âCould it be that you regret letting us leave?â Su Laoâs brow wrinkled. Was he really going to bargain with a bunch of talking snakes? Su Lao thought he was mad. Unconsciously, his hand tightened around his gun and his left hand quietly moved towards his left pocket.
Yin Xiaoxiao slithered forward to speak, but Mo Laoda tugged him back by his tail.
Yin Xiaoxiao: ââŠâ
Mo Laoda admonished, âLittle Idiot, donât get so close to them!â
Yin Xiaoxiao ignored Mo Laoda and said to Su Lao and Liu Zhixin, âOf course we donât regret it. Letting you leave is simple, as long as you also leave everything you have on you behind.â
Su Lao and Liu Zhixin were both deeply shocked. If the other party had been a human, they wouldnât have found this to be unreasonable. But the other party was a snake! How could it say something like this?!
âDidnât you hear? If you leave everything you have on you, then you can walk away. Otherwise, your lives are ours,â Mo Laoda said, voice serious.
Liu Zhixin softly said, âMasterâŠ.â
Su Lao gritted his teeth then loudly said, âYes, no problem!â After which he took everything he was carrying and threw it to the ground. Liu Zhixin hesitated for a moment, then did the same.
âNow we can leave, right?â Su Lao asked.
âStill no!â Yin Xiaoxiao shook his head and said with a laugh, âTake off your clothes, too!â God only knew if they were concealing things in their clothes! Taking off their clothes was a must.
âYou! This is unacceptable <sup>1</sup> !â Liu Zhixin yelled, looking angrily at Yin Xiaoxiao.
Yin Xiaoxiao raised his voice, âHow am I bullying you?! You can either strip or not! But if you donât strip, then a snake will have to help you!â
âZhixin!â Su Lao yelled warningly at Liu Zhixin. Then, he turned to Yin Xiaoxiao and said, âWeâll take them off now.â
And soâŠ.a group of snakes surrounded Su Lao and Liu Zhixin to watch them undress.
Su Lao and Liu Zhixin undressing: ââŠ.â
When theyâd finally removed the last article of clothing, Yin Xiaoxiao was silent. Mo Laoda spoke first, âVery well.â
Mo Laoda motioned for two snakes to go forward and search the two piles of clothes. The results were beyond the vipersâ expectations, but came as no surprise to Yin Xiaoxiao. While searching these clothes, three hand grenades, a detonator, four flares and oneâŠblack something were produced.
Yin Xiaoxiao stretched his neck to look at that black item. He spoke uncertainty, âThis isâŠa black donkey hoof <sup>2</sup> ?â
âYou know about this?â Liu Zhixin asked, astonished. Even snakes knew about this?
âI know a little.â Yin Xiaoxiaoâs eyes turned up as he smiled and said, âYou <sup>3</sup> can take this with you. Later it might even be useful.â
Su Lao and Liu Zhixin stared at Yin Xiaoxiao for a while. Yin Xiaoxiao didnât speak again. Mo Laoda also didnât speak. At Su Laoâs order, Liu Zhixin picked up the black donkey hoof.
âPut your clothes back on.â
Su Lao and Liu Zhixin kept a vigilant eye on the vipers while they put their clothes back on. He hesitated then threw the pistol he was holding to the ground before leaving in a hurry.
Seeing that the two men had already fled, Yin Xiaoxiao laughed mischievously and said to Mo Laoda, âHeitan, from now on have some vipers follow them and periodically come out to frighten them. Make sure to regularly switch snakes so that none will be recognized. Oh, thatâs right, make sure that they slowly make their way up the mountain. Ah, this way, by the time we return we can carry out the next step, after whichâŠâ I want to make sure Su Lao and Liu Zhixin see all the gold, silver, jade and precious gems inside the tomb, have them see the ghost shark egg inside of Ji Kangâs corpseâs mouth, then have all their hopes suddenly turn to despair! Make them experience what it feels like to see but never obtain!
âUnderstand Clan Husbandâs orders? If you understand, then go and do it!â Mo Laoda softly commanded.
The vipers looked at one another and then finally answered with, âYes!â
Very quickly, where a group of snakes and a group of humans had once stood, only Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao, Mo Damo and a bunch of human corpses remained.
Because of the existence of Mo Laoda, not a single viper had died on their side, a cause for rejoicing. Although bullets had grazed many, because of the astonishing healing ability of the vipers, they had very quickly recovered.
In the conflict between humans and vipers now, there werenât many humans left. Still, there were two groups that the vipers had yet to find. No, make that three groups.
Among those was Zhou Fengâs group. Because of Qi Zhaoâs presence, whose existence was like having a cheat code, it was very difficult for the vipers to find traces of Zhou Fengâs group. The second and third groups were actually from the same team. Later on, after the persuasion of the two men from the middle-aged womanâs group, six people chose to leave the snake tomb while eleven who had chosen to continue onwards. In other words, one team had been divided into two groups. The remainder were Wang Yanzhen from the middle-aged manâs team, and Su Lao and Liu Zhixin who had just left. Apart from them, no other human had luckily and narrowly escaped death.
Previously, Mo Laoda had learned from Wang Yanzhen that more than a hundred humans had entered, But the number of people who had either been killed or who had fled, all together, didnât add up to a hundred. In other words, somewhere within the boundary there had to be humans who the vipers hadnât found.
Mo Laoda once more issued an order as Clan Head, commanding the vipers to redouble their search. Absolutely no human would be spared.
Mo Laoda had already seen the craven and cowardly hearts of mankind and their bottomless greed. After only a little thought, he already knew what his next step should be.
âXiaoxiao, Mo Damo, now letâs go to where the humans entered the boundary. Iâm sure that there must be humans who fear dying and want to leave! As for the other humans who are determined to continueâŠ.â Mo Laoda thought of Ji Kang and of several hundred Mo snakes still on the mountain, and a sinister smile spread across his face, âI believe that they will surely come to regret this soon.â
âWhere the humans entered the boundary? But, how will we be able to find where that is?â Yin Xiaoxiao asked.
Mo Laoda replied, âBy smell. Where the boundary was opened will be the smell of the outside world.â
Yin Xiaoxiao: ââŠ.â Well, Yin Xiaoxiao didnât really know what âthe smell of the outside worldâ meant.
Yin Xiaoxiao, naturally, was indifferent about where they were going. In any case, he lay across Mo Laodaâs back for the journey. Especially now that heâd been wounded, heâd suffer less strain lying on Mo Laodaâs back!
Mo Damo naturally obeyed Mo Laoda without question. If the Clan Head told him to do something, he would do it. However, Mo Damo also sincerely didnât like Yin Xiaoxiao lying on Mo Laodaâs back for the entire journey <sup>4</sup> .
&
With Qi Zhaoâs team following him and with him constantly changing direction, eventually one man couldnât help but complain.
âYoung Qi, do you even know where the old tomb is? Why do we keep changing direction?!â
Qi Zhao raised his head to look at the dissatisfied man and said with a sneer, âIf you think you can find the old tomb, naturally you donât have to follow me. You can leave the team.â
âYoung Qi, thatâs no way to speak. Since we entered following you, donât you have to bring us to the old tomb? Itâs been more than ten days now and we havenât even seen the shadow of the old tomb! You have to give us an explanation!â
Naturally, he wasnât the only one dissatisfied with Qi Zhao. With Qi Zhaoâs unfriendly attitude, other men couldnât help but open their mouths.
âThatâs right, thatâs right! We canât keep wasting time here!â
âYoung Qi, just tell us, can you lead us to the old tomb or not?â
ââŠâ
Qi Zhao raised an eyebrow and coldly said, âIf it werenât for me, Iâm afraid that you all would have died several hundred times over. Iâll say this one last time: if youâre willing to follow me, then follow me and continue. If you donât want to follow me, I wonât stop you. You can do as you see fit!â
Qi Zhao had just finished speaking when several other men stepped forward. âYoung Qi, since you said this, then donât blame us for not giving you face <sup>5</sup> . Honestly speaking, if it werenât for the reputation of the Qi family, do you think that weâd follow you, Young Qi, into this tomb?â
There were several people who expressed similar opinions and there were several people who began to hesitate, indecisive. These days, they didnât know what Qi Zhao was doing, always changing course. When they asked him, he didnât explain anything and his expression became uglier day by day. Following him to the tomb might result in death! Itâd be better to leave now. Maybe a few of them would even find the old tomb!
At this thought, a few more people stepped forward.
To Feng Yuanâs left was Zhou Feng, and behind him was a very good friend of Feng Yuanâs. At this moment, this man also stepped forward, saw that Feng Yuan hadnât moved and softly said to Feng Yuan, âFeng Yuan, you should also come with us! This Qi Zhao gives off that impression that he doesnât know what heâs doing. We came to rob the tomb, not to have fun pretending to be tomb robbers.â
Feng Yuan laughed bitterly in his heart. Based on his own inferences, he feared that they would only make it out alive by following Qi Zhao. Although he wanted to save this manâs life, he didnât know what to say to make him realize this. In the end, he could only sigh and say, âNo, Iâm going to follow Qi Zhao.â
Hearing Feng Yuan say this, this man kept silent. Ultimately, it could be said that this was more of an acquaintanceship. Trying to get Feng Yuan to come with them was only to increase their chances of success, nothing more. Feng Yuanâs refusal, otherwise, made no difference. It was neither bad nor good. When they found the old tomb, it would mean one less person with which to divide everything!
Ultimately, six of Feng Yuanâs team of twelve left. In other words, over half of the people left.
These six people were the first to leave. Logically speaking, now that the midday resting period had passed, the remaining six people in Qi Zhaoâs team should also set off. But strangely, Qi Zhao didnât begin preparations to leave. He only remained calmly sitting in place, nothing else.
Zhou Feng and Feng Yuan exchanged serious looks but did not speak.
It was about ten minutes since the six men had left and, factoring in that this section was mountainous and densely forested, ten minutes actually wasnât enough time to walk very far. At the very least, if someone ten minutes away <sup>6</sup> yelled, those with Qi Zhao would have been able to hear it.
Zhou Feng was the first to notice that something wasnât right with Qi Zhao. Without batting an eye, Zhou Feng nudged Feng Yuanâs side. Feng Yuan, without conscious thought, looked towards Qi Zhao.
Only for him to see a sinister smile spread across Qi Zhaoâs formerly expressionless face.
Feng Yuan shivered and immediately looked away.
It was exactly at this moment that blood-curdling screams echoed from the direction the former teammates had just headed. The words they heard were vague, but it was as though someone was shouting, ââŠ.snakesâŠ..thereâs snakesâŠ..â
Aside from Qi Zhao, the remaining five men all turned deathly white.
Slowly, these distant, wretched screams grew weaker and weaker until they finally faded all together.
Qi Zhao unhurriedly stood and shouldered his backpack. His face was once again expressionless as he looked at the remaining five men and slowly said, âLetâs go.â
Feng Yuan and Zhou Feng again looked at each other, then immediately looked away, silently stood up and followed Qi Zhao.
Following Qi Zhaoâs lead, the remaining six people journeyed on in abnormal silence. Qi Zhao still, from time to time, stopped and tilted his head as though he were listening to something, after which he quickly changed direction. However, this time, no one expressed dissatisfaction with Qi Zhaoâs actions, and all of them obediently followed Qi Zhao.
After walking like this for another day or two, a trace of a smile appeared on Qi Zhaoâs perpetually gloomy face as his gaze settled on the tallest mountain peak. At present, Qi Zhao had, without a hitch, escaped the vipersâ encirclement. However, because of the incessant changes made to the route, Qi Zhao was still quite a ways away from the peak of that mountain. But without having to worry about the vipersâ search, Qi Zhao now only had to hurry onwards. If everything went smoothly, in all likelihood, after less than ten days, they would reach the foot of the tallest mountain.
Qi Zhao and his team set out for their final destination. Those humans who were still surrounded certainly didnât have it as easy. As the circle of vipers became smaller and smaller, aside from Su Lao and Liu Zhixin who âsuccessfullyâ escaped danger each time they encountered vipers, it became increasingly difficult for the remaining humans to flee. Oh, that wasnât correct. It wasnât only these humans who were fleeing, but also the eleven humans who were determined to find the old tomb.
A team of eleven men, led by Xu Lao, didnât know how lucky they had been to not encounter any vipers until now. Of course, perhaps because they had prior knowledge of how formidable vipers here were, but they had been very cautious when they had entered. Each time the wind had blown and the grass had rustled, the fully-armed team had fled to the best of their abilities and had actually evaded the vipersâ search several times. But this team was comprised mainly of people who were middle-aged and older and, as time passed, as their nerves stretched more and more taut and as they were more and more active, the bodies of these people gradually became more and more fatigued. They only continued to press onwards for the item that granted eternal life. However, with time, this team too would be found by vipers. Even though they were still well-equipped, ultimately they couldnât win against several hundred vipers.
And as for that team of eight who wanted to leave the snake tomb, perhaps because heaven had taken pity on them and didnât want all the humans who had entered the snake tomb to lose their lives, these eight people were drawing closer and closer to where they could exit the snake tomb. In only another day or two, they would be at the exit of the snake tomb, and these eight people were very excited.
However, these eight people didnât know that Mo Laoda, with Yin Xiaoxiao carried on his back and with Mo Damo following behind them, was also getting closer and closer to the exit.
Mo Laodaâs group of three snakes versus the eight humans: who would be the first to reach the exit to the snake tomb?