Volume 5 Chapter 35 Re-encountering Meng Ke

  The next morning, I set out from the Wol Mountains with gold and silver and nineteen followers, heading in the direction of Sarsar, where we were to meet Mungke first.

  Because Silver Arrow led a team of Temple Guards to escort us in person, we didn't encounter any trouble on the way. Kingin wore his large cloak again, fearing that his appearance would shock and astonish people.

  I didn't tell my guards who he was, just that he would be one of us from now on. It's better to keep the identity of the wolf god Kin Gin a secret for now. All the guards admired me for being able to subdue Yunna without spilling blood, and everyone showed even more respect towards me.

  Ever since leaving the Wolf God Temple, this guy Jin Yin has been excited to no end, often running to my side and saying things like: "Today's sky is so blue... look, look, the clouds in the sky are so beautiful..." Nonsensical foolish talk.

  When the sun rose to the middle of the sky, we finally arrived at the mountain slope where Sarsfield and Monk parted ways. Gold and Silver instructed Silver Arrow for two sentences, then let him take people back.

  Yin Jian reminded me repeatedly before leaving, asking me to take good care of his Wolf God. I blew a clear whistle, and under the infusion of Dou Qi, the whistling sound traveled very far.

  Meng Ke doesn't know where he ran off to, I can only use this method to summon the Black Dragon. A long, drawn-out screech came from afar, it was the Black Dragon's voice, but its voice contained a hint of fear.

  My face changed in an instant, I glanced at Jinying and said: "Let's go quickly, Heilong and Mengke have encountered danger." After finishing speaking, I rushed out first. The guards followed closely behind.

  Jin and Yin followed closely behind me, Jin asked: "What is the Black Dragon? Do you have another dragon?" I replied quickly while rushing forward: "It's not a dragon, it's my mount, a horse."

  Yin Bu Xi said, "Obviously a beastman, yet learning from humans how to ride horses, humph." Ever since that day when I offended her, she had never given me a good face. Dealing with someone of her temperament, silence is the best policy.

  I let out another whistle, and the black dragon's roar grew much louder. I pinpointed the direction and sprinted towards it. Finally, I saw the familiar silhouette of the black dragon as it was fiercely battling several snake people nearby, while Malakai swung his two large axes not far from it, surrounded by dozens of high-ranking snake people with shiny scales who were constantly attacking him, with several incomplete snake people corpses scattered around.

  Isn't it to prevent him from conflicting with the snake people, how did they still fight? And attracted so many strong enemies, if I hadn't arrived in time, he and the black dragon would have been in danger.

  "Halt!" I shouted.

  Meng Ke saw me and suddenly came to life, shaking off his previous despair, wielding the two large axes with all his might, pushing back the snake people around him, and shouting loudly: "Young Master."

  Those snake-like people seemed to have not heard me speaking and instead intensified their attack.

  The black dragon suddenly let out a mournful cry, its buttocks scratched by the claw of a snake man. I was furious at the sight and roared: "Kill them all, leave none alive."

  "Yes." After being humiliated for so many days in the Wolf God Temple, my guards have been holding back their anger, just waiting for a chance to vent.

  Wolff brandished his long gun and charged towards Meng Ke's direction first. I turned my head to Jin Yin and said, "Don't make a move, we're here."

  A silver voice came from the cloak: "How can I not take action, it's so interesting, I haven't killed anyone in a long time, I'm going." She didn't wait for me to stop her again, and with a light swing, she flashed out around my body. I quickly urged them to keep their identities secret.

  The Wolf God's performance was not bad, Jin didn't make a move, the outer edge of his cloak was completely filled with silver fighting energy, and his body charged into the midst of the snake people like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, sending the four snakes surrounding Hei Long flying in all directions.

  He is different from me, if it were me, I would have killed him at the first encounter, but she is like a cat catching a mouse, wanting to play enough before killing the prey, just like when she dealt with me.

  This should be what they call a massacre, the four snake people were blown away by her powerful aura, unable to fight back. And this silver guy still claims to be a beauty, simply perverted.

  I flashed to the side of the black dragon and found that its buttocks had three long wounds about five inches long and half an inch deep, apparently it was caught earlier. The wound kept dripping with purple blood, and the black dragon's pupils were already somewhat dilated, constantly making low, mournful cries at me.

  "Black Dragon, hold on, you'll be fine." Since the toxin has already invaded internally, I couldn't cut off the rotten part like I did last time to help Wolf detoxify. All I could do was use my internal energy to seal its blood vessels and slow down the speed of the toxic liquid attacking his heart.

  The battle on the other side had turned into a massacre with the wolf-like Wulves joining in, and they wouldn't show any mercy in the fight. The bodies of the Snake People kept appearing, and by the time I finished sealing the Black Dragon's bloodline, their battle was already over. Wulve supported the panting Moke as he ran over.

  Meng Ke's face was somewhat pale, his warrior uniform had been soaked through with sweat, clearly having gone through a fierce battle for quite some time. "Young...young master, you've finally returned, if you hadn't come back, I wouldn't have seen you again."

  "I apologized to him hastily: 'Sorry, Meng Ke, we were delayed due to some matters, you go rest aside first.' I didn't have time to ask about his situation these days, Hei Long had already fallen to the ground and was almost done for."

  I shouted to the Gold and Silver: "Hurry up and finish it, help me take a look at my horse, it's almost done for." As soon as they heard my words, their bodies, which were originally surrounded by silver auras, suddenly changed into gold and silver auras. The four snake people around them were blown away in one direction, no need to look, I knew they would definitely not survive.

  Jin and Yin ran over, Jin said: "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

  Yin Maiwen said, "Others haven't had enough fun yet, what's the point of calling us over?" I didn't have time to care about her dissatisfaction, and rushed to Jin saying, "Do you have a way to remove the toxins from its body? Look, Heilong is almost done for."

  Jin brought the big head wrapped in a cloak to the black dragon's wound, sniffed it, and rushed towards me: "It was poisoned by the most toxic circular poison among snake poisons, but fortunately, it wasn't bitten by teeth. Otherwise, it wouldn't have lasted until now and would've died already."

  I'm glad to hear that there's still hope.

  Jin nodded and said, "Take good care of it, use your Dou Qi to protect its heart meridian." I hastily took out the green jade stone from my bosom and pressed it against the black dragon's chest, continuously forcing out the Crazy God Dou Qi, completely protecting the black dragon's entire thoracic cavity.

  Jin and Yin jumped up and down, then landed beside the bodies of the snake people they had just killed. It was unclear what they were doing there.

  After a while, Jin returned with something bloody in his hand. He brought back an emerald green bead about the size of an egg, covered in fresh blood.

  "What is this thing."

  "Ha! You don't understand, do you? Let me tell you, this is the gallbladder of that snake-man who caught your horse earlier. Only this thing can cure the poison on Black Dragon's body. The most terrifying thing about these high-level snake-men is that each person's venom is different, and only their gallbladders can be used to antidote it. The snake-man who caught Black Dragon might be the leader of this group. If we were bitten, I'm afraid neither of us could withstand it. Quick, give this to Black Dragon to eat, and I guarantee the poison will be cured!"

  As soon as I heard that it could cure the Black Dragon, I hastily snatched the Bitter Gall and threw it into the Black Dragon's big mouth, and then used my internal energy to make it swallow, continuously using my fighting energy to stimulate the medicinal effect.

  As expected, just like Jin Yin said, the black dragon's wound continuously flowed out a foul-smelling black **, fortunately my skills are quite deep, and I can hold my breath for a period of time without any issues.

  Others had already fled far away, and Jin Yin even took Wolf towards the group of corpses, only saying to me - clean up the battlefield.

  As the black dragon's buttocks slowly flowed out bright red blood, I let out a breath, gradually withdrew my fighting spirit, sealed its buttock's blood vessels, and helped it bandage with golden wound medicine. After wiping the sweat on my head, I sat down on the ground with a thud.

  The black dragon's pupils recondensed, and although it still looked very weak, I knew it was no longer in danger. I patted its big head: "Brother, you can't have anything happen to you. You're my closest comrade-in-arms, don't forget, we'll be together for life and death." The black dragon let out a soft hiss after hearing my words, as if comforting me.

  At this time, Jinying excitedly ran over, and my guards also followed him with excitement. Jinying held a big pile of bloody things in his hands, and he happily rushed to me: "Lei Xiang, hurry up, pick one, it's still fresh."

  I looked at them in doubt: "Jin Yin, you won't have taken out all the gallbladders from the snake people's bodies, will you?"

  Jin and Yin cautiously looked around, Jin said: "Speak softly, if the snake people hear this, we'll have to fight with all our might. This thing is a great tonic, it's a pity not to eat it."

  "I angrily said: 'Being the same beastmen, even if they were at odds with each other and killed them, why would you still destroy their corpses? How did you answer me when we left that place?'"

  Jin said with a sigh, "Anyway, they're already dead and rotten, what a pity." Yin said, "We brought it back with good intentions to share with you, but you have this attitude? Forget about eating, we'll eat it ourselves." As he spoke, he picked up a snake gallbladder and threw it into his mouth.

  I sighed and said, "Our goal is to unite the entire beastman tribe, which requires us to set an example for ourselves first. If we eat the bodies of other tribes, what's the difference between us and the beastman bandits? What will others think of our Beast God Sect if they find out? Is it worth affecting the entire undertaking for personal desires? If so, you might as well go back."

  Faced with these two formidable guys, I really can't force them with violence, and can only move them with emotions.

  "Sorry, it won't happen again. Otherwise, I'll just throw it away." I glared at him with a bad temper and looked around cautiously, saying in a low voice, "It won't happen again! Hurry up and share it with everyone to eat, then quickly leave this place."

  Jin was overjoyed, picked out the largest snake gall and threw it to me, then ate two himself, gave one to Xiang, and gave all the rest to my men.

  I picked up the crystal-like snake gall, just about to eat it down, when Jin suddenly transmitted a message to me: "Whatever you do, don't bite into it, swallow it whole." After saying that, he even lifted his hood slightly and made a mischievous face at me. Since he was facing me, the guards couldn't see his expression.

  I was taken aback at first, but I swallowed the snake gall as he said. A cool sensation flowed down my throat and when it reached my stomach, it turned into a warm current that gradually filled my entire body. My whole body felt comfortable and warm, and the energy I had expended to treat Hei Long's injury was instantly restored.

  "It's so bitter it's killing me, it's so hard to swallow it's killing me." Meng Ke's voice suddenly came over.

  I turned around and saw that all the guards were making sour faces, trying to vomit up what they had eaten. I hastily shouted: "Don't spit it out, it's good for your bodies."

  Jin and Yin looked at them with painful expressions, and burst out laughing. I quickly pulled him back, whispering: "Do you want to let them all know your identity? Keep it down. That snake gall, why did they have to suffer."

  Jin and Yin suppressed their smiles, with Yin saying: "I don't know, but no matter what kind of thing's gallbladder is extremely bitter. Especially snake gall, if you swallow the whole thing, nothing will happen to you. Look at them, they all have bile dripping from their mouths, how can they stand it? Haha, I'm dying from laughter, let me go laugh on the side for a bit, and then I'll come back."

  As he spoke, Jin and Yin picked up Hei Long and ran to the side of a hill, where their laughter still echoed. In fact, my worries were unnecessary, as Ma Ke and the others were all busy dealing with the bitter taste in their mouths, who had the mood to distinguish whether the laughter was from one or two people.

  After a long time, everyone finally got rid of the bitter taste in their mouths. I called out to Meng Ke and asked: "Didn't I tell you not to fight recklessly? How did you still end up fighting with the snake people?"

  "Master, it wasn't me who wanted to fight, but they provoked us. For several months, we had been living in peace, and I used the money on my body to buy food from the snake tribe. But a few days ago, a group of snakes suddenly appeared, wanting to take away the black dragon, saying they would give it to their Nine-Headed Saint as a snack. Of course, I didn't allow it. A few words led to a fight, and you know that when the snake people attack, it's a matter of life and death. To save my own skin, I had to kill a few of them and escape with the black dragon. I don't know how they found us, but this morning, these high-ranking snakes surrounded us and attacked. To avoid being touched by them, I kept swinging my axe without pause. If you hadn't arrived, I'm afraid old Meng would have become their snake food."

  He didn't do anything wrong, I patted his shoulder and said, "Are you okay?"

  Meng Ke said with a somewhat surprised tone: "No, no, just a bit tired, but I ate two snake gallbladders earlier, although they were very bitter, now it seems like I have some energy again."

  I smiled and said, "I taught Wolf some kung fu. When you have time, let him teach it to you. You lead everyone to clean up the battlefield thoroughly, don't leave any traces behind, got it?"

  Meng Ke heard that there was a Kung Fu school and got excited, jumped up, couldn't explain clearly, and ran towards Wolf.

  Looking at his energetic appearance, I couldn't help but shake my head. Turning over the hillside, I saw Jinying curiously touching and looking around Heilong's body, with a curious expression. Heilong was completely powerless to resist and could only let him be.

  "What are you doing?" I walked over and asked.

  Jin raised his head and said: "This horse of yours is quite sturdy, we'll take a look at it."

  I pulled him up and said, "Forget it, there's nothing worth eating on the black dragon." I squatted down to examine the black dragon's body, except for some weakness, everything was normal.

  Yin Dao: "We're just curious, why are you being so secretive? Where are we going next?"

  I stood up and said, "The Black Dragon is my friend, I just don't want you to harm it. What's next? I think we should first surround the Cloud Territory, clear out the bandits from the surrounding territories, and then gradually pass on farming knowledge and provide seeds to them through Cloud Territory. This way, a development trend centered around Cloud Territory will gradually take shape. What do you say?"

  Jin Zan Xu nodded and said, "This is a good idea, let's do it this way. However, I suggest we take care of the Snake People first. Their existence will definitely hinder our future development, after all, their venom is too threatening." I asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

  Jin thought for a moment and said, "There are only two ways to deal with them. One is to kill them all, and the other is to subdue them completely." I shook my head and said, "Kill them? Do you want to exterminate the entire Snake People tribe? That's definitely not possible. The Sasa League and the entire Beastman Nation have at least tens of millions of Snake People. How can we kill them all? If we mobilize the army, it will cause public outrage and put other tribes in danger. As for subduing them, it's even more impossible. With the strength of the Snake People, they won't listen to us obediently."

  Hehe smiled and said: "There is a way, but it depends on whether you have the guts."

  I grunted and said, "You don't need to urge me, just tell me your plan."

  Jin said in a low voice, "You used to deal with us like that, and now you're using the same method to deal with them. You should know that the nine-headed worm's status in Sasa is the same as ours in Yunnan."

  I exclaimed in surprise: "Isn't it said that the Nine-Headed Worm is raised by the Snake Clan's patriarch? How can its status be the same as yours?" Silver sneered with a smile, saying: "Where did you get this information from? Those are all just rumors to confuse outsiders. The Nine-Headed Worm's status in Sasa is even higher than ours in Yunna, and those snakes don't dare disobey it. As long as you subdue it, Sasa will naturally fall under your command."

  I watched them warily and said, "Do you have a grudge against the Nine-Headed Worm? Why are you urging me to deal with it?" Jin and Yin exchanged an awkward smile. Jin said, "We do have a bit of a grudge, but anyway, you'll have to take care of it sooner or later. Might as well get it over with now and help us take our revenge at the same time. With our combined strength, we can definitely handle it."

  "Does it also have a strong playful heart like you guys? Otherwise, what can I use to move it? If I just kill it, the Sariel won't be tamed and will instead have an opposite effect."

  Yin Dao: "It's also very curious about the outside world, but that guy is extremely lazy and loves to eat, so it stays in the snake tribe. However, it won't help the snake people develop at all, unlike us who are selfless. It's an ancient species just like us, to be honest with you, we've fought each other before and it's almost always a draw, occasionally we'll be at a disadvantage."

  When I heard Yin say that, I knew they couldn't beat the nine-headed snake. Otherwise, with their temper, they would have gotten rid of it long ago.

  I frowned and said: "What do you want me to feed it? Do you want me to let it eat me? I can't use fresh beastmen to feed it every day."

  Jin and Yin approached, Jin said: "If I'm not mistaken, you should have energy-rich minerals on your body. Those things are useless to us, but they have a great effect on the Nine-Headed Worm. It needs a large amount of energy every day, so it keeps eating. If we just give it one of those things, it's enough for it to absorb for a year. With this, how can it not surrender?"

  I leaned back and said, "So you're after the things on me. Is the Nine-Headed Snake really as easy to deal with as you said? How did you know I had precious minerals on me?" I always had a feeling of being deceived.

  Jīn Yín nodded in agreement, and Yín said: "Don't worry, we can handle it together. As long as we subdue it and then move it with benefit, that's... As for those minerals, they all have a certain amount of radiation energy. With our keen senses, we naturally know."

  I have to admit that their proposal is very attractive to me. If I can get the support of the entire province, my goal of recovering the beastman will be much easier to achieve.

  "I said in a low voice: 'Don't try to deceive me, or you will regret it. Without my leadership, with your current state, it's impossible for you to enter the Dragon God Empire.'"

  "Of course, of course, you are our breadwinner, how could we cheat you? Just thinking about the arrogant appearance of the nine-headed worm makes me furious. As long as you subdue it and let us have a good time, we'll be satisfied." I feel that although the Wolf God often does strange things, their nature is not bad.

  I nodded and said: "Then let's set off now, go to the Nine-headed Snake, you must be very familiar with the road?"

  Jin nodded and said: "We'll just lead the way. By the way, your subordinates can't go, too many people will only cause trouble."

  "I know this place, let them wait here, how long do you think it'll take for us to come back?"

  Jīn Yín thought for a moment, and Yín said: "If everything goes smoothly, it should be done in about two days."

  ……

  "Wolf, Monk, I'll leave this to you two. I'll be back soon. If more snake people come to disturb you, escape to the Cloud's territory and try not to conflict with them."

  Jin and Yin handed me a plaque, saying: "Give it to your subordinates, with this, no one will make things difficult for them." I looked down and saw that it was a brown iron token in the shape of a hexagon, with the words of the wolf tribe engraved on the back, and two wolf heads embedded on the front, which were very similar to Jin and Yin. The four eyes of the wolf head were made of gemstones.

  In this mineral-poor land of the Beastmen, this token can be considered a treasure. I casually tossed it to Wolf and said, "Take it. Don't take it out unless necessary."

  "Yes, young master. You really won't let us follow you?" I nodded and said: "You all just wait for me here, if I'm not okay, it's useless even if you go. Don't worry, after so many things have been experienced, nothing will happen to me. By the way, Meng Ke, release the carrier pigeon, report back to the family that Yunna's entire territory has been successfully recovered, and ask them to quickly send people over to help with the development and production of Yunna and the surrounding territories. But don't send anyone from the Twelve Beast Gods, I've already selected their beast god messengers for Yunna. At the same time, also ask how things are going on that end, and report back to me when I return. If this trip goes smoothly, we'll have to go back home first, after all, our expansion has been too rapid, I need to go back and discuss with the sect master how to arrange things from now on."

  Upon hearing that he could go home, Meng Ke's eyes didn't show the excitement I had expected: "Yes, young master, I'll take care of it right away."

  "How about it? Don't you want to go back?" Meng Ke shook his head and said, "Following you these days has made me realize what real life is. It's not just me, the brothers don't want to go back either."

  I smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, even if I go back, I won't be gone for too long. We still have a lot of tasks to complete, right? Alright, I'm off. Black Dragon, take good care of it, it's still a bit weak. In two days, it should be fine." I put on the lion-headed mask and sprinted towards the direction of Gold and Silver Saucer.

  As I hurried along, I asked Jin and Yin: "How is Jiu Tou Chong's kung fu?"

  "Still manageable, similar to us, but that guy's got a lot of weird tricks up his sleeve, it's quite troublesome."

  I secretly laughed to myself, Jin and Yin were really stubborn, they clearly couldn't beat the other side but still insisted on being arrogant. "He has nine heads, I'm sure he doesn't have nine brains like you two do," I said. "If each head had its own opinion, wouldn't that be chaotic?"

  Jin shook his head and said, "That won't work. That guy only has one brain, but his main head can control the other eight heads. His main head's thoughts are mobile, so it's usually impossible to find out which one is the real one, making it very hard to cause him fundamental harm. The five heads in the center are the most vicious, each capable of four types of magic attacks and poison attacks, while the outer four heads are all physical attackers. You'll understand once you see him."

  I couldn't help but secretly lament, nine heads that can attack, how to deal with? Gold and silver only had two heads and they made me desperate. "How can we defeat him?" I asked with a bit of trepidation.

  Yin Dao: "It's only possible if we completely overpower them, according to our estimates. If the two of us transform into our true forms, and you use that Fallen Angel transformation, it should be enough. If not, then you can transform into that red one."

  She talks so lightly, is the Blood Red Angel that easy to change? It seems my judgment was correct, after all, there's still a certain gap between Jin Yin and Jiu Tou Chong.

  "How's your injury?" I asked.

  Jin Dao: "I just ate a few snake gallbladders, and I'm almost fully recovered. As long as you go all out when the time comes, we should be able to take care of that guy without any issues."

  Having been used to the prosperity of Yunna, seeing the poverty of the surrounding areas really makes me feel uncomfortable. After half a day's journey, we arrived at a small village in Saji, where the land around us was not only uncultivated but also had no signs of reclamation, and the autumn wind blowing through it made it desolate.

  The snake people here are relatively low-level, and no one is surprised to see us arrive. As long as we can afford it and don't touch their interests, no one will bother us.

  I found a restaurant and Jin and I walked in. The restaurant was very quiet, with no customers at all. Jin shouted: "Is anyone there?"

  A young snake man walked out of a small door next to the counter, wearing dirty clothes with oil stains all over them, and a greyish-yellow towel slung over his shoulder. He looked tired and discontentedly muttered: "What's all the shouting about, like you're summoning souls or something." As soon as I saw him, I felt annoyed, and my whole body involuntarily exuded an icy aura.

  Jin stretched out his hand and patted me, saying, "Calm down, you're already a mid-level expert, why are you still so easily excited."

  I suppressed my anger and let out a cold hum. Possibly intimidated by my aura, the fellow sobered up considerably, looked at me and asked: "What do you want to eat?"

  "Bring us one of everything on the menu," Jin and Yin exclaimed. The snake-headed waiter's eyes lit up immediately, knowing that big customers had arrived, and he became extremely attentive, using a towel from his shoulder to wipe down the table for us, saying "Please sit down first, I'll get the dishes ready right away." After speaking, he turned around and ran towards the back.

  I stared at Jin Yin and said, "There won't be just him here, right?" Jin smiled awkwardly and said, "Yeah, it's just him. He's the boss, chef, and waiter all rolled into one. It saves a lot of expenses that way. We came to this place once before when we were on patrol, and it wasn't bad at all. Try some and you'll see."

  I waited with an attitude of trying to see what the so-called snake people's food was like. At this time, seven or eight beastmen came in, including three leopard men, two bear men and three fox men. Although their clothes were not luxurious, they were very clean and tidy. They found a table by themselves and sat down. Looking at them, they all seemed to have some kung fu skills, but they didn't seem like thieves either.