Chapter 2506 - 2506: The Serpent Horde Emerges

The flames on the flat ground burned for a long time; in fact, the Long-toothed Rats' miserable squeals had already stopped within the first few minutes. These Long-toothed Rats were powerful, yes, but inside the flames they were still fragile, utterly unable to hold out for long.

As the flames gradually died down, they revealed the scorched ground beneath. All over the ground lay the charred corpses of Long-toothed Rats, each one burned into something like black charcoal, and just looking at them gave people a nauseating urge to vomit.

Whether it was the people of the Wanyan Family at the foot of the mountain, or Ye Qing's group up above, everyone fell into silence. The scene just now, the shrieks of the Long-toothed Rats just now, were still echoing in everyone's hearts. This situation was simply too shocking!

Two hundred thousand Long-toothed Rats, all burned to death within a few minutes. A scene like that—who could have imagined it happening to them?

After a long silence, Wanyan Second Master suddenly leapt up, pointed at Ye Qing on the mountain and roared furiously, "Ye, I don't believe it, how many mechanisms can you possibly have! Continue, Long-toothed Rat army, continue the attack!"

Wanyan Second Master bellowed as he let out sharp whistles from his mouth, directing the Long-toothed Rat Swarm to keep charging up the mountain toward Ye Qing and his people.

Ye Qing actually had no other mechanisms left. After all, they hadn't been here long, and besides, Ye Qing hadn't prepared that much gasoline. This gasoline was Ye Qing's final ultimate trump card. He'd originally wanted to scare Wanyan Second Master a bit, make him too afraid to send the Long-toothed Rat Swarm up again. But he hadn't expected Wanyan Second Master to launch such a massive offensive; that was something Ye Qing had never anticipated.

The Long-toothed Rats had no minds of their own. They'd been raised by the Wanyan Family for over three hundred years before being completely brought under the Wanyan Family's control; that alone showed what their intelligence was like. Even though so many Long-toothed Rats ahead had already died on the mountainside, the ones coming after still felt no fear at all, and continued to surge up the slope with ferocious momentum.

Ye Qing's people were starting to stir restlessly. They also knew what mechanisms they had on their side. After the gasoline, they had nothing else. With this Long-toothed Rat Swarm charging up, they had absolutely no way to stop it. If they were surrounded by the Long-toothed Rat Swarm, then the whole group would be doomed. Aside from those at Beyond The Pinnacle, no one else could possibly escape the Long-toothed Rat Swarm's onslaught.

"What do we do now?" Helian Tiehua stood beside Ye Qing and couldn't help asking in a low voice. Seeing so many Long-toothed Rats, he couldn't help feeling a chill in his heart as well.

Ye Qing frowned slightly, was silent for a moment, then said, "Into the Cave. Retreat!"

There was a path in the Cave behind them that led up to the summit; this was the escape route Ye Qing had prepared in advance. Since they couldn't scare Wanyan Second Master off, they could only choose to retreat and flee. If they stayed here any longer, once the Long-toothed Rat Swarm rushed up, they simply wouldn't be able to run.

Helian Tiehua didn't say anything else. He quietly made a hand signal to the people behind. Everyone already understood Helian Tiehua's intention, and those at the very back began quietly withdrawing into the Cave.

Those like Ye Qing standing at the very front naturally did not retreat right away. If they were to pull back directly at this moment, the Wanyan Family's people would immediately realize they were fleeing, and the Wanyan Family would rush up to stop them. In that situation, retreating would become difficult. So Ye Qing and the others could only hold here for now, and wait until the people behind had mostly withdrawn before following them into retreat.

The Dragon-breaking Knife still stood thrust into the ground; Ye Qing and the others acted as though they had forgotten its existence, not paying it the slightest attention. The Dragon-breaking Knife was another mechanism Ye Qing had left behind. As soon as someone from the Wanyan Family touched the Dragon-breaking Knife, it would drain all the strength from their body; it counted as a trap of sorts.

And in fact, ever since Ye Qing had revealed the Dragon-breaking Knife, Wanyan Second Master's gaze had been fixed on it, not leaving it for even an instant. This was exactly what Ye Qing wanted. The Dragon-breaking Knife was sitting right there—if you want it, come take it yourself!

Following the sequence Ye Qing had arranged beforehand, the people at the rear orderly withdrew into the Cave behind. As those in the back all went inside, Ye Qing and the others did not linger here either. Seeing that the Long-toothed Rat Swarm down below had already charged up to the flat ground, Ye Qing drew a deep breath, suddenly waved his hand, turned around, and led the remaining people at his side rushing toward the Cave.

Down the mountain, because Wanyan Second Master was wary that Ye Qing might still have other mechanisms, he only sent the Long-toothed Rat Swarm up while he remained below. Standing at the foot of the mountain, his line of sight was limited, so he simply couldn't see what was happening above. As a result, he had no idea that the people behind Ye Qing had already retreated into the Cave. Only when he saw Ye Qing and the others all running toward the Cave did Wanyan Second Master finally come back to his senses.

"They're scared! They're going to run!" Wanyan Second Master roared at once, "Stop them, quickly! They don't have any mechanisms left, don't be afraid of them!"

The people at Wanyan Second Master's side heard his shout and immediately charged up the mountain. However, by now Ye Qing and the others had already reached the Cave entrance. When Wanyan Second Master's men came chasing at this point, they were already somewhat too late!

Seeing the Cave entrance drawing ever closer, Ye Qing let out a small sigh of relief. But just as he reached the Cave mouth, one of the people who had gone in ahead of him suddenly backed out.

"What's wrong?" Ye Qing couldn't help being surprised. Why withdraw at a time like this? However, before that man could answer, many more people came running out of the Cave in quick succession. Those who had gone in just now were all rushing out like headless flies.

"What's wrong? What happened? Why are you all running out?" Ye Qing was greatly astonished. They'd finally managed to get here, and could finally say they were safe. Yet now everyone was pulling back out again—what was this supposed to mean? What had happened inside the Cave?

Not long after, everyone who had gone into the Cave a moment before had run out. Ye Qing grabbed one of them and pressed urgently, "What are you running for? What in the world happened in there?"

"Inside… there are snakes inside…" that man panted as he replied, clearly having run in quite a panic.

"Snakes?" Ye Qing was a bit taken aback. Hadn't Fat Jiao taken away all the snakes from Mount Wendao? How could there still be snakes left in the Cave? Could it be that this batch of snakes hadn't gotten the message?

But even if there were snakes, did they need to be this terrified? You're all Peak Masters—are you really scared of snakes?

"What's so scary about snakes!" Ye Qing said angrily. "A few snakes and you're already spooked? Aren't you afraid of the Long-toothed Rat Swarm from the Wanyan Family behind us?"

Everyone looked at one another, and a few of those who had been at the very front couldn't help saying, "Mr. Ye, if it really were only a few snakes, we definitely wouldn't be afraid. But… but this isn't as simple as a few snakes. There are a lot of snakes!"

"A lot of snakes? How many could there possibly be?" Ye Qing's face was full of disbelief. Fat Jiao had already taken the Ten Thousand Snakes of Mount Wendao away. How many could have stayed behind here?

Before anyone could answer, a scraping sound came from within the Cave. Ye Qing focused his gaze, and saw that a mass of snakes was surging out of the Cave like a tide. There were so many snakes that they were almost all tangled together. That sight of Ten Thousand Snakes heaving and writhing was enough to make anyone feel a chill run uncontrollably down their spine!

"This…" Ye Qing's eyes widened as well. This really was a lot of snakes. Ye Qing had been to Mount Wendao several times, but he hadn't seen scenes with this many snakes very often. In the past, he had only seen this kind of spectacle at the summit of Mount Wendao. And even the last time he'd come, when the snake swarm fought against the Long-toothed Rat Swarm, there hadn't been this many snakes.

The others were pale with fright too. Snakes were indeed terrifying, but since everyone here was a Peak Master, ordinary snakes weren't worth their notice. However, with this many snakes all together, they couldn't help but feel fear. It was just like the Long-toothed Rat Swarm: one or two ordinary Long-toothed Rats weren't scary, but when tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Long-toothed Rats rushed over together, that was deadly.

"W-where did all these snakes come from?" Helian Tiehua couldn't help asking either. Even he found this scene hard to accept.

"Is this the snake swarm of Mount Wendao?" Wolf Monk asked beside Ye Qing. He had heard Ye Qing mention some things about Mount Wendao, and knew there were many snakes on the mountain.

"I don't know either…" Ye Qing's face was full of astonishment; he simply didn't understand what was going on. He had already had Fat Jiao take all the snake swarm of Mount Wendao away. How could there still be so many snakes on the mountain? And with so many snakes surging down together, what was happening? Could it be that the Ten Thousand Snakes of Mount Wendao hadn't left at all? But then what exactly had Fat Jiao done? Why hadn't it taken the snake swarm of Mount Wendao away?

Just as Ye Qing was puzzled, cries of alarm rose all around again. Ye Qing, perplexed, turned to look at the people nearby, and saw that they were all staring in shock at the summit. Ye Qing couldn't help following their gazes. At the top of the mountain, at some point, a Giant Snake with an enormous body had appeared, and it was this Giant Snake that had seized everyone's attention!

The Giant Snake's body was colossal, roughly twenty to thirty meters long. One could say that among all the snake species Ye Qing had seen, this Giant Snake had the largest body. Such a massive form was practically terrifying. Standing atop the summit, it looked just like a Giant Dragon about to soar into the sky—utterly awe-inspiring!

What truly caught Ye Qing's eye, however, was not the Giant Snake itself, but the stout Flood Dragon standing on the Giant Snake's head. That's right, this stout Flood Dragon was Fat Jiao. It stood on the Giant Snake's head like a sovereign surveying its subjects, staring from afar at the snake swarm pouring out of the Cave. Not far behind it, a dozen or so Pythons lay prostrate on the ground, paying Fat Jiao solemn homage!