Long Xiang immediately retrieved Zui Yu into his weapon.
The rows of bamboo spears pierced from the ground, triggering another mechanism, and more flew out of the wall, darting around in the vast cavern, with several rows coming straight towards them.
Yu Ren Shu knocked down two rows of bamboo spears, but more mechanisms were triggered, and spikes and needle nets rained down on them from above.
“Let’s get out of here, quickly!” Sisi pushed Long Xiang out of the narrow opening, and the others followed suit, temporarily avoiding the trap inside.
“There weren’t these things in here before.” Zhi Xuan carefully examined Jiang Chao Ge and asked, “Are you injured?”
“I’m fine. It seems that the mechanisms were installed later. Who would do that?” Jiang Chao Ge said.
“Possibly Yin Chuan knew how to do it, and he installed them before he died,” Yu Ren Shu pondered. “Or more likely, the person who installed these mechanisms clearly didn’t want us to approach the spirit weapon that Yin Chuan had turned into. These mechanisms couldn’t have been made in a day. Yin Chuan couldn’t have anticipated everything before he died.”
“Could it be….” Zhi Xuan furrowed his brows. “Was it also done by Di Jiang?”
Jiang Chao Ge shook his head. “It’s meaningless to discuss who installed them now. Let’s think about how to get past them.”
Yu Ren Shu said sadly, “If Yun Xi were here, maybe he would know how to disable the mechanisms. The few of us… we’ll have to force our way through.”
“I’ll release a few horses to destroy some of the mechanisms.”
After discussing it, they decided not to enter the cave yet. Instead, they released all eight horses and sent them running towards the devastated cave. Soon, one horse triggered a mechanism, which led to a chain reaction, causing chaos. Some horses were saved, while others were pierced by spears before all eight horses vanished, and the cave returned to its calm state.
After waiting for a while, they said, “The traps should be gone now.”
“They should be, let’s go,” they returned to the cave and released the horses again, using them to scout ahead and to the side while they cautiously made their way forward along the wall.
After destroying two traps in a row, they finally reached the other end of the cave, where a fork in the road appeared, about two meters wide and ten meters high. The walls of the fork were embedded with various sizes of moonstones, emitting a dim blue light that provided illumination for the entire fork.
Zhi Xuan said, “Let’s go in from here.”
“Are there any traps inside?”
“Maybe,” Yu Ren Shu snapped his fingers and released the horse. The horse only had a couple of meters to move before vertical rows of iron spikes emerged from the walls, biting into each other like saw blades, tearing the horse’s body apart in an instant. The iron spikes then retracted into the wall.
“This is different from the traps outside. It can be triggered repeatedly. How about going over it from above?” Sisi summoned his zhen niao, letting it fly over the iron spikes, but a row of iron spikes fell from the ceiling, forming an impenetrable trap with the iron spikes on the wall.
Jiang Chao Ge struggled to lift his head. “Is there a small hole next to where the iron spikes fell from?”
Sisi carefully approached. “Yes, there seems to be.”
“I know how this trap works. Those are light-blocking holes. Once something covers the light emitted by the moonstone, the trap will be triggered.”
“What should we do then?”
“Block them. This type of trap can be triggered repeatedly, if we make it so they cannot retract, we can make our way through the gap.”
Long Xiang sighed. “There are at least hundreds of these light-blocking holes.”
“There’s no better way.” Sisi looked around and grabbed a handful of dirt. “Mix dirt with water to make mud and it can block the holes.”
Everyone quickly got to work, gathering piles of dirt, pouring water, and mixing before Sisi and Long Xiang each grabbed a bag of mud.
Long Xiang cautiously took a step forward, holding a handful of mud and forcefully inserting it into a light-blocking hole the size of a chicken’s egg. A row of iron spikes next to the hole pierced out, and Long Xiang leaned to the side, avoiding the sharp wind that blew past his cheek. He took a deep breath and signaled to Sisi.
Sisi kicked and stretched his legs, loosening his muscles. Then, he jumped up, grabbed one of the iron spikes and turned his body upside down with agility like a cat. Finally, he hooked his feet onto the top iron spike and bent his body, and shoved a handful of mud in a light-blocking hole without hesitation. The iron spike next to the covered hole almost brushed against his neck as it fell. Sisi lowered his head and showed a proud smile to everyone.
Long Xiang cautiously moved forward again, dealing with the traps on both sides before creating a support point for Sisi to block the holes above. Sisi wasn’t short, but his body was so flexible and agile that he could bend to any degree beyond human imagination. Therefore, he could move freely in such a narrow and dangerous space. Jiang Chao Ge felt that acrobats could hardly compare to him. The two of them cooperated carefully, continuously blocking traps.
This job was dangerous and time-consuming. They spent two hours to resolve all the traps on this forked road that was less than two hundred meters long.
Everyone held their breath and carefully walked between the rows of iron spikes. They only had enough space for one person to barely pass through and their clothes could get hooked at any moment. The others could still move, but Jiang Chao Ge’s hands and feet were numb, making it difficult for him to take even one step forward. He could only be sandwiched between Zhi Xuan and Yu Ren Shu and move forward.
Suddenly, they saw some mud on a light-blocking hole beside them that seemed to be falling off. They moved forward quietly, not daring to make any noise. The mud dripped down, and finally, the whole chunk fell off. The row of iron spikes suddenly retracted and then pierced out again.
Zhi Xuan held Jiang Chao Ge and Yu Ren Shu tightly, making them unable to move. The iron spikes retracted and stretched out again and returned to their original positions. The sharp tips of the spikes were less than a centimeter away from the three of them. Jiang Chao Ge felt his hair stand up, and he was covered in cold sweat.
The spikes retracted again, and the three of them breathed a sigh of relief and quietly moved forward.
Everyone passed through that fork in the path. This short section of the road was even more exhausting than the several days and nights they had walked before. Long Xiang and Sisi were covered with sun-dried mud all over their bodies and hands, and the clothes of the other three were all torn, making them look quite pathetic.
Sisi looked at himself and then at the others and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Exciting, so exciting, hahaha.”
Long Xiang muttered, “We’re really risking our lives.” Then he laughed too.
Zui Yu suddenly appeared and held Long Xiang’s face tenderly, “You hurt your face, and your body is so dirty. Let me wipe it for you.”
Long Xiang pushed him away embarrassedly and found a cloth to wipe himself, “I’m fine.”
Sisi winked, “You two, are you, you know?”
Long Xiang blushed, “Don’t talk nonsense, it’s not like that.”
Zui Yu didn’t comment, he just smiled ambiguously.
Tian Rong appeared from his spirit weapon, “Let’s go, we don’t know what’s ahead.”
Everyone looked around, and after passing the fork in the road, they entered another spacious cave, and they could faintly hear the sound of water.
“Is there a river here?”
“We followed the river downstream and passed through Xuan Yuan Hill. This might be a tributary. Let’s go and check it out.” Sisi led the way towards the direction of the sound.
Jiang Chao Ge reminded him, “Be careful and don’t be reckless.”
Everyone had experienced the traps here, so they didn’t dare to take it lightly. They released more spirit beasts to explore the road ahead and walked carefully along the wall.
Fortunately, they arrived safely.
They passed through and entered another cave. As expected, a river flowed through the middle. However, what puzzled everyone was that there was a circular riverbed around the cave. The river that flowed horizontally passed through the center of the circle, forming two very symmetrical semicircles. It was clear that the horizontal river was naturally formed, with an uneven and rough riverbed, but the circular riverbed was man-made, with a uniform width of more than one meter, and a smooth and even riverbank. This scene was really eerie. Why bother making such a useless circular riverbed? The circumference of the circular riverbed was at least a hundred meters, and it was not an easy task to excavate it.
Yu Ren Shu cautioned, “There must be a reason for this strange phenomenon. Don’t touch anything recklessly.”
Sisi summoned his zhen niao, which circled above the cave, but there was no reaction. The bird weaved up and down, ran around and hopped on those two semicircles, exploring most of the space, but nothing happened.
Long Xiang was puzzled, “Strange… Are there really no traps?”
“Let’s continue to observe. The design here is more peculiar than anywhere else, so we can’t be careless.”
“In such a big cave, setting up traps is not an easy task… Oh?” Sisi suddenly turned around.
“What’s wrong?”
Sisi widened his eyes and looked into the water, “It seems that something in the water moved.”
Everyone took a few steps back, holding torches and craning their necks to look into the water. The water was shallow, and brown sand could be seen at the bottom. There were no ripples on the surface, and occasionally a few small fish swam by.
“It’s just some small fish,” Sisi breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhi Xuan frowned and shook his head hard, with an uncomfortable expression.
Jiang Chao Ge asked, “Zhi Xuan, what’s wrong with you?”
“It stinks. The farther we go, the stronger the smell gets.”
Yu Ren Shu said, “We haven’t smelled anything. At most, it’s just a bit of damp smell from poor ventilation.”
Zhi Xuan retorted angrily, “It’s really stinky. I can’t smell anything else except this odeur.”
The zhen niao bird hopped to the edge and plunged its head into the water, and when it lifted its head, it held a small fish in its beak. It shook its head triumphantly towards Sisi.
Sisi smiled and said, “Well done. Come back now.”
The bird fluffed, spread its wings, and then, at that moment, something unexpected happened.
Suddenly, a fierce snake head sprang from the water, its huge mouth opening wide, and its crimson tongue quickly wrapped around the zhen niao’s neck. The bird, which was a size larger than a human, was like a helpless toy in the invisible grip of the snake. Before anyone could react, it was quickly swallowed whole!
Sisi screamed and immediately withdrew the zhen niao back into its spiritual artifact. The giant snake suddenly lost its prey, letting out an angry hiss.
“It’s this stinky thing!” Zhi Xuan angrily exclaimed.
“Be careful!” Tian Rong suddenly pushed Yu Ren Shu to the ground. A huge snake head swept past them from above, almost devouring Yu Ren Shu whole!
“Damn it, there are two of them!” Jiang Chao Ge yelled.
“No, it’s not two,” Long Xiang’s face changed drastically. “This is the Zhi Shou Snake, with two heads on both ends of its body.”
The Zhi Shou Snake crawled out completely from the circular riverbed. It was even bigger than the long Feyi snake they saw at Shuangzi Peak. As Long Xiang had said, it had two heads that were the same size and equally ferocious. Its long body coiled around them, completely blocking their path in and out.
They finally realized why the circular riverbed was designed this way, this was the third mechanism!
Tian Rong and Zui Yu transformed instantly and pounced towards each of the two heads of the Zhi Shou Snake. Yu Ren Shu shouted, “Sisi, take Jiang Chao Ge and keep running forward, don’t look back!” He and Long Xiang held their spiritual weapons and cleared the way for them.
The Zhi Shou Snake saw Zhi Xuan carrying Jiang Chao Ge and running towards the exit. Both of its heads sprang towards the exit, and its huge body blocked the way out tightly, not allowing anyone to pass.
Tian Rong roared, causing the entire mountain cave to tremble. He leaped up and landed on one of the snake heads. The Zhi Shou Snake desperately shook its head, but Tian Rong’s front paws grabbed its skin, and his hind paws held onto its mouth, preventing it from closing. The snake tried to smash its head against the wall, but Tian Rong dodged and his body was heavily pierced into the wall, and a mouthful of blood gushed out.
Long Xiang leaped forward, and his halberd pierced the snake’s body fiercely. The Zhi Shou Snake writhed in pain and created a narrow passage just wide enough for them to pass through. Long Xiang shouted, “Quick, go through!”
Zhi Xuan carried Jiang Chao Ge and ran forward, and Sisi held his bow to guard them from behind. Just as they were about to reach the exit, the Zhi Shou Snake’s other head broke free from Zui Yu’s entanglement and guarded the way out. Its crimson mouth slid out a long tongue towards Zhi Xuan to devour him.
Sisi shot an arrow into its mouth.
The Zhi Shou Snake let out a howl and struggled a few times, unexpectedly spitting out the arrow. Its huge body suddenly swung its tail, trying to sweep up the group.
Although the Zhi Shou Snake was ferocious, its greatest weakness was its huge size. This cave was large for humans, but too narrow for it. Under the group’s attack, it had nowhere to hide.
Yu Ren Shu smashed down with his weapon. This attack mixed with spirit power was irresistible, and everyone heard the sound of bones breaking.
This type of weapon, the mace, has no blade or point and usually does not cause bleeding wounds. However, it is hard, heavy, simple, and easy to control in battle. It fears no long or short weapons, both offensive and defensive, and is very overbearing. As long as it hits, bones would be broken, and organs shattered, even more terrifying than external injuries.
The Zhi Shou Snake’s body twisted at an abnormal angle, obviously suffering a heavy blow. It crazily roared and forcibly shrunk its body, blocking the doorway, not allowing anyone to pass.
Zhi Xuan gritted his teeth, “I feel it! Yin Chuan is right through here!”
The group’s spirits were lifted. They had encountered all kinds of fierce enemies on this difficult journey. What was a big snake to them?
Under the group’s siege, the Zhi Shou Snake was obviously struggling. Its two heads simultaneously howled and began to use their heads and body to collide and to hit the stone walls. It was over a hundred meters long and nearly two meters in diameter at its thickest point. This frenzy-like random crashing caused the entire cave to shake violently.
Tian Rong shouted, “It wants to bury us here!”
“Damn beast—”
The cave began to drop rocks of different sizes. They seemed to hit the Zhi Shou Snake without causing any pain, but it was no joke if they hit the group. While dodging the falling rocks, the group rushed towards the exit. They could have retreated, but Yin Chuan was nearby. If they retreated, the Zhi Shou Snake would destroy the cave, and all their efforts would be in vain! At this moment, even if there was a risk of being smashed to death, no one wanted to retreat, thinking of the hardships along the way.
Yu Ren Shu gritted his teeth, “You guys, retreat. After my attack, I may no longer be able to move. The rest is up to you!”
“Shu—”
Tian Rong wanted to stop him, but Yu Ren Shu had already closed his eyes. He tightly held Tian Rong’s weapon, reciting some words in his mouth. The next second, he opened his eyes suddenly, his eyes widened, showing a light of wisdom. Tian Rong’s weapon emitted a faint white light, and a powerful spiritual power surrounded the weapon. Yu Ren Shu shouted loudly and vigorously swung his weapon, launching an attack.
This attack was like an avalanche, and Yu Ren Shu’s spiritual power instantly turned into a terrifying impact force. The force formed a visible white semicircle, spreading out like a bomb explosion, directly attacking the Zhi Shou Snake.
The Zhi Shou Snake was hit by the impact force and flew towards the rock wall. There was a loud bang, and the rock wall cracked and shattered, and the whole cave began to shake violently, no longer able to support itself.
The Zhi Shou Snake had knocked a big hole in the rock wall, and the cave began to drop large boulders. The group ran desperately forward, undoubtedly racing against death.
Jiang Chao Ge was on Zhi Xuan’s back, watching as boulders fell around them that could crush them into pulpy flesh. He didn’t even dare to look up. If a stone fell on their heads the next moment, he didn’t want to see it before he died.
Zhi Xuan leaped over the circular riverbed and rushed into the big hole that the Zhi Shou Snake had created.
With a loud bang, the cave behind them collapsed completely, and the cave they were in shook, and rocks fell down, but there seemed to be no danger of collapse for the time being.
They were covered in dust and couldn’t get up from the ground for a while.
Jiang Chao Ge struggled to stand up, seeing nothing but dust and debris around him. “Shu? Long Xiang? Sisi? Shu—”
“I’m here,” Yu Ren Shu’s weak voice sounded.
Jiang Chao Ge turned around and saw Tian Rong carrying Yu Ren Shu, walking towards him from the dust of the collapse. Yu Ren Shu’s face was pale, but he was not seriously injured.
“Si!” Long Xiang shouted and ran to Sisi’s side. Sisi’s thigh was trapped by a boulder, and he was bleeding profusely, almost unconscious.
“Si…” Jiang Chao Ge fiercely pounded the ground and angrily growled.
Long Xiang and Zui Yu worked hard to move the boulder that was pressing on Sisi. His leg was crushed and useless.
Sisi let out a painful moan and couldn’t say a word.
At this moment, the dust slowly settled, and in the haze, the Zhi Shou Snake crawled up again. The huge two-headed snake pushed everyone back into fear and despair.
“Yin Chuan…” Zhi Xuan’s voice trembled.
Everyone followed his gaze and saw a guqin on the huge rock behind the Zhi Shou Snake. The guqin was covered with a thick layer of dust, the strings were broken, and it looked like it would crumble into powder with a touch.
At the moment they saw the guqin, time seemed to stand still. In fact, except for Zhi Xuan, they couldn’t feel anything, but they seemed to feel something distinctly. The musical instrument emitted an indescribable and profound ancient power, and they couldn’t even be sure if it was their own illusion.
The Zhi Shou Snake stood in front of the guqin, facing them with its two heads, even though it was scarred and bleeding from its mouth and belly, it still refused to retreat.
The only one left with fighting ability was Long Xiang. He gripped his halberd and walked over, shouting loudly, “Evil beast, move aside!”
The Zhi Shou Snake shook its neck and surprisingly spoke, “You guys, don’t even think about touching it.” It was a low, hoarse feminine voice.
Long Xiang was stunned. “Why are you blocking our way?”
“My master ordered me to guard Lord Yin Chuan. If you disturb Lord’s peace, you deserve to die.”
“Who is your master?” Zhi Xuan asked sternly.
“The Great Witch God Di Jiang!” The Zhi Shou Snake roared, and both of its heads pounced on Long Xiang.
Long Xiang shouted loudly and his halberd exuded a strong spiritual power, attacking one of the Zhi Shou Snake’s heads. However, he was unable to resist the other head. The young man’s body looked so small and fragile in front of the Zhi Shou Snake. Long Xiang leapt up, attempting to jump onto the snake’s head, but his tactic was seen through by the snake, which knocked him away. The huge snake body rushed over and, in the blink of an eye, wrapped around Long Xiang, tightening its grip in rage.
Long Xiang let out a miserable scream.
With blood-red eyes, Zui Yu rushed up regardless of everything and tore at the Zhi Shou Snake with ferocious force.
Jiang Chao Ge let out a roar. He didn’t know how much more pain and death of his companions he could endure. He had worked hard to get here, but for what purpose? If these people were all going to die, what did it matter if he returned to his own world or not?
“Charge!” A clear female voice sounded in the cave. Everyone looked up and saw the familiar figure of a zhen niao, with Ruan Qiansu riding on top.
“Qiansu!” Everyone shouted in surprise.
Crescent blades flew out sharply, hovering in the air and flying towards the Zhi Shou Snake. The two blades slashed and cut on its body, leaving behind numerous wounds.
The Zhi Shou Snake was in pain and let go of Long Xiang. Ruan Qiansu flew over on the zhen niao bird and yanked Long Xiang by the collar, throwing him to Zui Yu.
The Nine-Tailed White Fox stood up straight and turned its front paws into slender arms in midair, and caught him.
Ruan Qiansu shouted, “You guys go quickly, I’ll deal with this thing.”
The Zhi Shou Snake angrily chased Ruan Qiansu in the cave. The activity space here was several times larger than the cave it had just stayed in. It was flexible and agile, no less than a zhen niao. Ruan Qiansu was chased up and down, and one of her blades was also swept away by the snake. The two heads of the Zhi Shou Snake had equally fierce killing power. She was besieged and powerless to fight back, only able to run constantly.
“Yun Xi!” Tian Rong’s sharp eyes spotted a person crawling quietly from deep within the cave, and it was Yun Xi, who had fallen off the cliff. Despite being covered in injuries, he could still move.
The moment Jiang Chao Ge saw Yun Xi, his eyes immediately reddened. They were all alive, all of them! At that moment, he felt that nothing else mattered. Whether he returned to his own world, found Yin Chuan or saved the Tianlang continent, none of it mattered as long as his companions were alive!
Yun Xi made a “shh” gesture to everyone, holding some kind of hidden weapon in his hand and quietly crawling towards the Zhi Shou Snake.
Distracted, the Zhi Shou Snake chased after Ruan Qiansu everywhere. Yun Xi crawled for a long time, but whenever the Zhi Shou Snake moved too close, he had to pause.
Tian Rong put Yu Ren Shu on the ground and rushed over to help him. Yun Xi grabbed his fur and crawled up his back, “This spirit medicine can make the Zhi Shou Snake dizzy, but only I can trigger it. You need to throw me onto the top of the Zhi Shou Snake’s head, and I will pour it in.”
Tian Rong said, “Too risky, you’ll be swallowed.”
“Qiansu can’t beat it. Sooner or later, we’ll all be swallowed. Hurry up, we need to seize an opportunity.” Yun Xi looked around and pointed to the stone platform where the ancient guqin was placed. “Let’s go there. The terrain is high. When the time comes, you jump up and throw me over.”
The Zhi Shou Snake swung its tail, hitting the zhen niao directly. Ruan Qiansu screamed in pain and was flung, hitting the wall hard. The zhen niao was beaten to the point of being almost unable to move on the ground.
“Qiansu…” Long Xiang shouted, “Zui Yu!”
Zui Yu immediately transformed into a Nine-Tailed Fox and ran to Ruan Qiansu, picking her up. He could barely turn around, with the Zhi Shou Snake’s head only a few meters away, its huge mouth biting fiercely on his back.
Zui Yu howled in pain like a wild beast, throwing Ruan Qiansu out. Her forehead was bleeding, and she struggled to get up from the ground. Her hands were too weak to throw her weapon.
Long Xiang, with wide eyes, was about to recall Zui Yu, but he shouted, “No, don’t send me back. I can hold it, ah…”
Long Xiang’s eyes immediately reddened. He gritted his teeth and watched as Zui Yu was bitten by the Zhi Shou Snake, struggling desperately. His white fur had been completely dyed red with blood.
“Tian Rong, now!” Yun Xi shouted.
Tian Rong immediately leaped up onto the stone platform, throwing Yun Xi towards one of the Zhi Shou Snake’s heads. Watching the snake head gradually approaching and the ferocious snake eyes turning towards him, he was so scared that he couldn’t help but close his eyes.
When he touched the cold snake scales again, he used his hands and feet to hold on tightly. Suddenly opening his eyes, he saw the snake’s eyes staring at him coldly. Trembling, he lifted his hand and threw the spirit medicine, which was emitting a white light, into the Zhi Shou Snake’s big mouth.
The next second, he was thrown back to the stone by the Zhi Shou Snake, his body rolling several times before he stopped spitting blood.
After swallowing the medicine, the Zhi Shou Snake also stopped tearing and biting Zui You. Everyone held their breath and watched as it seemed like their hearts were about to jump out of their throats.
The Zhi Shou Snake raised its head and made a futile motion, and shockingly, spit out the spiritual medicine.
Everyone’s faces were drained of blood, and they fell into despair again.
Both heads of the Zhi Shou Snake turned and stared coldly at Yun Xi.
Yun Xi was so scared that his legs went weak, and he kept shuffling backward.
The Zhi Shou Snake retracted its two heads slightly, let out a howl, and struck towards him.
Zhi Xuan roared, “You miserable beast!” His spirit power burst out of his body, and flames boiled all over him. The ancient divine beast, Qilin, was about to appear again.
Yun Xi screamed in terror and tried to scramble behind the guqin. As soon as he grabbed the musical instrument, the ancient guqin that had been in the same place for thousands of years, and had never been disturbed, actually moved!
It made a long melodic sound as it rubbed against the stone platform, the whole world fell silent, and even the flames on Zhi Xuan disappeared in an instant.
Yun Xi looked at the stunned people, then at the petrified Zhi Shou Snake, and finally at the ancient guqin, his face full of confusion.
