Urban Martial Saint

Seeing this clearing, the foreigners were naturally very excited. Especially since they were thirsty and hungry from the journey, they immediately ran to the pond to drink water.

But, just as they started running, the Great Lord suddenly shouted: ”Everyone, come back, don’t run around, there’s something wrong with this clearing!”

The few people who ran out turned around and looked at the Great Lord in surprise, each with confusion on their faces, not understanding what he meant. An elderly man beside them also looked at the Great Lord in surprise, saying: ”Great Lord, this place is pleasant and seems safe, and there isn’t a single Snake Shedding here; it’s much safer than that snake den we just passed, isn’t it?”

”It’s precisely because there isn’t a single Snake Shedding here that is the greatest problem!” The Great Lord surveyed the surroundings and said solemnly: ”There were so many Snake Sheddings at the bend earlier. But how come after passing this place, there isn’t a single one? Don’t you think that’s strange? Could it be that the snake species simply do not pass through this place or come near this clearing?”

The group looked at each other in confusion; they hadn’t thought of this problem and naturally couldn’t understand the reason behind it.

”Also, as we came along, we saw so many Snake Sheddings, indicating that this mountain surely has many snake species. However, apart from the two snakes we encountered earlier, one large and one small, did you see any other snakes?” The Great Lord said solemnly: ”The area we passed had so many Snake Sheddings, suggesting it’s a gathering place for snake species. But we walked through it without seeing a single snake—don’t you find that curious?”

This made everyone’s expression change slightly, and they all looked around warily. An elder whispered: ”Yes, it is quite strange, why did we only encounter two snakes along the way? Where have the other snakes on this mountain gone?”

”This Mount Wendao is very mysterious, and there’s such a powerful creature on the mountain—we absolutely cannot let our guard down and run around recklessly.” The Great Lord looked at the pond and said solemnly: ”There might be something special nearby, which is why the snake species dare not come here, and there’s no Snake Shedding around. We’d better not venture in rashly, or if we encounter danger, rescue might be too late!”

The crowd quickly nodded, the Great Lord’s words made them all more wary of their surroundings.

The elder who could speak Huaxia was suddenly inspired and pointed at Ye Qing, saying to the Great Lord: ”Great Lord, why don’t we let this person go to the pond edge to scout the way first, and check if there is any danger in the clearing? If there’s no danger, we can proceed. If there is, it’s not one of our people taking the risk, isn’t it a win-win situation?”

Upon hearing the elder’s suggestion, everyone was all in agreement, naturally most willing to let Ye Qing scout the way first.

Ye Qing stood aside, understanding the elder’s words full well, yet he cursed the elder countless times in his heart. However, he had to pretend not to understand, or else he’d be in greater danger.

The Great Lord was very satisfied with the elder’s suggestion and nodded. The elder immediately ordered Ye Qing to scout the way to the pond.

Ye Qing was utterly unwilling, but in this situation, he had no choice but to slowly walk towards the pond edge. He held the Mu Ling while tightly clutching the Metamorphic Iron Dagger in his other hand, warding off any potential danger.

The pond was quite a distance from the entrance, approximately three to four hundred meters. Ye Qing walked very cautiously, and since the foreigners were also keeping an eye on the surroundings, they didn’t rush him. The distance took Ye Qing about ten minutes to cover, and he saw he was only twenty or thirty meters from the pond. Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bend they had passed earlier. It was loud enough for Ye Qing to hear, even from such a distance.

Ye Qing turned around quickly, seeing the foreigners were also in motion. Two of them ran to the bend to peer outside, trying to see what was happening. After just one glance outside, they both retreated simultaneously from the bend, as if witnessing something incredibly terrifying. Each bore expressions of fear and shock, and they ran straight to the Great Lord.

Seeing their expressions and actions, the Great Lord was also astonished, frowning as he asked: ”What did you see?”

”Snakes! So many snakes!” a man replied, trembling.

”So many snakes?” Everyone gasped, and an elder asked urgently: ”How many snakes?”

”Outside... the outside is full of snakes; they... they’re covering the entire path...” another man said: ”Over ten thousand snakes, cascading over together...”

Hearing him use the word ”cascading,” everyone was shocked. How many snakes must there be to use such a word!

Upon hearing this, Ye Qing was alarmed, feeling something was amiss. They had passed places with so many Snake Sheddings earlier without seeing any snakes, yet after entering this clearing, over ten thousand snakes cascaded out. It was hard not to suspect something was wrong.

Recalling the small snake’s gaze when it left, Ye Qing suddenly realized: could it be these snakes are intelligent? As they passed earlier, the snake species remained hidden and didn’t appear. But when they entered this clearing, the snake species suddenly burst forth, clearly intending to surround them in this clearing!

Could these snake species really understand and employ schemes like ’invite the enemy into the trap’? And what exactly is in this clearing that these snake species are encircling them here?

While Ye Qing was still wondering, a sudden disturbance came from the pond behind him. He was already very alert, and upon hearing the sound, he immediately turned around and saw a wave moving towards the shore from the pond. Judging by the size of the wave, it appeared something enormous was swimming towards the shore from underwater. Also, the wave stretched far, indicating whatever was beneath the water was quite long.

At this point, even a fool would know that whatever was in the pond was not simple. So, without hesitation, Ye Qing rushed towards a large rock nearby, avoiding this initial danger.

The foreigners hadn’t noticed what was happening by the pond yet; their attention was still on the bend. As the rustling sound approached, a swarm of snake species suddenly appeared at the bend.

Seeing the snake swarm, the foreigners finally believed the words of the two who had seen it. It was indeed many snakes, over ten thousand cascading over together. The snakes not only covered the path, but even small snakes crawled over the bodies of larger ones, truly flowing over like a tide!

Faced with such a situation, some who feared snakes exclaimed. Even others who weren’t overly afraid grew pale from the sight. So many snakes, flowing like a tide; anyone caught in it surely faced certain doom. Even the Great Lord’s face changed slightly, not daring to underestimate the snake swarm!

The snake swarm swept around the bend like a tide into the valley. The number of snakes entering was significant, yet more continued to stream in, seemingly endless. Before long, snakes occupied the entire ten-meter range of the bend, each raising its head and flicking its tongue, inspiring fear.

”How could there be so many snakes?”

”Good heavens, I’ve never seen so many snakes in my life!”

”So many snakes, even if they aren’t venomous, they could still bite us to death!”

”What do we do now? What do we do?”

The foreigners were panicking, even though they were skilled, such a situation rattled them. Truly, if met by many masters, they wouldn’t be this panicked. But with so many snake species suddenly appearing, things were different—human instinctively fears snakes!

”Everyone don’t panic!” the Great Lord called out solemnly: ”Though there’re many snakes, they aren’t faster than us. If we quickly run out of this area, they can’t catch us!”

Upon hearing this, the crowd regained their composure. Indeed, at this moment, why face off against the snake swarm, instead of running—stay here to die?

”Yes, yes, run, run!” an elder urged: ”That young man walked so far without encountering danger, indicating nothing’s wrong in this clearing, we...”

As the elder spoke, he turned to look but was surprised to find Ye Qing wasn’t by the pond anymore. He paused, unable to finish his sentence.

”Hey, where’s that youngster?” a foreigner asked in astonishment.

”Over there! Over there!” a sharp-eyed person spotted Ye Qing hiding behind the large rock and shouted.

”Damn, what’s he doing hiding there?” another cursed.

”That kid’s not honest; let’s kill him first!” another shouted.

Among them, only the Great Lord didn’t speak; he was staring straight at the pond’s water surface. For he had already noticed the wave rapidly approaching the shore. The wave was large, splitting the waves on both sides, as if some huge creature were about to emerge from the water!