked out a command first.
“Everyone shut up! Guard the Lightning Avoidance Cart!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the violet-blue Giant Bird in the sky suddenly folded its wings and dove straight toward them.

Someone let out a curse as the group surrounded the Lightning Attraction Cart to meet the attack.

Even someone as thick-skinned as Wang Chang felt the muscles in his arms tighten when facing a legendary Auspicious Beast head-on.

Aman’s mumbled prayers reached his ears, and Wang Chang wanted to shout something himself to bolster their morale.

What actually came out, however, was a startled: “Mama mia!”

From even higher than the dark clouds, a massive, flat net suddenly lunged downward.

This square, giant net was entirely red, and it intercepted the Thunderbird’s flight path perfectly.

Before the Giant Bird, whose wingtips were wrapped in lightning, could even react, the net swung with a sharp *whoosh*.

The legendary Auspicious Beast, the Thunderbird, couldn’t dodge in time.

Despite its majestic and murderous aura, and its ability to command the elements, the Thunderbird was struck squarely by the square, giant net.

Everyone had good eyesight; they clearly saw the moment the Thunderbird was hit. It looked like a fly being flattened against a wall by a shoe.

With a thunderous howl, the aggressive Thunderbird, along with its accompanying storm clouds, was sent flying backward like a comet, tracing a long arc across the sky into the distance.

“Yay!”

The sky brightened once more, the rumbling thunder vanished, and a grand Divine Voice echoed from above.

*Thump!*

Aman fell to his knees, beginning to pray in the language of the Sand People to give thanks for the divine grace.

Seeing him kneel, Wu Er and the others followed suit.

Han Lie was drenched in sweat.

Others couldn’t hear it, but he could.

The Supreme Deity had said: “Yay, I’m so good! Also…” She had hummed a few lines of a song, and she seemed… out of tune again?

Han Lie looked at the men who were kowtowing with extreme piety and ultimately decided to keep his mouth shut.

There must be a profound reason for the Supreme Deity to speak and sing in such a manner.

As long as the Supreme Deity was happy, that was all that mattered.

***

Outside the box, Qin Ying was feeling quite proud of herself as she pinched her melted Fly Swatter.

Her elementary school Badminton championship title really hadn’t been for nothing.

It was just that her weapon wasn’t quite up to the task; the Fly Swatter had almost completely melted.

While the little bird was still tumbling away, Qin Ying went downstairs to find a heat-resistant silicone spatula.

With the Thunderbird no longer blocking their path, Han Lie’s group successfully made it out of the village gates.

As they moved forward, Qin Ying saw even more of the scenery.

The rolling sand dunes displayed a magnificent shade of red, their wind-sculpted lines resembling burning flames.

Qin Ying couldn’t help but zoom in, sighing inwardly once again: *If only I could stand on that sand and see it for myself.*

But immediately after, she dismissed the thought at lightning speed.

A dense cluster of thin black lines appeared from a distant sand dune.

They were massing with the organization of army ants, leaving winding trails on the ground as they moved.

If one listened and looked closely, one could hear an endless hissing sound and see the writhing of strange, serpentine bodies.

It was a pack of the Disaster Beast, the Fei Yi-creatures with one head, two bodies, six legs, and four wings!

The Creator must have been distracted or playing a joke when making these strange snakes.

Their six legs and four wings were completely useless, dragging along like vestigial tumors as the two bodies slithered forward.

Qin Ying broke out in goosebumps.

She warned Han Lie, “Careful, there’s a large swarm of Fei Yi.”

In fact, Wu Er and the others had already become alert the moment the rustling sound of the Fei Yi crossing the dunes reached them.

They had all suffered greatly at the hands of these strange snakes before.

Aman, even more so.

Most of these creatures were born in Chixia Golden Saddle Mountain, and many people from his village had perished in their fangs.

Han Lie’s reaction was just as fast. He shouted, “Set the Fire Circle! Prepare the Protective Talismans!”

Since they had come to investigate, they weren’t going to be reckless now that they knew Fei Yi were here.

Before they left, the Old Physician in Yunwu County had prepared Snake Repellent Medicine for them.

The most important ingredient in the medicine pouches was the priceless Toad Venom.

This extract from the pustules behind the ears of a Ten-Thousand-Year Flesh Fungus could both neutralize snake venom and naturally suppress the Fei Yi!

At Han Lie’s command, they poured Fire Oil onto the surrounding dunes and ignited a roaring blaze.

In the distance, the first Fei Yi revealed its black-scaled, humanoid head over a sand dune.

Its eerie, serpentine eyes fixed on Han Lie and his men.

Wu Er took four thumb-sized Toad Venom Pills from a leather pouch and threw one into the fire in each of the four cardinal directions.

As the Toad Venom Pills were consumed by the Fire Circle, no black smoke rose, yet the surging swarm of Fei Yi suddenly faltered. They fell into a chaotic mess within the drifting vapors of the burning medicine.