Chapter 8 - A Den of Snakes
The procession continued to move forward, and since there was a common topic of Weiqi inside the carriages, the group was engaged in very lively discussions. Gu Hai would occasionally tell them some Weiqi techniques and some methods of arrangement.
Moreover, Gu Hai also seized this opportunity to ask the others about detailed information on the Chen Kingdom. The other five also answered all the questions, therefore, Gu Hai was able to form a complete understanding of his current position.
The place where the Chen Kingdom was located was known as Nine Five Island. Apart from the aloof and remote Immortal Sects, there were also a lot of Mortal Countries. Moreover, there were seven Mortal Empires in the vicinity of the Great Chen Kingdom. Only Song Kingdom, Yan Kingdom, and the Wu Kingdom were very near to the Chen Kingdom. As for the circumstances relating to the remaining kingdoms, these five people weren't sure. After all, they were too far away. They were only a small caravan and would definitely not have a chance to intersect with those kingdoms.
Moreover, there were even rumors that the old King Chen was terminally ill. In name, the Chen Kingdom was ruled by Old King Chen, but the actual power was wielded by the Crown Prince Chen Taiji. Moreover, there were even rumors that the Chen Kingdom was on the verge of destruction. There were already other kingdoms that were thinking of landing an assault while the Old King Chen was terminally ill. However, in the end, it was very difficult to distinguish what was true and what was false.
Moreover, the most famous one in the Chen Kingdom was not the Crown Prince Chen Taiji, but rather the Chen Kingdom's most beautiful woman, Chen Xian'er who was rumored to be a beauty capable of captivating even the birds and the beasts. Her beauty that hides the moon and shames the flowers cannot be fully described in words. Chen Xian'er was adopted by King Chen into the royal household. Not only was her status higher than that of a princess, but in the Chen Kingdom she was a fairy-like existence, with not a speck of dust tainting her; she was forever beyond approach.
Apart from this, the five also began narrating to Gu Hai the various regional customs and also the things to pay attention to in the Chen Kingdom.
……
"Snake…..there are snakes!"
"Everyone be on alert, and careful. These snakes are probably poisonous."
Noises started being transmitted from outside the carriage all of a sudden. The convoy stopped instantaneously, and even the discussions halted all of a sudden. Thereafter, the three middle-aged captains jumped down from the carriage and went forward to investigate the situation.
Gu Hai who also became somewhat curious as he immediately went down the carriage and followed those three captains to the front of the convoy, where he saw a group of robust men making a horizontal line with swords and sabers in their hands, while watching out in caution.
Whereas, in front of these robust men, there was a den of densely packed snakes. Each snake was at least several meters long and their bodies were full of colorful patterns. At a glance, one would know there to be ample signs of danger, it was very much possible that they were acutely poisonous. Furthermore, these snakes were of a breed that Gu Hai hadn't seen before.
Gu Hai roughly estimated that this den of snakes should have more than a thousand snakes. The den of snakes was blocking the entire road, and the either side of the road was completely blocked by lush trees. Even if the convoy wished to detour around this group of snakes, it would be deemed impossible.
"Everyone be careful, these snakes are seven-colored snakes which are extremely poisonous. Just one bite from them would be 'the end'." There was a captain amongst them who recognized the snake's species who so immediately warned others.
"seven-colored snake!" Gu Hai carefully sized up this species of snakes possessing all kinds of colorful patterns was not just in name.
"Someone go and fetch the realgar powder from the carriage." From amongst the captains, one spoke in a heavy voice. Even though he didn't know why there were so many seven-colored snakes in this place, but he knew that they definitely couldn't come out of this fight without any losses.
The realgar powder would be able to repel these snakes. He, being a part of a hunting family which spent their entire year in the mountains, would naturally know this. Moreover, realgar was also a kind of medicinal ingredient, the caravan would naturally carry a bit. At this time, using realgar would naturally be the best alternative.
Soon after, someone brought the realgar powder from the carriage transporting the medicinal ingredients. There was not less than a hundred jin worth of it.
"Everyone step back while paying attention to the snake group." The captain took the big jar of realgar powder and spread it in front of the snake group and the convoy in a long line. Then he threw the big jar onto the snake group with great force. With a "Bang", the earthen jar shattered directly, and the realgar powder within it spread in all directions falling onto the group of snakes.
"Hiss, Hiss……." The den of snakes immediately fell into disorder. Realgar powder had always been said to be fatal to these snakes.
Countless seven-colored snakes dispersed in all directions. Meanwhile, as the captain had already spread the realgar in front of the convoy, the snakes didn't dare to cross the realgar to crawl towards the caravan.
"Haha, Captain is truly formidable!" Someone from the convoy let out a cheer, without any casualties, and using only some realgar powder, the captain had settled this crisis. This was truly something worthy of celebration.
However, Gu Hai's face didn't have any trace of happiness. Rather, he was frowning. The appearance of the den of snakes in one place was too strange of an affair. Snakes weren't the type of animals to live together. How was it possible for them to assemble together.
"Hiss……." The den of snakes had been thoroughly dispersed, but at this time, a terrifying thing happened. Just ahead on the road appeared an approximately ten meters long and a porcelain bowl thick Giant seven-colored snake. No need to guess that this was the Snake King!
The Seven-Colored Snake King was glaring with his red eyes at the humans of the convoy. The fury in its heart had already been evoked as it coiled its body, hurled its tongue in and out while making hissing noises. It took an attacking posture.
Everyone who saw this Seven-Colored Snake King was shocked, as if a bucket of cold water was poured onto them on a winter's day. Everyone's faces revealed a bitter smile. The Seven-Colored Snake King was not as simple as those small snakes. It is said that it already had wisdom, and could absorb the world's essence day in and day out to advance its cultivation. It absolutely didn't fear human warriors, moreover speaking of the level of the Snake King, the realgar was already next to nothing in effectiveness.
Furthermore, how could they not understand that they had interrupted this Snake King's mating? This matter was already bad, and snakes were the kind of animals who held grudges, particularly this kind of intelligent Snake King.
Three Captains took out their weapons and walked to the front of the convoy to directly face the Seven-Colored Snake King. Even though they all had some cultivation, but confronting this Seven-Colored Snake King, their hearts didn't have a trace of confidence.
"Fire!"
Just slightly behind in the convoy, a group of robust man took out their bow and arrows, and fired simultaneously. They all were experts in hunting, and archery was their livelihood skill. The arrows shot by them traveled extremely fast towards the Seven-Colored Snake King.
"Ding, Ding…….." Countless arrows fell onto the body of the Seven-Colored Snake King, but they didn't penetrate the Seven-Colored Snake King's body as one might imagine. In fact, the arrows couldn't even pierce through the scales of the Snake King, and the 'Ding Ding' sound was coming from the arrows hitting the scales while the friction was creating sparks.
Everyone who saw this scene felt their hearts sink. The arrowheads for these arrows were forged from fine iron, and even the fiercest wild animal in the mountains would find it hard to resist. One could only say that this Seven-Colored Snake King had already left the ranks of those wild animals. This also meant that their situation was even more precarious.
"Hiss Hiss……." The arrows couldn't pierce through the snake's scales, rather, it actually enraged the Seven-Colored Snake King. The Snake King moved and launched an attack against the three captains who stood at the front line.
The three captains did possess cultivation. The trio began working together whilst brandishing the weapons in their hands. Temporarily, they were able to resist the Snake King's attack, but the three captains were at a disadvantage and they definitely wouldn't be able to hold on for too long.
The three captains kept incessantly moving around the Seven-Colored Snake King, while the other people absolutely couldn't intervene. They would only add to the chaos if they came.
"Hiss Hiss….." The Seven-Colored Snake King suddenly opened its bloody mouth full of fangs and sprayed out venom. As the trio dodged immediately, the Seven-Colored Snake King hurled its tail. One amongst them failed to defend in time and was sent flying directly only to fall into the bushes; whether he was alive or dead remained unknown.
The other two promptly retreated. Three people were able to restrict the Seven-Colored Snake King, but now with only two people, the same would be impossible. Coming forward to fight once more would just be delivering themselves to death.
"Ding Ding……" The Snake King was just about to chase when a hail of arrows landed on its body. Even though it didn't result in any injury, it still obstructed the Snake King a bit. However, it only hindered it slightly, as the Snake King proceeded to launch its attack once again. Despair filled everyone's hearts.
Furthermore, even if they wanted to escape now, they wouldn't be able to do so because, at some unknown point in time, they had become surrounded by seven-colored snakes which were also ready to attack.