The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Chapter 2057 The Snow Python's Horror
When Helian Rongguang saw the white-robed youth smiling and nodding slightly at him, he immediately went over to greet him. Unexpectedly, the white-robed youth smiled slightly and turned to leave.

Helian Rongguang was immediately embarrassed!
The domineering aura displayed by the white-clad youth deeply shocked him!

If we can establish a connection with this young man in white, our trip to Qinghai Lake will be much more efficient!
Unfortunately, the young man in white didn't give him a chance at all!

The boy's figure had already disappeared into the distance, but the wealthy old man surnamed Zhang remained kneeling on the ground, not daring to move!

The brute coldly said, "Get up!"

Zhang Deyi glanced at the departing figure of the white-clad youth, seemingly certain that he wouldn't return, before slowly rising to his feet!

Ouyang Zhong said, "Arrange for someone to drive my carriage. We'll set off immediately, following behind the Vice Envoy. Don't lose him!"

Zhang Deyi quickly adjusted his emotions. Now that he was a Qi Nu, he had to adapt to the role of a Qi Nu as soon as possible. Whether he was the Qi Nu of the Deputy Envoy or the Qi Nu of the Imperial Guard of the Great Song Dynasty, a Qi Nu had to act like a Qi Nu, otherwise his life would be ended at any time!

He said solemnly, "The Vice Envoy clearly doesn't want the General to come along. If the General insists on coming, it might displease the Vice Envoy!"

Ouyang Zhong remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was very satisfied. This old fox may be cunning, but he was also capable of taking things on and letting them go, showing the qualities of a ruthless leader!
"It's alright. The Deputy Envoy just doesn't want me to disturb his peace; he won't stop us from following him from a distance! Outsiders could appear behind him at any time; he can't possibly chase everyone away, can he? We just need to keep a distance of thirty feet from him, listen to me!"

The two carriages followed the tracks of Feng Jiuxiao's caravan, avoiding any potholes or uneven ground. Although the carriages were bumpy, they managed to travel safely for several dozen feet, bypassing the muddy areas and returning to the main road. The horses' hooves were light and quick, and soon their figures disappeared into the wind and snow.

Helian Rongguang said, “The wheels are broken, so the carriage is basically scrapped. Abu, help the horse up and unharness it. Divide the things in the carriage among yourselves, and each of you should carry a little. I will ride the horse, and you will follow on foot. We'll have to make do for now. We'll hold out until we reach the next market town, and then I'll buy a few more horses, one for each of you.”

The attendants immediately replied, "Yes, sir!"

The snowfall wasn't heavy, but the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. Abu, Alei, and Aji carried their packs and braved the wind and snow without a trace of complaint.

To be able to follow General Helian on missions was an unparalleled honor! For a brave Western Xia warrior, dying on the battlefield was the highest honor of their life! Therefore, they were not afraid of death!

Helian Rongguang, riding on horseback, was deep in thought.

I think I just heard that the young man in white was the deputy commander of the Imperial City Guard of the Great Song Dynasty. That's a high-ranking official!
Why would he appear in Tibetan territory? Was he spying on military intelligence? Although Western Xia and Tibet had occasional conflicts, they generally coexisted peacefully. The two sides even jointly governed Jingzhou, forming an alliance state, making their relationship relatively closer than that of other dynasties!
The other dynasties referred to are naturally the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty! These two behemoths, one in the south and one in the north, had vast territories, large populations, and were far larger than the Western Xia! Therefore, the Western Xia king's national policy was to offend neither side and to submit to both, so the Western Xia was currently in a position of being on both sides.

However, the King of Western Xia also knew that this situation couldn't last long. The Liao and Song dynasties were outwardly courteous to him, precisely because he was a key figure capable of influencing the balance of power between the two!

Whichever side the Western Xia chooses, the other side will be in danger!

For the Song and Liao dynasties, the Western Xia was a dangerous beast! If it couldn't be completely tamed, it might turn on them! This threat wouldn't allow them to sleep soundly for a single day! Both Empress Dowager Xiao of Liao and Emperor Guangyi of Song were looking for an opportunity to destroy the Western Xia!
King Li Deming of Western Xia was well aware of this!
Therefore, he has been secretly expanding his army and preparing for war, ready to break off relations at any time!
This mission to aid the Northern Han was a calculated move to inflict heavy losses on the Song army! Li Deming knew that the threat posed by the Song Dynasty was far greater than that of the Khitan at this stage!

Facing challenges from neighboring small states, the Khitan were preoccupied with quelling internal strife and lacked the resources to spare for other matters. Moreover, if they were to take action against the Western Xia, they would have to be wary of the Song army raiding their territory from behind! In the short term, the Liao army dared not break ties with the Western Xia!

However, the Song army is different. At this time, they have destroyed the Southern Tang, Wuyue, and Western Shu, and their military strength is at its peak. They are currently attacking the Northern Han. Once the Northern Han is destroyed, the Song army will be in high spirits and will definitely not stop. Their next attack target will either be to take advantage of the victory and go north to attack the Liao Dynasty, or to take the opportunity to go west to attack the Western Xia Dynasty!
Given the Song army's military strategy of "attacking the south first and then the north, and the easy first and then the difficult," prioritizing the attack on Western Xia was an inevitable strategy!
Therefore, Li Deming risked great danger to send the Iron Falcon cavalry to aid the Northern Han in order to dampen the morale of the Song army!
Helian Rongguang thought to himself: Now that I know he is an important official of the Song Dynasty, does he also know my identity as a Western Xia person? Judging from his skills just now, his martial arts must be quite good, and he must have heard me! Is the reason why he doesn't want to get to know me better because of my identity as a Western Xia person?

In the wind and snow, several figures gradually became blurred!

Only a few corpses lay on the cold ground, proof that a battle had taken place here!

Suddenly, a hissing, scraping sound came from a pit, as if it were coming from underground. It grew clearer and louder, as if some enormous creature was about to emerge from the ground!
Bah!
The crater exploded, and amidst the billowing dust, a huge head emerged from the ground through the hole!
It was a giant python!
Its scales were actually white, like white porcelain, gleaming with a cold, eerie light!
The white python's vertical pupils were a ghastly green, emanating a strong aura of death that inspired fear in those who beheld it!
The white python quickly emerged completely, its body reaching a length of ten zhang!
Its body fit perfectly into the pit. If Chili saw this, she would definitely say—so these pits were actually made by a white python!
The white python's head moved close to the corpse, its blood-red tongue constantly flicking in and out, as if sensing the corpse's presence!

The jaws split open like a broken jade pendant, and there was not a trace of crimson on the inner wall of the mouth. Only hundreds of translucent fleshy spikes trembled and extended out, densely wrapping around the head of the corpse.

Crack—the skull shattered like a hailstorm of walnuts amidst the swirling ice spikes, the bone fragments and brain matter being sucked in by the fleshy spikes, producing a terrifying sound!

The snake's body began to surge and undulate, its white jade scales arching one after another, revealing a distinct human silhouette sliding beneath its skin—

When the corpse slid to its seven-inch mark, the python's throat suddenly swelled like a pale white lantern, and its body emitted a crackling sound like a smoldering earthenware jar. The ten-zhang-long snake body suddenly contracted, and the snow python continuously spewed out white vapor, which condensed into ice on the ground. Unbeknownst to anyone, silently, strange ice patterns actually formed on that patch of ice.

If someone had arrived in time, they would have discovered that the piece of ice was actually "ice shard," one of the most precious natural treasures!
Another blood-red, ice-crack-like pattern appeared on the snow python's back and neck—each time it swallowed a person, another blood-red crack appeared.

At this point, the blood streaks on the back and neck were already as dense as a spider web!

The snow python suddenly turned its head and stared at the north, its blood-red tongue flicking in and out, as if it had caught the scent of living people!
Its pale blue vertical pupils suddenly contracted, and it abruptly lowered its head, its entire body sliding several feet in an instant!

At this moment, Helian Rongguang's eyebrows, beard, and forehead were covered with ice crystals, and even his eyelashes were covered with white frost, making him look like a snowman.

"This damn weather! It started snowing just like that! And to make matters worse, it's windy too! It's not cold when it's snowing, but this wind is killing us, we're going to freeze to death!"

Although he was a military general and his martial arts skills were not low, he ultimately could not withstand the severe cold along the way!
He used to work night shifts in winter, but even when it was freezing, he would only stay outside for a short while before going back inside to warm up by the fire. Then he would go out again for a while before coming back, so he wouldn't freeze to the bone! But not now. He had been walking all the way with the cold wind blowing on him the whole time. The cold wind from the northwest felt like it was scraping his skin with a blade, burning painfully!
"General, it's so cold in this wind, my feet are almost numb with cold. Let's rest for a bit before we go on!"

"Why are you calling me General again? Call me 'Sir' in front of outsiders, but 'Big Brother' when we're alone! We're all brothers, why are you being so formal?"

"yes, Sir!"

"Don't stop! It's freezing cold. If you stop, your blood circulation will slow down, your body temperature will drop even faster, and you'll be more susceptible to frostbite. Now, keep going, stay strong, and let's go!"

"Big...Big Brother! I'm having trouble breathing!"

Helian Rongguang knew that the air was thin in this high-altitude area, and outsiders would experience symptoms such as chest tightness, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing when they first arrived. However, if these brothers were allowed to rest on the spot, they would most likely freeze to death!
The cold wind was like a knife. Looking around at the flat, open wilderness, there was nowhere to hide. It was difficult to go in, and it was difficult not to go in! What should I do?
The four of them, master and servants, braved the cold wind and moved forward. Abu, Alei, and Aji staggered along, unable to lift their heads! The snow was getting heavier and heavier, so heavy that it was impossible to open their eyes!
Abu, his face contorted in pain, asked, "Ah Lei! How much longer do you think we have to walk?"

A Lei also looked pained. He could barely breathe and was about to suffocate. Although Abu was his good brother and he should reply to him, he was too tired to respond because he could barely breathe.
Seeing that A-Lei remained silent for a long time, Abu knew that his good brother was definitely speechless. He thought to himself: This kid always likes to compete with me, but he can't do it this time, can he? Hahahaha...

He suddenly felt a chill coming from behind him, ten times colder than the weather. Instantly, his blood froze, he lost consciousness, and he was frozen solid!
Suddenly, Helian Rongguang, who was at the very front, had a glint in his eyes and instinctively turned around. He was shocked to find a huge, snow-white, porcelain-like python swallowing Abu whole!
He immediately shouted, "Ah Lei, Ah Ji, run!"

Aji and Alei immediately turned around alertly, and were instantly terrified!
The giant python was actually devouring its own brethren right next to it!
The two of them immediately took off running!

"Throw away your burdens!" Helian Rongguang shouted!
The two brothers immediately dropped their bags and ran as fast as they could!

After swallowing Abu, the snow python suddenly roared to the sky—

It's been a long time since I've eaten any live food since the weather got colder. Today, I was able to eat a fresh, living creature. It was truly delicious!
Two figures galloped wildly in his vertical pupils, and further away, a horse was also galloping wildly in fright. So much delicious food... without a doubt, he would eat these two slow-moving figures first! The snow python suddenly accelerated and swam behind A Lei in an instant!

Are was horrified!

Seeing Aji running wildly to the right, he simply pushed off with both feet and ran wildly to the left!
When the two battle-hardened veterans faced a life-or-death situation, their fighting instincts were instantly triggered, and they split into two groups in an attempt to reduce casualties!
A Lei drew his knife and ran while looking back. He saw a huge, porcelain-white snake head right in front of him, its pale blue vertical pupils staring at him. Its crimson tongue flickered in and out, and its huge fangs gleamed with terrifying killing intent. He was so frightened that his soul almost left his body!

Suddenly, the snow python opened its huge mouth, and a cloud of white vapor shot out!

A Lei was instantly engulfed by white mist!
The body gradually froze at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The snow python suddenly raised half of its body, forming a crescent shape, and then opened its huge mouth, swallowing A Lei from top to bottom!

Aji ran for his life, and when he saw the snow python swallow Alei whole, he was so frightened that his back tightened. He instantly forgot about the cold, but the chest tightness and shortness of breath caused by the thin air became more and more serious. After running for several dozen more feet, he finally couldn't hold on and stumbled and fell to the ground!
He wasn't afraid of death, but when he learned that he wouldn't have the chance to die at the hands of enemy soldiers, but would only be eaten by a giant worm, the bitterness of dying meaninglessly and worthlessly was unbearable for him!
This unexpected and violent death completely threw him into a panic!

He is scared!

He feared dying in this desolate wilderness, in the belly of a python, becoming a lonely ghost with no burial place!
He was desperate!

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