Chapter 434: Devil Snake God and Forest Boa King (I)
“Is his information reliable? Why is it that he didn’t help us the last time, when we were looking for spiritual stoves in the Illusory Paradise.”
After asking McDull, Chen Ying’er replied, “McDull said that the divine power of the goddess of nature acted as a shield in the Illusory Paradise, blocking his ability to detect treasures there. But he is certain that there’s really some good treasure in this direction. He doesn’t know about the specificities, but it’s certainly at least one treasure of light attribute.”
Long Haochen asked, “Can McDull perceive the degree of danger around the location of this treasure?”
Chen Ying’er shook her head, “He’s incapable of telling that. This ability only gives a rough location of that treasure. We are now about ten kilometers away from that treasure. The closer we are to the treasure, the more accurate his ability to locate will get.”
Long Haochen narrowed his eyes, muttering in reaction, “If there’s really some treasure here, perhaps that’s the target of the Devil Snake Demon God. After everyone recovers in spiritual energy, I will take a look.”
This ‘I’ wasn’t really designating the group, but Long Haochen who made the resolve to go alone, after all the least they would be, the safer it would become.
Chen Ying’er volunteered herself to accompany, “Boss, then I will be bringing McDull along and follow.”
Long Haochen nodded in acceptance.
Taking Chen Ying’er along was necessary. More accurately speaking, it was about bringing the Mirror Image Treasure Pig McDull. If his senses were to become more accurate, having him show the way would naturally result in less detours, but only Chen Ying’er was able to communicate with him. Long Haochen was unwilling to let him lead the way, as they experienced enough to confirm that the reputation as land of death for the Swamps of Gloom was not just a rumor. If their luck turned bad, perhaps they would all die here. It was no wonder that the Devil Snake God Andromalius, ruling over the Devil Snake Province, has remained here for so long without having found his designated target.
Only when his comrades recovered the entirety of their spiritual energy did Long Haochen bring them back to the Tower of Eternity, for the sake of making their preparations. This way he also confirmed his limit in number of possible teleportations.
After going through continuous improvements, the current Long Haochen had the ability to complete two collective teleportations within a short while. One would be instantaneous, while the second would need him to take the time to incant. Since they were very possibly on the verge of encountering the Devil Snake God, he obviously wouldn’t dare be careless, and prefered waiting a few more hours, to avoid the risk of putting his comrades in great danger.
Cai’er was standing calmly on the side, looking at Long Haochen and the others discussing plans and countermeasures. Unbehest to her, she started pouting, as it was clear that Long Haochen wasn’t including her in the plans. This made Cai’er feel very dissatisfied.
“I also want to be included in your plans.” Cai’er extended her head at the side of Long Haochen’s face.
As her soft hair was in contact with Long Haochen’s face, making him feel her familiar fragrance, Long Haochen turned around startled, looking at her in the eyes, and felt some difference in her.
“Are you able to control your fighting abilities?” Long Haochen asked in a rush, full of self control. Deep inside, he had the urge to go give a sudden kiss on her cheeks.
Cai’er nodded, “No problem! When it gets dangerous, I seem to be able to enter a special state, permitting me to fight.”
Feeling helpless, Long Haochen gave her the response, “But how could I let you face a situation of danger? The enemy we are going to face next will very possibly be the most difficult one to handle in the whole Swamps of Gloom.”
In dissatisfaction, Cai’er replied, “I don’t care! I want to go anyway! Didn’t you tell me that I am supposed to be the vice-captain of our Demon Hunt Squad? How can I be left here by myself when everyone is going to battle? And perhaps some of my memories will come back through battles. At least I can remember about fighting.”
Seeing Cai’er’s urging look, Long Haochen replied, somewhat helpless, “Okay. But you will have to listen to my plan, and cannot act blindly without thinking.”
“Okay.” This time, Cai’er seemed delighted as she replied.
Ever since losing her memories, she had been following Long Haochen for a good time. Her original state of panic, helplessness and loss was gradually calmed, as she found out that following these people was actually not bad. They cared for her very much, and all held Long Haochen in great esteem.
Cai’er heard Long Haochen say that in the whole team, they were the youngest two. In those circumstances, how was it that Long Haochen gained such respect from his comrades?
Cai’er had always been feeling puzzled over this matter, but gradually found out the answer during their travails in the Swamps of Gloom.
Their trust came from his strength and attitude. As the captain of this Demon Hunt Squad, Long Haochen always took the lead to face the strongest enemy, and would not spare any cost to come help when the others would need his protection. And then, there was also his outstanding commanding and planning ability. All his plans without fail would get the approval of the team. And even so, he would still take account of his comrades’ suggestion to improve them.
It could be said that Cai’er was gradually attracted to Long Haochen’s outstanding parts, and gained trust towards him along with a kind of impalpable feeling. She felt hurried to recover her memories, thinking, That’s pretty good that he’s my boyfriend, but how is it that there came to be feelings between the two of us?
Lately, while the others were cultivating, Cai’er experienced quite a lot of pain by herself, because all her attempts to regain her memories turned out unsuccessful. Every time she tried to access her memories, it gave her a severe headache. At most, she would get to see some fragments of image in her senses, as if her lost memories were sealed in another world from her physical body, and that what she needed was a bridge to connect these two worlds.
From an original delay of six hours, now only three hours of wait were required before the teleportation ability cools down. After a thorough discussion about their plans, Long Haochen had everyone go into meditative state. Although Wang Yuanyuan and Chen Ying’er didn’t need to recover spiritual energy, this would at least raise everyone’s mental condition to the peak.
A dim light shone upon the Swamps of Gloom once again, as Long Haochen unfolded the four wings at his back, while placing his right fist on his chest. With another glint of golden light, Chen Ying’er appeared at his side, holding the little pig McDull in her arms.
Chen Ying’er laughed happily, looking around as she caressed the back of the little pig McDull, having him sense the direction of the treasure.
Long Haochen once again pointed his right hand forward, then a green figure appeared behind Chen Ying’er’s back, that was the Tenth Holy Guard. The only mission Long Haochen bestowed him was, to protect Chen Ying’er well.
“Go.” Seeing Chen Ying’er point a direction, Long Haochen spread out a Holy Mantle, covering the three of them inside, while letting out his perception to sense the possibility of danger in their surroundings.
For more safety, Long Haochen’s group stuck close to the ground while flying. In the crucial moment, the Tenth Holy Guard would at anytime be able to carry Chen Ying’er away from danger, and in terms of reaction, that was someone Long Haochen was far from being able to compare with.
Waving on his right hand the Rippling Light with the severely damaged Glorious Holy Shield in his left hand, Long Haochen was standing in the front. Because there was no need to walk in the swamps, his task of opening up the path was a lot more relaxed, as only the larger vines were blocking their path.
After advancing for about one kilometer, Long Haochen suddenly halted his advance, performing a silent gesture in the hand.
Chen Ying’er and the Tenth Holy Guard behind him came to a stop, and Long Haochen’s two eyes were lit with bright light. Turning his head, he gave a look to the Tenth Holy Guard.
The Tenth Holy Guard’s eyes were flickering in light, which was a sign of the connection of his soul with the Eternal Melody. Long Haochen exchanged perception with the holy guards by this means. Although seeing afar was impossible in this poisonous fog, Long Haochen’s perception was ample to make over with it. At least in a limited range, it was quite accurate.
The Tenth Holy Guard nodded to him, before turning into a cold breeze, heading towards the poisonous fog. A green spiritual energy autonomously surrounded his body, protecting him and making him appearing like a green lightning bolt..
The bright light in Long Haochen’s eyes turned even more intense; right now he had no need to use up any spiritual energy, but his consumption of mental force was quite considerable.
A short time later, a green glint charged towards them, arriving before Long Haochen and Chen Ying’er. That was the Tenth Holy Guard, coming back with a corpse, belonging to an approximately three meters tall Devil Snake, whose long tail occupied two third of its size.
Its throat was sliced, revealing its bone. This wound was visibly fatal.
Having sensed its presence beforehand, Long Haochen commanded the Tenth Holy Guard to dispose of it. Given his ability, accomplishing that without any trace was no difficult feat to him, and would be even more effective than Long Haochen trying to kill him.
“It seems that my judgement wasn’t mistaken. McDull’s perception is indeed quite accurate. In these Swamps of Gloom should exist some kind of treasure, which should be the target of the Devil Snake Demon God Andromalius. And we are getting closer to that target.” Saying that, Long Haochen showed the Tenth Holy Guard a thumbs up.
Chen Ying’er asked, “Then what should be done?”
Letting out a smile, Long Haochen replied, “We should of course go for the safe way, by exterminating his underlings on the way while advancing. Tenth Holy Guard, we will be bothering you.”
The flame in the eyes of the Tenth Holy Guard pulsed up more violently, as if letting out some pride.
Long Haochen found a rather bulky vine, nodded to Chen Ying’er after confirming safety, and then summoned the Twelfth Holy Guard to stand in guard. He was sitting cross-legged near the vines, as the golden glint in his eye turn into a deeper color, giving a nod to the Tenth Holy Guard.