One noon,
"Big Brother, I just observed, there seems to be a town ahead!"
Xiao Xiao hopped and skipped towards Ye Feng, who was cooking.
"Okay~ After lunch, we'll go take a look, and perhaps change our meal's flavor..."
...
After lunch,
Ye Feng and the other two did not rest but continued forward.
"Big Brother, the town ahead... gives me a bad feeling..."
Still a considerable distance from the town, Xiao Xiao frowned slightly and spoke.
"Ye Feng, the town ahead... has fluctuations of demonic power..."
Qiao Ying chimed in, her expression grave.
"Indeed!"
Ye Feng nodded, and with a flash of light in his hand, two large white plastic buckets instantly appeared.
"Xiao Xiao, Qiao Ying, this is ultra-pure water. You can use it when encountering demons, especially when facing demonic rune arrays. You can wash away the demonic runes with ultra-pure water to disrupt the array!"
Earlier, at Brad's base, Yue Miao had used water to wash away the demonic runes that had trapped him. He had specifically asked Yue Miao later, who said it was ultra-pure water.
Saying this, Ye Feng handed the large white plastic buckets filled with ultra-pure water to the two.
"Okay!"
...
Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying moved quickly and soon arrived at the town Xiao Xiao had previously spotted.
"This town is called Dingxi Town...?"
Looking at the plaque above the town gate, Ye Feng mumbled.
"Such potent demonic aura..."
Qiao Ying scanned the surroundings and frowned slightly.
"Big Brother, inside... there's a large circular hole... and the ground is pressed with a circular track..."
Xiao Xiao, who had already gone inside to investigate, pointed in a direction and spoke.
"This... the winding track seems to have been caused by some large snake slithering..."
Ye Feng walked into the town gate and, after observing with Xiao Xiao and Qiao Ying, his brow furrowed tightly. "This town... is eerily quiet... no human sounds... nor the chirping of insects or birds..."
"Not only that, but the flowers and trees we've seen along the way are all strangely withered..."
Qiao Ying also spoke, her expression solemn.
"Big Brother, over there seems to be someone's... wooden carving?"
Xiao Xiao's voice was a little uncertain. She then strode forward, with Ye Feng and Qiao Ying closely following.
"Big Brother... this... this person's wooden carving... the entire person, including the terrified expression, is so... so lifelike... as if it were a real person..."
Xiao Xiao murmured, looking at the wooden carving of a person in a state of terrified struggle.
Qiao Ying's brow furrowed. She squatted down, reached out to touch the wooden carving, and her face then changed drastically. "Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, this is not a wooden carving... this... this is a person!"
"What?"
"What's going on?"
Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao looked at Qiao Ying with confused gazes.
"Ye Feng, this person on the ground has had their life force drained... that's why they've become like a skeletal wooden carving..."
"And this collapsed city wall..."
Saying this, Qiao Ying's hand flashed, instantly cutting through the city wall. Ye Feng and the other two finally saw the scene behind the wall.
"This..."
Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying's faces were filled with shock, for what lay before them was a vast expanse of dense "wooden carvings."
"So... so many people with their life force drained... and animals..."
"Could it be that everyone in the entire town had their life force drained here... Who did this?"
Xiao Xiao swallowed and looked shocked, with a hint of anger.
"Probably the Hell Python!"
Qiao Ying looked at the circular passage crushed behind them. "The demonic power we detected earlier should have been emitted by the Hell Python!"
"The Hell Python is said to be a creature from hell, loyal to Hades, one of the Twelve Supreme Gods..."
"The Hell Python emanates an incomparably dark and sinister aura, capable of draining the life force of all living things. Flowers and trees wither upon proximity, ordinary people are instantly consumed of their life force upon contact, becoming mummified corpses, and the arcane energy of cultivators is corroded and pierced..."
"The reason we couldn't hear any chirping of insects or birds throughout the town is probably because the Hell Python sucked away the life force of the people, animals, flowers, and trees here..."
Qiao Ying quickly explained to Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao.
"Earlier at Brad's base, the thorny cage called Bloodbone Talisman Prison that trapped you seemed to be made from the Hell Python's bones, right?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly and chimed in.
"Yes!"
Qiao Ying nodded, her expression serious.
"Big Brother... judging by the passage formed by the Hell Python's movement and crushing the ground, it went in that direction..."
Xiao Xiao leaped onto a collapsed building, observed with a telescope, and then spoke.
Ye Feng looked at the arcane pointer on his left wrist and found that the direction the Hell Python was traveling matched the direction indicated by the pointer. He immediately nodded, "Let's go!"
...
A few days later,
At dusk,
"Big Brother, what's the deal with this Hell Python?"
Xiao Xiao looked at the traces left by the Hell Python on the ground. "We've been tracking for so long, and several towns have been destroyed... not just people, but not even animals have survived..."
"The lakes where the Hell Python has passed are full of dead fish... and some animals that ate these dead fish, killed by demonic power, have gone mad..."
As she spoke, Xiao Xiao glanced at a rather large lake in the distance.
"This Hell Python... it's not just randomly wandering. It seems to be advancing towards a very specific target... it's been moving in a straight line all the way here..."
Ye Feng said, looking at Qiao Ying. "Qiao Ying, where do you think it's going?"
"Hell... or rather, the place where Hades, the King of the Underworld, resides?"
Qiao Ying frowned slightly and spoke.
"Never mind that, it's the same direction as the arcane pointer indicates... let's just follow it for now..."
Ye Feng checked the arcane pointer on his left wrist again and suggested.
"Okay, fine!"
...
Several more days passed,
"Big Brother, since yesterday, we've encountered quite a few explorers along the way, and they all look very fierce!"
"The Hell Python's tracks have also disappeared!"
Xiao Xiao leaped onto a tree for observation, then jumped down and spoke to Ye Feng.
"Oh ho! Kill them!"
"Blood... I want blood!"
"Kill them!"
"Uh, doctor..."
Before Ye Feng could answer, several explorers in strange attire, with bloodshot eyes, some riding motorcycles, others riding wolves, tigers, and leopards, charged towards Ye Feng and the other two, shouting and brandishing weapons.
...