Ling Qingyu felt thirsty after eating the breadfruit. Standing up, she listened carefully to her surroundings. There seemed to be the sound of water in front of her. Ignoring those calls, now with hints of exhaustion, she headed toward the sound of water.
After walking around a hundred meters and pushing away some branches, her eyes suddenly brightened.
She came to a cave at the bottom of the mountain. A small waterfall from above filled the air with mist before dropping into a pond that flowed into the cave. There were lush plants next to the stream. In the middle of it stood some enormous boulders that would have been impossible to see from a distance.
Ling Qingyu screamed joyfully and ran to the water. She wanted to immediately lower her head and drink but stopped herself. Looking around, she saw a few blue-tailed parrots sipping the water. Seeing this, she stopped worrying and started to drink.
The water was cool and sweet as it flowed down her throat. Ling Qingyu felt that every spot the water flowed past had a refreshing feeling as if it were flashed clean.
After submerging her face in water, her head felt much clearer. When Ling Qingyu raised her head, she heard the cries for help again. This time, the call was much closer.
Ling Qingyu grabbed a wood stick and leaped across the stream to climb higher.
After following the twisted paths, Ling Qingyu lost her way. Just when she was ready to give up, a clear call for help rose from below.
Right. Below.
Ling Qingyu climbed around another corner and found, naturally, another cliff. This one didn’t face the sea, but a deep pit-like valley. There were several trees on the cliff wall. At the moment, on the thick branch, hung someone else from the Aeolus. This was not even funny. It was possible to climb up the steep cliff, as low shrubs covered the top. Yet, there were people on top of the exquisite scented rosewood like a bunch of turtles fearing for their lives.
Ling Qingyu was just about to speak when it seemed that Lu Yao saw her. He shook his hand at her desperately. As if he wants her to leave?
Ling Qingyu squinted her eyes to look, then took a sip of cold air. In the low bushes, a mass of green, orange, and red snakes gathered. Some were as small as tree branches, while others were as thick as buckets.
This. They disturbed a snake nest?
Because of Lu Yao’s waving, Ding Dong sitting next to him also saw Ling Qingyu. He shouted with joy, “Boss, come save us!”
The faces of Ling Qingyu and the other people darkened. Ding Dong also realized. During these days, Ling Qingyu’s decisiveness proved her strength and they had all started relying on her. But after shouting those words, Ding Dong remembered. No matter how powerful she may be, she is still a little girl. How can their group of men that were chased by snakes around the mountain ask a little girl to save them?
Before the others could respond, the four merchants sitting on another tree happily cried, “Boss is here. No need to be afraid. Boss, come save us!”
Before the sound of their voices had fallen, they heard a roar that shook the heaven and earth. From the bottom of the valley rose a huge snake’s head. Its two red eyes were as big as washbins. As the snake’s head rose, its body appeared to be more than three meters thick with an unimaginable length.
But, the roar did not come from this large snake, but from an enormous clouded leopard. Its golden yellow skin shone under the sun. Its sharp teeth flashed with a bloodthirsty glow. When the cloud leopard roared, it quickly flashed toward the python’s body, biting off a piece of flesh. Under intense pain, the python swept its tail. It was dodged by the agile snow leopard, but could not escape the poisonous mist sprayed from the mouth of the python. Both were injured, but they collided again.
The valley shook with the movement of the python. The few trees full of people were in great danger.
Zheng Xi shouted, “Miss, run away!”
Ling Qingyu knew that going down would mean death. But if she left these people, she would be alone in this place. The result of that would be death as well. While hesitating, she subconsciously looked for Yan San’s figure. Yan San’s skill is amazing, how could he be trapped here? Her gaze finally found Yan San. Ling Qingyu was speechless. Just then, Yan San’s face was green and he was fainted on Lu Yao’s back.
Lu Yao saw Ling Qingyu looking at Yan San and said loudly, “Hurry and run. Yan San and the rest of us have been poisoned. We can’t exert any strength.”
Yan San, you have been through storms and waves, but got bitten by a snake? Afterwards, Ling Qingyu found out that Yan San was bitten because he saw big lizards and wanted to tease them. As a result, the lizards got angry and sprayed him with poison, causing him to faint. At the same time, the lizards started chasing them. After running into the forest, they were chased by all kinds of snakes. Ling Qingyu only had one expression: speechless.
Staying would be death, so Ling Qingyu quietly prepared to retreat. But she forgot where she was. She also forgot that when a person squats for a long time, her legs would become numb. She had originally intended to stand up, but her foot slipped. The others watched in awe as she voluntarily jumped into the valley with a dauntless posture. She fell… onto the body of the python.
At the time, the python was entangled with the cloud leopard. As the cloud leopard bit the python’s body, the python was wrapping itself tightly around its neck with a pair of poisonous teeth clenched.
Since it was too late to run away, Ling Qingyu pushed the wood stick into the place where the cloud leopard had taken a bite. The python began to churn under the pain, and at the same time, its tail twisted and wrapped Ling Qingyu up too.
Her body couldn’t move as her eyes turned red with blood rushing up. Without thinking, she bit the spot where the cloud leopard had bitten, which was a reddish meat mass. Ling Qingyu bit with all her strength there.
When she bit into the python, Ling Qingyu forgot everything else and even used the strength to suckle. No matter how the python tumbled, she still held onto its body with her teeth. She could feel the meat coming loose as blood dripped into her throat. Then, a large ball also rolled into her throat. She suddenly started swallowing blood desperately.
Ling Qingyu endured the stench and thought, I will pretend that I am drinking snake blood as a supplement. She bit even harder.
The python’s body rolled from one side to another as it gripped the cloud leopard and Ling Qingyu even tighter. The cloud leopard at the side had already died with its teeth still biting the python’s body.
Ling Qingyu felt that her bones were about to break. As she felt her last strength exhausted, the python finally stopped rolling and its head fell heavily on the ground.
After a moment of complete silence in the valley, the numerous snakes on the cliff began sliding down. They all paused a few meters away from the corpse of the python, encircling it.
Ling Qingyu shook her head and woke from her daze. She slowly climbed out and stood on top of the python’s corpse. She found that the python’s heart had been destroyed by the cloud leopard and her bites. A large hole appeared. The cloud leopard was probably responsible for 98 percent of the force while she contributed the last 2 percent.
Ling Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief. Without caring about the large circle of snakes, she laid softly on the python’s corpse.
“Wu,” a weak, fragile cry came from the cloud leopard’s body. Ling Qingyu sat up in a vigilant manner. She pushed hard at the python’s corpse that was wrapped around the cloud leopard. The cloud leopard lied softly on the ground. Under her belly, a small white shape fluffed its body.
So the reason the cloud leopard fought to her death was because of its pup. Ling Qingyu picked up the small body resembling a cat. The baby cloud leopard was just born and slowly opened its eyes within her arms. Looking at Ling Qingyu for a long time, she felt that this little thing was disappointed. The baby cloud leopard licked her hand that was filled with cuts. Her blood-covered hand was licked clean by the baby cloud leopard. It made a satisfied purr and closed its eyes. Its original pure white and spotless body slowly revealed a layer of faint patterns. In another moment, it vanished, leaving no trace.
Battling with the python felt like an entire lifetime to Ling Qingyu. In fact, it was only a short time. The people in the trees watched as their leader bravely jumped into the valley and rushed to the python’s back. Then, she shoved a wood stick into the python’s heart and finally bit until it died.
When the python crashed into the ground, Yang Zhao and Gu Sui had climbed down the tree into the valley. Lu Yao put Yan San down but stopped Ye Shiyi and Zheng Xi from coming down with him.
Fortunately, the mass of snakes had already descended into the bottom of the valley. The people moved as if following the snakes down.
