Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing carefully examined the grass, but couldn’t tell what was special about it. Maybe it was because the night was too dark, so the situation of the grass couldn’t be clearly seen. However, given that the Great Lord was so serious, Ye Qing had to be vigilant.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Qing pulled out the Metamorphic Iron Dagger tied to his leg, grasped it tightly in his hand, and cautiously approached the grass. The Great Lord and the foreigners stood behind, nervously watching Ye Qing, also cautiously guarding themselves. If there were truly monsters within the grass, they were far enough to have time to dodge or escape.

After walking towards the grass for a while, Ye Qing still couldn’t see the details behind the grass. Of course, it was a bit different now; he vaguely saw a long object lying on the ground behind the grass, which did look like a snake, a very large snake!

Ye Qing’s heart immediately raced, and sweat continuously dripped from the hand gripping the Metamorphic Iron Dagger. He was considered brave, but who wouldn’t be afraid of a snake capable of killing a Peak Master?

The closer Ye Qing walked, the clearer he saw the situation behind the grass. Finally, the long object behind the grass revealed a corner: colorful, covered in scales, it was clearly a Giant Snake!

”Ah!” Ye Qing cried out in surprise and dared not approach further, immediately sprinting back, fearing the Giant Snake would suddenly rush out and swallow him.

All the foreigners held their breaths watching Ye Qing’s every move. Seeing Ye Qing suddenly scream and run back, everyone assumed something inside the grass attacked him and immediately became tense. Those of weaker strength quietly retreated a bit, while the powerful and confident ones all gathered their strength, ready to strike at the thing inside the grass.

However, even as Ye Qing reached them, there was no movement from within the grass, nor did anything chase after him, as if it was asleep, completely ignoring Ye Qing.

Everyone vigilantly watched the grass for a full five minutes, seeing no movement, they grew a bit impatient.

”Hey, what did you see just now?” The old man asked Ye Qing.

”Snake! A really big snake!” Ye Qing replied.

”A snake?” The old man immediately looked at the Great Lord beside him, and everyone’s expression turned grave. The monster they sought on the mountain was a snake-like creature, and now seeing a large snake here, could it be the monster they were looking for?

If it was indeed that monster, their search would have been unexpectedly easy, when they thought they might have to scour the mountain to find it!

The Great Lord paused briefly and said in a deep voice, ”Yorkson and Chu Bik, go sprinkle realgar powder, everyone else standby. Once this monster charges out, everyone will strike together to injure it!”

Everyone nodded in unison, although Yorkson and Chu Bik showed some reluctance, they nevertheless took out realgar powder and stepped forward. The two approached the grass slowly, even slower than Ye Qing earlier, clearly wary of the Giant Snake, fearful it would suddenly rush out to attack them!

Ye Qing quietly retreated a bit; he had no desire to partake in these affairs. Should the monster suddenly surge to attack them, not only would Ye Qing’s safety be in question, considering if these Church people could fend off the monster, but Ye Qing was in great danger regardless. He possessed no power, and even being hit by their battle aftermath was perilous. Despite having the protection of Buddha’s Relic and the power of Devouring Demon Flower, with cliffs all around, Ye Qing could fear being knocked off, a terrifying thought.

As the two approached the grass, the Great Lord led the others to slowly encircle from the sides. Finally, the two reached near the grass. Exchanging a glance, they simultaneously sprinkled realgar powder toward the Giant Snake behind the grass, then quickly retreated, not daring to linger!

The Great Lord and others were in position, seeing these two make their move, they gathered their strength, ready with anticipation for the Giant Snake’s charge. Yet, after the realgar powder was sprinkled, the Giant Snake remained motionless, as if genuinely asleep.

With the Giant Snake inactive, the Great Lord and others naturally dared not act rashly. They surrounded the grass for several minutes, seeing no sign of movement, they naturally grew anxious.

”What’s happening? Why is there no movement?” someone asked.

”Could the monster be dead?” another suggested.

”Not likely, snakes, they don’t have a fixed lifespan. As long as there’s food and no predators, nobody knows how long they can live. This monster is king on the mountain, how could it be dead?”

”Then what’s going on here?”

The crowd was abuzz with discussion, their voices growing louder, yet the giant snake remained motionless, appearing as if it were truly dead.

The Great Lord did not join the discussions. After a moment of silence, he suddenly walked towards the giant snake.

Seeing the Great Lord’s actions, everyone else was startled and hurriedly exclaimed, ”Great Lord, be careful!”

Ignoring the others, the Great Lord walked slowly to the side of the giant snake. He stared at it for a while, then suddenly stretched out two fingers, pinched the giant snake, and astonishingly, lifted it up as if it were a mere trinket.

The surrounding crowd was taken aback. This snake was enormous, likely weighing several hundred pounds, yet the Great Lord had casually lifted it with two fingers. How terrifying his strength was! More crucially, the snake did not resist at all. What on earth was happening?

While everyone was in shock, the Great Lord suddenly said in a deep voice, ”This is not the monster; this is just a snake shedding!”

”Snake shedding!?” The crowd exclaimed in unison, turning their gaze towards the giant snake in the Great Lord’s hand. Indeed, the giant snake had already shriveled, folded in many places; it was clearly just snake skin!

”So it is snake shedding!” Ye Qing also whispered under his breath. Just now, he had only glanced from a distance and was frightened by the sight of this snake skin lying in the grass, unable to distinguish whether it was real or just shedding. Moreover, it seemed to have been shed not too long ago, looking identical to a real snake from afar. Who would have noticed it was merely a snake shedding?

”Wow, it’s just snake shedding!”

”That gave me a scare; I thought we’d really encountered such a huge giant snake!”

The crowd began discussing, and upon realizing it was just snake shedding, their moods naturally relaxed. As long as it wasn’t a real giant snake, they didn’t need to worry too much.

The expression of the Great Lord, however, was different from the others. He glanced at the snake shedding for a while, then suddenly said in a deep voice, ”Everyone, be careful. We’ve likely entered this monster’s territory. We might encounter the creature at any moment. This snake shedding is so large, the snake itself is likely even larger. If we encounter it, it will be a fierce battle. Everyone, do not let your guard down!”

This reminder from the Great Lord woke everyone up. Indeed, if the shedding was so large, the giant snake wouldn’t be small at all. Encountering such a creature would indeed lead to a fierce battle. Seeing the condition of the snake shedding, everyone’s hearts shivered at the thought of how large the giant snake must be.

Ye Qing stared at the shedding, also filled with awe. When he was at Medicine King Mountain, he had seen a giant python, the largest he’d ever seen. But compared to this snake shedding, that python was smaller. This suggested just how immense this giant snake was.

The power of the giant python at Medicine King Mountain was frightening at the time. If the giant snake on Mount Wendao was even bigger, how much more terrifying would its strength be?

Thinking of this, Ye Qing took a deep breath, gripping the Metamorphic Iron Dagger tightly, fearing that the python might suddenly spring out from somewhere.

The Great Lord tossed the snake shedding aside and returned to the original spot with the foreigners. The crowd continued to discuss the state of the giant python. It was evident that they had never seen such a massive python and were deeply shaken.

”Stop talking. We’ve entered this monster’s territory. It could appear at any time. Everyone, be extremely careful!” the Great Lord shouted coldly, then pointed at Ye Qing and said, ”You, continue to lead the way!”

The elderly man beside them immediately translated the Great Lord’s words to Ye Qing, who was far from happy about it. However, he had no choice at this moment. After considering for a moment, Ye Qing walked over to the nearby bushes, picked up the realgar powder sprinkled in earlier, and rubbed it all over his body. This way, he was covered in realgar powder, which might offer him some protection if he encountered any snake species.

The foreigners did not stop Ye Qing. As long as he was scouting ahead, they didn’t mind him doing such little things. Moreover, knowing the danger of the serpents, they were cautious and on guard themselves, not caring what Ye Qing was up to.

Feeling somewhat more secure after applying the realgar powder, Ye Qing tightened his grip on his Metamorphic Iron Dagger and continued up the mountain in the previous direction. Naturally, this time he was even more vigilant, particularly keeping an eye on the surrounding bushes, wary of a giant python suddenly emerging from them.

Because of the earlier snake shedding, the foreigners were even more vigilant than Ye Qing, resulting in a slower pace up the mountain. After about half an hour of this cautious trek, a rustling sound suddenly came from within the bushes, as if something were crawling, instantly changing the expressions of everyone!