Chapter 69: Snake Nest

  The giant snake head of the Silver Crown Snake was eerily like wearing a ghost mask, dragging its heavy body, and it seemed to be swimming towards me. I climbed down to the ground with all my might.

  Just about to emerge, "Ah yo!" Suddenly in front of a black eye, a big butt slammed me back down to the ground.

  "Dongzi, don't go up there, it's dangerous!" Barza shouted as he dragged Tian Wenyang into the tunnel.

  I was sandwiched between two people.

  "Ah, you don't know there's a big python above...!" Balza was stunned, his eyes wide with fear, and he roared at me: "Why didn't you tell me there's one of these things below too?!"

  I don't have time for this nonsense, the Silver Crowned Cobra's forked tongue is already flicking towards us.

  "What's wrong with you, hurry up and run!" Tian Wenliang scolded angrily.

  The two of us shuddered all over and ran to the other side of the road with our hands and feet together.

  "What's going on up there..." Before I could finish asking, I glanced back and saw another slightly smaller silver crown python slowly crawling out of the hole, its head touching the other snake's, their bodies entwined as if they were mating.

  My face turned pale, the two giant pythons didn't rush to chase me, taking advantage of the gap, I desperately urged the two mixed balls in front to run away.

  After pulling open a distance we thought was safe, I and Balzac raised our submachine guns and fired a fierce burst of shots at the python.

  Beep beep beep...

  The bullet hit the snake's head, and the silver crown snake was shocked by a huge force, but what made us drop our jaws was that the bullet was actually bounced back, with a loud noise... splashing out metal collision sparks.

  We were stunned: "Get out of here!"

  "Their scales have been artificially processed, and their heads and bodies are embedded with a large number of metal shells. Nang Xipai, what kind of metal is this? It's even more durable than bulletproof clothing!" Tian Wenliang was shocked beyond recognition.

  Bao Er pulled out a pistol with an accuracy much higher than that of a submachine gun, aimed at the big snake's eyeball and fired.

  Only saw the silver crown python swiftly lift up, barely dodged it.

  "No wonder the people in the campsite ran away, this is a monster!" Balza's face turned extremely gloomy. "How do you know they ran away and not inside their stomachs?" I weakly retorted.

  The giant python came to from the gunshot, its eyes blazing with fury as it opened its massive jaws and slithered towards us. The three of us exchanged a glance, and in unison, we blurted out the same word: "Run!"

  ……

  "Faster, faster!"

  "Damn it, try being 300 pounds and see how you like it! It's not like we're on flat ground!" Balza cursed loudly, yet he was the one who had been ordered to take point and lead the charge. What a strategic blunder!

  The tunnel went straight forward, and after 100 meters, it was rare to find no forks in the road. The tunnel became narrower instead, and we could only crawl and walk halfway, unable to stand up straight.

  The silver crown python slowly slithered behind us, its two emerald-like green eyes gleaming eerily in the darkness, sending shivers down my spine.

  I and Tian Wenliang were so anxious that we stomped our feet repeatedly. Under the stimulation of endless dirty words, Balza transformed his anger into strength, and his footsteps became faster and faster.

  "Come on, come on! Faster, faster!" I couldn't hit Balza, so I had to heavily spank Tian Wenliang's butt instead. Tian Wenliang ran three steps back and glared at me, but he was helpless with his hands tied up and unable to give Balza a whack.

  "Hurry, paralysis! Ahead is underground water!" Barza stopped suddenly.

  My chest heaved violently up and down, I glanced at the two silver-crowned pythons, one large and one small, and saw that the two snake heads were squeezed together, and they had also stopped their slithering, ten meters away, coldly staring at us.

  "Are they teasing us or are they full and playing with us?" I swallowed nervously, my throat dry and bitter.

  "Alright, I know! Snakes only eat moving creatures, nobody move!"

  As soon as we heard it was reasonable, nobody moved, and no one even dared to breathe loudly.

  Start playing dead...... one minute, two minutes...... three and a half!

  Just as we were holding our breath, with our faces flushed red to the limit, the larger silver crown python suddenly moved, shaking its head and opening its bloody mouth wide, seemingly preparing to deliver a fatal blow.

  Tian Wenliang exploded: "Damn it! I actually believed you, stupid cunt!" With one kick, he kicked Balza into the underground water.

  I also realized that the three of us had just 'wasted' a great opportunity to escape, and we couldn't care about anything else anymore. We took a deep breath and rushed towards the underground water. A few meters later, the terrain sank, and the entire tunnel was submerged in murky black cold water.

  We swam all the way, my water quality is not very good, half walking and half crawling in the water, relying on grasping and pulling mud to move forward. The water is not clean, it's pitch black around, and after opening my eyes, they slightly sting.

  I couldn't tell which direction we were heading in at all, and could only follow the sounds of movement ahead.

  "I can't take it anymore!" I felt a huge suffocating sensation in my chest, and when people are under extreme tension, holding their breath while diving is the easiest way to drastically consume physical strength.

  Two minutes later, there was still no sign of an exit in front of him.

  I've reached my limit, my legs feel like they're filled with lead water, and my body is almost moving on its last instinct to survive.

  The Silver Crown Snake finally made its way onto my back, its body filled with metal. Its speed underwater was only a little faster than mine, but that was enough to take my life.

  "It's all over..." I was crestfallen, and as I turned around, I saw a gigantic "dark" shadow looming over me, which was a snake mouth stretched to its limits.

  At this moment, I couldn't hold my breath any longer and quickly gulped in a large amount of cool water. All hope seemed lost, just as I was staring death in the face, a big hand suddenly reached out, and with an enormous force, pulled me forward for one meter before rapidly moving downwards in an unbelievable manner.

  "There's a fork in the underground tunnel." I immediately reacted, and with great joy and sorrow, I choked on too much water. I don't know how long it took before I fainted.

  ……

  "Dongzi, wake up! If you don't wake up now, I'll beat you!"

  "Ah!" I shouted, the old pain in my chest suddenly woke me up: "Cough...cough...cough...thought I was dead...cough, where is this? Cough...cough..."

  I had a violent cough, spitting out a lot of dirty water and even a thread of fresh blood. Breathing was extremely laborious, feeling like my lungs were going to explode. After calming down, I found myself by the edge of a pool of water, lying on a spot with many sharp stones that poked into me. In the relatively large underground space, the first thing that caught my eye was Tian Wenliang's gloomy and cold face, then looking down again, Ba Erzha, who had swollen to the size of a pig's head, was sat on the ground by Tian Wenliang with one butt.

  "Ah, ah, ah..." I spoke incoherently, Tian Wenliang specially waved his hands in front of me a few times, made an 'OK' gesture with his hand, and this 'idiot' actually untied the ropes.

  "I'm free, you fools! While you were busy in the water, I untied myself. Hmph, did you really think a broken rope could hold me back?" Tian Wenliang slapped Balza's face with a loud "slap", and the latter let out a loud cry.

  "But you can't beat Balza either." I don't know how Tian Wenliang subdued this big fellow Balza.

  Tian Wenliang burst out laughing: "I didn't even exert myself, this kid is worse than you, as soon as he got into the water he started drowning, his strength was less than 10% of what it should be. If I hadn't been pulling him from behind, he would have gone to see Xu Erniang a long time ago."

  Barza fell to the ground in a very sorry state, constantly spitting out stomach acid from his mouth. It was clear that he had suffered a severe case of water poisoning. No wonder this kid didn't dare to move forward when he saw the water earlier.

  I suddenly reacted, Tian Wenliang's water 'nature'! He actually swam back to Taiwan from the Jinhua wheel, and Qianlong's coffin was also cut off by him diving to the bottom of the Jinhua wheel.

  "What about the python?" I asked hastily.

  "I don't know, they didn't come after us." Tian Wenliang shook his head.

  When Tian Wenliang said that, I finally breathed a sigh of relief, the joy of surviving the ordeal made my muscles relax unnaturally, and instead, I felt even more tired than before.

  I calmly observed the surrounding situation, and we should have come out of the water pool. On the other side of the water pool, there is an underground waterway that leads to where we came from. The two tunnels are connected by a U-shaped passage, somewhat like the drain pipe at the bottom of a swimming pool. My guess was met with Tian Wenliang's nodding in agreement.

  After walking through the underworld, I thought I had been unconscious for a long time, but Tian Wenliang said it was only a short five watches.

  "Lao Tian, I was wrong, I shouldn't have doubted you, let me go." Balza begged.

  "Now you know?" Tian Wenliang sneered coldly.

  "If you're a traitor, why would you go to such great lengths to save me? I just can't figure it out, I'm such an idiot!" Balza said bluntly.

  I thought you were changing your face too quickly, but I caught a glimpse of a strange color flashing in Balza's eyes, and suddenly it was clear that Balza's thoughts were far more subtle than his rough exterior suggested.

  Tian Wenliang quickly expressed his forgiveness, but before Barzac could rejoice, Tian swiftly stuffed a shiny black pill into his mouth.

  The pill dissolves as soon as it enters the mouth, no matter how hard Bao'erjia tries to spit it out, it won't come out.

  "twl—1949, a slow-acting poison. A month later, symptoms will appear, resulting in massive intracranial hemorrhage and death. I have an antidote that can relieve the poisoning." Tian Wenliang took out a brown glass bottle and shook it, explaining: "There are ten pills here, each one can relieve the poisoning for a week. The final antidote is placed in the confidential office building, in the last large drawer of my desk's safe. Hehe, you know what to do now."

  Ba Erzha's face changed from sunny to cloudy, from cloudy to green, from green to black, and finally shook his head, sighed, and gritted his teeth. As for whether Tian Wenliang had cheated anyone, he didn't dare take the risk.

  "You're not going to give me one too, are you?!" I asked fearfully.

  Tian Wenliang glanced at me disdainfully: "Don't think I don't know that poison is useless on you."

  I let out a sigh of relief, and Tian Wenliang continued: "However, you listen to me obediently. After returning, I will consider using the intelligence network hidden in Shanghai to bring your mother to Taiwan and reunite with you."

  My body shook, my face turned pale, and I solemnly nodded: "It's settled!"

  Tian Wenliang, this old sly oil slick, hit my weak spot all at once, and I couldn't help but refuse. For a while, Ba Erzha and I were leading the way again, but we ended up being eaten alive by him.

  Tian Wenliang burst out laughing: "I, Tian the Dragon, also known as Tian 'Chicken' of the Canghai River, am a half-immortal in geomancy. The Five Masters said that I would prosper when encountering water and be auspicious when facing difficulties. Last time I jumped ship and swam across the East Sea, I got promoted and ennobled. This time I swam through underground water, switching between offense and defense, haha, it really didn't deceive me!"

  His smile had not yet dissipated when the calm water surface began to ripple with tiny bubbles.

  We all suddenly woke up with a start, only to see the bubbles getting bigger and bigger. Before long, two huge snake heads poked out of the water's surface, arching their necks and taking a deep breath.

  "I'm telling you, they didn't give up the chase, it's just that their bodies are too heavy and they're swimming too slowly!" I glared at Tian Wenliang who was being self-righteously clever.

  I and Balza ran wildly towards the passage behind Tian Wenliang's back.

  "I've seen it, that's a dead end!" Tian Wenliang shouted, seeing that none of us paid attention to him, he couldn't help but glance at the silver-crowned python starting to wade ashore, shuddering for a moment, not daring to stay in place, quickly following up.

  Ten meters later, we entered a dead end as expected.

  My face changed color, and under my feet were piles of bone fragments. The atmosphere looked gloomy. At the very end of the dead road, more than a dozen large white eggs, as big as watermelons, were placed together.

  I stared intently and suddenly cried out: "This is a snake's egg!"

  "We ran a circle and actually ran into the nest of the Silver Crowned Python!" Barza thought his heart was going to die.

  Tian Wen's sharp eyes pointed to an inconspicuous corner covered with mud, and he exclaimed: "There is a complete dead body here."

  I hastily went over to take a look, brushed away the mud, and when I saw the face of this dead person clearly, I couldn't help but gasp in shock. This dead person was actually Old Eunuch Shi Dehai, who had mysteriously gone missing on the Golden Flower Ship!