The Sacred Ruins
chapter-67

The White Snake had returned, and it was watching everyone from the perspective of a god!

It was a long and bulky snake . The circumference of its long-winding torso was at least two meters . It was sitting on a level ground, but its bulky body had formed a hill on its own . It was a terrifying scene alright .

In the forest, the smell of blood was pungent and rancid . Many mutants had died during their desperate attempt to flee from the danger alive . Some had been bitten in half by beasts, while others had had their bones snapped and lacerated by birds of prey . Everyone of them died a cruel death .

There were also many bodies of dead beasts . Amongst them, there were leaders of the beasts too . That wild boar, for instance, lied right beside the body of that monkey with golden fur .

The battle had only lasted for minutes, but at least eight hundred mutants had given their lives in exchange for lives of only a few mutated beasts . The juxtaposing numbers really reflected the great disparity in strength between the two opposing parties .

Now with the return of the White Snake, this crowd of mutants had almost fallen to a state of utter despair .

Chu Feng was worried about the wellbeing of Yellow Ox as well . Since it ran off after the black yak, what had happened to the calf? Had it safely made it out alive? He could not even bear the thought of seeing that trusty companion of his lying somewhere as a mere lifeless corpse .

A snake like this must have lived for more than a thousand years . No-one could say with confidence how powerful the beast was . The black yak, though formidable and powerful alright, was still no match for the White Snake .

"The King of Taihang Mountain, please harken my words! We have never harbored any ill intents towards your people . The fault was in us for being ignorant of the fact that this had been the territory of yours . Thereby, I beg for your forgiveness and your mercy to us . "

Lin Naoi said in forthright terms . Her legs were slender and perfectly straight . It was a marvellous sight to be gawking at for the horny mutants at the back, but there was no time for breeding fantasy in head . The crowd watched as she gently walked forward towards the White Snake .

She was always known for her coldness and indifference, but at present, she tried to the best of her ability to stay gentle and polite . There was vaguely a slight smile emerging on her face as she paced forward .

The White Snake lowered its head, looking down at her; however, the looks in its eyes were still cold and frosty .

The mutants were all taken aback by the boldness and resoluteness in Lin Naoi in a critical moment like this . Being able to face the snake then converse with the beast in all calmness and perfect composure was extraordinary alright .

A blow of wind skimmed off her rosy cheeks, sending her silky hair fluttering in the breezing air . Her alluring face wore a sincere look, making her apologies all the more heartfelt and genuine .

There was no look of fear on her face, though in contrast to that monstrosity, Lin Naoi seemed rather thin and frail .

It was not to say that she didn’t have a nicely balanced figure . She was a lanky lady with a higher-than-average height of one hundred seventy centimeters . But in face of the snake, she looked ever so little .

"The King of Taihang Mountains, please excuse our boldness…" Jiang Luoshen marched out from the crowd as well as she spoke under her breath . Although her words were not as rhythmic and sonorous like those of Lin Naoi, the courage of hers still dwarfed many men who were only hiding cowardly in the back .

In a critical moment like this, the men that were sent for a peace talk were in fact a pair of timid-looking women .

"Hiss! Hiss! . . . "

The green snake appeared as well . It speedily slithered over with only half of its torso left to itself . There was a look of profound hatred in its eyes as it glowered at the Vajra; at the same time, it was also seeking for Chu Feng in the crowd .

The White Snake was struck by the wretched state in which that green snake was in . Its basin-sized eyes turned cold and frosty at once, glancing through the crowd of mutants .

People could all feel a tingling numbness running through their spines . They had a premonition that something awful was on the verge of breaking loose . The amount of murderous intents that was inside the mind of this White Snake was increasing minute by minute before god knew when it finally decided to turn this place into a site of bloody carnage .

The green snake was hissing to the White Snake, as if it were reporting to its leader the atrocity that had occurred to it .

"Humans would raise their fists and blades and guns against the beasts and birds in my territory sooner or later . To eliminate any latent threat was a natural disposition of you, human species . So, instead of letting you ride roughshod over us, why don’t we kill you all right here right now?"

The White Snake said . The snake’s voice was soft and enticing, but it was bitingly cold as well . Its well-articulated words echoed in the canyons . The snake had decided to strike upon these humans today .

Clearly, the battle against the snake and the other beasts was inevitable . The snake had had planned to train its troops and drill its soldiers in real-life combat against these humans for a long time . That arduous period of diligent study of human behavior and human firepower was going to pay off today .

Boom!

The White Snake dove down with its gigantic body like a silver river hanging vertically to the ground . The snake moved at such great velocity that the mutants on the ground could feel a cutting wind of murder ripping into their faces .

Lin Naoi and Jiang Luoshen had swift reflexes . Although both of their physiques were lanky and slender, their movements were of unparalleled agility and explosive force . As they tried to dodge the crushing weight of the diving snake, the two each drew an exquisite trajectory in the air before landing themselves safely away from the snake .

Boom!

When the colossal body of the snake finally landed, tens of dozens of mutants died under its crushing weight . It only took the White Snake a single blow to inflict heavy casualties on the crowd below .

The scales on the snake’s body were more tenacious than steel . No-one could have stood a chance when being pounced on by this beast .

The mutated beasts were also trembling with fright . They turned their back on their king and started hastily fleeing away from the site of action like a batch of madmen . Acres of land on which the beasts had previously stood were instantly vacated, leaving ample rooms for their king to battle against its enemy .

Boulders were crushed and rolling; ancient trees were snapped and tumbling; the hills nearby crumbled and collapsed!

The scene was virtually extracted from a doomsday movie!

"Ah…"

Blood-curdling screams rose one after another . In the twinkling of an eye, hundreds of mutants had lost their lives .

Some of the mutants could fly . They hastily fluttered their wings and soared into the air, but their desperate attempt to escape went up in smoke as the White Snake started jetting out a deadly ray of silver light from within its mouth . Those in the air were immediately blasted into a pile of dismembered bodies before plummeting from the sky to their demise .

"Let’s kill this f*cking bitch!" someone from the crowd raged and roared . They were desperate alright, because the light of hope for escape was getting slimmer and slimmer minute by minute .

Those who had survived this far were obviously the best amongst the crowd . One of the mutants who were still alive had turned himself into a flaming giant . Whatever he pounced on were instantly reduced to pool of molten lava . Clearly, he was a master .

But unfortunately, his flame and its scorching heat was soon quenched by the White Snake . The snake breathed out a breeze of air that immediately turned the blazing mutant into a cube of ice . Then, with a whip of its tail, the snake shattered the frozen man with no mercy whatsoever .

"We need to hold on to the last . The disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha are right in the vicinity . They are going to come to save us soon!" that elder from Bodhi roared . He had done to the best of his ability to stay alive .

Everyone from the crowd was taken aback by the terrifyingly high combat effectiveness that this elder could deliver in his blows . His fists formed the shape of the claws of a lion, and as he fists pierced through the barrier of air, there was an apparent gale of gusts blasting through the air . The fierce wind stirred up vibration in the air, giving birth to a soul-wrenching sound that mimicked the terrifying roar of feral beasts .

Many hills and mountains in the vicinity were soon seen shattering into pile of rolling pebbles .

Despite his old age, the elder was no less of a master than either Silver Wing or the Vajra . He could well stand shoulder to shoulder with all the four mutants that were crowned to be at the summit of the pyramid .

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The elder’s formidable fists struck onto the snake’s torso in continual succession . The force those fists could deliver was enough to crush boulders and pulverize them, but right now, they seemed to have borne no effect to the snake .

The White Snake looked down at the elder with a contemptuous look in its eyes . Then, with a sudden jerk of its tail, the snake swung its body like a whip, lambasting the elder with its crushing weight . With a deafening bang, the elder was sent into the air, flying listlessly like a weightless feather . It then crushed onto a precipitous cliff with a mouthful of blood .

"I’ll fight you f*cking bastartd to a bitter end!"

the Vajra roared . The emotion that was carried by the words he shouted was an evident reflection of the state of agitation in which he was in . His eyes were crawling with webs of protruding blood vessels . There was only looks of profound hatred in his eyes and nothing more .

The Vajra seemed to have abandoned his broadsword, and instead, he had chosen a ward as his weapon .

The ward was not a sizeable one . It was only a foot long . It seemed almost like one of the many whimsical implements that were present as a tribute on the tables stored in those Buddhist temples . It bore no resemblance to a real weapon whatsoever .

However, this particular ward that was held in hand by the Vajra was glowing a gleaming glitter . It seemed to have contained some mysterious force that rendered this simple and unsophisticated piece of implement sparkling and crystal-clear . Boom! The ward exuded an astonishing noise as soon as flew into the air .

Bang!

The ward was struck onto the snake’s body; blinding sparks soon began to splatter because of the strike . However, this had only left a few bruises on the snake’s body and nothing fatal . There was not even a shed of blood drained from the snake thanks to the strike of this ward .

The unsuccessful strike gave the White Snake an opportunity to strike back . Its gigantic body crushed down its enormous weight upon the Vajra, almost catching him with its tangling body . But in the end, the Vajra had luckily managed to break away from the crushing weight of the snake and went free; but his mouth was well filled with blood .

The Vajra’s body was still as yellow as a topaz . The brilliant glitter that was shining over his skin granted him an indestructible body . This was his mysterious ability; had he not possessed such resistance to the external crushing forces, his body would have long been reduced to a gory mixture of flesh and blood . But so far, he was still alive .

The White Snake was indifferent and cold-blooded . It swung its gigantic body across the entirety of the space between the mountains, committing heinous carnages as it did . This almost looked like the end of the world for the mutants that were still alive . Nothing could maintain their integrity or structure once they were stricken by the beast’s swinging tail .

Even the boulders that weighed at least hundreds of thousands of kilograms erupted like a spongy cake . Many hills and even mountains had been reduced to a level ground!

With only a single swing of its tail, the snake could make a thousand men die a violent death . No-one was a match for the beast . No-one had even come close to prove to be a match for it .

Chu Fe leaped out of danger with sole reliance on his instinct . His mission was to dodge the strikes and stay alive; so far, he had not launched a single attack against the snake .

Soon later, he had to pull the string of his bow, because he had seen that the lover of his heart, Lin Naoi, was in great peril . The swinging tail of the snake seemed to have every opportunity to strike her down .

He could predict the latent danger in which Lin Naoi was placed because his accurate instinct had told him so, and soon later, it was verified .

The White Snake swept off its enemy as it would do a mat . Like a splendid waterfall that hung by the cliffs, the beast crushed down to the earth below at which Lin Naoi had been standing .

Chu Feng did not hesitate . He drew a bone arrow from the sheath . It was an arrow entirely cast out of the dragon’s teeth . At the same time, Chu Feng also resolved to use the thunderous breathing rhythm to couple the power enabled by it to his arrow .

He tried to resonate with the bow, and soon later, a thunderous rumble blasted in the air around him .

Whoosh!

The snow-white arrow was finally let loose from its string . It was winded with a splendid electric arc, projecting forward at such a great speed that the air through which it travelled begun to give off a thunderous rumble as well .

Bang!

The arrow pierced through the snake’s tail, and the injury it caused immediately made the snake raise its tail like a whip in profound agony .

But it only made the snake to feel the piercing pain enabled by the arrow and nothing more . It lost no scales nor had any blood been seen dripping from the wound .

This White Snake was virtually indestructible!

The slightly injured tail was dragged along on the earth, tumbling acres of ancient trees and indenting the rocky cliffs as it went .

The tail skimmed right by Lin Naoi’s head . She was virtually a hair away from the destructive force of the snake’s formidable tail . Although Lin Naoi had always been the calmest one of the lot, right now, she was greatly uneased by the threat posed by this invincible White Snake .

Meanwhile, Silver Wing had made his way to his mistress at about the same time after having sensed the danger faced by his mistress .

The White Snake was still bearing an indifferent attitude . It looked askance at Lin Naoi at first, then turned its contemptuous look to Silver Wing . Then soon after a deafening buzzing sound, the snake started swinging its supple body to deliver its deadly blows once again .

Bang!

Silver Wing was so close to the snake that he was not allowed with enough time to dodge the beast’s deadly swing . The force that came with the blow flung Silver Wing into the air . Mouthful of blood was soon seen jetting out from the injured man’s buccal cavity . One of his arms also had its bone fractured under the flesh .

But luckily, this was all the injuries that had been inflicted on him . Because he was so close to the snake, the strike that the snake had landed on him did not come with great velocity, so as a result, that strike was just a thump in the face and nothing more .

Chu Feng, on the other hand, was in a totally different situation . He was standing in the distance, more distant to the snake than Silver Wing . When the White Snake started swinging its body then reached where Chu Feng had been standing, both the velocity and power that the strike had reached were of unparalleled immensity .

A vicious chill ran through Chu Feng’s spine . He was scurrying away at great speed, but it was not enough to land him outside the snake’s attack range . Although he could predict the forthcoming danger that were to befall him, he was still unable to dodge in time .

Whoosh!

A white glint of light pierced through the air that was thick with tension . It was a person flying towards Chu Feng, traversing through air at supersonic speed . Without demur, the flying man snatched Chu Feng off the ground, carrying him in his arms as he continued to fly at low altitude . Then, using the branch of a tree as the anchorage point, the two vaulted over a hill and landed in another canyon nearby .

Boom!

Only inches above their head, that river-like silver body skimmed over . It had levelled the entire hill over which they had just vaulted . The hill was crushed by their feet as an earth-shattering noise erupted right by their ears . Everything around them had been destructed and reduced to nothing .

The man who saved him was in fact a lady . It was Lu Shiyun . She chose to lend Chu Feng a helping hand out of danger because she was nearby right at the time . She was flying to the same direction in which Chu Feng was desperately running for .

Her wings allowed her to traverse through space unhindered at unparalleled speed, and this had allowed both to survive through that terrifying strike delivered by the maddened snake .

Chu Feng was still astonished by that near-death sequence of events . He was astounded by the ability Lu Shiyun possessed . Not only did she have such unmatchable speed, her instinct was also as sharp as him . Without the ability to predict danger, she would not have allowed herself with enough time to pull off that epic rescue mission .

"Thank you, White Tiger Junior!" Chu Feng regretted what he said as soon as the words left his mouth .

Lu Shiyun was in a suit of white . She was still youthful and not marred by even a single speck of dust . Her shoes and her socks were still spotless even after all that dust that was stirred up by the fights and battles . Having suffered a crushing defeat and a heavy loss, the youthful girl was still rocking a charming smile, sweet and adorable . However, these positive attitudes and pleasing disposition had all vanished from her face immediately after Chu Feng’s words were shamelessly spoken . She was now a frowned and discontented girl with knitted brows!

"I’m sorry . It was… a slip of tongue," realizing that what he had said was wrong, Chu Feng immediately corrected himself .

On the ground, the fighting still continued . Blood-curdling screams rose one after another . Only in the twinkling of an eye, the mutants had suffered grievous losses .

When Chu Feng and Lu Shiyun came out from their hidings, the canyons had been filled with air reeking with the foul smell of blood . It was a horrid sight to behold as well . Bodies were piled upon bodies . They all belonged to those pitiful mutants who had all died a cruel death . At least two to three thousand mutants had been killed in a matter of minutes .

In the distance, Silver Wing was limping away with the aid of Lin Naoi by his side . They were running desperately for their lives, leaving behind that hale and hearty elder from Deity who had been killed and died for quite a while .

The Vajra and Jiang Luoshen were looking for routes of escape as well . They were each heading for a different direction after they realized that they were no match for that snake whatsoever .

The elder from Bodhi was shielding the retreat at the back . He was gripping to that ward tightly in hand . He roared and bellowed with rage and a tad of despair . He charged at the White Snake for one last time, hoping that he and his enemy would meet their death together .

Boom! A radiant brilliance suddenly erupted at the site of clashes .

The White Snake jetted out a silver beam of lustrous light . The beam of light crushed down on the elder with a mysterious force, breaking both the ward and elder himself into pieces . The venerated man and his trusty ward were both reduced to mere ashes without a second of delay .

"The coordinate is on target . Fire!" Lin Naoi’s slender body emanated a soft light as she spoke into her communicator . She was flying at low-altitude near the forest with Silver Wing in her arms . Silver Wing had been severely injured and almost incapacitated .

At the same time, she had sent out her order to her men for them to start bombing the place with weapons of mass destruction .

She was left with no alternatives . If this were to be delayed further, everyone would end up losing their life in the hand of that monstrosity of a beast .

Then, Lin Naoi shouted to the crowd, "Run!"

Boom!

In the distance, the horizon was suddenly lit up with a glaring light . There was something explosive that had risen . It then gradually approached towards Taihang Mountains . Seconds later, the target of this explosive weapon finally became clear . It was going right for the White Snake . It had been aimed at the beast itself!

Missile!

In addition, this was also a missile with powerful drive and unparalleled might!

The mutants who were within the range of Taihang Mountains had not caught a clear sight of the missile itself just yet, but they had all guessed that Deity must have asked the military to strike with a terrifying weapon to destroy everything that posed as a threat that had been living in this mountain range once and for all .

"Run!" many mutants started screaming . Those who were still alive all began to run like madmen into the distance .

Chu Feng’s expression had shifted as well . He could feel that the place had been enshrouded in an unprecedented danger right now . He hesitated no more and began bolting like wild horse for his own life .

This time, Lu Shiyun was no longer in charge of his escape . She could hardly help herself figuring out a path out of danger, let alone to carry another man in her arms . She fluttered that pair of white-snow wings of hers and hastily flew away .

Chu Feng was running along the rising and falling ridges of the mountain ranges . He was miles away from where the site of the imminent explosion, but this distance was not enough to comfort him . He was still bolting and leaping from mountain to mountain, before finally the explosion erupted .

Boom!

Along with the blaring rumble of a distant explosion, there were also sights of a burning hell in the distance . The place where the homing missiles had exerted their powers were now blazing with flames of mountain height . The rocky hills and mountains had all been flattened .

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In succession, another six to seven missiles had flew over and brought down their reign of terror in the Mountains of White Snake . As all the mountains were seen being blasted away, the White Snake was also lost in that sea of scorching flames .

At last, everything became quiet again .

Chu Feng could feel pain that had been inflicted on his body . He had been hit by many rolling boulders, but luckily, none his injuries were severe . He had no sprains nor fractures .

By his reckoning, Chu Feng conjectured that even if the White Snake and the other mutated beasts were killed in that fearsome round of bombardment, the casualties on the mutants’ side would still prove to be greater .

All in all, those were some serious firepower; if they were fired to kill that beast, no mutants would survive under its deadly blast .

Sure enough, when peace and silence finally restored after the bombardment was complete, the number of surviving mutants was less than a thousand . The survivors struggled to scramble up from underneath the ruins that the bombardment had left behind with . Everyone was drenched in blood .

"Oh, my god! It is still alive! It is not dead!" suddenly, someone cried .

In the distance, there were no longer any hill nor any mountains left in the horizon . The missiles had levelled everything in sight .

From underneath the scorching earth, a giant monster rose from below . The monster had a snow-white body . There were a few scales missing from that thing, and sparingly, there were also a few spots of bloodstains on its body . Apart from these, there were no other wounds left to see .

"Oh god! She is immortal!" the mutants trembled in fear . They had almost fallen into utter despair .

"Two hundred mutated beasts have died here . I will hold a memorial ceremony for these martyrs . I will claim the lives of two-city worth of people, and they can be my sacrificial offering for the ceremony!" the White Snake said in a vicious manner .

The crowd was all taken aback by its words .

Most of the mutated beasts had fled from the site before the missile had hit, but some still lost their lives as a result of the bombardment .

The White Snake wanted to massacre the inhabitants of two conquered cities to quench its thirst for vengeance!

"How can this beast still be alive? Even the missiles can’t kill it?" Even the Vajra could hardly believe it .

"Did you not see that sphere of white light around her body just then . I reckon it was that bulb of light that had protected her from the blast of our missiles . I don’t know what power that light had granted her specifically," Jiang Luoshen whispered .

"Ah?" suddenly, the worry on her face gave way to a cheerful smile . There was a message on her communicator .

"What’s the matter?"

"The disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha had arrived!" Jiang Luoshen was pleasantly surprised . The smile on her face granted her an unmatched beauty and charm .

Just then, a man had barged into the mountains of Taihang . The scurry of his feet was brisk and hasty . It seemed as if the man could make the road ahead of him shrink in length; with a single stride, he could reach a place miles away .

"The King of Taihang Mountains! Your mind has been corrupted by malicious intent and murderous thoughts! It’s time to stop!" the man spoke when he was still miles away from the site where the crowd stood, but his voice reached the ears of the crowd almost instantaneously .