Meng Gang quietly took out a flying dart.
Huangfu Yuchen stopped him, “Don’t act recklessly. This area is already strange, be cautious of nearby snake nests.”
Meng Gang immediately understood. If he failed to kill this snake with the dart, it might attract other snakes, which would be very dangerous.
Yang Zhuo remained calm and whispered, “Go one by one. The person in front advances while the person behind becomes the guard.”
Yan Ge naturally went first, followed by Huangfu Yuchen and Yan Jin. Gao Feng and Gao Yun were their personal guards, and they closely followed behind.
After Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen passed, they continued forward without looking back. Their visit to the Demon Fortress was not only for treasure and military competition but also to enhance the combat experience of these special forces. They couldn’t protect these hundred special forces soldiers like nannies. They would only intervene if these soldiers were in real danger.
And these special forces soldiers didn’t disappoint. When the snake finally couldn’t hold back and pounced, Zhang Qiao’s reaction was extremely quick. At the critical moment, he skillfully swung his long knife. A cold light flashed and the snake was cut in half.
Yan Ge looked up and saw the dense branches almost completely covering the sky, with only thin rays of sunlight seeping through the gaps in the leaves. Various insects and mosquitoes were flying haphazardly in the sky, and occasionally, a bold spider would hang from the tree like a trapeze artist and soon weave a simple cobweb.
“Baby, is there something wrong?” Huangfu Yuchen followed his gaze.
Yan Ge said, “From the time we entered the desert until now, we’ve seen two abnormal species, but the animals we’ve seen, including the previous snake, appear normal.” By “abnormal,” he meant that no one else, except for him, recognized them.
Huangfu Yuchen understood his meaning and said, “Based on this, we should encounter monsters in the jungle too, but we haven’t. That itself is abnormal.”
He signaled Yang Zhuo, and Yang Zhuo immediately warned the people behind, “Everyone, be careful.”
The foreign soldiers in front also heard their conversation. They muttered to themselves, cursing that they could have said something comforting. However, they dared not voice their thoughts, fearing it would cause panic among the other soldiers.
At that moment, a cry of alarm suddenly came from the front. Someone shouted in terror, “Monster!”
Yan Ge glanced at Huangfu Yuchen innocently. He definitely wasn’t a crow mouth.
Huangfu Yuchen’s lips curved into a faint smile as he patted Yan Ge’s back. It was, of course, not his baby’s fault.
“Everyone, stop and stay alert!” Yang Zhuo commanded sternly.
Gao Feng rode up to Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen’s front, looking around warily.
“Ah—”
“Release the arrows!”
“Quick, dodge!”
Various shouts indicated that the people in front had indeed encountered a troublesome “enemy.”
Yan Ge released his spiritual sense and saw what the “monster” was. “Damn! What is that thing?”
Huangfu Yuchen saw that the creature was at least forty to fifty feet long, with a snake-like body as thick as a water tank, but it had eight crab-like pincers on its belly. He clicked his tongue.
“Swoosh—” The monster swept it’s tail, lifting four soldiers into the air and then heavily flinging them back down, instantly killing them.
“Shoot the arrows!” Wen Han said anxiously.
However, despite its thick body, the creature was agile. It suddenly retracted its eight pincers into its belly, turning into a regular snake. It swiftly twisted and maneuvered between the trees, easily evading the arrows shot from different directions. Then, with a few twists, it approached another group of soldiers and leaped upwards. Its eight pincers extended again, like eight massive scissors, grasping the necks of eight soldiers. With a few “snap” sounds, their necks were severed, and blood gushed out.
The monster opened it’s huge mouth and swallowed one of the decapitated bodies.
No one went to help the Liao Kingdom’s soldiers who were first to be attacked. First, they had to be vigilant against another creature like this one sneaking up on them. Secondly, the dense trees in the jungle would hinder large numbers of people from engaging in combat and might lead to unnecessary deaths.
The monster seemed to enjoy the taste and swallowed a second body. Its long tail swept over and knocked down two more people. Suddenly, it raised its upper body and emitted a sound resembling a cat’s whine.
Huangfu Yuchen’s expression changed, “Not good, it seems to be calling for its kind!”
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the rustling sound of creatures moving in the trees became louder and turned into a shuffling sound. Before long, seven or eight smaller monsters jumped out from the grass on the west side. Although they were smaller, their bodies were still longer than that of a horse when fully extended.
Yang Zhuo immediately shouted, “Everyone dismount and protect the boss and young master!”
“Take care of yourselves!” Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen exchanged glances, then they flew up to a tree with Yan Jin.
Yang Zhuo knew that the Emperor and Yan Guiqing had excellent martial arts skills, so he didn’t say anything more. He ordered everyone to form a battle formation.
One of the small monsters charged straight towards the Great Han troops. Its fierce and violent aura made it seem invincible, fearless of anything.
“Archers, release the arrows!” Yang Zhuo calmly commanded.
“Swish, swish—” Hundreds of arrows were shot simultaneously.
Among them, Zhou Zheng’s arrow that released from his powerful bow, was the fastest. The white strong bow was heavy and needed about an arm strength of 100 catties to draw the bowstring. One could imagine the force behind an arrow shot with such strength.
Zhou Zheng’s aim was extremely accurate. The arrow hit a small monster, causing it to thrash violently.
A hit!
However, before everyone could relax, the small monster seemed to be angered. It raised its head and let out a roar, not caring about the arrow still stuck in its body. It then lunged at them with lightning speed, and the special forces soldiers quickly avoided its attack.
Seeing its robust vitality, Yang Zhuo changed his strategy, “Spread out and surround it!”
The other small monsters are attacking the others, so they could concentrate on this one.
“Ah Fei, Jun Xiang, attack it from the front and distract it! The rest of you, ambush from behind!”
Ah Fei and Jun Xiang were agile in their lightness skills and could timely avoid the small monster’s attacks, thereby diverting its attention to prevent it from turning to attack others. However, the tail of the small monster was too flexible, and several special forces soldiers attacked it for a long time without touching its skin.
When the small monster twisted its body, ready to attack them, they leveraged the elasticity of the branches to leap up into the trees.
“Good!” Yang Zhuo saw two wounds on the small monster‘s body. “This method is effective. The people below, continue to distract the small monster! Gao Feng, Gao Yun, get ready to strike again!”
Gao Feng and Gao Yun held tree branches in their left hands and tightly gripped their swords in their right hands, their eyes fixed on the scene below, searching for the most opportune moment.
Due to their intense focus, Gao Feng didn’t notice a reddish-brown insect silently approaching his hand along the branch.
At the right moment, Yang Zhuo shouted, “Gao Feng, Gao Yun!” The two of them leaped down again. However, at the same time, the reddish-brown creature bit fiercely into Gao Feng’s hand.
Gao Feng’s hand immediately felt intense pain and almost lost sensation in an instant. He immediately guessed that he must have been poisoned. According to Yan Guiqing’s warning, he should take the antidote right away. However, timing was critical, so he endured the pain and, at the same time as Gao Yun, struck at the small monster.
The small monster received two sword strikes but was still undeterred. It fell to the ground and twitched a few times before dying completely.
“Look how arrogant you were.” Gao Yun kicked the small monster’s corpse and suddenly heard a falling sound nearby.
Yang Zhuo was alarmed, “Gao Feng!”
Gao Yun turned around and saw Gao Feng collapsed on the ground, motionless — the back of his left hand had turned purple-black.
“Big brother!” Gao Yun was shocked and quickly sealed his acupoints.
Yan Ge who was in the tree also found something wrong, and his figure flashed and landed in front of the two brothers. He saw the color of the wound, and quickly touched several different acupuncture points on Gao Feng’s left arm. “He was bitten by a poisonous insect! Hurry up and feed the detoxification pill! “
Gao Yun had been anxious and absent-minded, and only then did he remember that he had the antidote with him. He quickly took out the medicine bottle and fed a pill to Gao Feng, lifting his chin to help him swallow.
Four special forces soldiers ran over without the need for instructions and shielded them in the middle. The rest of the troops were still dealing with other snakes, so they didn’t attract attention for the time being. There was no need to be too nervous.
Huangfu Yuchen was just a step behind Yan Ge. He also cared about Gao Feng, a loyal subordinate.
Yan Ge carefully examined the color of Gao Feng’s hand and then raised his arm to smell it.
Huangfu Yuchen thought he was going to suck out the poison and was startled, instinctively grabbing his arm.
“What are you doing?!”
“Young Master, do you want to suck out the poison? I’ll do it!” Gao Yun said as he opened his mouth, ready to suck out the toxins for Gao Feng.
Yan Ge quickly stopped him. “Don’t mess around! I’m just checking the smell of the wound.”
Huangfu Yuchen then let go of his arm.
“Keep an eye on him and don’t move it.” Yan Ge said, flying to the location where Gao Feng was just now, recalling which branch he had grabbed at the time. He quickly spotted the culprit. After confirming his guess, he flew back to the ground.
“Young Master, is my brother okay?” Gao Yun asked nervously.
“Don’t worry,” Yan Ge said, “He took the antidote in a timely manner. I just need to find another herb.”
Gao Yun worried, “Can you find the herb you need in such a strange place?”
Yan Ge said confidently, “Even though this jungle is weird, it still follows the natural laws of mutual generation and restraint. So, there must be the herb I need here. Zirui, help me.” Huangfu Yuchen had learned some medical skills and could be of assistance.
Huangfu Yuchen appeared by his side in a flash.
“Look for a green plant with very smooth front leaves, as if it could reflect light. It doesn’t have any fuzz, and on the back, it has a crack-like blood-red meridian. Its fruit looks like wheat ears, but it’s only the size of sesame seeds. Also, it has a slightly bitter taste.”
They spread out their spiritual conspicuousness, and suddenly, it was as if they had countless pairs of eyes. Soon, Huangfu Yuchen found the herb, and it was a whole cluster.
He directly pulled the whole cluster out, sniffed it, and handed it to Yan Ge. “Is it this, baby?”
“Yes.” Yan Ge kissed him on the face. “You’re lucky.”
To dispel the team’s worries, the two returned immediately. Yan Ge washed the leaves with water, crushed them, and then put them into Gao Feng’s water flask.
He shook the flask but there was not much water left, so he poured some from his own flask into it, and directly used his true qi to boil it until the water in the flask was reduced to about a bowl’s worth. He then added a pill into it and handed it to Huangfu Yuchen. “Make it warm.”
Huangfu Yuchen’s palm touched the flask, and the scalding water immediately became warm.
Yan Ge handed the flask to Gao Yun. “Okay, feed it to him. After he drinks it, let him rest. He will be fine but weak for the next two days, so take good care of him.”
“Yes, thank you, Young Master!” Gao Yun was very grateful.
The other special forces soldiers also looked at Yan Ge with great admiration.
Yan Ge blinked at Huangfu Yuchen: Be careful, I might overthrow you with my skills.
Meng Gang quietly took out a flying dart.
Huangfu Yuchen stopped him, “Don’t act recklessly. This area is already strange, be cautious of nearby snake nests.”
Meng Gang immediately understood. If he failed to kill this snake with the dart, it might attract other snakes, which would be very dangerous.
Yang Zhuo remained calm and whispered, “Go one by one. The person in front advances while the person behind becomes the guard.”
Yan Ge naturally went first, followed by Huangfu Yuchen and Yan Jin. Gao Feng and Gao Yun were their personal guards, and they closely followed behind.
After Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen passed, they continued forward without looking back. Their visit to the Demon Fortress was not only for treasure and military competition but also to enhance the combat experience of these special forces. They couldn’t protect these hundred special forces soldiers like nannies. They would only intervene if these soldiers were in real danger.
And these special forces soldiers didn’t disappoint. When the snake finally couldn’t hold back and pounced, Zhang Qiao’s reaction was extremely quick. At the critical moment, he skillfully swung his long knife. A cold light flashed and the snake was cut in half.
Yan Ge looked up and saw the dense branches almost completely covering the sky, with only thin rays of sunlight seeping through the gaps in the leaves. Various insects and mosquitoes were flying haphazardly in the sky, and occasionally, a bold spider would hang from the tree like a trapeze artist and soon weave a simple cobweb.
“Baby, is there something wrong?” Huangfu Yuchen followed his gaze.
Yan Ge said, “From the time we entered the desert until now, we’ve seen two abnormal species, but the animals we’ve seen, including the previous snake, appear normal.” By “abnormal,” he meant that no one else, except for him, recognized them.
Huangfu Yuchen understood his meaning and said, “Based on this, we should encounter monsters in the jungle too, but we haven’t. That itself is abnormal.”
He signaled Yang Zhuo, and Yang Zhuo immediately warned the people behind, “Everyone, be careful.”
The foreign soldiers in front also heard their conversation. They muttered to themselves, cursing that they could have said something comforting. However, they dared not voice their thoughts, fearing it would cause panic among the other soldiers.
At that moment, a cry of alarm suddenly came from the front. Someone shouted in terror, “Monster!”
Yan Ge glanced at Huangfu Yuchen innocently. He definitely wasn’t a crow mouth.
Huangfu Yuchen’s lips curved into a faint smile as he patted Yan Ge’s back. It was, of course, not his baby’s fault.
“Everyone, stop and stay alert!” Yang Zhuo commanded sternly.
Gao Feng rode up to Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen’s front, looking around warily.
“Ah—”
“Release the arrows!”
“Quick, dodge!”
Various shouts indicated that the people in front had indeed encountered a troublesome “enemy.”
Yan Ge released his spiritual sense and saw what the “monster” was. “Damn! What is that thing?”
Huangfu Yuchen saw that the creature was at least forty to fifty feet long, with a snake-like body as thick as a water tank, but it had eight crab-like pincers on its belly. He clicked his tongue.
“Swoosh—” The monster swept it’s tail, lifting four soldiers into the air and then heavily flinging them back down, instantly killing them.
“Shoot the arrows!” Wen Han said anxiously.
However, despite its thick body, the creature was agile. It suddenly retracted its eight pincers into its belly, turning into a regular snake. It swiftly twisted and maneuvered between the trees, easily evading the arrows shot from different directions. Then, with a few twists, it approached another group of soldiers and leaped upwards. Its eight pincers extended again, like eight massive scissors, grasping the necks of eight soldiers. With a few “snap” sounds, their necks were severed, and blood gushed out.
The monster opened it’s huge mouth and swallowed one of the decapitated bodies.
No one went to help the Liao Kingdom’s soldiers who were first to be attacked. First, they had to be vigilant against another creature like this one sneaking up on them. Secondly, the dense trees in the jungle would hinder large numbers of people from engaging in combat and might lead to unnecessary deaths.
The monster seemed to enjoy the taste and swallowed a second body. Its long tail swept over and knocked down two more people. Suddenly, it raised its upper body and emitted a sound resembling a cat’s whine.
Huangfu Yuchen’s expression changed, “Not good, it seems to be calling for its kind!”
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the rustling sound of creatures moving in the trees became louder and turned into a shuffling sound. Before long, seven or eight smaller monsters jumped out from the grass on the west side. Although they were smaller, their bodies were still longer than that of a horse when fully extended.
Yang Zhuo immediately shouted, “Everyone dismount and protect the boss and young master!”
“Take care of yourselves!” Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen exchanged glances, then they flew up to a tree with Yan Jin.
Yang Zhuo knew that the Emperor and Yan Guiqing had excellent martial arts skills, so he didn’t say anything more. He ordered everyone to form a battle formation.
One of the small monsters charged straight towards the Great Han troops. Its fierce and violent aura made it seem invincible, fearless of anything.
“Archers, release the arrows!” Yang Zhuo calmly commanded.
“Swish, swish—” Hundreds of arrows were shot simultaneously.
Among them, Zhou Zheng’s arrow that released from his powerful bow, was the fastest. The white strong bow was heavy and needed about an arm strength of 100 catties to draw the bowstring. One could imagine the force behind an arrow shot with such strength.
Zhou Zheng’s aim was extremely accurate. The arrow hit a small monster, causing it to thrash violently.
A hit!
However, before everyone could relax, the small monster seemed to be angered. It raised its head and let out a roar, not caring about the arrow still stuck in its body. It then lunged at them with lightning speed, and the special forces soldiers quickly avoided its attack.
Seeing its robust vitality, Yang Zhuo changed his strategy, “Spread out and surround it!”
The other small monsters are attacking the others, so they could concentrate on this one.
“Ah Fei, Jun Xiang, attack it from the front and distract it! The rest of you, ambush from behind!”
Ah Fei and Jun Xiang were agile in their lightness skills and could timely avoid the small monster’s attacks, thereby diverting its attention to prevent it from turning to attack others. However, the tail of the small monster was too flexible, and several special forces soldiers attacked it for a long time without touching its skin.
When the small monster twisted its body, ready to attack them, they leveraged the elasticity of the branches to leap up into the trees.
“Good!” Yang Zhuo saw two wounds on the small monster‘s body. “This method is effective. The people below, continue to distract the small monster! Gao Feng, Gao Yun, get ready to strike again!”
Gao Feng and Gao Yun held tree branches in their left hands and tightly gripped their swords in their right hands, their eyes fixed on the scene below, searching for the most opportune moment.
Due to their intense focus, Gao Feng didn’t notice a reddish-brown insect silently approaching his hand along the branch.
At the right moment, Yang Zhuo shouted, “Gao Feng, Gao Yun!” The two of them leaped down again. However, at the same time, the reddish-brown creature bit fiercely into Gao Feng’s hand.
Gao Feng’s hand immediately felt intense pain and almost lost sensation in an instant. He immediately guessed that he must have been poisoned. According to Yan Guiqing’s warning, he should take the antidote right away. However, timing was critical, so he endured the pain and, at the same time as Gao Yun, struck at the small monster.
The small monster received two sword strikes but was still undeterred. It fell to the ground and twitched a few times before dying completely.
“Look how arrogant you were.” Gao Yun kicked the small monster’s corpse and suddenly heard a falling sound nearby.
Yang Zhuo was alarmed, “Gao Feng!”
Gao Yun turned around and saw Gao Feng collapsed on the ground, motionless — the back of his left hand had turned purple-black.
“Big brother!” Gao Yun was shocked and quickly sealed his acupoints.
Yan Ge who was in the tree also found something wrong, and his figure flashed and landed in front of the two brothers. He saw the color of the wound, and quickly touched several different acupuncture points on Gao Feng’s left arm. “He was bitten by a poisonous insect! Hurry up and feed the detoxification pill! “
Gao Yun had been anxious and absent-minded, and only then did he remember that he had the antidote with him. He quickly took out the medicine bottle and fed a pill to Gao Feng, lifting his chin to help him swallow.
Four special forces soldiers ran over without the need for instructions and shielded them in the middle. The rest of the troops were still dealing with other snakes, so they didn’t attract attention for the time being. There was no need to be too nervous.
Huangfu Yuchen was just a step behind Yan Ge. He also cared about Gao Feng, a loyal subordinate.
Yan Ge carefully examined the color of Gao Feng’s hand and then raised his arm to smell it.
Huangfu Yuchen thought he was going to suck out the poison and was startled, instinctively grabbing his arm.
“What are you doing?!”
“Young Master, do you want to suck out the poison? I’ll do it!” Gao Yun said as he opened his mouth, ready to suck out the toxins for Gao Feng.
Yan Ge quickly stopped him. “Don’t mess around! I’m just checking the smell of the wound.”
Huangfu Yuchen then let go of his arm.
“Keep an eye on him and don’t move it.” Yan Ge said, flying to the location where Gao Feng was just now, recalling which branch he had grabbed at the time. He quickly spotted the culprit. After confirming his guess, he flew back to the ground.
“Young Master, is my brother okay?” Gao Yun asked nervously.
“Don’t worry,” Yan Ge said, “He took the antidote in a timely manner. I just need to find another herb.”
Gao Yun worried, “Can you find the herb you need in such a strange place?”
Yan Ge said confidently, “Even though this jungle is weird, it still follows the natural laws of mutual generation and restraint. So, there must be the herb I need here. Zirui, help me.” Huangfu Yuchen had learned some medical skills and could be of assistance.
Huangfu Yuchen appeared by his side in a flash.
“Look for a green plant with very smooth front leaves, as if it could reflect light. It doesn’t have any fuzz, and on the back, it has a crack-like blood-red meridian. Its fruit looks like wheat ears, but it’s only the size of sesame seeds. Also, it has a slightly bitter taste.”
They spread out their spiritual conspicuousness, and suddenly, it was as if they had countless pairs of eyes. Soon, Huangfu Yuchen found the herb, and it was a whole cluster.
He directly pulled the whole cluster out, sniffed it, and handed it to Yan Ge. “Is it this, baby?”
“Yes.” Yan Ge kissed him on the face. “You’re lucky.”
To dispel the team’s worries, the two returned immediately. Yan Ge washed the leaves with water, crushed them, and then put them into Gao Feng’s water flask.
He shook the flask but there was not much water left, so he poured some from his own flask into it, and directly used his true qi to boil it until the water in the flask was reduced to about a bowl’s worth. He then added a pill into it and handed it to Huangfu Yuchen. “Make it warm.”
Huangfu Yuchen’s palm touched the flask, and the scalding water immediately became warm.
Yan Ge handed the flask to Gao Yun. “Okay, feed it to him. After he drinks it, let him rest. He will be fine but weak for the next two days, so take good care of him.”
“Yes, thank you, Young Master!” Gao Yun was very grateful.
The other special forces soldiers also looked at Yan Ge with great admiration.
Yan Ge blinked at Huangfu Yuchen: Be careful, I might overthrow you with my skills.
