novelTele Chapter 42: Sky-Swallowing Python
Chapter 42: Sky-Swallowing Python
On the seventh night, the moon was bright and the stars were few.
The Thunder Blade team settled on the rooftop of a fifteen-story hotel by the canal. This building was the tallest in the vicinity, offering a panoramic view overlooking an area several kilometers in radius. More importantly, it was surrounded by water on three sides and land on one side, allowing them to observe the water's movements while also providing an escape route.
Lin Zheng chose the largest room on the top floor as a temporary camp. Shen Yang set up warning equipment on the roof, Leng Bao and Luo Fang set up simple traps at the stairwell, and Liu Xu was in charge of the first shift of night watch.
Lin Yun leaned against the window, practicing the power generation techniques of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade again and again by the moonlight. He had already mastered the second level, but he was still far from achieving the "as natural as breathing" that Lin Zheng required. When the three forces were superimposed, the second crisp sound was still a fraction of a second later than the first. Although ordinary people couldn't hear it, Lin Zheng could, and so could Liu Xu.
"Still practicing?" Luo Fang poked her head out from the next room. "We have to travel tomorrow, get some rest."
"I'm going to sleep now." Lin Yun sheathed his sword, sat down in the corner opposite her, and closed his eyes.
But he didn't fall asleep. Instead, his consciousness entered a meditative state, and his body in the Panlong World simultaneously began meditating. Magical power flowed slowly, and his mental energy rapidly recovered through the resonance between the two worlds. Since arriving in the wilderness, he had spent every night like this—one body resting, the other cultivating; one body accumulating fatigue, the other recovering its energy. He made the most of his time in both worlds.
Late at night.
Moonlight spilled across the canal's surface, scattering into silvery patches. In the distance, the howls of monsters echoed in the night wind before fading away. An eerie silence descended upon the ruined city.
Liu Xu stood on the edge of the rooftop, her hand gripping the railing, her gaze fixed on the distant canal. The night breeze ruffled her short hair, revealing her sharply defined profile. She had been holding this pose for a long time, as if admiring the scenery, or perhaps lost in thought.
The scene from earlier that day replayed in her mind—Lin Zheng had shown a rare smile when instructing Lin Yun on the Ninefold Thunder Blade technique. She hadn't seen that smile in a long time, so long that she thought she would never see it again. But that smile wasn't directed at her; in fact, it vanished quickly when she approached, replaced by his usual coldness.
"Captain..." Liu Xu murmured to herself, her voice so low that even she could not hear it.
She didn't know what she was persisting in. Three years had passed, and Lin Zheng's attitude towards her had changed from distant to avoidance, and from avoidance to silence. They used to talk about everything, but now their only communication was during missions—"Liu Xu, left wing" "Liu Xu, cover" "Liu Xu, retreat."
She wanted to tell him that she didn't mind his leg. She wanted to tell him that she loved him for who he was, not for his leg, his strength, or his swordsmanship. She wanted to tell him that for the past three years, she had been waiting every single day for him to turn around and look at her.
But she couldn't say anything. Because every time she tried to get closer, he would back away. Like a wounded beast, he would hide himself in the deepest cave, not letting anyone touch him.
Liu Xu took a deep breath, forcing back the tears welling in her eyes. Now was not the time to think about these things. She was on night watch; she was responsible for the safety of the entire squad.
Her gaze sharpened again, sweeping over everything around her. The canal's surface was as still as a mirror, the ruins on both banks casting long shadows in the moonlight, and the distant buildings standing darkly like rows of silent tombstones.
everything is normal.
But Liu Xu felt something was off. She couldn't quite put her finger on it—there was no sound, no movement, no unusual signs. But her intuition told her that something was approaching.
She gripped the sword tightly, her gaze fixed on the surface of the canal.
The water remained calm.
It's too peaceful.
Liu Xu's pupils suddenly contracted. She finally realized something was wrong—the canal was too calm. During the day, they had hunted down more than a dozen water pythons here; the scent of blood should have attracted even more. But tonight, the water was completely still, without even a small fish.
It's like... there's something underwater that scared all the creatures away.
Liu Xu's hand rested on the hilt of her sword, about to speak a warning—
The water surface exploded.
A massive black shadow darted out of the water, moving so fast that Liu Xu could barely see it. It was a snake, an outrageously large snake. Its body was three times thicker than the high-level beast-general-level water python she had encountered during the day, and the part above the water alone was over ten meters long. Its scales shimmered with a ghostly blue light in the moonlight. These scales were not ordinary snake scales, but rather possessed a strange camouflage effect, constantly changing color under the moonlight, making it seem almost alive.
The most terrifying thing was its head—not the triangular shape of a typical anaconda, but a flat, cobra-like fan shape. Its two vertical pupils were an eerie gold, shining like two lanterns in the darkness, radiating a cold and cruel light.
Sky-Devouring Python - High-level Lord!
Liu Xu's reaction was incredibly fast. The instant the Devouring Python leaped out of the water, she had already drawn her sword and retreated, shouting at the same time, "Enemy—"
He didn't finish his sentence.
The Devouring Python was too fast; its body left a trail of afterimages in the air, and its massive head had already reached the edge of the rooftop. It didn't use its fangs, it didn't use its tail, it simply—rammed into us.
The enormous head slammed into Liu Xu like an out-of-control truck.
"Bang!"
Liu Xu's body was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing through the concrete railing of the rooftop and tumbling into the top-floor room. Her sword flew from her hand, landing on the ground with a crisp metallic clang. Blood seeped from her forehead and the corners of her mouth, staining her combat uniform red.
If she hadn't gritted her teeth and spent most of her savings to upgrade her combat vest to a high-end 9-series one before this trip, the impact would have been fatal. But even with the 9-series combat vest, the head-on collision with the high-level lord-class monster barely saved her life. She could feel at least three broken ribs, shattered bones in her left arm, and her internal organs felt like they were being shredded.
"Willow catkins!"
Lin Zheng's voice boomed in the darkness. He was the first to wake up—not because of the sound, but because of an instinct. For three years, his body had become accustomed to waking up the instant danger struck.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the outline of the giant python in the moonlight, the figure of Liu Xu being knocked away, and the bloodstains at the corner of her mouth.
For a moment, Lin Zheng's mind went blank.
Then, an emotion he thought was long dead erupted from the deepest part of his heart—not fear, not anger, but an almost insane, reckless, and desperate impulse to give his life for it.
"Willow catkins!"
He dashed off, moving at a speed he himself couldn't believe. His prosthetic leg rattled rapidly on the ground, each step pushing it to its limits. His right hand gripped the dagger, its blue blade gleaming brightly in the darkness.
The Devouring Python seemed to sense the charging insect. Its massive head turned towards Lin Zheng, its mouth opening wide to reveal two rows of serrated teeth. A foul, nauseating stench wafted out.
Lin Zheng did not dodge.
He charged towards the gaping maw of the Devouring Python, the blue light on his battle blade surging to its limit—a sign that the fourth level of the Ninefold Thunder Blade had been pushed to its extreme, his peak performance in the past three years. At this moment, he forgot his legs, forgot he was a "cripple," forgot all the inferiority and hesitation he had felt over the past three years. He only knew one thing—
The willow catkins are there, the willow catkins are injured, the willow catkins need him.
"Thunder Blade! Fourth Level!"
The short sword slashed out, its power amplified by four forces, unleashing 3.5 times its original strength at the blade's edge. The blade's light collided with the scales of the Devouring Python, producing a deafening metallic clang.
A scale on the Devouring Python's lower jaw shattered, and a dark blue blood seeped from the crack. But for its enormous size, this was merely a minor superficial wound. Lin Zheng's full-force attack had only managed to shatter a single scale.
The Devouring Python cried out in pain, letting out a sharp hiss. Its body suddenly contracted, and its thick tail swept across, striking Lin Zheng hard.
Lin Zheng was sent flying, crashing into a water tank on the roof, denting it badly. His prosthetic leg dislodged in the impact, and he fell to the ground, blood trickling from his mouth. But he gritted his teeth, struggled to his feet, stood on one leg, gripped his knife in both hands, and stood in front of Liu Xu.
"Come on!" His voice was hoarse, and his eyes burned with an almost insane light.
Shenyang, Leng Bao, and Luo Fang rushed out at that moment. Shenyang raised his sniper rifle, aimed at the Devouring Python's eyes, and fired. The bullet hit its scales, leaving not even a white mark. Leng Bao thrust out with his spear, only to be swept away by the Devouring Python's tail. Luo Fang's short knife slashed at its body, the blade simply gliding across its scales.
An attack from an ordinary warrior-level creature is nothing more than a mosquito bite to a high-level lord-level Devouring Python.
The Devouring Python seemed enraged. Its body rose completely from the water, revealing its full form—a massive body thirty meters long, its scales shimmering in the moonlight, like a moving mountain. Its vertical pupils locked onto Lin Zheng, and it opened its massive mouth, revealing two rows of serrated teeth.
Lin Zheng stood before Liu Xu, supporting himself on one leg, his body covered in blood, the short knife in his hand trembling slightly. But his eyes showed no sign of retreat.
"Come on!" he shouted again, his voice even hoarser than before.
The Devouring Python launched its final attack. Its head crashed down like a meteorite, its jaws opening to their maximum, large enough to swallow Lin Zheng whole.
Just then, a silver light pierced the night sky.
Not one, but nine.
Nine throwing knives flew out of the darkness at the same time, each one accompanied by a piercing sound as it cut through the air, like nine shooting stars, aiming precisely at the head of the Devouring Python. They were so fast that even the Devouring Python could not completely dodge them.
"Puff puff puff—"
Three throwing knives pierced the Devouring Python's left eye, two its right, and the remaining four were embedded in its forehead and jaw, deeply embedded in the cracks of the scales that Lin Zheng had previously shattered. Dark blue blood gushed out, and the Devouring Python let out an extremely shrill hiss, its body twisting wildly, its thick tail lashing the concrete rooftop to shreds.
Everyone was stunned.
They turned to look in the direction from which the flying knife had come—Lin Yun stood at the window of the room, his arms slightly outstretched, emanating an invisible sense of oppression, the unique aura of his mental power unleashed at full force.
"A mentalist..." Shenyang murmured, his eyes wide open.
"And this isn't just any ordinary mentalist." Luo Fang's voice trembled. "This level of control...this power..."
Leng Bao didn't speak, but his pupils contracted sharply, and the knuckles of his fingers gripping the gun turned white.
Lin Zheng stood there, watching the nine flying knives dancing in the air. A look of shock flashed in his eyes, but he quickly realized that no matter what Lin Yun's identity was, no matter how much strength he was hiding, the most important thing now was to survive.
"Lin Yun!" he roared, "Can you kill it?"
Lin Yun stared intently at the Devouring Python. His eyes showed no panic of a young martial artist, only a calmness and composure beyond his years.
"That's a bit difficult!" he said. "It's going to run away."
The Devouring Python sensed a deadly threat. Although blind, as a high-level lord-class monster, its perception far surpassed that of ordinary monsters. It knew perfectly well that the human standing at the window possessed the power to harm it. Its monster instincts told it—flight.
The giant python's body suddenly contracted, sliding off the edge of the rooftop and crashing heavily onto the street below. Its thirty-meter-long body writhed rapidly through the ruins, fleeing towards the canal.
"It's trying to escape!" Shenyang shouted.
"I'll go after them. You guys find a safe place to hide," Lin Yun said calmly. He leaped out of the window, his shield supporting him tightly with his telekinetic power. Nine throwing knives hovered around him, and he became like a silver streak of light, chasing after the Devouring Python and disappearing into the night.
"Lin Yun!" Liu Xu struggled to stand up, but the intense pain made her fall back down.
Lin Zheng pressed down on her shoulders: "Don't move, trust him."
His gaze fell on the direction where Lin Yun had disappeared, a complex look flashing in his eyes. Fifteen years old, a War God-level mentalist… just how many secrets is this young man hiding?