Chapter 29: Dragon Abyss Ta'a

  It happened suddenly, everything was in the blink of an eye. Zhang Fei shouted loudly: "Big brother——" But Liu Ze was still ten zhang away and couldn't be saved. The red-faced man's heart ached with pity, unable to bear watching, he slightly turned his head.

  When he turned back again, Liu Ze was standing with his sword still in the ground, half-kneeling and slightly panting, while the wolf king had already been beheaded, its blood flowing all over the floor.

  The wolf king died, the wolves were leaderless, and they immediately fled in all directions. In an instant, they had vanished without a trace. While the red-faced man was still in a daze, Zhang Fei rushed to Liu Ze's side again, helped him up, and wept with joy, saying: "Big brother, are you okay?"

  Liu Ze straightened his waist, his back aching unbearably. He furrowed his brow and said, "Of course something's wrong! You hit me with such force that I almost had my spine broken. How could nothing be wrong?"

  Zhang Fei was embarrassed and muttered: "It's you who let me hit, I didn't think about it, a palm came out naturally, and now you're blaming me."

  Liu Ze smiled and said, "Younger brother's palm was just in time. If not for the power of this palm, how could I have jumped ten feet in one leap, and how could I have killed the wolf king? Just now it was just a joke."

  Liu Ze didn't blame himself, Zhang Fei was overjoyed and said: "Big brother killed that wolf king with just one sword, truly divine and extraordinary!"

  The red-faced man also walked over, taking a closer look at the wolf king's corpse. The wolf's head was more than twice as big as the others, its eyes wide open and revealing a ferocious expression. He couldn't help but feel secretly shocked and even more admiring of Liu Ze's bravery and wisdom. He bowed deeply and said: "Brother, your bravery and wisdom are unmatched, I admire you greatly, but there is still one thing that is unclear."

  "Please go on."

  "Brother, why did you just throw your sword away? Why didn't you use it to kill him and have a better grasp of the situation?"

  "That beast is the wolf king, it must be spiritual. If I rely on my sword to kill it, it will definitely have a defense, and if one strike doesn't hit, I'll fall into the pack of wolves. So first, I'll throw my sword here, then leap over, add Zhang Fei's powerful palm, just right to land ten zhang away. That beast sees me spitting blood heavily injured, it will no longer be on guard. Take advantage of when it opens its mouth to bite, pick up the sword and cut off its head."

  "Brother, when you threw your sword and landed seven or eight feet away from the Wolf King, why were you certain that it would attack? If it had stayed still, wouldn't you have been making a futile effort?"

  "Wolf-like creatures, they must avenge their grievances. Just now I used stones to hit it, that beast has already remembered the hatred. Seeing me severely injured and falling to the ground, it will surely come to bite me with one mouthful, and savor my flesh to satisfy its anger. It's precisely because of this point that I dared to take a gamble."

  The man with the red face slightly raised an eyebrow, paused for a moment, bowed deeply and said: "Brother, you are a great talent, I am not as good as you. The favor of saving my life cannot be repaid, I wish to repay it by serving as your horse."

  Liu Ze clasped his hands together and said: "A brave warrior, with the strength of one man, fights alone against a pack of wolves. His bravery is unmatched in this world, but I don't know what to call him."

  "His surname is Guan, his given name is Yu, and his courtesy name is Yunchang. He is from Xie Prefecture in Hedong."

  Guan Yu! Liu Ze was so excited that he almost jumped up, never expecting that this second-ranked hero of the Three Kingdoms (the first being Lü Bu) would appear before him. Guan Yu had crossed five passes and killed six generals, executed Yan Liang and Wen Chou, beheaded Hua Xiong after offering him wine, flooded seven armies and captured Yu Jin... countless heroic deeds that couldn't be counted. What's more, his loyalty was unmatched, riding alone for a thousand miles to show his devotion to Liu Bei. This earned him the admiration of later generations, who revered him alongside Confucius as one of the two saints of literature and martial arts. In history, Guan Yu had joined forces with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei after the Yellow Turban Rebellion... but history was quietly changing due to his own arrival. At the edge of the Wei River, the three heroes gathered together.

  "I am Liu Ze, a descendant of Zhongshan Jingwang. This is my younger brother Zhang Fei from Zhuo County."

  Guan Yu was startled and said: "I didn't expect that you are a descendant of the imperial family, forgive me for my disrespect."

  "What brings you here, Brother Guan?" Liu Ze was very curious why Guan Yu would appear in this place.

  Guan Yu said, "I, Guan, was at home when I saw a local tyrant bullying people. In a fit of rage, I killed him and had to flee for my life. Today, I wanted to sell dates in Hebei Province, but because I took a shortcut, I missed the inn and encountered a pack of wolves. Luckily, you arrived just in time to save me."

  Just as they were speaking, a mountain peak not far in front of them was surrounded by purple light, which shot straight up into the void. The three of them looked at it and were greatly astonished. Liu Ze said: "The purple energy is rushing to the sky, there must be some extraordinary treasure appearing in the world, do you two have the courage to go with me to find it?"

  Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were overjoyed when they heard about the treasure and readily agreed.

  "Big brother, how's your injury?"

  "It doesn't matter, I've already taken the medicine to heal my wounds. After adjusting my breath, that purple light is sometimes visible and sometimes not. We must hurry to find it, or else we'll have no place to search once the purple light disappears."

  The mountain was running to death, the purple light seemed to be very close, but in fact it was far away. Fortunately, all three of them were martial artists with extremely fast footsteps. Even on the rugged and bumpy mountain road, it was just a few small hills in their eyes. They had climbed over two big mountains one after another, and suddenly they saw an open space in front of them, where there was a cave with purple air rising from it. The treasure must be hidden inside this cave.

  Liu Ze's expression was serious, and he instructed the two: "When heaven bestows a rare treasure, there must be auspicious purple energy. However, this mountain cave is full of hidden dangers, so it's better for us to be cautious. We should proceed step by step, with me scouting ahead, while Guan brother and Zhang Fei guard the left and right flanks. The two of you must not leave my side more than ten steps away."

  "Big brother is seriously injured and hasn't recovered yet, I'll take care of scouting ahead." Zhang Fei still had some concerns about Liu Ze's injuries.

  Liu Ze shook his head and said, "You are rough in character, impulsive and reckless. I don't feel at ease putting you in the front, so let's follow my arrangement." Zhang Fei was slightly dissatisfied, but he had always admired Liu Ze and knew that once Liu Ze made a decision, no one could change it, so he could only agree. Guan Yu also agreed.

  Three people walked slowly into the cave, and although the entrance was not large, the inside of the cave was extremely spacious. The stalactites hung upside down, the strange rocks were steep and rugged, the mountain springs rang out, and the streams were clear and clean. It was truly a different world. The three people were fully alert and didn't have the heart to look at the scenery in the cave, but instead walked straight towards the place where the purple light was swirling. After walking for several miles, the purple light became even more intense, illuminating everything inside the cave.

  Zhang Fei's eyes were sharp and he was the first to see the object on the stone pedestal in front of him. He exclaimed with great joy: "Big brother, it's a precious sword!"

  Liu Ze looked carefully and saw that on the high platform of over ten zhang, a pair of treasure swords were inserted, with cold light flashing in and out, surrounded by purple light, as if wrapped in a layer of purple gauze, strange and magnificent, subtly revealing the extraordinary bearing of the treasure sword. Liu Ze was overjoyed, this must be an unparalleled divine weapon, if he could obtain this treasure sword, it would certainly be greatly beneficial for conquering the Three Kingdoms.

  Just as he was about to move forward to take the sword, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew in from both sides, and two huge pythons emerged, each several meters long and as thick as a bowl. The one on the left was pure white, while the one on the right was jet black. They opened their bloody mouths wide, staring viciously at the three people with eyes that seemed to be spitting fire. They hissed loudly, clearly indicating that Liu Ze and the others had already entered their territory. If they took another step forward, the two giant pythons would definitely launch an attack.

  Although Liu Ze had seen such a thick python in later generations, it was only in zoos and circuses, which were already domesticated pythons. The two giant pythons now are absolutely wild and not benevolent at all.

  Liu Ze hesitated, the treasure sword was right in front of him, but it was guarded by such a strange beast. The sword was definitely not an ordinary one, but these two giant pythons were enormous and ferocious, and Liu Ze didn't have the skill to capture snakes.

  He was about to turn his head and ask Guan Zhang, but heard Guan Yu say: "I see that this white snake has a few points of fate with me. Guan Mou really wants to come and fight against this living dragon. But does Brother Zhang Fei have the courage?"

  Zhang Fei was a straightforward man and said with a loud laugh: "You are not afraid, what is there for me to be afraid of? This black snake will be captured by me!"

  Guan Yu said to Liu Ze: "In that case, we two will deal with the python, Brother Liu can go straight up to the high platform to retrieve his sword."

  "These two giant pythons are not ordinary, I fear that the two of you will suffer a loss. Let's retreat for now and come up with a better plan to deal with them later."

  "An opportunity once lost cannot be regained. We are all martial artists, capable of lifting a thousand catties. Even if we can't subdue the giant python, it's not difficult to entangle with it for a while. With Liu brother's divine sword in hand, what's there to fear from just two pythons?"

  Guan Yu rarely spoke, but when he did, his words were always astonishing. Liu Ze was overjoyed and said, "Thanks to Brother Guan and Zhang Xian for their efforts."

  Three people made up their minds, Guan Yu rushed straight to the white python. The white python seemed to be greatly enraged, opening its bloody mouth wide as if it wanted to swallow Guan Yu. Guan Yu dodged and suddenly jumped onto the python's back, firmly pressing down on the python's head. The white python became even more furious, wildly twisting its body, seemingly wanting to shake off Guan Yu. Guan Yu tightly grasped the python's head, his legs tightly clamping the python's body, letting the white python roll and struggle without loosening his grip.

  Compared to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei got the worst of it. He charged forward with his ring-shaped halberd and struck several blows at the black python's body, but the python's scales were even harder than armor, causing the halberd to bend and only scratch the surface of the snake's skin. The python was enraged by Zhang Fei's attack and opened its mouth wide, ready to swallow him whole. Zhang Fei threw away his halberd and grabbed the snake's head with both hands, using brute force to pin it to the ground. Although the python's head was restrained, it still had a deadly move - it slowly coiled its body around Zhang Fei, wrapping him tightly in its massive coils, trying to squeeze him to death. Zhang Fei felt intense pain and raised his fist, which was as big as a vinegar jar, and struck the python's vital spot with all his might. The python's scales were as hard as steel, impervious to swords and spears, but Zhang Fei's fists could shatter rocks and split stones, and he hit the snake's weak point. The python felt unbearable pain and loosened its grip slightly, but quickly tightened it again. So Zhang Fei punched again, the python relaxed a bit, the python constricted tightly, and Zhang Fei struck another blow.

  Liu Ze saw Guan Yu and Zhang Fei entangled with the two giant pythons, although it was difficult to gain the upper hand, but for the time being, there was no fear of losing their lives. He then rushed towards the high platform, and after a few ups and downs, he had already charged onto the platform.

  On the high platform, a purple aura was swirling, dazzlingly bright. Only then did he see that treasure sword shining with a purple glow. As Liu Ze approached, he felt the chill emanating from the sword. Although it was now an autumn day of sweltering heat, being in this situation made him feel as if he were standing amidst the icy snows of the third month of winter. Liu Ze couldn't help but shiver with cold.

  Looking at the pair of treasured swords again, they were over five feet long. The back of the sword on the left was raised high, and looking at it was like standing atop a tall mountain overlooking a deep chasm, with an aura of majesty and power emanating from it. The right-hand sword had patterns that flowed like waves in water, seeming to possess boundless spiritual energy. On the hilt where the clouds were swallowed up, two ancient seal characters were carved on each side.

  Liu Ze looked closely and found that it was the four characters "Longyuan" and "Taia". He couldn't help but feel great joy, as these two swords were said to have been forged by Ou Yezi and Gan Jiang, the great swordsmiths of the Spring and Autumn period. They were said to be able to cut through iron like mud, with an unparalleled sharpness. Who would have thought that this legendary treasure sword would actually be hidden here, and that he had obtained it by chance after it had been lost for thousands of years?

  He suppressed the surge of excitement, and pulled out two treasured swords. Instantly, the light dissipated, and the Dragon Abyss Ta A revealed its mysterious black color, with the sword body as calm as a pool of autumn water.