Chapter 686
Chapter 686
Shen Lang stared blankly at the night sky. The expedition of thousands of miles had all been for naught. Ning Qun hadn't used a scheme; he had used the hearts of the people to defeat Shen Lang. It was clear that if Shen Lang's army approached the Great Southern Capital, the Grandmaster of Yin would no longer meet with him or even deign to speak. He would simply burn the palace down, incinerating everyone inside.
‘Now that I can't take them hostage, what should I do? Just go back like this? Return completely empty-handed?’
Time was running out. The effects of the Golden Dragon's Blood consumed by the eight thousand guards remaining in Yangguo City were about to wear off. Su Nan would then easily defeat them. Once Yangguo City fell, there would be no more obstacles in his way, and Su Nan's grand army would march straight to the capital of Yue. If the State of Yue fell, Ning Yuanxian would surely take his own life. Shen Lang could not simply turn back.
The confrontation with Ning Qun wasn't just a battle of military might, but also a contest of wisdom and popular sentiment. To retreat now would be a complete defeat. Honestly, Shen Lang had never fought so passively in his life. In his previous clashes with Zhang Chong and Su Nan, Shen Lang had held the upper hand from start to finish. But now, against Ning Qun, he was at a disadvantage. Mulan had been defeated, and for the time being, Shen Lang himself was half-defeated.
‘Ning Qun is incredible. Truly, he is incredible.’
The Sword King, Li Qianqiu, spoke.
"They say Ning Qun wasn't always like this. What could have changed him so drastically? Now, even those who become his enemies don't resent him; instead, they are filled with admiration."
‘Yes. It's damn admirable.’
"Perhaps it's a good thing for a monarch like him to be among the Sa'man tribes. He can bring the light of the Eastern world's civilization to these desolate lands."
To Li Qianqiu's words, Shen Lang replied.
"I know. That's why I never thought of destroying the Great Southern Kingdom. I only wanted them to withdraw their troops and stop their attack on Yue. But he wants me to retreat as well."
"You two would make quite good friends."
Shen Lang flared up in frustration.
"To hell with that! Who wants to be good friends with him? Damn it, I've never been so furious in my life."
The Sword King, Li Qianqiu, felt no particular attachment to the State of Yue or Ning Zheng. From his perspective, the fall of Yue and the death of Ning Yuanxian would be a pity, but Shen Lang could simply take the two Nirvana Hosts back to Raging Tide City and live a life free of worry. But Shen Lang didn't see it that way. He was not a man who could accept defeat.
‘I absolutely cannot lose. Ning Qun, no matter how incredible you are, you will lose to me. Once you admit defeat first, then we can discuss being friends again. I, Shen Lang, will never allow the State of Yue to be destroyed, nor will I let Ning Yuanxian be driven to suicide! And more than that, I cannot lose to Ning Qun. I will force him to admit defeat and withdraw from this war. I can win. An inspiration for victory has struck me, and I will seize it to win.’
An inspiration had indeed sparked within the supercomputer in Shen Lang's mind, but like finding a single star in a sky packed with them, it was incredibly difficult to grasp.
‘What other brilliant move is there to defeat Ning Qun? What is it? What could it be? If I can just find it, I can win. What is more important than the Southern Gourd Capital and the Great Southern Capital? What is connected to the ideals and grand ambitions Ning Qun has pursued his entire life, to the legacy of the Great Southern Kingdom that will last for ages? What is Ning Qun's Achilles' heel?’
Suddenly, Shen Lang's eyes flashed.
‘I must set aside conventional thinking and use my boldest imagination. Make a bold assumption, then carefully verify it. Yes, that's the principle. How was Ning Qun able to rise up in just two years? And why did he change so much? If my memory serves me right, his transformation began in the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes. Ning Qun's father, the king of the Southern Gourd Kingdom, was seen as the ultimate traitor by the Sa'man tribes. A Sa'man himself, he relied on the State of Yue to create the Southern Gourd Kingdom, becoming Yue's top lackey and, for a time, slaughtering countless innocent Sa'man people. So when Ning Qun went among the Sa'man tribes to ask for help, not only did he not receive aid, but he was sentenced to the cruelest punishment and thrown into the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes. He should have met his end, torn to pieces, but why didn't he die?
According to Wu Daozi's records, some people in this world can undergo a bloodline transformation. This transformation is said to be similar to atavism, where the genes of ancient humans coincidentally manifest in the bodies of people in this world. For example, Wu Daozi was a second-generation bloodline mutant, and now Mulan is as well. Could it be that Ning Qun is also someone who has undergone a bloodline transformation? Whether he is first or second generation, I don't know.’
Shen Lang's speculation was quite plausible. In ancient times, the lands of the Sa'man tribes belonged to the Dazhi Empire. The humans of that empire were the kings of the jungle, and even the many ferocious beasts and venomous creatures would retreat in their presence as if seeing the kings of the forest. Ning Qun was of mixed Sa'man blood. His father was Sa'man, and his mother was from the State of Yue. Moreover, his mother died shortly after giving birth to him. Shen Lang continued his reasoning.
‘When Ning Qun was thrown into the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes, the countless venomous snakes not only didn't bite him to death but feared him, allowing him to survive. But this stroke of fortune alone is not enough. He must have changed in a more profound way. Could it be an ancient ruin? Could there be an ancient ruin near that Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes? Did Ning Qun perhaps obtain an ancient ruin, leading to his complete transformation, especially in terms of his spirit and ambition?
In other words, because he discovered an ancient ruin, he was able to master ancient knowledge, which allowed him to win over the chiefs of the various Sa'man tribes and become a man sent from heaven. Because of him, each Sa'man tribe was able to possess its own unique skills—the hyena tribe training hyenas, the elephant tribe training elephants, the bird tribe training birds.
They had passed down their abilities through oral tradition for generations, so they still knew of their ancestors' powers, but they had lost the specific skills. Could it be that after obtaining the ancient ruin, Ning Qun performed a series of miracles to conquer the Sa'man tribes? The possibility is extremely high. The Sa'man are a people who worship heroes and revere divine miracles. If so, where is this ancient ruin? Near the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes? Where is the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes? It's one hundred and thirty miles from here.’
If Shen Lang's guess was correct, that ancient ruin would be the key to defeating Ning Qun. That ancient ruin would be far more important to Ning Qun than the Southern Gourd Capital or the State of Yue. To build up the Great Southern Kingdom in the future, he would depend entirely on that ruin. If Shen Lang's guess was correct, Ning Qun had likely only developed and researched a small part of that ancient ruin so far. For Ning Qun to maintain the formidable combat power of the Great Southern Kingdom and to advance its civilization, he could not follow the developmental path of nations like Yue and Wu. Introducing Confucianism would inevitably weaken the Sa'man's martial nature to some extent, thereby reducing their combat effectiveness.
Therefore, he and the Grandmaster of Yin had to create a new theology. They would use it to have scholars govern the Great Southern Kingdom and develop its productivity, while arming the nation with this special theology to keep its combat power strong. But that theology actually originated from the ancient ruin, so it wasn't a theology at all, but the power of a strong civilization. Therefore, that ancient ruin, whether it existed or not, would be Ning Qun's lifeline.
If Shen Lang found that ancient ruin, he would immediately have Ning Qun by the throat, and Ning Qun would surely concede defeat at once and withdraw his forces. Preserving that ancient ruin was far more important than being granted the entire Tiannan Province. It would be his foundation.
Shen Lang spoke.
"Let's go. We're going to the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes. Senior Sword King, only you and Big Dummy need to come. Aunt, please stay here and guard the Nirvana Host."
"Understood," replied the Sword King's wife. Without another word, Big Dummy immediately fell in behind Shen Lang, while the Sword King, Li Qianqiu, led the way.
***
‘This is the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes?’
After scanning it with his X-ray vision, Shen Lang felt a shiver run down his spine. The Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes was brutally straightforward. It was an incredibly deep cave, over a few hundred meters deep, with tunnels branching out in all directions underground, and inside, it was packed with snakes. There were snakes of all kinds, large and small, not just ten thousand as the name suggested, but more like fifty thousand, or even a hundred thousand. It was like a sea of snakes; anyone thrown in here would be torn to pieces. All sorts of venomous snakes were present, making the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes a fitting place to be the Sa'man tribes' greatest execution ground.
‘Do I have to go down? No. I'm absolutely not going down. It's too scary.’
"Shall I go?"
At the Sword King Li Qianqiu's words, Shen Lang shook his head.
"Senior's wisdom alone is slightly insufficient."
Big Dummy said.
"Then should I go?"
Shen Lang and the Sword King, Li Qianqiu, looked at him simultaneously.
"Am I too dumb?"
"Senior Sword King and I will go down. Big Dummy, you stay up here, hold the rope, and lower us slowly!"
"Okay!"
***
Glancing down for a moment, the Sword King's head tingled.
"Young Master Shen, this place is filled with countless venomous snakes. And there are kinds I've never seen before. Even a Grandmaster would be torn to shreds if they went down there."
Not just one Grandmaster; even ten would die.
"If my guess is correct, there's a path in this Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes that leads to an ancient ruin. If we find that ancient ruin, Ning Qun will admit defeat to me!"
"Young Master Shen, how certain are you?"
"It's all just speculation, so I'm only about forty percent certain. No, maybe fifty percent?"
Hearing this, Li Qianqiu's hair stood on end. Soon, Shen Lang and Li Qianqiu, tied to a rope, began to descend into the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes.
‘Big Dummy, you fool. Why are you lowering the rope so fast? This is practically a free fall!’
Shen Lang and the Sword King's bodies continued to fall, and fall. Soon, tens of thousands of pairs of eyes glinted simultaneously as tens of thousands of venomous snakes stared at Shen Lang. The small ones were as thin as chopsticks, while the large ones were tens of meters long and as thick as giant trees.
‘Oh, damn it all!’
For the first time, Shen Lang was surrounded by tens of thousands of snakes. The next moment.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss."
Countless venomous snakes, nearly ten thousand of them, lunged toward Shen Lang.
In that instant, Shen Lang nearly wet himself. He was most afraid of creatures like snakes; even one was terrifying, but to be surrounded by tens of thousands was horrifying. He truly thought he was about to drown in a sea of snakes. Fortunately, at that moment, the Sword King Li Qianqiu opened a box, revealing the bonsai tree gifted by Wu Daozi. In that instant, countless vividly colored butterflies took flight. Thousands of butterflies swirled and danced around Shen Lang and Li Qianqiu.
They were indeed the natural enemy of snakes. The tens of thousands of snakes recoiled, avoiding them in unison. Only then did Shen Lang realize that the butterflies were emitting a fluorescent glow, like fireflies. Protected by the swarms of butterflies, Shen Lang and Li Qianqiu continued their descent, and after falling a full three hundred meters, they finally touched the ground.