Urban Martial Saint

Chapter 1976 - 976: The Serpent's Gaze

The rustling sound in the grass sounded as if something was crawling. The grass in the grassland was swaying, bending to both sides. Moreover, the crawling trail in the grass extended very far, indicating that the thing crawling inside was definitely something elongated.Earlier, after everyone saw the snake sheddings left by the giant snake, they had already been very vigilant about the situation on the mountain. Now seeing an elongated object crawling in the grass, everyone's first thought was undoubtedly of a snake!

Ye Qing was the first to react, and he hurriedly took a few steps back, unwilling to get close to the grass. However, he neglected the area behind him, taking a few steps just far enough to stand beside a large tree. Something cold and slippery fell from the trunk onto Ye Qing's neck. Instinctively turning his head to look, he found himself face-to-face with a triangular snake head, the snake body was draped on his neck, causing the cold, slippery sensation.

Humans are almost innately terrified of snakes. Among one hundred people, having even one who isn't afraid is already rare. Unfortunately, Ye Qing was not one of those few; he definitely belonged to the majority who were terrified. Seeing this snake, no matter how brave Ye Qing was, his mind went blank for a moment. He instinctively reached up, trying to swipe the snake off his neck.

However, the snake's strength was not small, tightly wrapped around Ye Qing's neck. Despite Ye Qing's attempts to flick it away, he couldn't remove the snake, and instead provoked it. It opened its mouth and lunged to bite Ye Qing.

Ye Qing's quick reflexes saved him; seeing the snake's aggressive move, he promptly grabbed its neck, blocking the strike. Feeling the snake struggling and thrashing in his hand, Ye Qing felt a wave of nausea. He forcefully pulled the snake off his neck and tossed it aside, retreating rapidly, unwilling to approach the tree again.

The snake hit the ground but was unharmed. It stayed for a while, then opened its mouth, emitting a series of rustling sounds as if summoning something. Soon, the nearby grass shook, and abruptly, a large snake dashed out of the grass, like lightning, charging at Ye Qing.

Hearing the snake's sounds, Ye Qing knew something was wrong and had already retreated beside a foreigner. Seeing the big snake charging out, Ye Qing immediately hid behind the foreigner, letting him shield him from the large snake.

The giant snake was nimble; realizing Ye Qing hid behind the foreigner, it twisted mid-air and lunged at the foreigner instead.

The foreigner was initially just watching the show, never expecting this fight to involve him. Seeing the snake approach fiercely, he realized evade would be impossible and angrily cursed in his native language, punching the giant snake directly.

This foreigner was one of the weaker ones among them, possessing only top-level strength. However, handling such a large snake wasn't difficult. Though the snake wasn't enormously big, about the thickness of an adult's arm, its size was already sufficiently terrifying. Its charging posture was quite horrifying!

Estimates were that the foreigner was also quite afraid of snakes; though he punched, his body trembled, likely from fear. Nonetheless, his punch was powerful, knocking the snake back onto the ground. The snake rolled a couple of times, struggling to move, clearly injured by the foreigner's punch.

The smaller snake Ye Qing had tossed away earlier seemed intimidated by the situation. After glancing at a few people, it turned and slithered back into the grass.

Seeing the small snake's eyes, Ye Qing felt a wave of fear. For some reason, he could discern an expression of anger in its eyes. But these were human expressions; how could a snake have such eyes?

Although the foreigner had injured the giant snake, he dared not approach to inspect it. Fortunately, among the entourage, a few weren't afraid of snakes. They walked over to check, finding it still struggling, not dead. One of them directly grabbed the snake, lifted it, and fiercely smashed it to the ground.

"What are you doing!" Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise, not expecting this foreigner to act so ruthlessly.

The foreigner didn't understand Ye Qing's words, looking to the elder who spoke his language. The elder waved him off, then looked at Ye Qing, saying, "Stop your nonsense, lead the way honestly, other matters don't concern you!"

Seeing the ferocious looks of these foreigners, Ye Qing felt angry but helpless. He sighed at the sight of the bloody and mangled giant snake. For some reason, the image of that little snake's eyes kept flashing in his mind, and he couldn't shake the feeling that these snakes seemed to possess consciousness. Moreover, why did this Mount Wendao emanate such a strange aura everywhere?

The foreigners searched the grass again, but oddly, this time they didn't find any snake species. There were still traces of snakes crawling in the grass, but those snakes were now gone.

"These are just small snakes, nothing noteworthy. The real danger is the giant snake whose sheddings we saw earlier. If we encounter such a giant snake, we must be careful!" The Great Lord said solemnly.

Hearing the Great Lord mention the giant snake, everyone was secretly startled and dared not be careless. As they walked along the mountain path, everyone was on high alert, cautiously guarding every step.

Ye Qing, however, wasn't thinking much about the giant snake's situation. Instead, he was pondering the look in that little snake's eyes as it departed, a thought he couldn't shake from his mind.

Continuing up the mountain, they hadn't gone far before they found another snake shedding in the grass. This shedding was much smaller than the one from the giant snake they'd seen earlier, seemingly from a small snake. So, they didn't pay much attention and just continued forward. But after a short distance, they saw several more snake sheddings, and the further they went, the more sheddings they saw. Although none were large, the sheer number surprised them.

"Everyone, be careful!" The Great Lord said sternly, "There are many snake species on this mountain. We've likely entered their territory, which is why there are so many sheddings. Everyone, be extremely cautious; many of these snakes are poisonous. Don't get bitten, or you'll be in danger!"

Everyone stayed alert, and one person whispered, "Great Lord, we've already applied Snake Medicine. It should provide some protection, right?"

"I don't think it's of much use!" The Great Lord said in a serious tone, "The snakes on this mountain are strange, possibly related to that creature's presence. The Snake Medicine we used might not be effective on them. Anyway, everyone should be cautious; just avoid getting bitten!"

Upon hearing the Great Lord's words, everyone became even more vigilant. Ye Qing, however, grumbled inwardly. These people were really something else; they'd applied Snake Medicine on themselves but didn't give him any. Yet they expected him to lead the way, clearly setting him up to die.

But even if these people gave Ye Qing the Snake Medicine, he wouldn't use it. He carried Mu Ling with him, which could counteract all poisons as the Treasure of Zhendong from the Zhenmu Dong of Miao Borderlands. With Mu Ling, no poisonous snake could harm him unless he encountered a giant snake capable of swallowing humans whole. In such a case, whether it's poisonous or not wouldn't make much difference!

The further they went, the more snake sheddings appeared around them. Eventually, there were sheddings everywhere, big and small, in various colors, indicating the sheer number of snakes on this mountain. However, throughout their journey, they hadn't seen any shedding larger than that of the giant snake, so they weren't greatly concerned, focusing only on guarding against the giant snake.

After about another half hour of walking, the group rounded a corner and came upon a massive clearing. The clearing was filled with vegetation, and the most striking feature was a huge pond around which the plants thrived.

Compared to the outside world, this clearing looked like a paradise. The scenery was beautiful, mountains and waters intertwined, and greenery everywhere, providing a sense of tranquility and peace.

"Wow, such a beautiful place!" a foreigner couldn't help but exclaim, and the others were equally amazed. Who would have thought that amidst the dangers of this mountain, there existed such a picturesque location?

Ye Qing glanced around, his brows slightly furrowed because he found the clearing peculiar. Within its bounds, there wasn't a single snake shedding in sight.

Remember, the snake sheddings had multiplied as they went, as if entering a kingdom of snakes. Especially around the corner, there were so many sheddings underfoot that there was no place to step. How could it be that after they turned the corner, not a single shedding was visible? Could it be that the snakes wouldn't come to this clearing?