Chapter 16: Pan Jinlian's Interrogation

  This black-scaled python is a southern earth python, also known as the "black dragon". It can grow to several meters in length, with icy cold and hard scales all over its body. Due to long-term training from drilling into the ground and breaking rocks, it has immense strength. When it suddenly attacks people, it is extremely swift and deadly.

  I saw the giant python attacking Zhou Xing repeatedly, and I wanted to go forward and pull out my sword to help him. However, I was caught off guard by this evil beast's sneak attack, and it rammed into my chest, instantly cracking one of my ribs. I fell to the ground and almost fainted from the pain.

  The black-scaled python saw that I was momentarily unable to move, and suddenly another pungent gust of air blew up, opening its bloody great maw as if to swallow me. Of course, I wouldn't wait for death, so I endured the intense pain in my chest and quickly rolled several times to the side. The strange python was eager to swallow me, its long body chasing after me and pouncing, just about to bite into my body.

  It was too late to talk, and at that moment a stone cone suddenly flew over from the side, hitting the giant python's seventh inch. It turned out that Zhou Xing had exerted his strength, seeing my precarious situation, and in his panic, he picked up the stone cone on the ground and threw it over. He knew that all snakes have a common weakness at their seventh inch, so he took advantage of the moment when the black-scaled python pounced on me to strike its weak point with the stone cone.

  Even if this black-scaled old python had a body of copper and iron, being hit by the stone cone in its vital spot was still unbearable. It felt threatened by Zhou Xing, so it could no longer swallow me, quickly shrinking back its thick, long python body. Its whole body's black scales rubbed against each other with a hissing sound, its strange body flipped over, and again it went to bite and swallow Zhou Xing.

  Zhou Xing just threw the stone cone with all his might, but the black-scaled python reacted incredibly quickly. After a head-on collision, its body bounced back and wrapped itself around Zhou Xing's body in an instant.

  The most aggressive means of the python is not to pounce, but to use its hundreds of kilograms of body weight to entwine and suffocate its prey. Once wrapped in its coils, even a wild ox would be asphyxiated. This black-scaled old python was incredibly powerful, far surpassing ordinary jungle pythons. If Zhou Xing were to be entwined by it this time, wouldn't he be twisted into a rope?

  At this point, I couldn't care about the severe pain in my chest, gritted my teeth and hastily got up, rushed to Hei Lin Lao Yan's front, and smashed its seven inches with a mountaineering axe.

  Who would have thought that this strange python had become so vicious, with its mind set on strangling Zhou Xing to death. Although it was beaten by me until it convulsed repeatedly, it still refused to let go of Zhou Xing. I saw that Zhou Xing's face had already turned bright red, and my anxiety grew even more intense, unable to think of a solution.

  At this time, Su Qin, who was hiding on the stone platform, suddenly jumped down, holding a stone cone in her hand, and said to me: "I'll hit it seven inches, you quickly go and hit its eyes."

  As soon as I heard this, my eyes lit up and I thought to myself, "That's right!" This giant python has a hard shell all over its body, except for the seven inches below its neck, and its only weak points are its eyes. Immediately, I nodded vigorously at Su Qin and grabbed the ice axe, rushing forward to the front of the python's head, aiming straight at the black-scaled old python's right eye and striking it with all my might.

  The giant python didn't expect me to stab its eyes, and it let out a furious hiss as its right eye burst forth with fresh blood, splashing up a stench. Su Qin also desperately pounded its temples, and the giant python was taken aback by our simultaneous attack, momentarily stunned. It shook off Zhou Xing with a crazy tremor, and we three dodged too late, getting swept away by the python's horizontal strike, flying and crashing into the stone walls of the tomb chamber.

  My throat was sweet, and a mouthful of blood almost spat out. Su Qin and Zhou Xing were also hit hard enough to be stunned, half a day couldn't get up, groaning on the ground. The python's right eye socket was already a mess, when had it ever suffered such a great loss? It had long been furious, seeing that we three had lost our ability to move, first turned its head and swept towards Su Qin.

  Su Qin saw that things were not going well, and she strongly endured the pain to get up and try to run away. The python's head had already landed on her back and was about to coil around her. I and Zhou Xing were greatly alarmed, and we hastily rushed to the back of the black-scaled python. We grabbed its tail and pulled it backwards. However, this giant python's strength was enormous, and I and Zhou Xing could not stop it. On the contrary, we were dragged backwards by it.

  The giant python was about to wrap itself around Su Qin, its huge mouth open wide, seemingly planning to swallow her first before dealing with us. At this moment, I don't know where I got the strength from, but I let out a loud roar and managed to pull the python's body back by a foot or so. The python let out a strange hissing cry, then lunged forward again, deadlocking itself with me and Zhou Xing.

  At first, I thought my strength had increased, but later I felt that something was off. This python seemed to be losing its strength gradually; otherwise, with its incredible force, how could it have been easily restrained by me and Zhou Xing?

  Zhou Xing also felt the abnormality of this giant python, and while exerting all his strength to pull its body, he said to me: "Hold on, it's going to die."

  As I heard this, I suddenly remembered that the black-scaled python in front of me was an animal that had been secretly sent to sleep by the ancients until now. There have been many examples of species like this that break through their lifespan limits by hibernating, such as frogs that hibernate in rock formations over 2 million years old and cats that survive in sealed pyramids for thousands of years.

  These long-dormant animals, whose breakthrough in lifespan limits is still a mystery today, but what can be known is that once these animals wake up, they will die within a short period of time due to internal organ failure.

  This black-scaled old python had been awakened when we were hiding in the copper coffin, and then it had been circling around us for several minutes. Apparently, its life had finally come to an end at this moment.

  Su Qin also saw the vital signs, and then came up with a few more strength, lifted her foot against the python's abdomen and kicked it wildly. The big python finally couldn't hold on, its whole body began to convulse violently, and was slowly dragged back by me and Zhou Xing. In the end, this strange python that almost killed us finally let out a reluctant hiss and stopped moving.

  The three of us were all exhausted, lying on the ground panting heavily. I rested for a while and thought to myself that this black-scaled ancient python might be a prehistoric species unique to this place, unless it was raised in secret by the ancients. Otherwise, how could it have grown so enormous? Fortunately, it had been asleep for thousands of years, and even if it woke up now, its time would soon be up. Otherwise, with just the three of us, how could we possibly be a match for it?

  As I thought deeper, I felt a chill again, so I took back the flashlight from the stone platform and carefully examined this black-scaled python on the ground. This giant python was frighteningly large, about 15 meters long from head to tail, and I'm afraid that if someone who didn't know better saw it suddenly, they would definitely mistake it for a black dragon from underground.

  I was about to crouch down and take a closer look, when I suddenly felt another wave of dull pain in my chest. It wasn't until then that I remembered the python had knocked me in the ribs earlier. I opened up my clothes and took a look - a patch of red swelling had already formed. Su Qin saw this and quickly asked if I had fractured my ribcage. I slowly felt around, let out a sigh of relief, and told her: "No, it's probably just cracked."

  She heard this and took out a bottle of bruise medicine from her backpack for me. Then, she walked to the tomb entrance blocked by the huge stone with a flashlight in hand, calling out to people outside. However, at this time, there was no response at all, nor did I know whether it was that the people outside couldn't hear Su Qing's voice or they had already left the place.

  I said to Su Qin, "It seems that the three of us are not in a good situation and were plotted against by Wu Wang's old cunning. Although we narrowly escaped this time, it won't be easy to get out of here. If the layout here is fatal, unless we bring ***, otherwise we'll have to stay here with that 'princess'."

  As soon as I mentioned the "princess", I thought of the corpse that was pulled out of the coffin by Zhou Xing earlier. Earlier, when I heard the huge python making a noise, I suspected that the corpse had transformed, and I didn't know what happened to this poor "princess" now. After thinking about it, I held up my flashlight and walked around the stone platform, only to see that the ancient corpse was still lying quietly in its original position, with just a few stone cones stuck on its body, looking strange and eerie.

  Su Qin gritted her teeth and scolded Zhou Xing again, saying: "Look at the good deed you've done, aren't you afraid of retribution?"

  I said to Su Qin, "Miss Su, this can't be blamed on Old Zhou. Think about it, this ancient tomb is strange and eerie, seemingly normal but actually full of hidden dangers. You saw the stone cone and the giant python earlier. When we hid in the copper coffin, if Old Zhou hadn't pulled out the zongzi beforehand, the three of us would have been squeezed in with it, who knows what might have happened. This copper coffin has been slept in by this 'princess' for thousands of years, the three of us hiding inside, you don't think it's cramped but it might get annoyed and bite us to death."

  Su Qin coldly snorted: "Nonsense, how can a dead body bite people? On the contrary, you, Long Qiu, you tomb raider, don't try to quibble, I know you're definitely a tomb raider. And stop calling me 'Zongzi', thinking I don't understand these underworld terms."

  I thought to myself, "Anyway, it's all exposed now, there's nothing good to hide anymore," so I let out a sigh and said to Su Qing: "I admit that I'm a grave robber, but you're wrong about two things. First, I've never made excuses for myself. Second, although I am a grave robber, I've never stolen a single artifact. This time at the Wu Wang tomb, I was also forced into it... isn't there a saying 'to be forced by circumstances in the jianghu...'?"

  Su Qin refused to buy my account and said, "You can be poor then. Wait until we're gone, I'll expose your good deeds and let Officer Li take you back."

  I was anxious as soon as I heard it, and immediately took big strides towards Su Qin. Su Qin seemed to think that I wanted to silence her, and suddenly shrunk back two steps, frowning and glaring at me angrily.

  Zhou Xing ignored us completely and sat down on the ground with his legs crossed, staring blankly into space as if thinking of a way out. I walked straight up to Su Qing, grabbed her shoulders with both hands, and stared at her saying: "Look at me."

  Su Qin struggled and turned back with a red face: "What are you doing?"

  I smiled and said: "What? Can't you see from my eyes that I'm actually a good person?"

  "Alright, alright! Don't be stubborn. I'm telling you seriously, I advise you to go surrender yourself."

  I said to Su Qin: "Alright alright, I'm not joking with you, I want you to see my third eye."

  Su Qin was still very angry, but after hearing my words, she suddenly exclaimed: "Third... third eye? Are you kidding me?"

  I pointed at my forehead and said to Su Qin: "I told you it's not a joke, look here, isn't there a scar that looks just like an eye?"

  Su Qin heard this and curiously brushed aside my bangs, staring at my forehead and saying: "There is a scar, huh, it looks like an eye. But what's the big deal about having a scar? Don't change the subject..."

  I interrupted her and said: "I didn't change the subject, this thing is not an ordinary scar, even oil has it. In fact, it's a curse that affects our lives."

  Su Qin didn't understand and repeated my words: "Curse?"

  I nodded and then told her everything that had happened, including how I was cursed, how I met Oil Sub, and how we tracked down the Black Button to get here. After finishing my story, I expressed again that I really didn't have any ulterior motives towards the Golden Corner Number, and if the curse was lifted, I would be happy to return it. Su Qin listened with a mixture of trust and doubt, and said to me: "How can you prove everything you just said is true?"

  I said to Su Qin: "Didn't I tell you to look into my eyes? The eyes won't lie."

  Su Qin said: "Who wants to look at your eyes? I want you to prove that what you say is true. It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that the things you're saying are too absurd and really hard to believe."

  I shook my head and said, "It's hard to prove that. Unless I invite you to our funeral when Oil and I are thirty years old, then it can be proven. Alas... I thought you experienced archaeologists would understand these supernatural things more easily."

  Su Qin fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said to me: "Why don't you take an oath? I know that you tomb raiders don't believe in Buddha or God, but you do believe in your ancestors. If you take an oath, I'll believe you."

  When I heard this, I thought to myself that this woman was too ruthless, actually making me swear an oath to my ancestors. Fortunately, I didn't deceive her - if I had sworn the oath and she still tried to get rid of me, then it would be her fault. So I made a solemn vow in front of her, facing my ancestors. Su Qin was reasonable, and after hearing my vow, she nodded and said she believed me.

  I finally breathed a sigh of relief after listening, but Su Qin suddenly asked me again: "What about him? Who is he?"

  Su Qin was referring to Zhou Xing. I looked at this guy sitting on the ground, not saying a word, and also found it difficult. I thought, what's with you investigating everyone who walks with me? This live treasure, Zhou Xing, doesn't speak all day, and isn't willing to reveal his identity to us either. Don't expect him to confess to Su Qin, just look at how he didn't even turn around when Su Qin mentioned him, that's how stubborn this guy is. So I said to Su Qin: "Old Zhou is my lifesaver."

  Su Qin refused to give up and asked again: "Then what is his identity? Is he also a grave robber like you?"

  I really didn't dare to vouch for Chow Sing, so I had no choice but to say to So Kin: "Alright, alright, I promised you not to touch the cultural relics and I won't touch them, I've sworn an oath. What else are you worried about?"

  Just as I finished speaking, Zhou Xing suddenly chimed in and said, "I'm not interested in cultural relics."

  I heard Zhou Xing helping me out, and I was so moved that I almost burst into tears. I thought to myself, "This kid is really a good brother." I had been asked by Su Qin until my heart was about to die, and just as I was about to go pull his hand and wipe away my tears, I suddenly heard Zhou Xing say: "I know how to get out of here, this is the Seven Stars Interlocking Array."