Changdong asked softly, "Are you having a lot of pain in your leg? If not, I'll find a way to wrap you up." By now, Ye Liuxi no longer felt any pain—she only noticed the warmth of the blood sliding down her calf. She shook her head, "I've been hit anyway. Let's focus on what's right in front of us. Survival comes first." Right in front of them... things weren't looking very promising. Below about ten meters, the water was golden and corrosive. The only support they had was a slow-moving giant serpent—its body so massive that its mouth could easily enclose a cliff opening several meters high. While the two arrows might have seemed insignificant to it, it wasn't certain; when the second arrow was struck, the serpent seemed to shift slightly. Above, at about fifteen meters, the chain bridge continued to sway. Fei Tang strained his arms desperately, trying to free himself from the restraints. At the cliff edge, the swift bird guards were quickly tying ropes, but their position required the ropes to be lowered to the center of the bridge for him to reach them—provided, of course, that the serpent remained still. Jiang Zhan turned to Qing Zhi, who calmly set down her crossbow. "Taking revenge for the city of Hu Yang isn't all your doing—I deserve half of it too. Her undercover plotting, my sabotage from behind—now it's balanced." Jiang Zhan laughed heartily, then stepped down with one foot, using the strength of his kick to propel himself upward, pressing his foot firmly against Fei Tang's back. Fei Tang felt his vision blur, his tongue nearly protruding—while Jiang Zhan, leveraging the momentum of his leap, took several strides along the chain and returned to the stone platform, where he smoothly took over the crossbow from Qing Zhi. As he spoke, several of the hawk guards had already secured their ropes and followed Chang Dong's method—using cow horns as pulleys to press down on the lower chain, swiftly sliding toward the bridge's center. Jiang Zhan raised his crossbow, mentally shifted his focus, and with a slight downward pressure on the arrow tip, aimed not at the guards below but at Chang Dong and Ye Liuxi. He released the trigger. Qing Zhi didn't have time to think, so she reached out and pushed against the bow. Jiang Zhan lost his aim, and a string of consecutive arrows passed just beside Chang Dong, striking the stone wall by the pool. This brief delay allowed the hawk guards to reach the bridge's center. One end of the rope was quickly fastened to Fei Tang's body for stability, while the other end was lowered. Fei Tang cried out, "First, loosen my grip—quick! Loosen my grip!" Jiang Zhan turned to Qing Zhi. Qing Zhi looked visibly distressed: "What if you shoot and disturb Master Jin?" Jiang Zhan smiled: "A demon held down by a thousand golden mountains—though startled, it will only roll over on the ground, triggering a minor earthquake nearby. I specifically Before the words had fully settled, the bows and crossbows were raised again. Chang Dong looked up and felt his heart sink—he saw the rope descending still far away, knowing it would not help. He thus steadied himself, motionless, letting Jiang Zhan aim precisely. As the arrow tip shimmered, poised to fly, Chang Dong suddenly loosened his grip, allowing himself to drop one step with Ye Liuxi beneath him, and in time caught the shaft of the arrow he had previously stepped on, narrowly avoiding the blow. The long rope had now reached the nearby area, swaying gently. Chang Dong used the blade of his sword to hook it, but each time, it missed—always just short of making contact. On his closest attempt, the blade came within no more than a dozen centimeters of the rope. Chang Dong grew increasingly anxious. Ye Liuxi watched intently and finally offered a difficult reminder: "Use my sword belt." Chang Dong quickly realized and bent down to untie Ye Liuxi's sword belt—the belt, though not very long, should be able to reach the rope if he swung it out. Just as he bent low, he suddenly paused: without realizing it, Ye Liuxi's blood had already dripped into the pool. While blood dripping into water wasn't unusual, what was remarkable was that the blood did not disperse—it slowly spiraled upward, forming golden-red eddies that grew larger and larger, like high-speed rotating gears, and at the very edge of the eddies, a sudden brush of the serpent's belly appeared. At the same time, from above, a command was issued, and the archery formation launched its arrows in unison. At that very moment, the sound of water surged, and the great serpent seemed suddenly agitated, splitting the water with a hissing, rushing cry. Its body instantly rose ten meters higher. Chang Dong could no longer hold onto the rope, and midway fell, his descent fierce—yet at the last moment, his body halted, as Ye Liuxi seized the momentum of the rise and fall, gripping the dangling rope firmly. Chang Dong realized what had happened, tightened his arms around her waist for support, and at the same time wrapped his legs around her, his arms also looping around. In that instant, he only wished he were a corkscrew, able to wind himself even tighter around the rope. Just as he took a deep breath, he heard Fei Tang shrieking in panic, and when he looked up, he wasn't sure whether to cry or laugh. Originally, after the snake's body rose, it must have been unconscious and collided with the chain bridge. As it opened its mouth, the high bridge blocked its path just right—deadly timing, since the exact spot where its upper and lower jaws would meet was precisely where Fat Tang was lying. Two swift bird guards stumbled, falling headfirst into the golden pool. The other two were fortunate—bound by ropes around their bodies, though they did fall, they still swayed in mid-air. Together with Chang Dong and Ye Liuxi's ropes, three strands now swayed like the pillars of wind chimes, violently shaken by the snake's head. The giant snake was strong, and one of its side chains snapped immediately. Fat Tang was terrified, his spirit fleeing—he had always sensed danger since entering the pass, surviving through sheer luck until now. It seemed now that his journey was coming to an end. At this moment, a sudden "thump-thump" sound of gunfire rang out in his ears. The snake's head, struck by the shots, instinctively recoiled, relieving Fat Tang's immediate peril. Seizing this brief moment, Fat Tang quickly lifted his eyes and recognized the figure standing at the cliff's edge: Ding Liu. Moved "By the gods!" That noble intention lasted barely a second. The great serpent seemed utterly incensed—twisting and thrashing its body, its head swinging like a sledgehammer, violently ramming and crashing into the walls. Iron chains snapped one after another, massive stones from the ceiling tumbled down, and the entire vault trembled, teetering on the brink. Dust and smoke surged upward. Fat Tang suddenly lost his sense of balance, his body and the attached cart plunging straight downward. A fierce gust of wind surged before him as the serpent leaped upward with a thunderous crash, shattering the cliff cavern and causing it to crack and collapse. Fat Tang went momentarily blind. Nothing could compare to such a collapse of heaven and earth. —The situation for the Feathered Guard grew increasingly dire. Zhao Guanshou was being escorted to safety along the mountain slope, turning to gaze back at the lower battlefield. He saw several spell-casters being swept off their feet by Qige's long whip. One of them, mid-flight, was suddenly caught and enveloped by a surge of emerald leaves descending from above, his cry echoing into a continuous, lingering arc across the night sky. Bodies lay scattered across the ground, blood flowing like rivers. The artillery positions high above had been rendered useless. The Scorpion's eyes, shielded by spirits, advanced inch by inch, pressing relentlessly. The Swift-Feathered and Golden-Feathered Guards retreated while fighting, and it seemed their situation was now hopeless. "Head of the Jin Yu Guard, sweating profusely, urged: 'But it... it has burst forth! Never before has this happened, Grandfather. Why don't we retreat? Only the finest immortals can subdue a great demon. For now, we simply...'" Zhao Guanshou's gaze darkened. "Order everyone to hold their ground." The head of the Jin Yu Guard was stunned, about to speak, but ultimately silenced himself. He drew his waist sword and dashed toward the field, shouting with a strained voice, "No retreat! Hold firm!" … Zhao Guanshou clenched his fists, the gray-white strands of his hair gilded by the earthfire. The bloody, desperate battlefield pierced his vision—successive collapses, blood and flame intertwining, bodies twisted and shattered, swords clashing and sparking with fire. Suddenly, a roar erupted from above, like the surge of a sea wave. Zhao Guanshou’s lips trembled with excitement, and he suddenly lifted his head— No mistake. The flame crest of the earthfire platform surged and coiled together, as if compressed into a ball, then transformed into a massive flame dragon’s head, emerging with a strong, sinewy dragon body, advancing with unstoppable momentum toward the vanguard of the scorpion forces. Where it reached, men and horses fell in chaos, scorched animal shapes scorched into the ground, patches of qijiang grass were torn up and flung into the air by the dragon’s fiery claws; the uprooted qijiang grass caught fire, drifting down like blossoms on hairpins, falling gently like countless stars scattered across the sky. Zhao Guanshou stared at the mountain peak above. At last, a tall, graceful figure stands in the shadow of the mountain stones, composed and steady, moving with swift gestures, continuously forming seals. Zhao Guanshou smiles. The Long family truly lives up to their reputation as the foremost of the scholars of divination and alchemy. —— Fei Tang opens his eyes. The sounds of battle outside are constant and clear, yet here, the atmosphere is unusually quiet. He looks down and sees rubble piled upon rubble, half of the great serpent crushed beneath it, with something moving by the side. He rubs his eyes and sees clearly—a chicken, no doubt. Zhun Sihai is flapping its wings vigorously, launching fierce attacks against the serpent's body. It seems like a mosquito striving desperately against a tiger, exhausting itself until it bleeds, while the tiger remains unaware. But something feels odd—his view is strange. He is perched high up, yet he feels as though he is hanging upside down. Fei Tang gradually regained his composure. He remembered now—when the raptors had rescued Changdong and the others, they had tied him firmly to the pulley and chain, securing him both to the pulley and the chain. When the chain bridge snapped, he had thought he would fall, but in fact, he had simply been suspended by the chain. But what about the others? Why were they silent? Fei Tang grew increasingly afraid, shouting loudly into the air, "Dongguang? Xi Jie? Liu'er? Gao? Are you all still here?" Pausing, he recalled that Ah He had also arrived, "Ah He? Are you all okay? Just breathe, please!" By the end of his call, his voice was choked. A rustling sound, and someone pushed aside the scattered stones and sat up. Fei Tang's heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He looked closely and recognized it was Ye Liuxi, and nearly burst into tears, "Xi Jie, are you all right?" Ye Liuxi was momentarily confused, asking, "Did you see Changdong and the others?" At that time, the situation was chaotic, with stones raining down. She remembered suddenly hearing a massive stone crash down, then Chang Dong lifting her and hurling her aside. Fei Tang shook his head and roared, "East brother! Liu'er! Gao! Ah! Someone respond!" Ye Liuxi hurried around, and suddenly spotted a baseball cap brim emerging from among the scattered stones nearby. Ignoring her leg injury, she rolled and crawled over, desperately using her hands to push aside the rubble burying people. When she finally saw Chang Dong's face, she was overjoyed and called out, "Chang Dong..." But just as she finished speaking, Chang Dong's body was suddenly pushed away from below. Someone leapt up, slashing diagonally with an iron ruler. Ye Liuxi rolled out of the way in panic, though the ruler, now with its sharp tip chipped off, still cut a path across her cheek. She then recognized the person who had sprung up from beneath Chang Dong. Jiang Zhan. He brushed off the dust from his clothes, looking far from disheveled, even offering her a smile and gesturing toward Changdong's body. "Your husband, huh? This meat shield is quite useful—he's blocked quite a few attacks for me." Then, turning around, he scanned the room, his tone suddenly growing anxious. "Qingzhi?" The bodyguard who was supervising him grew increasingly impatient: "Look at him! How long have you been standing here? Isn't it time you were going?" Such an opportunity was fleeting—there would be no second chance. With courage, Li Jinao replied: "It was Master Zhao who assigned me to come here, and he didn't specify a time limit!" The bodyguard's face grew increasingly displeased. He wanted to make a scene, yet feared that if he pushed too hard, Li Jinao might bring complaints to Master Zhao Guanshou. So he patiently followed, first rolling his eyes, then, as the evening wore on, alternating between rolling his eyes and yawns. Suddenly, the alarm sounded—sharp and urgent, as if it were a death knell. The bodyguard's expression changed instantly. Just as he reached to grab Li Jinao and push him out, someone outside shouted: "All personnel, report to their stations immediately! Black Stone City is under threat! The Scorpion-Eye forces are attacking the Fei Lin City!" Now completely absorbed by the emergency, the bodyguard no longer noticed Li Jinao. He dashed out, only to remember his duty at the door and turned back, Li Jin'ao nodded eagerly. As he watched the Yulin Guards depart, a sense of relief washed over him. Perfect—now that no one was watching, the scorpion could launch its siege attack and go ahead with it. After all, they were rebels; if they didn’t attack the city, what would they expect from him, building walls? He simply wouldn’t miss his chance to learn. Confucius once said, "To hear the Way in the morning and die at night would be sufficient." Even if he died today, he would still be a ghost who had visited the Yulin City Museum. He felt the ground uneven, as if it were arching slightly to one side; to look at anything, he had to tilt his head. Opposite him, a golden cover panel on the wall was slightly askew, revealing the scene beneath. Wait! Li Jinao remembered this was a display wall adorned with paintings of spirits and demons, and there had been a golden cover panel there—himself thinking it was merely decorative, to showcase the wealth and grandeur of the Yulin Guard. So there were paintings beneath it all along? Afraid of another tremor, he crawled over carefully, using both hands and feet, and with a sense of nervousness, glanced around before cautiously lifting a corner of the golden cover panel. What he saw was strange—resembling a serpent, with eagle’s claws, and a flat, round head adorned with tufts of hair. The inscription read: "Kui Long." The tenth son of the Dragon, known especially for bewitching people.