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In the desert region, the temperature difference between day and night is extreme; it is unbearably hot during the day, but bone-chillingly cold at night.
However, even with such severe cold, it did not extinguish the enthusiasm of the Sand Mercenary Group members. Amon offered Sha Luo a very high price, and Sha Luo naturally could generously give his subordinates handsome rewards.
The City Guard was also the same; Mu Lei was giving them extra pay for this trip.
A bright moon hung high in the sky, emitting a clear, cold moonlight that illuminated the entire Tager Desert.
Suddenly, a scream broke the quiet night, and crimson blood splattered on the sand, quickly absorbed by it, leaving only a red mark that looked somewhat dazzling under the bright moonlight.
"Enemy attack!"
A piercing whistle sounded, and the entire camp sprang into action.
Sha Luo rushed to the scene immediately and saw Jiang Yin leading a group of Snake-People in a sneak attack.
With a grim expression, he stepped forward and shattered the head of a Snake-Person with a single palm strike, temporarily slowing the arrogant Snake-People's offensive.
"Don't panic, this place is not far from Stone Desert City, and City Lord Mu will bring people to support us soon." Sha Luo's voice calmed the mercenaries and City Guard members who were under attack by the Snake-People.
In this search party, composed of both the Sand Mercenary Group and the City Guard, the Sand Mercenary Group still held the dominant position.
Only Sha Luo remained at the camp at night, while Mu Lei, due to city affairs, could not spend too much time here, only providing manpower and coming less often himself.
"Heh, it's indeed not far, but can you really survive until then?" A cold voice sounded, as if right beside him.
Sha Luo's expression changed, and he said in a low voice, "It's you? Jiang Yin, you've come too?"
The distance between Stone Desert City and this Snake-People Tribe is not far, and the two sides have had many conflicts, so most of their strong individuals are relatively familiar with each other.
Jiang Yin is also a Dou Grandmaster peak expert, not someone Sha Luo can contend with.
"You came here, aren't you afraid your old lair will be raided?" Sha Luo said coldly.
"The only ones hostile to our tribe in this vicinity are your Stone Desert City. Everyone knows their own strength. If Mu Lei isn't here, your Stone Desert City won't be able to hold either..." Jiang Yin's snake-like eyes revealed endless indifference and coldness.
Sha Luo's face was grim; his mercenaries had already gathered. However, the City Guard, due to their lack of unified command, were slow to communicate and remained scattered.
Although the situation was very unfavorable for Sha Luo's side, the Snake-People did not continue their attack.
Jiang Yin said softly, "There's one thing I'm very curious about: what exactly are you digging for? If there's any treasure, you can't hog it all."
She thinks we have clues to ancient ruins and is worried that if we gain benefits from them and our strength increases, we will encroach on their tribe's living space? Such a thought flashed through Sha Luo's mind.
He followed Jiang Yin's words, "So what if we found something? This place is so close to Stone Desert City, no matter what, it's not your turn to interfere."
Jiang Yin was not in a hurry to act, and Sha Luo was also happy to stall for time; as long as he held out a little longer, City Lord Mu would be able to arrive.
"Just ruins? It wouldn't be something else, would it? Like some kind of heavenly treasure..."
"No matter what it is, it's none of your business." Sha Luo said with some firmness.
Just then, a huge dark shadow suddenly flashed and disappeared within a certain pit.
After swallowing a Snake-Person whole, it quickly burrowed back underground.
Both Sha Luo and Jiang Yin's expressions changed. The giant creature's movements were so fast that they couldn't see it clearly, only vaguely sensing that it should be a snake-type magical beast.
Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake!
Sha Luo immediately thought of this auxiliary clue, and a hint of joy appeared on his face. Although he hadn't seen the full appearance of the magical beast, judging from the rich fire-attribute aura, it was definitely correct.
As the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake emerged from underground, the surrounding fire-attribute energy immediately became richer.
Jiang Yin noticed the fleeting joy on Sha Luo's face, and some guesses formed in her mind.
Rich fire-attribute energy, human excavation blockade, at least a fourth-tier fire-attribute snake magical beast... these elements combined were enough to warrant a visit from a major tribe's leader.
"Heh, it seems this is the guardian of the ancient ruins you are looking for... a fourth-tier magical beast capable of rivaling a Dou Spirit. I'd like to see what methods you'll use to deal with it."
Jiang Yin did not linger and immediately gave the order to retreat. What she had investigated today was already enough; if she waited any longer, after Mu Lei arrived, it would probably take her a lot of effort to escape.
Sha Luo did not "detain" her; trying to entangle Jiang Yin might put his own life in danger, so he let her leave.
After the Snake-People had all left, an aura approached rapidly from a distance.
Mu Lei looked at the miserable state of his soldiers, his face grim: "Those damned bastards..."
Then, he looked at Sha Luo with some dissatisfaction: "If you could have just stalled for a moment longer, I would have arrived."
Sha Luo briefly explained, "Originally, I planned to entangle them, but a fourth-tier snake-shaped magical beast suddenly appeared, ate a person, and then went back underground. That magical beast is most likely the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake."
"Fourth-tier snake-shaped magical beast?" Mu Lei closed his eyes and carefully sensed the surroundings, finding that the fire-attribute energy was slightly higher than in other areas.
The anger from the Snake-People's attack and the casualties of his soldiers vanished at this moment, leaving only joy and excitement.
"Is this the target Elder Gu He wanted us to find?"
Sha Luo nodded, "It should be. There might be some fire-attribute heavenly treasure inside... That Fire Spirit snake is probably the guardian magical beast of the heavenly treasure."
Mu Lei looked at Sha Luo, who seemed to have some bold ideas, and said with a warning tone, "Don't have any other ideas. We'll simply report everything to Elder Gu He and get the reward he promised."
Sha Luo shook his head and smiled, "How dare I have other ideas? I'm just wondering what kind of thing could make Elder Gu He so excited."
He looked at the pit where the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake had appeared and disappeared, muttering to himself, "Fire-attribute treasure..."
... ...
Jiang Yin led her Snake-People subordinates towards the tribe. Because they were worried that Mu Lei would lead people to chase them, they "ran" the entire way.
The Snake-People stopped; a black and white wolf-shaped magical beast stood in front, blocking their path.
This wolf had a white circle around its right eye, and its eyes revealed a hint of ferocity and wisdom.
Jiang Yin didn't recognize this magical beast, but she instinctively felt that the opponent was very dangerous.
"Be careful, I feel it's not simple."
"Snake-People... Since you've come, don't leave. There's some information that you can't take back." The Moon Wolf spoke human words.
Jiang Yin's face changed drastically. A magical beast that could speak human words, apart from extremely rare special races, had to be at least fifth-tier.
"Howl..." The Moon Wolf let out a wolf howl towards the sky, its fifth-tier magical beast aura fully displayed.
"Run!" Jiang Yin decisively gave the order.
But under the huge disparity in strength, they had no way to escape.
The Moon Wolf flew into the sky, silver light glowing in its mouth, and countless silvery light blades poured out.
The light blades flew towards the Snake-People with an unstoppable momentum, cutting them into two. Only Jiang Yin, being quite strong, blocked one attack, but she also had an arm severed.
She looked at the Moon Wolf slowly walking towards her, a hint of despair flashing in her eyes. She stared fixedly at the Moon Wolf, saying with hatred:
"You just wait, Her Majesty the Queen will definitely make you pay."
"Tsk, it's precisely because I don't want to face Queen Medusa yet that I can't let you go back alive."
A lean young man in a black classical robe and a pointed soft hat appeared behind the Moon Wolf. He raised his right hand, adjusted his monocle, and his gaze seemed somewhat profound.
... ...
In the Snake-People Tribe, Jiang Wu looked towards Stone Desert City with a slight hint of worry; he had a vague, ominous premonition.
"Captain Jiang Wu... It's so late, why aren't you sleeping? Are you worried about the leader?" A gloomy Snake-Person walked over.
He had just finished rubbing his eye socket with his right hand and slowly lowered it, his eyes gleaming with an inexplicable light.
"Yes, I always feel that this time might not go very smoothly."
"Is that so? I, on the other hand, think it will go quite smoothly." His tone became somewhat strange, with a hint of malevolence.
Jiang Wu realized his abnormality, and his eyes subtly hardened.
He stared intently at the gloomy Snake-Person, seeing the other party suddenly raise his head.
Pure, brilliant light, like stars, suddenly shone, and he seemed to see the boundless cosmos in those eyes.
A stream of light entered Jiang Wu's body.
Jiang Wu's expression changed. Without hesitation, he slammed a palm into the gloomy Snake-Person, shattering his head like a watermelon.
Then, he began to introspect, trying to find the stream of light that had entered his body.
But this seemed to be useless. The Worm of Spirit had already integrated into his body.
So, Jiang Wu, with a 'desperate times call for desperate measures' mentality, circulated the Dou Qi in his body, making it more violent.
His response was actually correct; if the Parasite Worm of Spirit's own physical body wasn't strong enough, it would be flushed out and killed by the host's violent Dou Qi.
But what Amon left behind was a Worm of Spirit close to the fourth-tier; such a small trick was useless, and Jiang Wu's Dou Qi was not strong enough.
In a daze, Jiang Wu seemed to see a transparent, illusory, python-like figure coiling around him.
His consciousness fell into darkness.
After completing the deep Parasite, Amon, in the form of Jiang Wu, rubbed his eye socket and murmured to himself:
"How can I let you report the news? I still have some attempts to make... Don't worry, the Azure Lotus Core Flame will be sent to your Queen, but not now."
... ...
Xiao Yan expressionlessly looked at Mu Li, the young leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, who had suddenly shown hostility towards him, his eyes sharp:
"What do you mean?"
Mu Li adjusted his monocle and chuckled, "Naturally, it's because of Little Fairy Doctor. I won't allow other men to get close to her!"
This is just an excuse... In the original novel, Little Fairy Doctor and Xiao Yan discovering the cliff cave with the treasure was an accident... Such an opportunity is the easiest to miss.
For some reasons, they haven't discovered it yet... So Amon decided to create some "accidents" for them.
... ... Flying Dou Technique is still quite helpful to Xiao Yan.
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