"Giddy-up!"

He had just hidden behind the rocky hill when Bamo and his men charged in from outside.

An eagle had locked onto Chu Lingguang’s trail. Even if Chu Lingguang vanished for a moment, Bamo could catch up again. Now, with the eagle circling above the forest, it meant Chu Lingguang was somewhere within.

However, as soon as Bamo and his men entered the forest, they too felt a bone-chilling cold. Their warhorses grew restless, as if a far more terrifying presence lurked within these woods.

But knowing that Chu Lingguang was hiding here, Bamo had no reason to retreat.

He examined the tracks in the forest and quickly spotted the hoofprints left by the Little Red Horse. A moment later, he also discovered the rocky hill.

He gestured with his hand, ordering his team to surround the rocky hill.

Soon, Chu Lingguang, hiding behind the hill, sensed the approaching danger. Peeking through a crack, he saw Bamo and the others closing in.

’Do I have to see this through to the bitter end?’

Chu Lingguang glanced again toward the depths of the forest.

The Little Red Horse tugged at his sleeve, shaking its head vigorously as if it understood his intentions.

Chu Lingguang stroked the Little Red Horse’s mane again and said in a low voice, "Since you don’t want to go deeper, then we’ll fight our way out together!"

Chu Lingguang prepared to break out from the right, as Bamo was on the left. A Great Success Qi Sea Realm expert was someone Chu Lingguang was extremely wary of. If Bamo managed to pin him down and the others rushed up to support him, it would be a miracle if he survived.

So, Chu Lingguang began to calculate the time and distance.

He held his breath and used the Turtle Breath Technique to attune himself with his surroundings, seemingly aware of Bamo and his men’s every move.

"SHRRRIP!"

"AHH!"

"WHAP!"

But just then, a terrifying shriek echoed from in front of the rocky hill. The next moment, endless screams, a massive smacking sound, and the noise of something being devoured spread throughout the forest.

"HISS!"

The Little Red Horse neighed continuously in terror.

Goosebumps erupted all over Chu Lingguang’s body. He quickly rushed out from behind the rocky hill.

He saw a Great Snake Demon—over thirty meters long and half a meter thick, with Scale Armor the exact color of the dead leaves on the ground—burst out from nowhere. It sent Bamo’s group into chaos, men and horses flying. Several men were struck by the Great Snake Demon’s tail.

The tail had three sharp, backward-facing hooks. The men’s flesh was torn open, and white bubbles immediately frothed from their wounds.

The hooks were not just sharp, but also venomous.

"A Scorpion Python! Watch out for its tail!"

Bamo shouted. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!"

He drew his bow and fired a rapid succession of arrows at the Scorpion Python. Using the Three-Star Linked Pearls Archery technique at close range, the Scorpion Python was unable to dodge.

However, its layer of leaf-like Scale Armor was impenetrable. When the arrow shafts struck it, only a trace of blood appeared, the arrowheads getting stuck in the muscle beneath the scales.

The defense of that Scale Armor was comparable to a fifth-layer Dharma Aspect.

Chu Lingguang’s scalp tingled. His intuition told him this Scorpion Python was far more powerful than the Demon-Horned Bull. He and Bamo might not be its match.

Without the slightest hesitation.

Chu Lingguang took advantage of the chaos to flee. He finally understood the source of the bone-chilling cold in the forest—the Scorpion Python had been watching him.

His Spiritual Sense just wasn’t strong enough to detect it.

’It must have discovered me long ago,’ he thought. ’The only reason it didn’t attack was that it sensed Bamo and his men approaching and decided to lie in wait.’

Otherwise, if it had attacked him from the start, he and the Little Red Horse would have been torn to shreds.

The Little Red Horse was already scared out of its wits.

Without needing any prompting from Chu Lingguang, it bolted toward the edge of the forest, its speed so great it was as if it had evolved into a Demon Beast.

"AHH!"

Two of the pursuers, whose warhorses had been struck down and killed by the Scorpion Python’s tail, scrambled frantically toward the forest’s edge.

As Chu Lingguang passed them, he saw one was carrying a bow and arrows. With a swift strike of his Long Spear, he pulverized the man’s internal organs. He then sealed the throat of the other with a single thrust.

Then, he grabbed the bow and arrows and continued running out of the forest.

"CLOP! CLOP!"

Bamo, ignoring the life and death of his subordinates, also charged out from within the forest.

"SHRRIP!"

But the Scorpion Python had no intention of letting him go, slithering out of the forest at extreme speed.

"SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!"

Bamo drew his bow and fired another volley of arrows at it.

Unfortunately, he failed to hit the Scorpion Python’s vital spots. The arrow shafts that merely pierced its Scale Armor were quickly shaken off.

"HISSS!"

Just then, the Scorpion Python seemed to launch itself forward. Its thirty-meter-long body released a special ripple in the air, a wave of energy that doubled its speed. It shot out of the forest like a released spring.

"HRAAAGH!"

Bamo stood up on his horse’s back, wielding a meter-long Horse-Cutting Saber. He activated his fifth-layer Dharma Aspect and surged with Sea of Qi Power, cleaving down at the Scorpion Python with all his might.

The Scorpion Python dodged with its head and swept its tail around. Its Poisonous Hook clashed with Bamo’s large saber.

Bamo was sent flying from his horse’s back.

The warhorse beneath him was seized by the neck in the Scorpion Python’s maw. With a violent jerk, the python tore the horse’s head clean off, spilling blood and entrails all over the ground.

The Scorpion Python lunged toward Bamo again.

After landing, Bamo quickly steadied himself. With his warhorse torn to pieces, he had no choice but to face the Scorpion Python head-on. As a Great Success Qi Sea Realm expert with a fifth-layer Dharma Aspect who also wielded the power of the Divine Image, Bamo was not without a chance against an adult Scorpion Python.

It was just that he had been in a hurry to kill Chu Lingguang and couldn’t let him escape, which was why he hadn’t wanted to get entangled with the python. Now that it had locked onto him, he could only give up on Chu Lingguang for the time being.

"SHRRIP!"

The Scorpion Python’s tail swept toward Bamo again. Its tail was incredibly flexible; it could not only lash out in wide sweeps but could also be wielded like a Long Spear.

This prevented Bamo’s Saber Technique from ever threatening its vitals.