Naturally, Mo Laoda was a lot faster than the eight men. That is, if it was only Mo Laoda. However, he was carrying Yin Xiaoxiao on his back, and Yin Xiaoxiao had unhealed injuries, so Mo Laoda maintained a normal speed. In this way, Mo Laoda wasnât much faster than the eight humans.
Tomb robbers all had their own way of remembering the path theyâd taken, and these eight fleeing men were no exception. Once or twice they misremembered, but this was of no consequence and only resulted in a few detours. However, because everyone was very anxious to leave, whenever there was a disagreement the resulting dispute was not at all normal. Everyoneâs mood gradually became irritable but, under these circumstances, they couldnât maintain that for long. Finally, when the eight men were utterly exhausted, they came across an area with which they were exceptionally well-acquainted: the place where theyâd initially entered the snake tomb. The area still contained traces from when the humans had entered more than a dozen days ago.
Suddenly, the eight mensâ hearts filled with excitement and relief. They were almost at the edge of the boundary. As long as they crossed the intervening meters, theyâd be able to escape this dreadful place.
However, heaven wasnât that kind.
Beside the boundary, within a dense layer of underbrush, came sudden rustling sounds which drew the attention of the eight men. One after another, they looked towards the place from where the sounds originated.
This, as it happened, was Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Damoâs hurried arrival.
Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Damo made their way from the underbrush to see these humans standing not very far away from themselves.
Both sides were startled, but the humans reacted first.
The man standing at the head clenched his teeth and yelled, âThey only have three snakes, but there are eight of us! Thereâs no need for us to fear them! Itâs only a short five or six meters to the exit, weâll definitely be able to leave!â
Matters having reached this point, even if the man hadnât said anything, the seven men behind him still wouldâve rushed to the exit. The only thing that changed was timing. Nevertheless, it was very clear that speed was the most important factor in determining the vipersâ victory.
The manâs shout was also heard by Mo Laodaâs party of the three snakes. Since it was naturally impossible for Mo Laoda to carry Yin Xiaoxiao on the battlefield, Mo Laoda placed Yin Xiaoxiao in the underbrush from which they had recently left and warned, âXiaoxiao, donât come out while weâre fighting, okay?â Mo Laoda had suffered a great psychological blow the last time Yin Xiaoxiao had been injured, and Mo Laoda didnât want to experience that again.
Yin Xiaoxiao nodded his head. âDonât worry. I absolutely wonât go and join the battle!â
Within the space of these few words, the human side had already launched their attack. No, not an attack. The humans charged Mo Laoda and Mo DamoâŚ.to get to the exit behind them.
Thatâs right, these eight people had absolutely no desire to fight these vipers. Right now all they wanted to do was escape. Since the exit was right behind the vipers, they had no choice but to charge towards the vipers.
While escape was the goal of the eight men, killing these eight humans was the goal of Mo Laoda and Mo Damo. If these eight men had thought to unite in battle against the vipers, perhaps they would have lasted for a little while longer. But since each human was solely focused on his own escape, in the end, they were utterly defeated by Mo Laoda and Mo Damo. Mo Laoda and Mo Damo killed the humans without flinching. To them, killing humans was just like killing rats within the boundary. Did vipers have sympathy for rats? Perhaps the difference between killing rats and killing humans lay in that killing rats was in order to eat, while killing humans was just to kill, nothing more.
However, even if Mo Laoda and Mo Damoâs were faster, it was still somewhat difficult for them to kill all the humans within the span of time it took for the humans to cross five or six meters. After all, there were only two vipers â Yin Xiaoxiao didnât count since he could only hide in the underbrush. Thus, ultimately and despite everything, one man escaped the barrier.
Throughout this, Yin Xiaoxiao had stayed in the underbrush, watching from between gaps among the grass. âWow! Our Heitan is really awesome! One bite was enough to kill one human! Tch, Mo Damo is really weak! In the time it took our Heitan to kill three people, he only killed one!â
Yin Xiaoxiao hid in the underbrush, stealing glances at the battle and rejoicing as he watched Mo Laoda and Mo Damo annihilate the eight humans. But then a sudden change occurred. A human took advantage of Mo Laoda and Mo Damoâs neglected flank and ran outside the boundary!
At that, Yin Xiaoxiao felt himself become hotheaded, and he only had one thought: this human absolutely couldnât be allowed to escape! Body moving faster than his mind, Yin Xiaoxiaoâs body rushed towards the boundary.
But Yin Xiaoxiao knew that, as a viper, it was impossible for him to leave the boundary. Surely if he rushed the boundary, heâd end up hitting his head against it!
However, much to Yin Xiaoxiaoâs own surprise and to the disbelief of Mo Laoda and Mo Damo, who had already killed the other seven people, Yin Xiaoxiao actually passed through the boundary!
âXiaoxiao!â Mo Laoda let out a heart-wrenching roar. His body ruthlessly smacked against the boundary. In the end it was very clear that, even though Mo Laoda was very powerful, he was also unable to pass through the boundary to the human world outside. Still, Mo Laoda refused to give up. Instead, he slammed himself repeatedly against the boundary. His eyes reddened, and despair and hatred for humans filled his heart with resentment.
Xiaoxiao, his Xiaoxiao! He still had yet to grow to adulthood, he was still so delicate, how could he let him go out into the human world on his own? What if there were a lot of humans outside? What if the humans outside wanted to kill Xiaoxiao? No! He absolutely wouldnât let this kind of thing come to pass! He said that he was going to protect Xiaoxiao from humiliation and injury, but heâd already broken his promise the last time Xiaoxiao was injured. This time, he couldnât believe heâd even lost Xiaoxiao! How could he tolerate something like this? âXiaoxiao, my Xiaoxiao!â
Mo Damo stared, watching Mo Laodaâs frantic actions, entirely speechless. What could he even say? Mo Damo couldnât look away. Originally, heâd held out an extravagant hope that one day, despite all evidence to the contrary, Mo Laoda wouldnât become partners with Yin Xiaoxiao. Now, even though the perfect chance arose, it turned out that it was all nothing but his own wishful daydream.
But letâs leave Mo Laodaâs side for the time being and let us take a look at Yin Xiaoxiaoâs side.
Having smoothly passed through the boundary, Yin Xiaoxiao was blinded. Only now wasnât a good time for Yin Xiaoxiao to be blinded. Taking advantage of the fact that the fleeing man had not, as of yet, found him, Yin Xiaoxiao hid â well, Yin Xiaoxiao could admit that the so-called hiding was simply burrowing into the sand with only two eyes quietly peeking out to watch that man.
This man had to be killed! This was Yin Xiaoxiaoâs primary reason for why he hadnât already gone back through the boundary. The way Yin Xiaoxiao saw it, humans who entered the old tomb all had to be killed! He couldnât let them return and bring back even more humans! He could scarcely imagine that, of this man left, heâd stay tight-lipped about everything that had happened.
Yin Xiaoxiao hid in the sand, unmoving, waiting for the right time to kill this man. Yin Xiaoxiao was well-aware that, with his capabilities, itâd be absolutely impossible for him to bite through that manâs clothes to inject venom into that manâs body. Thus, he had to wait until the man removed his clothes himself before he would be able to succeed.
In fact, this man who escaped, his life must be really big <sup>1</sup> . This man was one of the two men from the middle-aged womanâs team who escaped. Heâd escaped twice from the grasp of vipers. Still more, he was, so far, the only one to manage to escape the boundary â if this wasnât luck, what was?
The man knew that the vipers were unable to pass through the boundary to reach human society, thus the man, whoâd ended up outside the boundary, felt at ease and fiercely gulped down many mouthfuls of air. Of course the air of the desert outside the snake tomb was burning hot, but to this man each mouthful of air felt especially fresh and clean.
In the desert, the vehicle that the eight teams had arrived in was still there, already covered in a thick layer of sand.
Originally, after the eight teams had arrived here, the guide of each team had left one after another. The other team members didnât know that his teamâs guide would come out to look for them after a month and wait for ten days. After that, if it seemed as though they still had yet to leave, the guide would leave alone. Nearly twenty days had passed since they first entered the snake tomb. In other words, as long as the man waited another ten days or so, heâd be able to leave this desert and return to normal human society.
Although living alone in the desert wasnât wasnât a prospect that held even the slightest bit of joy, the man was still relieved; at least here, unlike in the snake tomb, there werenât any of those horrible vipers. Thinking of this, the man couldnât help but feel a burst of lingering fear. Those last two vipers heâd encountered really were the most difficult to deal with! Thereâd been eight people on his side and the exit had only been a few meters away and, even with things like this, heâd still been the only one whoâd escaped.
The man shook his head. It was better that he not think about this again. He rummaged through the things in the vehicle, both those of his own team and those of the other teams, and found a lot of rations and a lot of potable water. It seemed that, in that aspect at least, he didnât need to worry about food and drink for the remaining ten days.
The man raised his head to look at the scorching sun, thought for a bit, then turned back to the car and pulled out a set of clothes, intending to change. In any case, since heâd already left the snake tomb, there was no need for him to keep wearing this special clothing. These clothes truly were too heavy. Wearing them made him feel too hot and stuffy.
Hiding not too far away from the man, Yin Xiaoxiaoâs eyes shone. Very good, his chance had finally come. Yin Xiaoxiao didnât dig his way out from the sand, but instead, still hidden within the sand, slowly made his way towards the man.
The man quickly changed clothes. Once done, the man took out some water and began to gulp it down.
Seeing that the man finished drinking water and looked as though he were about to enter the vehicle, Yin Xiaoxiao felt a little worried and suddenly sped up, rushing towards the man.
The desert was quiet. Here, there was no human noise and no animal calls. There was no way for Yin Xiaoxiao to mask the sound of his slithering. The man overheard him.
The man was alarmed. He absolutely would never be able to forget this sound! The sound of snakes slithering would forever feature in his future nightmares. How would he be able to forget?! Immediately, the man pulled open the door, wanting to hide inside the vehicle. But he was already too late.
For Yin Xiaoxiao had already slithered under the manâs feet. He suddenly leapt out from underneath the sand, and bit the man on the calf.
The man shrieked, bent down at the waist, grabbed Yin Xiaoxiao, tore him from his leg, removing a chunk of his own flesh in the process, and then hurled him away. The man looked at the wound and couldnât help but scream again in despair. The wound had already turned purple and dark, colors which were quickly spreading. The manâs death was now inevitable. As the man lost consciousness and fell to the ground, there was only one thought left in his mind: in my next life, I swear that I wonât become a tomb robber!
Having been grabbed and thrown, Yin Xiaoxiao felt dizzy and confused after he hit the ground. After shaking his head and regaining his senses, the man had already died. Yin Xiaoxiao finally had time to take in his surroundings.
The first thing he saw, naturally, was desert. Aside from this was more desert. Yin Xiaoxiao sighed with a hint of nostalgia and slowly slithered towards the boundary.
In fact, the old tomb had always existed in this desert and didnât just suddenly come into existence here on the fifteenth of every month. Rather, it was only on the fifteenth of every month that, for some unknown reason, humans could see the old tomb, making it only seem like itâd suddenly come into existence. Perhaps it was because he was both human and snake that Yin Xiaoxiao was now still able to see the old tomb. It wasnât clearly visible and seemed more like a slice of blurry green, but this was enough for Yin Xiaoxiao to be able to find the old tombâs location and make his way over to enter the old tomb.
Yin Xiaoxiao slithered to the boundary and then entered the old tomb. Just as half of Yin Xiaoxiaoâs head had half-entered, there was a sudden pain in his head. Yin Xiaoxiao let out an âouch!â His head was pushed out of the boundary, and Yin Xiaoxiao once more found himself in the desert.
On the other side, Mo Laoda, who had continued to run at the boundary, stared. Just now, it seemed as though heâd run into something soft and had also heard Xiaoxiao scream?
ââŚ.Xiaoxiao?â Mo Laoda stopped running into the boundary. Instead, after a moment, he rushed towards the boundary, shouting.
Mo Damo: ââŚ.â
Yin Xiaoxiao, with great difficulty, raised himself up from the sand and used his tail to vigorously rub at his head. âIt hurt, it hurt! What was it that Iâd run into just now?! It really hurt me!â
He waited until his head didnât hurt so much, then Yin Xiaoxiao once more slithered to the boundary. This time, he took particular care for fear that heâd run into that thing again. Huh? This time it wasnât there?! And so Yin Xiaoxiao merrily made his way inside.
As soon as he could clearly see the scene in front of him, Yin Xiaoxiao found Mo Laoda firmly wrapped and tangled around his body.
âI, Iâm going, to be strangled. Quick, let, let me go!â Yin Xiaoxiaoâs eyes had already begun to roll until only the white showed.
Mo Laoda promptly released Yin Xiaoxiao then looked Yin Xiaoxiao up and down several times to make sure that Yin Xiaoxiao hadnât received other injuries. Once Mo Laoda finally felt reassured and once he was no longer worried about Yin Xiaoxiaoâs safety, Mo Laoda, of course, couldnât easily forgive Yin Xiaoxiao for so rashly running out from inside the boundary!
âLittle Idiot! Didnât I tell you to be well-behaved and stay in the underbrush? Why did you run around without permission?!â
âI, I didnât do that!â said Yin Xiaoxiao, trying to defend himself. âYou only said that I couldnât take part in the battle. You didnât say that I couldnât chase deserters!â
âYou dare talk back!â Mo Laoda exclaimed angrily. âDo you know how dangerous it is to run out from the boundary?! And then, after you left the boundary, you didnât even immediately come back!â
âNaturally, it was because I had to go and kill that human before I could come back!â Saying this, Yin Xiaoxiao was a little smug. âHeitan, let me tell you, I really did kill that human! Hehe, Iâm awesome, right!â
Seeing this smug little idiot in front of him who didnât realize how worried heâd been, Mo Laoda abruptly didnât feel like saying anything else. His Little Idiot ought to feel this cheerful and optimistic every day, and shouldnât suffer any harm at all, not even if it was brought upon him by himself. Mo Laoda hooked the smug Yin Xiaoxiao and firmly placed a kiss on Yin Xiaoxiaoâs mouth. Little Idiot, this time youâre spared!
T/N:
Footnotes
<ol>ĺ˝ççćŻćşĺ¤§ç: used to describe surviving circumstances that would have killed others</ol>