Chapter 384: The Sounds of a Flute Just Before the Coming of Death
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Ignite the flames!" A mournful cry rang out.
The voice trembled even as it carried across the clearing.
With a flash of heat, the circle around them burst into flame, sending rays of light shooting into the dark forest
Countless vipers were hissed in pain. Struggling to escape the sudden sea of fire, a strange scent of barbecued meat filled the sky.
Upon seeing that the wall of fire had worked, everyone began to feel the beginnings of relief in their hearts, but before long, they heard a strange cry from afar.
"Hiss ..."
Suddenly, all of the vipers went mad. Churning in desperation, they slithered, completely ignoring the sea of fire before them that had swallowed innumerable companions. There were also a number of huge pythons that rushed fearlessly into the flames, using their huge bodies as a bridge for their smaller cousins to pa.s.s through unscathed.
It was only a short period of time that the ma.s.ses had hopelessly discovered that the rising firewall, the firewall that had brought hope to everyone, was but a flash in the pan. Their hopes had disappeared in entirety!
Thousands of pythons had used their own bodies to extinguish the flames that could have set an entire mountain range ablaze. Curls of smoke billowed into the air, as thousands of pythons hissed their dying screams even as the flames grew weaker and weaker.
It was impossible to count the smaller vipers that had been crushed or burnt to death. However, the python’s strategy was effective!
The fire had been extinguished. The subsequent snake dens then came in to attack.
At this point, the people and the snakes were fighting in close quarters.
More than two hundred strong men were desperately waving their weapons, albeit with desperation on their faces. They began their vain efforts for the sake of the continuation of their lives.
As for the few young masters and ladies, they all had been frightened like quail; huddling together in the inner area, their faces were deathly white, their bodies s.h.i.+vering.
The battle between the guards and the group of snakes could be described as extremely tragic.
Although the snakes were smaller, they had the advantage of sheer numbers. Without having high-end combat strength, even if they were equipped with the power of poison, it was still difficult to trick the guards who were imbued with an extraordinary cultivation base. Hence, the guards were able to stabilize their feet, even when humongous snakes flowed in like the tide of waves billowing over. They grimly flung back wave upon wave of the slithering monsters, and soon the bodies that lay on the ground began to look like so many pieces of deadwood.
On the ground, the snake corpses that had been broken into several sections could be seen spasming and twisting malevolently. Soon, there were huge, deep, piles of snake corpses surrounding the valiant defenders.
The brus.h.i.+ng sounds from afar kept ringing unceasingly. Another wave of large pythons emerged and advanced upon the group. Once they all came near, they whipped themselves across without hesitation.
The guards who had utilized the best of their combat strengths, had, in a short time of two hours, killed at least millions of vipers. However, the sheer volume of snakes began to take a toll on the defenders, as the vicious monsters struck without fear of death or dismemberment.
As for the warriors on the other side, their combat powers were far better and their cultivation bases extraordinary. Still, their cultivation base and mystical Qi was limited. They were utterly weary and exhausted. Unable to sustain their initial vigor, the snakes were still arriving in an unceasing stream. The snakes seemed to cover the ground from where they stood until the horizon.
In the face of such a battle, everyone began to grow desperate.
Even ants could overcome an elephant; not because of the size of the elephant neither it was because its combat power was weak. It was simply due to the fact that the ants were numerous. When the number of a biological creature reached a considerable scale, sufficient to consume the enemy no matter how superior it was, its downfall was inevitable.
Everyone was initially glad that it was winter, as the snakes would not be very active during this season; however, these feelings of gladness had since been thrown to the nine clouds, completely vanished. In short, it was utterly gone!
Hush hush hush ...
Countless vipers flew from the treetops, their bodies like arrows flying straight at their targets.
Every inch of ground was covered with vipers. The subsequent forces, having no foothold and no room to exhibit their strengths, then climbed onto the treetops to launch a combined pouncing attack instead. The attack forces of the snakes had formed an encirclement array. All around them, the vipers lay coiled, ready to strike.
Bang, bang…
No matter how the ma.s.ses exert their utmost effort to resist, an inevitable gap had appeared in their ranks.
"Argh!"
A tragic shriek broke the air; a guard had been bitten by a viper. Although he had instigated his mystical Qi to burn away the snake, there was a moment of carelessness, and it only required that split second of inattention for the snakes to gleefully throw themselves at the doomed man.
He was still struggling on the ground, rolling and desperately calling forth his mystical Qi, hoping to burn off the vipers, or at least to reach a safe s.p.a.ce. Yet all he gained was to attract even more vipers to pile upon him.
After a brief while, a complete set of white bones appeared on the ground.
Yes, it was the pure white of skeletons, without the slightest mark of blood or fles.h.!.+ Upon seeing the set of bones, a chilled feeling was aroused deep within everyone"s heart. All of their scalps felt numb as they were utterly frightened and scared.
Just a second ago, there was still a living human who could jump, fight and kill!
The screams that belonged to the humans kept ringing unceasingly in their eyes, as the snakes took advantage of their horror to wade in with increasing frenzy.
Within less than an hour, the group of two hundred people has lost half of its members.
Upon seeing that victory was drawing closer, the attack on the snake dens grew even more vicious.
The few tragic ladies and youths were screaming loudly. Their shrieking sounds were particularly high-pitched and miserable. They had led a luxurious life since childhood, having their hundreds of requests granted with just a single call. When had they ever had to witness such a horrible phenomenon?
Even if they were able to escape this danger eventually, this incident would haunt their dreams for many years to come, if not for the rest of their lives.
After another frenzied attack by the snake dens, there were only twenty of them that were left standing.
The shadow of death, the atmosphere of despair, had mercilessly shrouded those who were alive.
No one had ever thought that one who had yet to consider how to enjoy life must first consider how it felt to be buried in a snake"s mouth.
This was the most typical case of dying without a complete corpse!
Upon seeing that all the people had come close to danger, without having the slightest chance of survival, the attack of the snake dens slowed, as they retreated slightly.
The seventeen to eighteen people who had seen themselves and the others facing the threat of being torn apart were all relieved simultaneously. However, the scent of death was still in the vicinity. The air now was extremely suffocating and filled with the copper tinge of blood and snake bile.
The cloying scent of snakes was terrible. Even if millions of people were to share a latrine that had not been cleaned for a year long, the smell would have been much more refres.h.i.+ng than the air here.
However, no one complained as the gulped deep lungfuls of air.
Even with such an odor, the air was still a privilege to living humans.
Perhaps within the next breath, one would have gone to the world of death, without having to return to the world of mortals!
There were still dense mounds of snakes surrounding them.
The most eye-catching among them were the pythons; thick as a bucket and large as a pot.
Everyone’s expressions were filled with horror and despair, staring into the distance, not knowing how their own fate would be. Would they end up dying in the mouth of the snake? Residing in an utter state of despair was actually even harder to withstand than death. After all, the feeling of death was but a flicker of a moment. The past would then be the past. However, it was only a constant sense of suffering if you were caught in the throes of despair!
However, even if it was torturous, the survivors were still willing to continue. After all, compared to death, it was still better to be alive.
To their horror, there came a burst of sound, as if a mountain had taken a step forward.
Their eyes took on a sheen of insanity as an indescribably gigantic python emerged. It resembled a large mountain that was moving, with gorgeous patterns all over its body. It slithered languidly towards them if mountains could be said to slither.
It moved casually through the dense growth of trees, shattering even the largest and oldest ones like twigs, leaving a swath of destruction behind.
As it moved, it caused landslides and earthquakes to erupt around it, even causing the course of a small river to s.h.i.+ft.
Everyone"s eyes grew wide as they experienced a sense of the impossible.
What exactly was this kind of snake?
Its body had to be at least forty feet thick.
It towered above two hundred feet in the air.
Even as it swayed, beautiful scales reflected the flames in a dazzling array of light.
When it drew closer, the gigantic snake’s head then lifted, rising to at least a height of a hundred feet. With a cold glance at the survivors on the ground, the deity towered over the mortals from the sky with a commanding presence.
Under the shadow of such a fierce deity, everyone went limp instantly.
Although they had been desperate before this, there had always been the courage to fight and the hope for the arrival of a miracle. There was the possibility that a family had witnessed the signal rocket calling for help and had sent people over.
With the emergence of this gigantic snake, however, not only had they lost the courage to resist, even the illusion of hope had all gone.
Even with the combined strength of all these families gathered here, could they even hope to defeat such a ferocious-looking gigantic python?
The terrified eyes of the few ladies had turned wild, gazing at the gigantic snake without blinking. Their minds were a horrid mess, and they had lost all ability to think.
Their only regret was that they had not fainted dead away. If they were to faint, at least they did not have to face the imminent horror of death.
The sight of a gigantic python was a terrible one indeed.
Once this gigantic python appeared, all the vipers and python could be seen obediently prostrating on the ground, expressing their utter allegiance.
The was what it meant to be the King of Snakes.
Undoubted, undisputed, and unquestionable!
Its grandeur alone had brought everyone to a complete halt.
"Doom! Completely doomed!"
Young Master Lan threw the longsword in his hands to the ground. His face was the color of dead ash as he turned his head and glanced at Lady Zi Yunyan. His heart was filled with bitterness.
He wanted to bring a beauty to have fun out here, to display courage and wisdom. If he were to take advantage of today’s trip to help the beauty to catch a Cloudmallow Squirrel, it would have been perfect, improving the relations.h.i.+p between them further.
The plan was great, yet the reality was tragic. It had only resulted in the deaths of so many innocents.
The possibility of having the rescue troops arrive, even in the tens of thousands, seemed to be dismally futile, in the face of the great monster.
"Hiss ..."
The snake king lowered its head. As the sound rang in the air, the sensation of death intensified, and the few girls that were left shrieked with their eyes closed.
They forgot about their cla.s.s, forgot about demeanor or appearance, forgot about the masters of the secular world. All these were gone with the wind.
"Hiss, hiss ..."
The snake king, snarling as it reared up into the sky, appeared both flamboyant and menacing all at once.
Below, there were seven to eight people that could be seen s.h.i.+vering. One of the men groaned as he collapsed in a twitching heap. Before long, his convulsions ceased, and he claimed the t.i.tle of being the first man in the group that had died from fright.
The Moire Python’s giant eyeb.a.l.l.s almost stared out of its sockets.
What? I didn"t even do anything! How could he have died just like that? I wonder if I have destroyed the master’s plans?
These people have been sufficiently frightened, why hasn"t master appeared yet?
It was at this point of time that a melodious sound of a flute was faintly audible. It drifted from afar and seemed to be coming closer.