The Portal of Wonderland

“Is it possible that skeletons also have emotions?”

Suddenly, a thought crossed Shi Mu’s mind. But, he shook his head, and pushed this strange thought out of his mind. He then focused his mind on the primary matter.

“There’s a fierce ominous beast in the depths of this cave. You have to go inside and lure it out,” Shi Mu ordered Yan Luo.

The spirit mark unleashed its power. A wave of inexplicable force tumbled down on Yan Luo’s body. It urged it to step forward, and move towards the depths of the cave. Yan Luo started to walk with heavy and sonorous footsteps.

“Walk softly with light footsteps,” Shi Mu said hastily.

Yan Luo had raised its right leg, and was about to put it down forcefully. But, it stopped as soon as it heard Shi Mu’s words. Its leg remained hung in the air. The faint-green soul flame in its eye sockets flickered a few times. Then, its right foot fell down slowly. After that, it slowly lifted its left leg…

Yan Luo’s footsteps became extremely soft. In fact, it started to walk on tiptoes. Shi Mu found this funny. Its footsteps had become quiet and soundless now.

Shi Mu was dumbstruck as he saw its sluggish movement. But, he didn’t dare to keep high hopes in Yan Luo. Yan Luo had already surpassed his expectations by following his orders and walking soundlessly.

Shi Mu heaved a sigh of relief. Then, his figure flashed, and quietly vanished into the woods.

Yan Luo’s figure entered deeper into the cave. It seemed to have become accustomed to walking with light footsteps. Now, its footsteps seemed much more sensitive than before.

Suddenly, the soul flame within its eye sockets flickered as it arrived close to the spacious place.

A dangerous aura prevailed in the depths of the cave. This made Yan Luo reluctant to approach any closer. However, it couldn’t disobey Shi Mu’s order because of the power of the contract. Therefore, it continued to walk forward.

However, the brightness of Yan Luo’s soul flame had weakened a little. Then, its footsteps became lighter, and the aura around its body started to recede.

It soon arrived at the deepest place in the cave. The three-headed python finally floated into its line of sight.

Yan Luo had instinctively restrained its aura to conceal its presence. But, its technique couldn’t be compared with that of Shi Mu’s.

Suddenly, the python’s coiled body moved. The six eyes on top of its three giant heads opened. It then raised its heads ferociously.

The python’s giant heads turned, and its six piercing-cold eyes fell on Yan Luo.

Yan Luo’s body was initially sluggish. But then, the soul flame in its eye sockets brightened-up. It turned around, and fled towards the cave’s exit without any hesitation. Its movement seemed inexplicably agile.

Suddenly, a black beam of light flashed through the air like lightning, and bombarded the place where Yan Luo had stood a moment ago.

‘Bang!’

The fragments of crushed rocks scattered everywhere. A ten feet deep pit got formed in the ground. A pungent and unpleasant smell diffused through the air in the surrounding area.

The black beam of light had been emitted out by the left head of the python. It issued a hoarse hissing howl. A fit of fury could be seen blazing in its cold eyes.

It wouldn’t have exhibited such anger if someone had disturbed its sleep before. However, it had recently become pregnant. Therefore, it needed a long and deep sleep… so that it could give birth to a healthy offspring.

Someone had dared to invade its territory at such a crucial time, and had disturbed its much-needed sleep. This was an unforgivable offence.

The python’s body began to sway left and right – like a pendulum. Suddenly, it transformed into a shadow, and darted after Yan Luo.

Yan Luo had reached the passageway by now. It was running at an alarming speed.

However, this astonishing speed was nothing in front of the python’s. Its body swooped down towards the passageway. It then shrank its body, and darted forward at a lightning speed. It looked like an arrow departing from a bowstring. It crossed dozens of feet in an instant, and caught-up with the skeleton.

The python’s right head opened its mouth, and pounded its venomous fangs down. It intended to crush the skeleton into two pieces.

However, Yan Lou’s body became fuzzy, and transformed into a silver afterimage. Then, it appeared several feet away from its original position. It had been successful in evading the python’s dangerous bite.

‘Bang!’

The python hadn’t anticipated this situation. It couldn’t stop the momentum of its head, and heavily knocked against the cave’s wall. It seemed as if the entire cave had been shaken-up by the impact. Countless fragments of rocks dispersed in all directions.

Yan Luo didn’t turn back even though it had heard the huge rumbling sound. But, the soul flame in its eye sockets started to tremble; as if it was aghast. It then quickened its pace a little.

Yan Luo had reached near the cave’s exit by the time the python raised its head again.

The python issued a furious hiss from its mouth. It started to blaze with rage. It then dashed towards the skeleton. Its right head opened its mouth at the same time, and spouted out a thick beam of black light. After that, it flashed and arrived behind Yan Luo.

The soul flame in Yan Luo’s eyes flickered again. Then, its body became fuzzy. Its stature flashed outside the cave while trailing a string of silver afterimages behind.

A loud rumbling sound rang out. The mountain rocks shattered and scattered all around.

Yan Luo burst out of the cave with twice of its previous speed. The faint-green soul flame in its eye sockets had become dimmer. But, it didn’t dare to stop even for a second. It continued to run towards the forest where Shi Mu had laid out the trap.

The python plunged into a blazing wrath due to its two consecutive failures.

This python was considered to be the overlord of the area that fell within the radius of dozens of kilometers around the cave. How could it miss its attacks twice while dealing with a trivial thing that was barely at the Hou Tian primary-stage?

‘Bang!’ a loud sound was heard once again.

The crushed rocks fluttered around as the python’s head bumped into the cave’s entrance. A huge hole was blasted open at that place. The python’s hundred feet long body pounced and rushed outside the cave.

A tree in the forest was laden with luxuriant foliage. Shi Mu crawled-up this tree, and stood on one of its branches. Then, he looked into the direction of the cave. His heart was overwhelmed with happiness as he saw Yan Luo being followed by the python. Then, he took out the Sky Splitting Bow, and a Chasing Wind Arrow.

He slipped the arrow on the bow, and pulled it back. A golden gleam swept across his eyes.

The python was extremely fast. It had reached a few feet behind Yan Luo in a couple of seconds.

Shi Mu saw that the python’s enormous body was swaying from side-to-side – like a pendulum. Suddenly, it swatted its sturdy tail on the ground. Then, its gigantic body flew in the air – like a thick black arrow, and pounced towards Yan Luo. Its left head opened its mouth at the same time. A black light was flickering inside its mouth. It was about to spout out a black beam of light. Its right head revealed its fang at the same time… as if it was accumulating its strength to make a powerful attack.

Yan Luo could feel a fluctuation of ghastly strength surging-up violently behind it. But, it didn’t have any strength left to accelerate its speed once again. Therefore, it threw its body down in order to avoid the attack.

‘Whiz!’ an ear-piercing sound was heard.

The sound had been issued by the movement of a green arrow. It had flashed from the woods, and darted towards the python.

Numerous green charm characters were carved on the surface of the arrow; they had been carved to boost-up the arrow’s speed. The arrow pierced through the air, and darted towards the python at a lightning speed. It then submerged into the mouth of the python’s right head — the same mouth that had been opened to spout the light beam.

The python issued a painful screech. Its right head had been struck by the Chasing Wind Arrow; it began to swing wildly. Then, it started to hit its right head on the ground in a continuous manner.

‘Bang!’

It blew-up a huge hole in the ground. Layers of dust flew upward in the air. It also led to a strong wind that swept towards the surrounding area; it carried away everything that it came across on the way.

Yan Luo lay prone on the ground. However, it got rolled-up by the sudden gust of wind. It flew in the same manner as a willow branch flutters in the air. Then, it fell heavily in the forest.

It tumbled over a few times. Then, it became motionless on the ground. It seemed that it had received serious injuries; so much so that it couldn’t even budge an inch.

Shi Mu was profoundly amazed as he saw this scene. He had seen that Yan Luo was affected by the gale. But, the bone armor on its body didn’t seem to have received several damages.

However, the current situation was dire. Shi Mu couldn’t afford to ponder over this trivial matter at this juncture. So, he placed another Chasing Wind Arrow onto the bowstring.

‘Whiz!’ a shrill grating sound whistled through the air.

The green arrow flashed like a shooting star as it went straight towards the left eye of the python’s middle head.

The eyes of the python’s left head flashed with an ominous glint. Then, its middle head opened its mouth, and spurted a long and slender red shadow – like a lightning. The red shadow rolled-up around the green arrow. It turned out to be the python’s tongue.

However, the python had underestimated the might of the Chasing Wind Arrow. Its tongue wrapped itself around the arrow firmly, but it couldn’t strike it out of the way.

Meanwhile, the green arrow had slightly changed its trajectory as a result of this. ‘Puff!’ a small part of the arrow submerged in the scales around the mouth of the python’s middle head.

The python let out a loud hiss as it got wounded. Its piercing-cold eyes glinted with fury. It didn’t seem to be bothered about Yan Luo anymore. Instead, its body shot towards the direction from the arrow had come like a streak of lightning.

Shi Mu suppressed his body’s aura, and looked at the python. A hint of happiness glittered in his eyes.

He then gently pulled a transparent silk; it was connected with his fingers. The other end of the silk was connected with something else. And, this thing had been placed somewhere else in the forest.

The leaves and branches several feet deep into the forest started to flutter. ‘Bang!’ a faint crashing sound was heard. Then, a shadow flashed indistinctly.

Suddenly, the python looked in that direction. Its gigantic body rushed out of the forest, and arrived at the open space. Then, its left head opened its mouth, and emitted a vast-stretched beam of black light. But, it wasn’t similar to the light beam that it had shot earlier. Instead, it was a bucket-thick black wind that swept towards the branches and leaves in the forest.

Then, something strange happened.

A beam of yellow light shot out of the forest. It was as thick as a human’s arm. It interweaved and condensed in the air, and transformed into a huge circular web. It then quickly shrouded the python’s body from all sides.

The python crashed heavily to the ground – as if its body had collided against a hill.

The yellow luminescence of the circular web seemed to possess enough strength to imprison something as powerful as the python. The python was a Xian Tian middle-stage beast. However, it had got confined inside the circular web.

Shi Mu was still inside the forest. He mumbled something. Then, a yellow disk began to float in front of him. It was as big as a human palm. Several charm characters and patterns were carved on its surface. It released intermittent waves of yellow luminescence as it spun around.

Shi Mu was exhilarated as he saw that the python had got trapped. He turned around, and jumped down. Now, the time had arrived to carry out his plan.

However, the python’s six vertical eyes flashed with a sinister look. Its sturdy body began to sway from side-to-side. Then, a huge cloud of black Qi bubbled-up on the surface of its body, and started to attack the glittering yellow web-cage around it.

The yellow luminescence became unsteady, and started to shake. Faint cracks started to burst out on the surface of the yellow web-cage.

Shi Mu was shocked. He raised his hand, and threw out a blue magic charm. It was the same Cold Yin charm that he had received from Princess Huo Wu before they had set foot in this forbidden land.

The blue charm flashed in the air, and got broken into many pieces. Then, seven or eight streaks of blue tentacles appeared out of thin air. Each of them was dozens of feet long. They extended and merged into the beam of yellow light. After that, they tightly wound around the python’s body in order to fetter its movements.

The python flew into a rage. Its body began to sway more ferociously. The black Qi around its body grew twice as strong as its previous state. It seemed as if the black Qi was about to condense. The python then started to attack the blue tentacles and the yellow light beam since they were restricting its movement. An undulating wave of dull thumping sound was heard every time the python hit the web-cage.