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Translator: Tamon
The wildfire ran unchecked across the entire forest, burning everything in its path as it encroached on the heart of the forest with great speed.
Xu Hei saw fleeing birds and stampeding animals as he got nearer.
The wildfire was nothing short of a disaster for all forest creatures. It would decimate everything in its path, all life, plant or animal, would die.
Xu Hei’s heart was heavy. This was his home!
“No~!” He hissed as he rushed faster.
Hei Huang never saw him like this and knew not to pry in his moment of desperation.
Xu Hei arrived at his turf, before his two mountains, to see the inferno towering high up into the sky. The flora was mostly burning, with a hellscape left behind by the flames plunged in a scorching heat.
The wildfire was relentless, culling the slow and the weak in its pitiless embrace.
He noticed a pack of boars, a squealing sow as it carried its young, when a burning tree fell with a mighty crack, crushing it underneath. The piglets stood with her body and the fire swallowed them all.
Xu Hei had watched them grow up, planning on rationing them starting next year, but they were gone, all gone!
A turtledove nest with young birds still learning to fly was next, as was the rest of the forest, all taken by the flames, all reduced to ashes.
Xu Hei watched so many of the animals die in pain.
The wildfire had grown unchecked to such a degree that humans couldn’t stop it. Only a downpour might be able to halt its devastation.
Humans have a saying, start a wildfire and be thrown in jail, showing how much damage it could do.
Xu Hei set his jaw and jumped into the flames, using his Divine Sense like mad.
The flames didn’t harm him as he arrived at a familiar pond, jumping right in.
The cave was filled with black smoke, with wolf cubs, the wolf king, and the white snake huddled in a corner.
The white snake was no longer as small, nearing Xu Hei in size, and even at the 3rd layer of the Awareness Stage.
Thanks to the cave, these animals escaped the worst of the wildfire, but the thick smoke only got worse with time and would prove their undoing in the end.
The Snake Fruit Tree bore a fruit, ready to ripen over the next three years.
The wolf king rushed to Xu Hei and whined.
As the inferno raged outside, the smoke would only thicken and they had to leave.
Xu Hei pulled out the Snake Fruit Tree with his tail and placed it in his storage bag as he said, “Let’s go. I’ll get you out.”
…
Ten miles from here was Snake Village.
A weathered elder in a Daoist robe stood at the foot of the mountain and watched the billowing smoke with a sneer.
Chen Daoling was hanging by a thread. He’d live for three more years at most. All he wanted now was to flay that demon snake and make a pill out of him.
He retained no hope of extending his lifespan, putting all his efforts into his two remaining disciples, Zhao Wenzhuo and Chen Duoduo.
The two flanked behind him, standing with respect.
The last few months’ seclusion helped Zhao Wenzhuo reach mid Qi Refining Stage. The achievement made this one-year fresh junior disciple of Snake Catchers look like a heaven-sent genius.
Chen Duoduo was Chen clan’s chosen, on the verge of reaching the late Qi Refining Stage.
“The wildfire has been raging for three days and should’ve reached the demon snake’s lair.” Chen Daoling grinned.
Zhao Wenzhuo was grave. “Master, the fire will anger many demons. Even that demon snake will seek revenge.”
“Ha-ha, and?” Chen Daoling sneered, confident in his plan.
“I’ll be frank. The old demon snake, what happened in the Valley of Serpents, everything, caught the attention of an elder in the Snake Catchers Sect. They will soon erect a branch in this area and you two can enter it to cultivate.”
Zhao Wenzhuo and Chen Duoduo’s hearts shook.
The Snake Catchers Sect, one of the five largest sects of the Chu Kingdom, dominated the southern area. Each branch had a Golden Core cultivator watching over it.
The branch would raise the cultivation level of this area, and all, be it Snake Village, Python Village, or even Chen Town, would have everything to gain from it.
Many people would move here, forming a new city, a thriving economic hub.
“Where will the branch be built?” Zhao Wenzhuo’s eyes glimmered.
“That’s a sect secret. I have no right to know, but the elder sent his avatar to check. We will know soon enough,” Chen Daoling said.
The birth of Valley of Serpents was destined to catch Snake Catchers Sect’s eye, for it was a natural snake gathering ground offering all kinds of species for all their needs.
That wasn’t all, for the old demon snake had added to that interest, raising the valley’s value even more.
The Snake Catchers Sect was willing to establish a branch to monopolize it.
…
The inferno raged on in the heart of the forest, sending billowing black smoke into the air and filling the air with ash, making it impossible to breathe or see.
“Water Bullet!”
Xu Hei spat a water ball, cutting a path through this hell.
The wolf king carried its cubs and the white snake as they made their way deeper into the forest.
Hei Huang said, “Xu Hei, wildfires happen all the time. It’s the natural order in this hot weather.”
Xu Hei crawled without a word.
Hei Huang looked around. “But it’s a rarity to see one so large.”
All they could see as they traveled was black and more black. A conservative estimate was that it burned for ten kilometers.
And it would keep doing so without strong winds or downpours stopping it.
Hei Huang sighed, unable to find any words of consolation. As a human, he didn’t understand a snake’s thinking.
But if it were his home that got swallowed by flames instead, how would he feel?
“I think it was bound to happen.” Xu Hei spoke at last.
“Eh?” Hei Huang started.
Xu Hei was solemn. “You said that Snake Catchers Sect has many branches, mostly built in areas thick with Spiritual Energy and many snakes. Right?”
“Right.” Hei Huang nodded.
Xu Hei breathed in, and what came out was a chilling voice. “I know who did it.”
Xu Hei’s eyes were icy, red from the building bloodlust.
Hei Huang was taken aback at the towering killing intent coming from a mid Awareness demon.
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