Chapter 856: Secrets Beneath the Python Pond

Python Pond wasn’t that big, but it was deep. The massive stone Xia Qing tossed into the water landed over sixty meters down, completely blocking the underground river below.

Around fifteen meters down the stone wall, there was a natural crevice—at its widest, it spanned over two meters. Both sides of the rock were rubbed so smooth not even a blade of waterweed clung to it. Clearly, that black mud eel-sized python used this passage often.

Looking inside, Xia Qing couldn’t see a thing.

She swam upstream, poking her head above the water, called out some quick instructions to the Northern Wolf Pack waiting by the pond, then, with the Evolved Wolf’s sharp-toothed growl ringing in her ears, took a deep breath and dove again.

At a depth of fifteen meters, Xia Qing gripped her black short blade and headed straight for the cave. She swam ahead for over ten meters, turned right, and followed a winding passageway, rising at an angle for another twenty meters until she surfaced inside a stone cave above the waterline.

She wasn’t the least bit surprised to find an air pocket in this cave. Pythons, being amphibians that breathe with lungs, can’t stay underwater forever. Their lairs have to be above the water.

Inside this pitch-black cave, the only sounds came from dripping water and the faint slithers of snakes moving nearby.

Xia Qing broke the surface to catch her breath and quickly snatched up a bright red Devastation Snake gliding across the water. With her diving flashlight held high, she scanned the space.

When she was sure there were no giant pythons lurking, she climbed out clutching the snake, stepped onto the damp, slick stone, pulled an animal hide sack from her waterproof pouch, stuffed the snake inside, and took a careful look at the stone cavern—which was a little smaller than the bear cave back on Hill Fifty.

The farthest corner from the water was a nest, woven from branches, leaves, and dirt—for snakes to sleep in.

Pythons hate the cold, which is why they always look for a warm spot to hibernate in winter.

Xia Qing wasn’t sure if this was where the python spent its winters. It was summer now, and she wasn’t a geologist. She couldn’t tell whether this cave stayed warm enough in the colder months.

But one thing was obvious—this was the python’s shedding spot. Scattered near the nest were several old snake skins of different sizes. The huge, almost intact skin belonged to the black mud eel python, likely shed just days ago.

So, one reason the python stayed here might be that it was shedding—waiting to finish before moving on. And if that was the case, there wasn’t likely to be anything else valuable lying around.

Shed snakeskin is a medicinal ingredient worth credits. Xia Qing pulled out a large packaging bag from her waterproof pouch and bundled up all the snake skins, setting them aside to look for more.

Since snakes slithered around this cave all the time, there wasn’t a single plant growing inside. If there was something to find, it was most likely hidden in the branch-and-leaf nest.

Xia Qing grabbed a stick and carefully poked through the nest’s branches and leaves. She didn’t find any white python eggs, which wasn’t surprising, but she did uncover half a black-and-white striped Yi Stone.

Back when the Crippled Wolf traded with her, one Yi Stone hadn’t been enough, so it brought her two more. Even then, Xia Qing had guessed there might be a stash of Yi Stones here, maybe even a Yi Stone mine.

And after confirming that the black mud eel python was a Brain Evolutionary, she felt even more certain it would have Yi Stones in its den.

She hadn’t brought a Lethal Element Detector, so Xia Qing couldn’t tell if this cracked Yi Stone was still releasing Evolution Element. But either way, it was valuable and absolutely needed to go with her.

With sparkling eyes, she tucked away the walnut-sized half Yi Stone. She kept poking through the nest, eventually finding eleven more Yi Stone fragments, and then…

Three whole, unbroken walnut-sized Yi Stones!

Holding the heavy bag full of Yi Stones, Xia Qing thought the odds of there being an actual Yi Stone mine on this mountain were high. No wonder the Wolf Pack, Bear Pack, and python had fought so fiercely over this place.

Rumor had it that Yi Stones were a freak product of Blue Star’s evolution—a gift from nature. Nobody really understood how they formed, and no one had ever seen a real Yi Stone mine.

Could there really be a huge stash of Yi Stones here?

As a level-nine Vision Evolutionary, Xia Qing shone her flashlight along the damp stone walls, searching for a trace.

Hmm?

She blinked and shifted the beam, sweeping the same wall she’d brushed over a moment before.

Stay calm, stay calm!

Taking a steadying breath, Xia Qing forced herself to focus, shining her light on the rocks at her feet as she inched closer to the front wall for a better look.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

If she hadn’t been a high-level Vision Evolutionary, if she wasn’t so used to spotting nearly invisible grasses with a flashlight, she never would’ve noticed it. But in that fleeting flash, she caught sight of something precious wedged in the stone.

Devastationweed!

Wait—

Wait—

Wait, what?!

There’s a saying—wherever there’s a venomous snake, the antidote can’t be far. So maybe it wasn’t so strange for Devastationweed to grow in the python’s pond alongside Devastation Snakes?

Wrong! Not normal at all!

Devastationweed only grows where there’s pure, unpolluted spring water! Which meant the water slowly dripping down this rock face was coming from a pure spring.

No wonder…

No wonder the Wolf Pack didn’t care much about their pure spring in Section Three. No wonder, back in May, when Yang Jin chased the Alpha to Hill Fifty-Two, the Crippled Wolf ran to the Wild Boar Breeding Center and killed a wild boar to warn Yang Jin to stay away.

No wonder the Wolf Pack, Bear Pack, and python all fought over this mountain!

Honestly, compared to Hill Fifty-Five, which had pure spring water, a Yi Stone mine, and Devastationweed, that tiny spring on Hill Forty-Nine was a joke.

Xia Qing reached up and caught another Devastation Snake slithering out, dropped it into her pouch, and started counting the Devastationweed plants.

One, two, three…

Nine, ten…

Fifteen, sixteen.

On this four-meter patch of stone, in cracks and shallow soil layered with pebbles, six clusters added up to sixteen Devastationweed plants!

At fifty thousand credits for a single leaf, this patch of Devastationweed was worth more than the three whole Yi Stones in her pocket.

So it turned out the Alpha and Crippled Wolf—who’d been pinching every credit lately—were actually loaded, sitting on mines, herbs, and a rare water source!

“Awoooo—oo!”

Caught up in the excitement, Xia Qing heard the Alpha’s anxious call echo from the fissure above. She tipped her head back and shouted, “I’m here, Queen! I’m fine! I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Awoo—”

“Owoo—”

“Awoo woo—”

Before Xia Qing finished, she heard a few howls from the wolf pups and a startled adult wolf—the Lame Wolf’s sister—cry out.

“Owoo—”

Then came the Alpha’s deep, commanding growl from above, thick with warning.

“Queen, I didn’t harm the pups. I’m just in the python’s den—I’ll be right out.” Xia Qing quickly stuffed all the Yi Stones and snake skins into her waterproof bag, slipped back through the waterway to the python pond, and surfaced.

With the Alpha’s stern gaze following her, she climbed ashore.