Since Yang Li had no intention of stopping them, Yan Shouyi would not linger any longer.
He immediately retreated with Lin Zitong and Long Feicheng.
However, to be safe, he kept Sanyuan hovering above the campsite, constantly monitoring the situation at King Jian’s tomb.
...
The Ma siblings, cutting through thorns and brambles, finally arrived beside Boss Zhou.
Upon seeing them return, Boss Zhou, instead of feeling relieved, was furious:
“Where were you? If I had died out there, you would never have gotten into King Jian’s tomb!”
Ma Xingping said in a deep voice, “You told us to catch the interferers.”
Boss Zhou, knowing he was in the wrong, dropped the matter. He looked at the swarming snake-ghosts around them and said,
“All these snake-ghosts have come out, which means the last guardian snake-ghost is about to appear. Prepare yourselves and be ready to fight. As soon as we kill it, we will immediately enter King Jian’s tomb!”
As the saying goes, the timid starve, the bold feast. Although some of their subordinates had fled out of fear, at least half of them remained.
They were confronting the snake-ghosts, and upon seeing the Ma siblings return, their morale stabilized considerably.
Ma Jinxuan held two daggers in her hands, guarding against any snake-ghosts that might charge out. She did not want to cooperate with Boss Zhou, but Boss Zhou seemed to know a great deal about King Jian’s tomb. As someone who frequently went on expeditions, she knew that having a guide for an unfamiliar tomb could reduce many troubles and even save their lives.
Therefore, Ma Jinxuan did not object to her brother’s idea of protecting Boss Zhou.
The main targets of the snake-ghosts were not Boss Zhou and his group, but the solitary ghosts drifting on the ground.
The snake-ghosts coiled their bodies and shot out like arrows, biting into the solitary ghosts. A single snake-ghost could not do much, but a group of them easily overwhelmed the solitary ghosts.
At this moment, the ground began to tremble again. This tremor was not as violent as when Yan Shouyi had used Qimen Dunjia before, but it lasted for a long time.
Ma Jinxuan saw bulges in the ground and inwardly felt uneasy:
“Brother, be careful, the guardian snake-ghost is coming out!”
As soon as she spoke, with a loud boom, a giant guardian snake-ghost burrowed out from underground and immediately swallowed five or six solitary ghosts!
“How… how big is it?!” Everyone stared at the last guardian snake-ghost, stunned on the spot, a deep fear welling up from within.
This guardian snake-ghost was unlike the previous twelve.
Its length was nearly a hundred meters, and its body was thicker than a tree trunk. Its enormous snake head could easily swallow a rhinoceros when its mouth was open!
Not only was its size immense, but the guardian snake-ghost’s scales were also crimson. It had a pair of small horns on its head and four short limbs on its body—this guardian snake-ghost, with its profound cultivation, had reached the level of a flood dragon!!
Legend had it that snakes cultivated into flood dragons, and flood dragons cultivated into true dragons. The process from snake to flood dragon was marked by the growth of horns on the head and the development of four limbs.
Upon seeing this guardian snake-ghost, even the Ma siblings’ hearts pounded, and everyone else’s resolve faltered.
Facing such a colossal creature, unless they used artillery, they had no hope of victory!
After devouring those solitary ghosts, the guardian snake-ghost coiled its body, standing like a small mountain before the campsite.
It raised its proud head, looking down at these intruders who had disturbed its peace. Its pupils narrowed into thin slits, emitting a chilling gleam.
Boss Zhou couldn't help but shiver and hid behind Ma Xingping: “Do you… do you have confidence in dealing with it?”
Ma Xingping swallowed, but found that due to extreme nervousness, the saliva was stuck in his throat and he couldn’t swallow.
He gritted his teeth and said, “We must enter King Jian’s tomb; there is no turning back!”
This meant they were determined to fight the guardian snake-ghost to the death.
...
“Mōjiāo, Bānshān Dàorén… I wonder if any Xiè Lǐng Lìshì or Fāqiū Zhōnglángjiāng will appear on the way.”
On the way back, Lin Zitong muttered.
Yan Shouyi chuckled, “Have you realized that after leaving Rongcheng, the world has become bigger, and all sorts of extraordinary people have appeared?”
“I do feel that way,” Lin Zitong nodded. “Big cities are the battlegrounds for famous sects; it’s rare to see your kind of folk factions.”
“But the majority of people in this world are from the countryside,” Yan Shouyi sighed.
Long Feicheng, walking at the very back, was somewhat dejected: “Brother Yan, if Boss Zhou and his group really get into King Jian’s tomb, all the treasures inside will belong to them.”
“What time is it, and you’re still thinking about dead people’s things?” Yan Shouyi retorted, “You haven’t even spent the 500,000 you crowdfunded by beating me last time. Don’t be greedy and try to swallow an elephant.”
“I’m planning ahead, not wanting to live off savings!” Long Feicheng replied with a smile.
“Get lost.”
Yan Shouyi shot Long Feicheng a glare and turned to head back to Chen Family Village as soon as possible.
However, when he saw a figure at the end of the mountain path, he suddenly stopped.
At the end of the mountain path, the child riding a yellow ox appeared once more.
This time, the child did not avoid him but appeared directly in front of him.
Lin Zitong and Long Feicheng also stopped, as they too had seen the child.
The sparrow, transformed from a Jiangtou master, flapped its wings and flew towards the child riding the ox, shouting as it flew,
“Mountain God Ancestor, you asked me to drive Yan Shouyi away. Now that I’ve been caught, you must help me!”
Before the Jiangtou master could get close, the yellow ox beneath the child let out a cry, and the Jiangtou master instantly lost all strength, falling directly onto the muddy mountain path.
“What’s going on? Why can’t I move?!” The Jiangtou master realized it was the old yellow ox’s doing and quickly begged for mercy, “Mountain God Ancestor, spare my life!”
The old yellow ox did not even glance at the Jiangtou master, nor did the child riding the ox.
The child’s eyes were only on Yan Shouyi. He stared at Yan Shouyi as if looking at someone very familiar.
Long Feicheng whispered, “Brother Yan, you said you never made mistakes. Look, he looks a lot like you…”
Hearing Long Feicheng’s words, Yan Shouyi suddenly realized.
This child riding the ox actually looked very much like himself when he was younger!
Lin Zitong’s eyes widened too, looking disbelieving.
Yan Shouyi quickly explained, “I have absolutely no relation to him, he’s not my son… perhaps my father made a mistake? No, that’s not right. Judging by the timeline, when this child was born, my father should still have been in prison. It’s impossible for him to have come out and done something wrong…”
Hearing Yan Shouyi’s words, the child riding the ox could no longer hold back:
“Stop arguing… I am not from your Yan family!”
Although the child looked young, appearing to be only three or four years old, his voice was surprisingly deep.
It sounded like the voice of an old man over seventy.
[Author’s note]
By international convention, another chapter will be updated after midnight~~