Chapter 112: Alligator Dragon Visits, Jiangling Xie Family
Without needing words, over a dozen archers immediately understood. Several of them stowed their large bows, drew steel sabers, eyes flashing with murderous light, and split to surround the group of villagers from both sides.
The oldest among these villagers was no more than around forty, the youngest just over ten. They were forced by Xie Kun to search the mountain because they were familiar with the terrain.
Now that the Cave Abyss Alligator Dragon had been caught in the net, keeping them was naturally useless.
The villagers also sensed the guards’ malicious intent, becoming both shocked and afraid, involuntarily falling into panicked fear.
A dark-skinned man with thick stubble shouted in alarm: “This is bad, they want to kill us, run fast.”
This shout made the villagers even more panicked, each crying out as they scattered and fled.
But these Xie Family guards were all elites, not only burly and robust but also ruthless and capable with rich experience. Just a few saber-wielding guards quickly closed in, while another dozen or so archers blocked the only exit from the mountain hollow, smirks of cold ferocity on their lips.
Their gazes cruel one by one, staring at the villagers like cats toying with mice, trapping them in a jar to catch a turtle.
“This is bad!”
Yang Erhu, hidden in the trees, saw this scene and was filled with shock and rage, unable to stop himself from crying out lowly.
Fortunately, the waterfall roared in the mountain hollow, and the alligator dragon, trapped by the iron lock net, struggled wildly and roared repeatedly, so it didn’t attract attention.
Yang Erhu shot out with a ‘whoosh’.
Yang Jinbao hurriedly pulled him back, lowering his voice: “Ergouzi, are you crazy? There are at least seventy or eighty guards inside, if not a hundred or so, and every one looks tough to deal with…”
As he spoke, screams already came from the mountain hollow. Through the swaying grass and trees, he saw a guard catch up to a villager, stabbing swiftly with his saber, suddenly piercing through the back of his heart.
“Can’t worry about that anymore.”
Yang Erhu tossed down these words and suddenly burst from the bushes, keeping his body extremely low, like skimming the ground, slithering like a snake, both quick and agile without making much noise.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Yang Erhu darted with incredible speed toward the guards blocking the mountain hollow entrance.
“Damn it, being brothers with you, Ergouzi, must mean I’ve had eight lifetimes of bad luck, you’ll get me killed sooner or later…”
Yang Jinbao cursed under his breath, a blue ‘wristband’ on his chubby right wrist emitting a ‘hissing’ sound.
Then Yang Jinbao kicked off with his foot, like a fat gecko, clinging to the rock wall and quickly climbing upward.
At the passage through the mountain hollow, a guard, perhaps feeling watching wasn’t exciting enough, nocked an arrow and aimed its dark arrowhead at a fleeing villager.
Nearby guards stood with arms folded, watching with great interest.
Suddenly, the rustling of trees and woods grew loud. The guard about to shoot felt a fierce wind from behind. He hurriedly turned, only seeing a masked burly man leaping out, body like a fierce tiger, claws extended.
This guard instantly felt his throat go cold, already torn open with a large gash.
Intense pain surged.
As he let out a shrill howl, his peripheral vision caught the masked man clawing another guard to the ground, his head smashing hard onto the green stone of the ground, brains bursting instantly.
“Enemy attack!”
Yang Erhu slew two enemies in the blink of an eye, immediately causing the other guards to shout warnings.
These guards from the Jiangling Xie Family, though shocked, did not panic. They drew steel sabers, saber lights flashing as they surrounded toward Yang Erhu.
Several more pulled back distance, nocking arrows.
Yang Erhu was like a swimming snake, flexibly weaving between the crowd. He had already seized a long saber, slashing left and right, making it hard for the guards to form an encirclement, arrows unable to lock on.
On the other side, Xie Kun, commanding the guards to lock down the alligator dragon, darkened his face and was about to issue orders when suddenly a roar came from a nearby cliff.
“You scum, all look at Grandpa here!”
Amid arrogant and wild laughter, Xie Kun and the others couldn’t help turning their heads to look.
They saw on a rock wall several zhang high, a fat figure hanging there, also masked with black cloth. Seeing them look over, he laughed even more brazenly, flipped his wrist, and tossed a black object toward above the iron net formation.
“Eat Grandpa’s Sky-shattering Thunder!”
Whoosh!
Before the Sky-shattering Thunder could roll to the ground, an archer swiftly shot an arrow, exploding it mid-air.
Amid the scattering fragments, a large cloud of red-green powder billowed out, sprinkling down over the central area.
Instantly, many nearby guards were hit, the powder falling on their faces.
“Cough cough! My eyes!”
“It’s pepper powder, you bastard, playing dirty tricks! Cough cough!”
A pungent, stinging smell spread. The Xie Family guards shrouded in pepper powder immediately had tears and snot streaming, unable to open their eyes. The iron chains they held in pairs loosened somewhat.
“Bastards! Where did these rats come from? Kill them for me, cough cough!” A gust of cold wind brought some powder to Xie Kun’s face, and he roared in fury.
The next instant, several arrows shot out, but Yang Jinbao had already ‘slithered’ along the rock wall into the woods, dodging the volley a step ahead.
The Cave Abyss Alligator Dragon sensed the slackening of the iron chains trapping it and struggled even more violently. Its vocal sac swelled at its throat, letting out another thunderous boom.
This time, some guards blinded by pepper powder, unable to open their eyes and coughing nonstop, were caught completely off guard. Their minds went blank, feet staggering.
The iron net formation broke in an instant.
The alligator dragon hurriedly plunged toward the pool.
Xie Kun saw this, his expression greatly anxious. He suppressed his rage at the two masked interlopers and barked: “Block this beast, don’t let it return to the water.”
Over a dozen valiant guards rushed forward, slashing down with sabers. Sparks flew from the alligator dragon’s rock-gray scale armor, causing it pain. It bit through one guard’s body, blood spraying.
Then it turned direction and fled with ‘flapping’ sounds.
This beast, like a crocodile or lizard and over two zhang long, was incredibly fast. It swiftly passed over the iron net formation, its tail flinging away a blocking guard.
Whoosh whoosh, it vanished into nearby bushes in an instant.
“Aaaah!” Seeing the prey that was in hand slip away, Xie Kun went mad with rage.
Capturing this alligator dragon would be great merit for him, surely advancing him further in the clan.
With the merit flown away, Xie Kun’s chest burned with fury: “Chase… no! Kill these two sons of bitches.”
Bang!
Amid shaking weeds and dead wood, Yang Jinbao had somehow slipped from the rock wall to the mountain hollow entrance. One hand gripping a green stone, he sneaked behind an archer and smashed it on the other’s head.
This archer died on the spot.
“Ergouzi, aren’t you going yet…” Yang Jinbao shouted, then instinctively tilted his head.
Immediately ‘whoosh’, an arrow grazed past his neck.
“Damn it! I’m out, I’m out!” Yang Jinbao’s eyelids twitched wildly as he hurriedly retreated.
“Kill them!”
Not only Xie Kun was furious; these Xie Family guards were equally filled with rage. Some recovered guards roared and charged with sabers.
Yang Erhu’s figure swayed, swiftly dodging amid the encirclement of several guards, and in a moment stood before Yang Jinbao, panting heavily.
“Kill!”
A large group of guards gathered, saber lights chilling, each guard brimming with killing intent.
Yang Erhu and Yang Jinbao exchanged a glance, suddenly clapped palms together, and their bodies shot up incredibly fast with a ‘whoosh’, leaping over the heads of several surrounding guards.
The guards looked up in stunned amazement, seeing two figures rising a zhang high. The fat masked one was like a pig suddenly flying up, even emitting mocking laughter.
“Want to catch me, Grass on Wings? Not that easy, eat shit!”
Before the words finished, they landed in deep bushes. Amid rustling sounds, the guards rushed over rapidly, only seeing the two slither away like swimming snakes through the woods.
Xie Kun also saw this, veins bulging on his forehead. He took a deep breath, reason finally overcoming rage.
“Ignore these two dogs, chasing that beast is priority. Black Eagle! Release the black eagle to track! Hurry hurry!”
Xie Kun jumped and cursed, feeling utterly frustrated. He took out a whistle and blew a shrill note.
The next moment, a high-pitched eagle cry came from mid-air.
The Xie Family group ignored the fleeing and hiding villagers, following the traces crashed by the alligator dragon and chasing swiftly.
A short while later, Xie Kun and the others chased over ten li, standing by a long river. Seeing the tracks of a giant crawling on the ground and faint bloodstains, their faces turned ashen.
One day later.
Waves surged, water splashing the banks.
On the Jade Belt River, a cargo ship flying the ‘Town Sea’ flag sailed slowly toward Linjiang Prefecture under the sailors’ control.
After being reswept, the cabin interior, though not exquisite, was very clean and tidy, with sandalwood incense wafting.
Sizzle!
Qi energy surged between Hong Yuan’s fingers and claws, manifesting various forces: sometimes like thousands of flying needles shooting, sometimes like surging waves, sometimes like yin-yang complementing…
Many days had passed since the Zhongyu Sect group. During this time, Hong Yuan traveled Xingqing Prefecture, conveniently gathering Microscopic Level Force Techniques.
With his Net of Other Forces from Six Void Force, he didn’t need to force out the techniques; just clashing hands with people let him learn them swiftly, acquiring three Microscopic Level techniques in a short time.
The trip’s harvest was plentiful; the three new Microscopic Level techniques were secondary.
More importantly, cultivating the two True Skills Soul Chime Skill and Seed Jade Skill let him understand their nourishing and promoting effects on Root Bone.
At this stage, Hong Yuan’s Root Bone and Comprehension seemed stuck, advancing even a tiny bit quite difficult. But with True Skills as a channel, it suddenly opened his eyes.
One True Skill boosts little; collect more, infiltrate every organ and part of the body with force, and it will promote overall Root Bone elevation.
On the way back to Linjiang Prefecture, he happened upon a Town Sea Alliance merchant ship, so Hong Yuan lazily rode horse or walked on foot, directly boarding. This startled the ship’s steward.
As he pondered, suddenly a ‘boom’ shook, the cargo ship jolting violently.
Immediately, cries of alarm from sailors and guards came from outside.
“What’s going on?”
“Something underwater! Monster! A huge monster!”
Alarms rose everywhere. Hong Yuan frowned, flicked his sleeve to push open the door, and his figure shot out like green smoke, reaching the deck in a breath.
“What’s the situation?”
Hong Yuan asked, his voice not loud but like a clear breeze, instantly overpowering the ship’s clamor.
The cargo ship steward hurried forward to bow, face somewhat panicked: “Lord, this, this… under the ship, there’s, there’s…”
Seeing him stammer, Hong Yuan didn’t bother asking more. He stepped to the rail and saw beneath one side of the hull, the water boiling like hot soup, a massive vague shape rolling in the water.
Seemingly dazed from colliding with the hull, it stirred huge waves, spots of red blood diffusing.
“Hm?”
Hong Yuan’s gaze was keenly perceptive, piercing the murky waves to see at a glance it was a lizard-like, giant-crocodile-like creature covered in rock-gray scale armor.
“This is… an Exotic Beast?”
After browsing many classics, Hong Yuan was no longer a novice, quite knowledgeable. So-called Exotic Beasts were not demons or spirits.
Though possessing some special abilities, they couldn’t crush humans. Even ordinary people, using tools and traps well, could kill most one-on-one.
Of course, Exotic Beasts were rare and often lived in remote areas, so normal people rarely saw them.
But for Martial Artists, Exotic Beasts were treasures all over: their muscles and bones, skin and flesh, essence blood, scale armor, etc., often used in alchemy, even True Skill and Gang Body cultivation.
Gang Bodies demanded them most; nearly all, whether Inner Gang or Outer Gang, needed Exotic Beasts as auxiliary materials.
Hong Yuan had no need for True Skills or Gang Bodies yet, but since it came to the door, no reason not to take it.
Moreover…
“If I eat this thing, can it enrich Qi and Blood and promote Root Bone?”
Whoosh!
Hong Yuan’s figure lightly leaped up, instantly leaving the deck and gliding mid-air, form drifting like a goose feather.
The next moment!
His figure plunged straight down, one foot pointing like a sharp sword. Before his toe touched the river, huge waves surged, exposing the monster’s back.
The monster seemed to sense threat, recovering from daze and thrashing to escape.
Puff!
Hong Yuan’s toe lightly tapped the monster’s rock-gray back. Sharp qi energy pierced the scale armor, then shook fiercely.
Hong Yuan’s figure soared up, landing back on deck without glancing at the monster, and ordered the steward: “Fish it up!”
“Ah… yes!” The cargo ship steward dazed for a moment, then hurriedly obeyed, leading guards to the rail. Looking down, they were instantly stunned.
A massive monster floated to the surface with the waves, unknown if dead or alive.
The group hurriedly threw ropes and hooks. A sailor went down to bind its limbs and throat, then chaotically, shouting nonstop, dragged the monster up.
Hong Yuan’s gaze turned skyward. Unnoticed when, a black eagle flew from afar, circling overhead with shrill cries.
Soon, urgent hoofbeats approached from distance; a group of dozens charged over.
It was precisely people from the Jiangling Xie Family.
Xie Kun looked weary, his brocade robe torn and soiled everywhere, but he paid it no mind.
After the Cave Abyss Alligator Dragon escaped into the Jade Belt River, fortunately he had a black eagle tracking and Golden Bell Insect in hand.
This Golden Bell Insect was like an aphrodisiac to the Cave Abyss Alligator Dragon, even overriding its instinctual fear. Often when Xie Kun lost the trail, it would suddenly lure it out.
But after chasing a whole day, Xie Kun and the others were exhausted, man and horse.
Now looking intently, he saw his prey intercepted by a cargo ship. Without looking closely, Xie Kun bellowed: “Stop, that alligator dragon is the Jiangling Xie Family’s possession. Who dares rob it?”
Amid the shout, Xie Kun spurred his horse hard, racing to the riverbank. In just a few breaths, he neared.
“Jiangling Xie Family? One of the world’s Eight Great Clans. Hong has long heard of you, but are you sure this thing is yours?”
Xie Kun looked toward the speaker, seeing a black-clad youth standing against the wind on deck, smiling over. The man was handsome and extraordinary, aura refined, not like ordinary folk.
Xie Kun shook upon seeing him.
He recognized this face.
Precisely, he had seen a portrait. Then his gaze lifted to the fluttering flag reading ‘Town Sea’.
