"Crack!"

Just then, a strange sound came from not far away.

"Swish!"

The terrifying figure suddenly shifted, a gust of rank wind swept the land, and one by one, the trees came crashing down, revealing a special forces soldier hidden behind them.

"Ah!"

The soldier was thrown to the ground, knowing he couldn’t escape, he shouted angrily and pulled the trigger at the monster.

"Ratatatat..."

The machine gun barrel spat Flame, countless bullets raced out, landing on the monster.

But then,

they were deflected.

"Ah!"

Seeing this, the soldier roared to the sky, pulling the bomb cord as the monster’s huge mouth descended.

The next instant.

"Boom!"

The earth shook with the explosion.

The monster couldn’t help but roar to the sky, spewing thick smoke from its mouth, its massive body rolling back and forth in the mountain forest.

The soldier hidden behind the tree was forced out.

"Attack!"

The captain shouted, pulling a grenade from his waist and throwing it.

This type 82-2 steel ball grenade, killing radius is six meters, contains more than six hundred steel balls, once detonated, not only causing explosive damage but unleashing hundreds of steel balls within twenty meters.

In front of modern high-powered lethal weapons, human bodies are as fragile as tofu.

"Boom!"

Explosions rang continuously.

Smoke billowed and flames scorched, blown away by the wild wind, everyone’s eyes were filled with fear and despair.

"It’s over!"

A shadow rushed forward, all things plunged into darkness.

*

*

*

Nightfall.

Dark clouds obscured the half-crescent moon, the mountain forest became pitch black, so dark that one couldn’t see their hand in front of them.

In this environment, a figure silently left the team, avoiding the peripheral patrol’s view, sneaking into the depths of the valley.

The mountain road was difficult,

the night mountain road was even harder to travel.

Yet the shadow seemed to view the night as day, moving silently, swiftly running forward.

After a moment.

The shadow stopped in front of a group of stone sculptures.

The array of sculptures were all various snake forms, each vivid and lifelike.

The largest sculpture was nearly seventy feet long, as thick as two people embracing, the snake head raised and coiled in the center.

"Thud!"

The shadow knelt before the sculpture, bowing his head to the ground, showing a look of devotion:

"Great Snake God, you are the Mother of the sky, the Lord of the earth, controlling lightning, the swift Divine Spirit."

"Time crawls at your feet, sun and moon rest between your eyes..."

"Devotee bows, prays for blessings..."

"Clap!"

"Clap clap!"

Just as he prayed softly, a crisp applause sounded from behind, a person leisurely stepped out.

"Master Ji."

The newcomer limped forward, smiling:

"What kind of show is this?"

"It’s you!" Master Ji stood up upon hearing the voice, turning to look at the person:

"Crippled John!"

"It’s me." Crippled John grinned, patting his crippled leg, sighing:

"Luckily, though I am crippled, I’m not a real invalid, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to keep up with you."

"Master Ji, the time has come, perhaps we should speak frankly and discuss thoroughly."

"Discuss what?" Master Ji snorted coldly:

"We have arrived at the relic, once there, you will naturally find what you seek."

"Heh..." Crippled John shook his head:

"Master Ji is really a master of feigning ignorance, but I have a few unresolved queries, hoping for enlightenment from Master Ji."

Without waiting for a response, he continued:

"Master Ji is now worth billions, not only a guest of affluent families but having anything one desires."

"Why risk coming here?"

"I told you."

Master Ji said muffledly:

"To find a miraculous snake that can prolong life, you’ve seen them today, there are snakes with wings here."

"Maybe there are snakes that can extend life."

"So true." Crippled John nodded:

"Before coming here, I had never seen a winged snake, probably never even heard of one."

"However..."

"What’s your relationship with Scar?"

"What do you mean?" Master Ji frowned:

"Isn’t Scar your man?"

"Yes and no." Crippled John shook his head:

"We needed a guide, Scar knew this place well, skilled enough to meet the requirements."

"But he clearly has something he’s hiding from us."

Touching his chin, he continued:

"The hotel at the foot of the mountain, using various excuses to lure people here, but obviously not for money."

"The holding rooms are filled with corpses, the off-road pickup truck had bloodstains not cleaned properly."

"I examined the mountain path, there were obvious tire tracks."

"Entering here, encountered several White Bone, as if Master Ji had two beside him."

Master Ji bowed his head.

As expected.

Beside him on the ground lay two White Bone, though covered with wild grass, not very conspicuous.

"Sharp observation skills."

Raising his brow, Master Ji slowly said: 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"No wonder Elder Gou went to great lengths to get you out from the Public Security Department, truly impressive."

"However..."

"I still don’t understand your meaning?"

"Heh..." Crippled John chuckled lightly, and said:

"Has Master Ji ever heard of human sacrifices?"

"?" Master Ji’s expression slightly changed:

"I’ve heard a bit, but not clear."

"In ancient times, the masses were ignorant, unable to resist natural disasters and unaware of their causes, hence imagining a Divine Spirit manipulating disasters behind the scenes." Crippled John explained:

"They believed that calming the anger of the Divine Spirit would prevent disasters, and such calming required sacrifice."

"The more precious the offerings, the more sincere the heart, the Divine Spirit would be happier, naturally refraining from causing disasters."

"And what is most precious?"

"In human eyes, naturally their own lives!"

"Thus emerged human sacrifices, but since enlightenment began, such events have rarely occurred."