IMC Chapter 17

The appearance of Lan Qing made the people of the Xia Wang tribe realize three things. First, the deity’s name is Shu Bao, which sounds fitting for the deity’s round and chubby demeanor. Second, the deity has friends, and one of them is a snake.

The third realization was that although the deity looks very furry, it still sheds hair. For some reason, upon learning this, everyone felt an urge to search for the deity’s chest hair.

However, the Xia Wang people resisted this impulse and warmly welcomed the deity’s friend, offering them a piece of roasted meat. The friend refused, and then everyone saw the friend open its mouth wide and bite into a wild fruit.

The fruit was too hard, and the friend’s teeth got stuck and couldn’t be pulled out. The people then busied themselves helping the deity’s friend free its mouth.

After this ordeal, the people’s fear of snakes diminished significantly. If all snakes were like this, then the Sishe tribe wouldn’t be so scary.

The Sishe hunting team remained silent, deciding not to comment on the talking, out-of-place snake for now. However, it was indeed the only talking snake they had ever seen. Even the Black Python Deity only conveyed thoughts to them rather than speaking.

Speaking of the tribe, the Sishe hunting team realized that they hadn’t seen Ming Shi for a long time. After searching around, they couldn’t find any trace of Ming Shi and realized he might have escaped. The Sishe hunting team exchanged glances and finally decided to inform the Xia Wang tribe of this discovery.

The Xia Wang people, who were focusing on Lan Qing, realized the danger. If Ming Shi had escaped back to the Sishe tribe, it would soon return with reinforcements, putting the tribe in danger.

The high priest calmed everyone down, calculating that Ming Shi’s round trip wouldn’t be so quick, giving them time to prepare for defense. The high priest immediately sent Mu Bao to find the deity while arranging defensive measures.

The actual situation was worse than the high priest anticipated. Not only was Ming Shi heading towards the tribe, but the people of the Sishe tribe were also coming under the leadership of the Black Python Deity, and both sides eventually converged.

From a great distance, Ming Shi saw the Sishe tribe. The Black Python Deity’s body was too enormous, over thirty meters long, and covered in black scales, making it look extremely terrifying. When its huge snake head, capable of easily swallowing a person, approached, Ming Shi immediately knelt down.

To lessen his punishment, Ming Shi portrayed himself as the only one who hadn’t betrayed the Black Python Deity and detailed the various sophisticated tools and weapons possessed by the Xia Wang tribe, as well as the mouse that could use fireballs.

Ming Shi tried hard to explain his value. He didn’t dare to look directly at the Black Python Deity, but the immense pressure from above made him tremble uncontrollably. He hadn’t expected that the Black Python Deity would personally come out to search for the missing hunting team. At this moment, he was immensely grateful for his decision to escape.

Facing the Black Python Deity, he became even more certain that the mouse alone couldn’t defeat the Black Python Deity. Ming Shi lay prostrate on the ground, and the Black Python Deity’s inquiry echoed in his mind, “Are you sure that only the mouse in the Xia Wang tribe poses a threat, and that the mouse has not been in the tribe recently?”

“Yes, I am sure,” Ming Shi breathed a sigh of relief. Since the Black Python Deity asked this, it basically meant he was safe.

After getting the answer, the Black Python Deity led two other hunting teams quickly toward the Xia Wang tribe. Ming Shi naturally followed closely behind, his heart still racing with both the tension of surviving a disaster and the excitement of witnessing the destruction of a tribe.

The tracking ability of snakes is undeniable; there was no need for Ming Shi to guide them. The Black Python Deity navigated precisely toward the Xia Wang tribe as if it had a built-in GPS.

On the way to the Xia Wang tribe, Ming Shi learned from other tribesmen that the reason the Black Python Deity personally came out today was because the tribe’s high priest had divined that a natural enemy of the Black Python Deity would appear in this area. The Black Python Deity intended to eliminate this enemy while also searching for the missing hunting team from the previous day.

“Natural enemy? Does the Black Python Deity even have a natural enemy?” Ming Shi found it hard to believe as he looked at the enormous Black Python Deity ahead, which could easily topple a tree.

“I don’t know what the Black Python Deity’s natural enemy is, but I know that a mouse’s natural enemy is a snake,” one of the Sishe tribe members said proudly.

Ming Shi nodded, “That’s right.”

“What were the Xia Wang tribe people thinking, recognizing a mouse as a deity!”

“Who knows, maybe they’ve been a forsaken tribe for too long, so even a mouse was accepted as a deity.”

On the way to the Xia Wang tribe, the Sishe hunting team discussed the Xia Wang tribe with disdain and pity, clearly believing that the Xia Wang tribe was about to be destroyed.

The enormous Black Python crushed everything in its path and arrived at the Xia Wang tribe with great momentum, without any attempt to conceal its presence. Looking down at the small tribe below, it noticed that the tools and weapons the people held were indeed peculiar, and there was no sign of the mouse deity.

In the Xia Wang tribe, everyone was already in a state of panic. The elderly and children hid in their tents, while the young men and women took the sharpest weapons they could find and gathered at the entrance of the tribe.

The high priest hadn’t expected the people from the Sishe tribe to arrive so quickly. Mu Bao sent to seek the deity had not yet returned, and the tribe’s defenses were not fully set up.

“There’s a snake! Oh my god! It’s a snake! Such a big snake!” The high priest gripped his staff, ready to go out and fight, when the deity’s friend also saw the giant black snake and exclaimed in surprise.

The high priest: “…” Aren’t you a snake yourself? Why are you so surprised? Although the snake was indeed very large, it still felt strange to hear a snake exclaim about another snake.

There was no time to ridicule the deity’s friend. The high priest said, “You can stay in the tent. If you find a suitable opportunity, you should leave.”

After speaking, the high priest quickly walked out with his staff.

The Black Python flicked its tongue. It didn’t attack immediately, or rather, it wanted to keep things simple by waiting for everyone to gather and then sweeping them all away with one strike.

As more people gathered, the Black Python’s cold eyes showed no emotion, even when it saw people who originally belonged to the Sishe tribe.

The pressure brought by the Black Python was terrifying. Even though the people of the Xia Wang tribe were full of faith in the deity, they couldn’t avoid feeling fear.

Under this fear, one person in the Sishe hunting team couldn’t hold it together. This person had previously followed Ming Shi and had his hair burned off. He rushed out of the crowd, knelt in front of the Black Python Deity across the simple fence, and pleaded, “Deity, please save me!”

The rest of the Sishe hunting team was uncertain about what to do. Just as they were hesitating, the person’s voice abruptly stopped. The Black Python Deity suddenly lowered its head and bit the person’s upper body, then swallowed him whole.

In the terrifying silence, the crowd could still faintly hear the person’s cries and struggles, indicating he was not yet dead. At that moment, the fear of death was like a mountain, pressing down on everyone, making it hard to breathe.

The Black Python’s actions completely shattered the Sishe hunting team’s hopes of returning. They realized that in the eyes of the Black Python Deity, they were now traitors. They hadn’t expected the fluffy mouse’s prediction to come true—they were going to be fed to the snake!

The Black Python’s brutal actions made the people of the Xia Wang tribe break out in a cold sweat. Perhaps their deity was too kind and cute, making them forget how powerful and strict tribal deities could be.

“Is everyone here?” The black snake didn’t speak, but at that moment, everyone heard this voice in their minds. Clearly, this was communication from the black snake.

The high priest of Xia Wang gripped his staff tightly. He saw no mercy in the black snake’s eyes and realized that in today’s battle, the opponent had no intention of sparing anyone. “Yes,” he replied.

The high priest’s voice was very calm, which slightly eased the fear among the people of the Xia Wang tribe.

“Fight for the deity!” shouted Ai Lan, the captain of the hunting team. Behind him, the Xia Wang people stood resolute, with no one retreating.

Perhaps influenced by this atmosphere, the captured Sishe hunting team also did not retreat. At this moment, they seemed to truly become part of the Xia Wang tribe.

The Sishe hunting team that followed the black snake was somewhat surprised. They had fought many battles but had rarely seen a tribe with such cohesion. However, this was useless in the face of absolute power.

Finally, the Black Python moved. It swung its massive tail, instantly knocking down the fence at the tribe’s entrance, and then lunged at Ai Lan at the front of the group.

But just as it was about to strike, a fireball came flying towards it, forcing the snake to dodge due to the intense heat.

Ai Lan seized the opportunity to throw his spear, aiming for the snake’s eye. Almost simultaneously, the other members of the Xia Wang tribe began their attack. Most of their attacks were ineffective against the Black Python’s tough scales, but Ai Lan’s quick reaction managed to injure the snake’s eye.

However, the injury was not fatal and didn’t even blind the eye; it only caused the snake some pain. Enraged, the Black Python swept its tail, instantly knocking several people away. Its swift attacks followed, so fast that the high priest didn’t have time to prepare a second fireball.

Looking at the huge snake head lunging down, the high priest was ready to face death. However, at that moment, a familiar green color appeared at his feet, accompanied by a familiar exclamation, “A snake! What a big snake!”

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Moonlit: Lan Qing is such a cutie hahaha