Chapter 855: The Black Python’s Wrath

At seven in the morning the next day, Xia Qing left Section One of the North with Qi Fu, Zhao Ze and Yu Shou before Huo Zhun’s squad could assemble, driving them out through the Northern Gate. They headed toward the parking lot at the foot of the Third Peak, Hill Fifty.

After dropping off her three-person construction team to expand the valley, Xia Qing made her way around to the Yellow Weasel family’s den—not only settling up on the exchange for the medicinal herbs White Weasel had gathered last time, but also gifting them a dozen Green Lantern Eggs as an extra thank you.

Those three medicinal herbs White Weasel picked just in time helped Idol get a batch of new Red Eleven guards. A little thank-you was only fair.

After that, Xia Qing quick-marched all the way to Hill Fifty-Five.

Once she arrived, she didn’t start the work right away. First she dropped a climbing rope tied to a rock into Python Pond to measure how deep it was.

As soon as she checked, her suspicions from yesterday were confirmed.

“Damn it—the rockfall is over five meters deeper than yesterday! All those stones I tossed down for two days straight? Gone without a trace!”

Xia Qing quickly reeled in the rope and backed away from Python Pond, calling Crippled Wolf over. “Hey, Broken Back, is there still a giant python in here? That huge… black one?”

The serious look on Crippled Wolf’s face told Xia Qing she’d nailed it. She sighed, exasperated. “Didn’t the Bear Pack already return Hill Fifty-Five to you guys? So why won’t the giant python leave?”

Crippled Wolf’s grim face didn’t budge—a sign things were complicated. The giant python and Giant Bear might be allies but the python ignored the bear’s orders. It refused to abandon the territory it had already claimed.

So unless that hole is sealed tight, the Wolf Pack can forget about ever settling in peacefully. That’s why, as soon as the Bear Pack withdrew, Alpha and Crippled Wolf had practically thrown those two Yi Stones at her—begging Xia Qing to fill the pond.

Paid in advance, Xia Qing didn’t shrink from a challenge. She grabbed the iron shovel made for strength evolvers and pushed toward the massive rock she’d spent half a day chipping at yesterday. She was determined to get the job done.

Every damn time I throw a boulder in, that black eel in the water just moves it out of the way!

Alright, let’s see you try and shift this one!

After more than an hour of hammering and prying, Xia Qing finally rolled a nearly perfectly round boulder—five meters across and weighing close to three hundred tons—straight for Python Pond.

The boulder crashed into the water, sending a towering spray into the air, rain pouring down in sheets. Xia Qing dodged in time, not catching a drop.

Listening to the heavy thud as the boulder hit the bottom, Xia Qing felt a lot more satisfied.

The five wolf pups lying on the slope all stared wide-eyed, clearly just as shocked by the giant stone. Halfway up the mountain Crippled Wolf grinned, flashing his pointy fangs, and tilted his head back for a long, triumphant howl.

As Xia Qing got back to work, chipping away at rocks, she couldn’t help but smile too. All the while, she taunted that black python in her head:

“Come on, Black Eel! Go on and try to move a several-hundred-ton boulder. Crawl up here and fight me if you dare—I swear I’ll knock your head off!”

She didn’t expect, minutes later, for Crippled Wolf’s howl to suddenly shift into a warning.

With her hearing back to normal, Xia Qing instantly picked up the threat in his voice. Clutching her shovel, she ducked behind the big rock. The young wolves on the mountaintop scrambled into crevices, while several adult wolves quickly flanked Crippled Wolf on either side.

Seconds later, a massive black python burst from the water, rising high in the middle of the pond. It flicked its forked black tongue toward Crippled Wolf, letting out a furious, hissing roar.

This was Xia Qing’s first time hearing a python rage—it sounded pretty damned angry.

Pressed tight behind her rock, Xia Qing’s heart pounded in her chest.

Did she not block the underwater hole tightly enough with that boulder, letting the giant python slip back into Python Pond from the hidden river?

Or was there a cave in this pond, and the boulder she dropped just spooked the black eel hiding in it? Maybe it crawled out only to find its exit to the underground river blocked and, furious, surfaced to see what the Wolf Pack was up to.

The furious giant python roared. Crippled Wolf instantly threw back his head for another long howl—Xia Qing could tell he was calling for backup. Soon several evolved wolves she recognized came running, gathering around the pond’s edge.

Over thirty robust evolved wolves encircled Python Pond, and only then did the black giant python retract its tongue and, inch by inch, slip back beneath the water.

Xia Qing stayed crouched for more than ten minutes before she dared stand up and get back to breaking rocks. But before long, another warning howl from Crippled Wolf reached her.

Hiding behind the rock, Xia Qing watched in shock as that black giant python surfaced again—this time tangled with over twenty bright red Devastation Snakes. It was flanked by six mid-sized and dozens of smaller pythons, plus dozens of Devastation Snakes, all flowing quickly to the pond’s outlet.

No doubt about it—the pythons were moving house.

It all made sense now. Xia Qing’s boulder had blocked the underground river, so the giant python had no way out but to leave along the surface river.

Sensing trouble right away and escaping, even gathering Devastation Snakes for its own protection—it was clear this python was high on brains. Staring at the dozens-of-meters-long colossus, Xia Qing’s heart raced.

With the pythons guarded by Devastation Snakes, the Wolf Pack didn’t give up—they gave chase along the riverbank, hoping for a shot at the giant python. Eagles, who preyed on snakes, were startled by the commotion too and began to gather overhead. Xia Qing filmed the rare sight on her phone. Only when she saw the python take the river north did she finally relax.

After putting away her phone, Xia Qing rolled a few more two-meter-thick stones into the pond. When no pythons surfaced, she pitched her tent in a safe spot.

The wolf pups on the mountaintop saw Xia Qing crawl into the tent and stay there, so they dashed off to the other side of the hill to watch their dad lead the pack after the giant python.

By the time Xia Qing came back out, she’d already swapped her protective suit for a wetsuit.

She’d brought the wetsuit to collect underwater medicinal herbs and exchange them for credits. But now she had something else in mind: finding the python’s lair beneath the pond.

Instinct told her there had to be something valuable hidden where the python sheltered—otherwise, a brain-evolved python wouldn’t have stuck around after the Wolf Pack returned.

What was it? Only one way to find out. Xia Qing strapped her black short knife to her waist and dove straight into the pond.

She was wearing the AR smart diving goggles Yan Long had Huo Zhun get for her. When she submerged, the HUD displayed her depth, water temperature and time—with night vision too. She didn’t need any extra underwater lights either.

At ten meters deep, a four-meter-long juvenile crocodile shot out from a crevice at the edge of the pond, jaws wide open, lunging straight at her.

Seeing the little guy made Xia Qing a bit nostalgic. As it rushed her, she turned, grabbed its stubby front limb and used it for leverage, socking it so hard it passed out.

She surfaced twice for air, knocking out eight crocs of various sizes and hacking down two mid-sized pythons before several wolves gathered to watch. Finally, at fifteen meters underwater, Xia Qing found the giant python’s lair.