Chapter 43: Eagle Demon

“I have placed a dose of snake venom on you. If you try to harm me, two hours from now, this venom will take your life.”

Hiding in the shadows of the mountain stronghold, thinking of the python behind him, Xu Jiaren could not help but feel a wave of helplessness in his heart.

So this was the intelligence of a Profound Python?

No wonder the ancients used “as cunning as a demon” to describe a man. It could actually think of using venom to threaten him.

But speaking of which, how could such a massive creature like a python still resort to venom, such a crooked path!

Xu Jiaren felt the weakness in his right hand and knew very clearly that before long, this weakness would spread throughout his whole body with the flow of blood.

If Mo Lin did not detoxify him, he really had no idea what to do.

His “Knock at the Gate” was powerful, but it had no detoxifying effect.

Even if he escaped from Mo Lin, escaped from Black Wind Stronghold, his final fate would still be collapsing from the poison in some nameless mountain, becoming a cold corpse.

Xu Jiaren shook his head, pushing all the dispirited thoughts from his mind.

There would always be a road before the mountain. He was the man who was going to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the Great Qian Dynasty—there had to be a way for him to survive.

At the very least, after meeting Mo Lin, his chrysanthemum had been preserved.

Xu Jiaren lifted his purple-blue right hand and pointed ahead:

“That’s the place where I was hiding before, and also the treasure vault of the chief of Black Wind Stronghold.”

Mo Lin raised his eyes and saw a shrub about a square meter in size, blending perfectly with the surrounding scenery.

“This is the chief’s treasure vault?”

Xu Jiaren walked to the shrubs, reached inside, then gave a pull.

“Clack.”

With a sound, Mo Lin saw that an underground passage had revealed itself in the middle of the shrub.

“Hmph, so that’s how it is.”

If Mo Lin had been uncertain before whether Black Wind Stronghold would contain treasures, at this moment, he raised that possibility a little higher.

Even if the contents of the underground passage were not Earth Vein Yin Marrow, they would at least be some collection that the chief treasured beyond measure.

“Let me see what’s inside, then.”

Mo Lin lifted his serpent head at Xu Jiaren, signaling for him to go down first.

Xu Jiaren curled his lips. He had never thought Mo Lin would let him off so easily. Without making any other attempt, he moved to enter the underground passage.

As he walked, Xu Jiaren muttered:

“Speaking of which, for a python to dare sneak into Black Wind Stronghold to steal, even if it’s a Profound Python, that’s some real courage.”

Though Xu Jiaren’s voice was soft, Mo Lin, as a Profound Python, easily heard his muttering:

“Why can’t I come into Black Wind Stronghold? What’s wrong with a python?”

Xu Jiaren awkwardly rubbed his nose:

“You can hear me?”

Mo Lin frowned, scales tightening:

“Continue what you were saying just now—why can’t I, as a python, come into Black Wind Stronghold?”

For some reason, a shadow flashed through Mo Lin’s heart.

It suddenly recalled that ever since entering the stronghold, it had not once seen any trace of that bear.

That fellow…

Xu Jiaren looked up in surprise:

“Huh? You don’t know? I saw you sneaking into the chief’s house, keeping quiet, so I thought you knew already.”

“Wait a minute…”

Xu Jiaren’s expression grew strange:

“You really don’t know?”

Looking at Xu Jiaren standing at the underground passage entrance with that strange expression, Mo Lin’s sense of foreboding deepened sharply:

“What exactly are you trying to say? Tell me clearly!”

“In this stronghold, what on earth is there…”

At that moment, Mo Lin’s serpent head twitched, turning toward a certain part of the stronghold.

It heard, faint and distant, someone shouting:

“An intruder has entered the stronghold!!”

Only seconds later.

“Skreee!”

A piercing, clear cry resounded throughout the entire stronghold, drowning out all the sounds of drinking, shouting, and gaming, drilling into Mo Lin’s ears.

The cry was bright and long, containing both the disdain of taunting an enemy and the show of overwhelming inner power.

Mo Lin’s massive ten-meter-long python body shuddered as though struck by lightning.

Mo Lin knew this was not fear, but his body’s instinctive reaction to the cry of a natural enemy.

Xu Jiaren’s voice followed, floating in Mo Lin’s ears:

“When I was kidnapped here, I heard the people of this stronghold say that although the chief’s strength was average, he had heaven-defying luck. As a child, he raised a young eagle.”

“That eagle cultivated, grew stronger by the day, and eventually became an Eagle Demon.”

“Because the chief raised it since childhood, it was deeply bonded to him. Even when the chief rebelled and fled to the mountains, it never abandoned him.”

“It is the chief’s most trusted companion.”

“I was captured by that Eagle Demon. Even ‘Knock at the Gate’ couldn’t withstand its talons.”

“By my estimation, that Eagle Demon is at least a…”

“Profound Eagle!!”

Mo Lin finished Xu Jiaren’s sentence.

Other than a Profound Eagle, what eagle could make it feel as though facing a great enemy with just a cry? This was not something an ordinary Eagle Demon could achieve!

Mo Lin suddenly gnashed its fangs:

“That damned bear! How dare it deceive me! I knew it harbored ill intent!”

“But I never expected it to hide from me that Black Wind Stronghold had a Profound Eagle!”

As for why the stronghold was in chaos, why the Profound Eagle cried out,

Perhaps it was because the corpses Mo Lin had left behind were discovered, perhaps the chief noticed his ‘newcomer’ was gone, or perhaps that bear was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

No matter the reason, Mo Lin had no time to think about it anymore.

The eagle’s cry had yet to fade, the uproar of people had only just begun.

In the moonlight, an eagle soared into the sky, spreading wings vast enough to blot out the heavens.

Even separated by hundreds of meters, Mo Lin could clearly feel that the Profound Eagle had locked its sharp gaze firmly upon him!

It had spotted him!

The moment that eagle took flight, Xu Jiaren, who had still been pretending to head toward the underground passage, suddenly burst into action!

When Xu Jiaren realized Mo Lin had no idea that this stronghold held a Profound Eagle, he had already been rapidly calculating whether there was a chance to use this fact for his escape.

Even if the stronghold’s people had not discovered Mo Lin, Xu Jiaren would have found a way to draw the Profound Eagle’s attention, to make it fight Mo Lin, while he slipped away.

Now that the Profound Eagle was airborne and had clearly locked onto Mo Lin, Xu Jiaren immediately realized—this was his best chance to escape Mo Lin and flee Black Wind Stronghold!

Thus, Xu Jiaren acted without hesitation!

He did not rush toward the underground passage, nor did he strike at Mo Lin, but instead hurled “Knock at the Gate” viciously at Mo Lin, then immediately ran in the opposite direction.

“Shhhk!”

Mo Lin lashed out with his tail, swatting away “Knock at the Gate.” It instantly turned into smoke and vanished, only to reappear back in Xu Jiaren’s hand as he fled.

But at this moment, Mo Lin no longer had the time to care about Xu Jiaren’s escape.

Because in the very next instant after those eagle eyes locked on him, that Eagle Demon radiating Profound-level aura had already spread its heaven-covering wings and descended upon him!

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