Chapter 149 — Deadly Poison
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 4 of 9
Ordinarily, apart from these serpents guarding the valley, the Ten Thousand Venoms Sect always had disciples on patrol against outside enemies. But in recent days, for some unknown reason, none of these watchful disciples had come out at all. It seemed the factional strife within the sect had reached a fever pitch.
"Pat." With a soft sound, a small pebble rolled across, bounced twice on the only road outside Venomous Snake Valley—a road already broken and overgrown with weeds—then rolled into the grass beside it and vanished.
Then, with light footfalls, three tall and strange beasts appeared on the road. All had the heads of savage wolves, yet their bodies were those of the tigers and leopards one commonly saw; they looked utterly bizarre.
The three monsters seemed wary, their noses twitching constantly as they sniffed at the air, slowly approaching Venomous Snake Valley. All was quiet within the valley, as though it were entirely unguarded against the arrival of these three uninvited guests.
Suddenly the wolf head of the middle beast gave a start, as if it had discovered something, and it let out a low growl. The other two immediately halted and looked at the strongest, tallest monster standing in the center.
Fierce light flickered in the wolf-headed monster's eyes; its nose kept sniffing, yet it did not head into Venomous Snake Valley. Instead it slowly made its way toward a dense clump of grass beside the old road just outside the valley, from which a faint smell of blood was drifting out.
The monster gave a low roar and stepped into the grass. From outside, its body could be seen moving ceaselessly, as though it were rummaging for something within.
After a moment the grass shook again, and the sturdy monster leaped out and back onto the old road, something strange clamped in its jaws.
It looked like a long whip, or perhaps the tail of some monster. The fur on it had begun to rot, its color dim and lusterless, and it gave off a constant trace of blood-stink.
The other two monsters roared in unison, plainly startled and furious, savage light flickering in their eyes.
The monster that had retrieved the tail set the thing down on the old road, then suddenly raised its head and gave a long howl—a sound like a wolf's cry, shrill and piercing, rising straight to the clouds.
A moment later the monster picked up the tail again and, ignoring the other two, flew off on all four legs, racing swiftly back the way it had come, away from Venomous Snake Valley.
The other two, after a few roars, suddenly gathered their strength and charged into Venomous Snake Valley. Once inside, they found the old road even more winding and narrow, snaking forward between hillsides thick with thorns and brambles, through which drifted a faint, barely perceptible mist tinged with color.
The monsters rushed straight on, and to judge by their gnashing teeth, should anyone appear before them at that moment, they would likely be torn to pieces on the spot.
The colored mist drifted gently, slowly gathering in the forest. The two monsters roared without cease and charged straight in without a glance. At first nothing seemed amiss, but for some reason their roars gradually weakened and their pace slowed, and after a moment their whole bodies began to tremble.
As if sensing something wrong, the two monsters halted and with difficulty turned their heads, trying to leave the woods. But before they had gone more than a few steps they collapsed, and in an instant blood streamed from every orifice of their faces. They were plainly done for.
Throughout the forest, near and far, a horrifying "hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss" rose at once as countless snakes came surging toward the spot. Within moments, numberless snake heads appeared among the grass and treetops, hissing, as venomous snakes great and small all came crawling over.