Chapter Seventy-Nine: Crawling into the Serpent's Den

Xiao Ding and Yue Yurou hid in the tree, quietly observing, pondering whether the people from the Lanbing Sect and the Divine Fire Hall would end up fighting over the serpent. Sure enough, a brawl broke out below.

Nothing tests the human heart like self-interest.

In the world of martial artists, when consensus cannot be reached, disputes are settled by force. The law of the jungle—survival of the fittest—remains constant throughout the ages. Even in later times, when society became governed by laws that protected the weak to some extent, the basic rule of the strong preying on the weak could not be wholly overturned. This held true among individuals, companies, and even nations.

Unable to agree on how to divide the serpent, the Lanbing Sect and the Divine Fire Hall resorted to violence.

Initially, the Lanbing Sect had superior martial skills. The Divine Fire Hall's reputation in the martial world rested less on their fighting prowess and more on the fearsome Thunderbolt Bombs they wielded. However, the Lanbing Sect’s third leader and several disciples had exhausted nearly all their inner strength subduing the giant python. The Divine Fire Hall’s members, on the other hand, had spent only part of their stamina in the earlier scuffle.

Thus, the remaining fighters of both sides were equally matched and locked in a stalemate.

From his vantage point in the tree, Xiao Ding found himself increasingly bored. He thought to himself, "You martial artists really only know how to fight and kill. Is a snake really worth risking your life for? Is life or the snake more precious?"

Just then, more than a dozen men clad in black entered the clearing, each armed with sharp weapons.

Xiao Ding was startled. The attire of these new arrivals matched that of the two men in black he had killed earlier outside the woods. Could they be from the same sect?

“Well, well! Looks like there’s still a fight going on here!” exclaimed the leader of the group. He was a man in his forties, thin and wiry, with a hooked nose and sharp, shrewd eyes—clearly someone not to be trifled with.

“Is that Elder Wei Junzi, the Sixteenth Elder of the Tianluo Sect? Please, help me kill this old scoundrel Wu Liangxin—he’s trying to steal my python!” the Lanbing Sect’s third leader, already exhausted from the prolonged fight, cried out desperately upon seeing the newcomers.

“Elder Wei, don’t listen to the nonsense of the Lanbing Sect! It’s obviously them trying to steal our Divine Fire Hall’s python…” retorted Wu Liangxin, the vice leader of the Divine Fire Hall, raising his voice.

“Hahahaha! So you’re all fighting over this giant python! There’s no need for that. Why not just submit to the Tianluo Sect? If you join us, we’re all family—there’ll be no more need to fight over spoils,” Wei Junzi, the Sixteenth Elder of the Tianluo Sect, declared with a hearty laugh.

“What?” Wu and the third leader both paused. It was clear the Tianluo Sect also coveted the giant serpent.

“Surely Elder Wei jests. Though we Lanbing Sect may not match the Tianluo Sect in numbers, we have stood for decades—why would we ever submit to you?” the third leader replied coldly.

“Our Divine Fire Hall may not boast great renown, but we are hardly unknown. The Tianluo Sect’s rise in recent years is impressive, but you’ll never get us to submit!” Wu Liangxin said, his anger barely contained.

“If you refuse to see reason, then enough talk! But before I kill you, I have a question—were you the ones who killed our Tianluo Trio outside the woods?” Wei Junzi asked darkly, his beady eyes flashing with menace.

“You give us too much credit. We don’t use poison…” Wu Liangxin answered coolly.

“And I doubt you’d dare! Fine, my last question: will you submit or not?” Wei Junzi’s tone was heavy with threat.

“I must decline!” the third leader replied, knowing that battle was now unavoidable. He readied himself.

“Very well! If you’re so eager to die, let me send you to the King of Hell! Brothers, attack!” Wei Junzi shouted, leading the charge.

Though ranked sixteenth among the Tianluo Sect elders, Wei Junzi’s martial arts were formidable. Fighting the exhausted and outnumbered opponents, he was assured of victory. Indeed, his skills surpassed those of both Wu Liangxin and the Lanbing Sect’s third leader.

The battle was soon over, and fresh corpses littered the ground.

Xiao Ding watched this shocking turn of events, reflecting inwardly, “What a night! These martial artists endlessly vie with one another—who knows who will finally claim the prize?”

“Reporting to Elder Wei, the snake’s skin cannot be cut by ordinary blades!” the men in black, following Wei Junzi’s orders, attempted to butcher the python for easier transport.

“It can’t be cut? Hahaha! Truly a divine creature! Excellent, excellent!” Wei Junzi laughed heartily. “It seems only the Sect Master’s Tianluo Blade can cut this hide.”

“What should we do, then?” one of the men in black asked.

“If we can’t cut it up, we’ll take the whole serpent. We can feast on its flesh along the way,” Wei Junzi replied, rubbing his chin and narrowing his eyes. “Weave some ropes from tree bark, and cut some poles for carrying…”

Eat the snake? Xiao Ding found this amusing. He thought to himself, “Go ahead—there are still several undigested corpses inside that snake…”

Wei Junzi and his men toiled for most of the night. They cut some meat from the opening in the snake’s hide and roasted it. After posting sentries, they finally lay down to rest. They slept less than two hours before dawn began to break.

Xiao Ding had not dared to sleep the entire night, fearful of making any noise that might alert those below. Yue Yurou, too, was afraid to sleep, though eventually, exhaustion overcame her, and she dozed off leaning against Xiao Ding. Even so, it was only a brief rest before her worries roused her again.

As the morning light grew stronger, the Tianluo Sect members set off a signal flare, likely to summon other comrades from Luoxia Mountain for help. After all, transporting such a massive python down the mountain would not be easy.

The python’s weight alone made it difficult to move. If, along the way, they encountered other factions seeking to snatch the prize, trouble was even more likely. As the saying goes, “It’s easy to gain treasure, but hard to keep it.” With only a dozen or so men, guarding the snake would be no simple task.

After Wei Junzi led his men away, dragging the python, Xiao Ding waited a long while to be sure all was quiet before he and Yue Yurou climbed down and checked the scene, leaving their bundles in the tree.

The two of them stretched and moved around until the numbness in their limbs faded, then made their way toward the rocky mound.

“Brother Ding, the python’s been taken. Should we head down the mountain, too?” Yue Yurou asked, blinking her large, dark eyes.

Xiao Ding looked up at the sky, then around the area. “No rush. The Tianluo Sect won’t be moving fast with that snake. Let’s eat something before we set off.”

As they spoke, they reached the rocky mound.

“Brother Ding, that python was several zhang long, its body thicker than a big washbasin. This mound is only as large as a dozen rooms—how could such a giant creature live inside?” Yue Yurou asked, filled with curiosity.

“Silly girl, the snake’s lair might not be entirely inside the mound—it could extend underground,” Xiao Ding replied with a laugh.

As they chatted, they reached the entrance of the snake’s den.

Yue Yurou poked her head inside. “Brother Ding, do you think there might be other pythons in there?”

“I doubt it. If there were, they’d likely have come out by now…” Xiao Ding guessed.

Just then, they heard footsteps crunching through the snow from outside the forest.

The two of them froze. It was now broad daylight, and they were far from the tree—no time to run back and climb it. Besides, the sound of running through the snow would be easily heard.

Without time to think, Xiao Ding grabbed Yue Yurou and, crouching low, slipped into the snake’s den…