A massive tongue pressed against my nose, and I was confronted with a pair of writhing, scaly eyes. I struggled to articulate this shock to anyone else; it felt as if my heart had stopped beating, and my body had stiffened like stone.

Experiencing the overwhelming power of this creature for the first time erased any lingering doubts I had. Yet, the enormous black python was so real—every scale, the scent in the air, the pervasive sound of friction—all were without flaw. I simply couldn’t fathom how this thing had suddenly appeared. If the lights had been on just moments ago, could it have just “popped” into existence?

“Old Yang” was still shouting something outside, but I was too preoccupied to pay him any mind. I could only feel the emotionless gaze of the reptile lingering on me. The crevice I was in was already small, and now, with this dragon-like python appearing, there was hardly any room left to even do a stretching exercise. At any moment, if that python decided to open its mouth and snap in my direction, I would be finished—there would be no escape.

I quickly calculated in my mind: the python’s sense of smell and sight were both highly sensitive, so it was unlikely it couldn’t see me. My only hope was that it wasn’t interested in something my size; pythons typically don’t prey on things that are too small. If I remained still and didn’t provoke it, it might just ignore me. But if that tactic failed, I would truly be out of options.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my body from trembling. The massive tongue brushed past my ear, leaving behind an incredibly foul saliva. Fortunately, it merely lifted its head to glance at me before turning to investigate the flashlight beam from “Old Yang” behind the rock.

“Old Yang,” hiding behind the boulder blocking the cave entrance, realized something was wrong when he saw the python not attacking me but instead turning towards him. The boulder blocking the entrance was only as big as the python’s head and couldn’t possibly stop it. I heard Old Yang curse, hurriedly retreating behind the rock and snapping off his flashlight with a click.

Suddenly, everything went dark. The python’s yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. I dared not make a sound, barely breathing, as I saw the python gently nudge the boulder a couple of times. When it received no response, it suddenly coiled its neck and assumed an attack posture.

Images of pythons hunting flashed through my mind, and I instantly knew what was about to happen. In an instant, the python’s coiled neck shot forward like a bullet, and I heard a muffled thud. The entire cave trembled as the boulder blocking the entrance was sent flying like a kite. I heard Old Yang let out a blood-curdling scream, followed by the relentless sound of rocks crashing into each other.

Even though I understood that the voice outside wasn’t truly Old Yang, that scream still sent a jolt of panic through me. The python had discovered the hollow space behind the rock, but its head was too large to squeeze through. Its body twisted and coiled, and I ducked and dodged, determined not to get caught in its grasp. If those scales clamped down on me, my bones would surely snap.

After several failed attempts, the python began to get agitated, swinging its head and crashing against the stone wall near the cave entrance. Its coiled body already looked terrifying, and now, as it moved like a dragon, it was even more spectacular. With a few powerful strikes, it cracked open an opening in the cave entrance, and with a strong twist, its head slipped out, its scales scraping against the stone wall, pushing the entire rock out of the crevice.

The giant python pushed all the stones blocking its way outward. I followed it out and saw “Old Yang” lying in a pile of rubble, almost completely buried under the stones, with a faint breath. Upon seeing me, he coughed a few times, seemingly wanting to say something, but as he opened his mouth, blood flowed from the corner of his lips.

I checked his injuries and tried to move some stones, but just one glance revealed that his lower body was crushed beyond recognition, making it impossible to look any further. I sighed and asked him, “Do you… do you have anything to say?”

He glanced at me, gritted his teeth, and pulled out the backpack he had gotten from Boss Wang from the crevice of the rock, tossing it to me.

I caught the bag, feeling a mix of emotions I couldn’t quite place. He coughed up a lot of blood, then stopped speaking and closed his eyes.

I paused, wanting to ask him what had happened that day, when suddenly there was a loud “boom,” and the entire cave shook violently. I could barely keep my seat, crashing against the rock wall, as a long series of cracking sounds echoed above me.

I was terrified, thinking that the giant snake outside had started crashing again, and hurriedly crawled towards the cave exit. At that moment, “Old Yang” suddenly called out hoarsely, “Old Wu!”

I was taken aback, not knowing what he wanted to say. Turning back, I saw him open his mouth, but suddenly the ground beneath him collapsed, and the stones above fell like a waterfall. In an instant, he seemed to sink into the rubble like he was trapped in quicksand.

A jolt of fear shot through me, a heart-wrenching feeling, but there was no time to process my emotions. I rolled to avoid the falling rocks and rushed out of the cave, just in time to be hit by a dark shadow crashing towards me. I quickly rolled aside, and the shadow collided with the mountainside, shaking the entire wall, sending stones flying and creating a crack that extended from where I stood.

Seeing such a violent collision, I couldn’t help but wonder if the snake was risking its life. Turning my head, I realized it wasn’t that simple; the black python that had just crawled out was now entangled with the slender-scaled giant snake that had emerged from the bronze tree, locked in a fierce struggle. The slender-scaled giant snake was considerably larger than the python, but in the fight, it seemed to hold no advantage. Both snakes were black, making it hard to distinguish one from the other, as two swirling black tornadoes wrapped around the bronze tree, their tails sweeping wildly and sending surrounding stalagmites and stalactites flying like cannonballs.

I had never seen such a breathtaking scene and was left in a daze. Suddenly, a tail swept right by my feet, turning the rock I was standing on into dust. In a panic, I reached out to grab something, but to my surprise, all the surrounding stones had already been loosened by the collisions. I lost my grip and fell into the abyss below.

In just a few minutes, I experienced life and death multiple times, and I couldn’t react in time. I yelled out, suddenly hearing a rumbling sound of water. Then, I felt a chill all over my body, and everything went silent. I found myself falling into the water.

What the hell? Where did this water come from?

I plunged into the water for six or seven meters before finally stopping. My entry position was impossible to adjust, and I heard a crack in my neck, unsure if it was broken. I couldn’t muster any strength, and my body sank deeper into the water.

Just when I felt hopeless, a figure swam over from behind, supporting me and bringing me upward.

When I turned back to look, it was the old master Liang, who had been hiding in the rock cave below. He must have been forced out by the rising water. Seeing someone fall, he came over to pull me up.

Breaking the water’s surface, I saw that the abyss we had just climbed out of had turned into a pool, with water flowing in from an unknown source, and the water level was rising rapidly.

I looked around, thinking to myself, did they find this place as a pool three years ago? Damn it, if that’s the case, how could we ever get back?

My swimming skills were better than Liang’s. After he pulled me up, he lost all his strength and began to sink. I pulled him to the side of the bronze tree, not wanting to hold a grudge over past matters, and asked, “What’s going on?”

Liang coughed a few times before saying, “It must have rained outside. This is a mountain flood; we often have them at this time of year. The floodwater flowed into the underground river we came through, which is definitely connected to the rock caves in the walls here. The flood from the high altitude came rushing down, raising the water level, and now it’s backflowing in! Once the flood passes, the water level will drop immediately.”

I cursed under my breath; this made things chaotic, and I had no idea how to get out. Looking up, I saw a massive black shadow still entangled above us. I thought to myself, good grief, it has come to this, and if it falls into the water, it would truly turn into a dragon’s den or tiger’s lair. Wouldn’t we be in serious trouble?

Before I could finish my thoughts, I heard a whoosh beside my ear. The giant black python had fallen, splashing into the water, causing the small pool to boil like hot water.

Following closely, a giant scaled snake descended from the bronze tree. Liang saw the snake’s enormous purple eyes and was so frightened that he sank deeper into the water. I pulled him up, and he trembled as he said, “My God! Where did this thing come from? This… this is the Zhi Jiu Yin!”

That name sounded familiar to me. I dragged him to hide behind the bronze tree and asked what was going on.

Liang bit his tongue and whispered, “Zhi Jiu Yin is a dragon, known in ancient times as Zhi Long. It’s actually a type of gigantic poisonous snake from ancient times. During the reign of Emperor Shun, this creature was used to refine oil for lighting candles. It went extinct thousands of years ago. How could there be one here?”

I had never known about these things before and felt puzzled. Since I didn’t know, it couldn’t be a figment of my imagination. Could it be true? Was there really a gigantic poisonous snake from ancient times inside this bronze ancient tree?

Liang Shiye continued, “This Candle Nine Yin has lived for who knows how many years. Have you noticed that from here, you can only see one of its eyes? The eye of Candle Nine Yin is horizontally elongated. The one you see now should be the main eye, while another eye is located above it, called the Yin Eye. Legend has it that for thousands of years, the Yin Eye of Candle Nine Yin is connected to hell. Just a glance from it can lead to possession by evil spirits, and over time, one can turn into a monster with a human head and a snake body.”

I recalled that old man’s snake-like expression, and a chill ran down my spine. I turned back to take a secret glance, and thankfully, Candle Nine Yin was completely focused elsewhere. I felt the underwater currents becoming extremely chaotic, knowing that the black giant python was still beneath the water. Candle Nine Yin was staring into the water, probably fearing a sudden attack from the giant python.

The water level kept rising, and we were getting closer to the body of Candle Nine Yin. Liang Shiye was extremely tense. I looked up and noticed that there should be an exit at the top of the cave. As long as the water level rose high enough, we could climb up and get out from there. However, I didn’t know how high the water level could rise. After all, we were very close to the mountain peak, and when we passed through the coffin formation, the coffins showed no signs of having been soaked by water, so the water level couldn’t be higher than that side. I had no idea how far it could go, so I could only hope to float a little higher.

I quietly shared my thoughts with Liang Shiye, but he was completely unable to take them in. At that moment, several white masks floated up from the water; they were the shells of the Chigu. I suddenly felt something was wrong. I picked one up and saw that the mouth part was empty; the Gu worms inside were gone.

“Damn it!” I cursed, suddenly realizing why that python had been submerged for so long without coming up. I turned on my flashlight and dove into the water. Countless worm-like creatures, some still wearing masks and others just their bodies, clung to the black giant python like crabs, creating a large white mass. The black giant python was belly-up, still rolling around, but it clearly couldn’t shake off these worms. Its body crashed against the rocks, and the masks of the Gu worms were scraped off, but the worm bodies remained firmly attached to the snake’s body, looking extremely bizarre.

Some Gu worms that couldn’t find a spot wandered around the python’s body, moving very swiftly. The situation turned dire when they all suddenly froze upon seeing the flashlight in my hand, then quickly sprang away from the python’s body. Before I could react, I was suddenly surrounded by all the worms, like a massive school of fish in the sea.

These creatures swam incredibly fast. Realizing the danger, I had no time to think. In a moment of desperation, I pressed my back against something and bit down hard on my palm. I didn’t even understand why I bit so hard, but blood gushed out immediately. I waved my hand in the water to spread the blood evenly.

The Gu worms were averse to my blood; they rushed towards me and then swam away, too afraid to get close. A swarm of white worms formed a wall in front of me, and I even vaguely felt that the undulating arrangement of these worms resembled a human face.

Liang Shiye was terrified and immediately started climbing the bronze tree without saying a word. I realized that staying in the water wasn’t a good idea either, so I poked my head out of the water. When I looked back, I saw that Zhu Jiu Yin had already spotted us. Its enormous snake head was directed towards us, and the purple eye had closed, replaced by a blood-red eye that had opened at some point, glaring at us with a vengeful gaze.