The giant python raised its head and "hissed" (咝咝 - an onomatopoeic sound) with its tongue flicking out, then suddenly lowered its head. With a "boom" on the ground, when it raised its head again, Count Abudu (阿布杜伯爵 - the tax-collecting Count from the previous chapter), who had just been exploiting the disaster victims' life-saving money, was already held in its mouth.
Immediately after, giant pythons surged out from underground, and in the blink of an eye, the nobles' "resort" turned into a snake pit!
Not only that, but in the distant sea, amidst the churning waves, giant pythons were faintly visible moving through the seawater. At a glance, there were simply countless giant pythons.
"Blessings of the God of Combat (斗神 - a deity in this world), bah, blessings of Grape (葡萄保佑 - a seemingly unusual invocation)! Senior Brother Wukong (悟空师兄 - likely an allusion to Sun Wukong from Journey to the West), catching things is your specialty, come out and help!"
Du Cheng's words were incoherent as he yelled. He couldn't be blamed for this. Any normal human, no matter how courageous, upon suddenly seeing endless hordes of giant pythons appearing before them, would have already passed out from fear. To not be terrified unconscious already showed extraordinary bravery.
After the initial panic, Du Cheng calmed down. He quickly channeled all his lotus inner energy (莲花内劲 - internal power/energy generated from his Lotus Scripture cultivation) into his legs and sprinted towards the refugee camp.
These nobles were rich but unkind (为富不仁 - wealthy yet lacking compassion); their deaths were no loss. But the hundred thousand disaster victims to the north were innocent and had to be warned. Otherwise, they would likely all turn into snacks for the giant pythons!
While running, Du Cheng kept looking back to scout the speed at which the giant pythons were pursuing.
But with that single glance back, he discovered something strange.
Those giant pythons seemed to be under someone's command. Although their formation was chaotic, all their snake heads were facing one direction. When a few nobles occasionally escaped from the "resort," the pythons didn't pursue them. Only when someone blocked their path or tried to attack them would the giant pythons mercilessly open their bloody maws.
These fellows were focused on traveling, not on harming people!
Du Cheng slowed his pace and watched for a moment longer, confirming his thought in his heart: these giant pythons were indeed just passing through.
Looking at the direction they were heading, Du Cheng was startled again. The direction they were taking was none other than Antwerp Port (安特卫普港 - a specific place name), dozens of li away!
Things were troublesome.
Du Cheng took off running towards the refugee camp again.
He channeled the lotus inner energy he used to suppress the itching on his butt into his legs. Instantly, the discomfort on his butt spread out like a runaway wild horse. The third lotus, having lost suppression, finally bloomed.
The full bloom of the three lotuses on the Three-Line Qian Hexagram (三连乾卦 - a specific concept related to The Lotus Scripture cultivation technique) meant that Du Cheng had cultivated The Scripture's (《宝鉴》- referring to The Lotus Scripture) first realm.
After the first flower bloomed, inner energy was produced. The second brought the benefits of cleansing meridians and refining marrow (洗筋伐髓 - a common term in cultivation novels for physical purification and strengthening). What strange phenomenon (异象 - unusual or supernatural occurrence) would the third flower, the completion of the Three-Line Qian Hexagram, bring?
With this thought, Du Cheng suddenly felt an intense pain in all his bones, as if someone had broken them apart and then reassembled them.
Oh gods, could this be bone transformation (脱胎换骨 - lit. shedding the mortal coil and exchanging bones, implying a fundamental physical transformation)?!
At this moment, Norton and Steve (诺顿 and 史蒂夫 - characters' names) were also riding horses towards him with soldiers. The refugee camp was only about five or six li from the beach. Although they couldn't see clearly, there was only open wasteland between the two locations, so a glance was enough to know there was chaos by the sea and something must have happened. They hurried to find Du Cheng.
"Brother, what happened up ahead?" Seeing Du Cheng's panicked state, Steve quickly grabbed him and pulled him onto his horse's back.
"Snakes, no, giant pythons, very big giant pythons!" Du Cheng's whole body ached, his mouth was dry, and even his voice was somewhat hoarse. However, to outsiders, it just seemed like the child had suffered an immense fright. "A group of giant pythons passed through those nobles' camp and are now heading towards Antwerp Port! Uncle Norton, quickly tell people to prepare defenses!"
Norton frowned, hesitating, "The city shouldn't be a concern for now. When His Eminence Zig (齐格 - a character's name, later revealed to be the target) arrived yesterday, I already sealed the port in the name of preventing disease and sent heavy troops to patrol the coast!"
Du Cheng thought carefully; indeed, yesterday when they entered the City Lord's Mansion (城主府 - the residence/office of the City Lord), soldiers were coming out to enforce martial law.
"But Uncle, those giant pythons are very powerful! If you go a bit further ahead, you'll be able to see clearly!"
There was no need to go forward. As soon as Du Cheng finished speaking, a giant python's head emerged from underground not far from them, then it slithered towards the sea and joined the advancing python horde.
Seeing the sheer size of this giant python, Norton gasped in cold air, "Siglu (西格鲁 - seemingly a deity or important figure's name) above, I've only seen pythons this massive when I followed Marshal Angers (安杰斯元帅 - a character's title and name) on the campaign against the Mccallan Empire (麦卡伦帝国 - a place name)! Young Masters, come back to Antwerp Port with me immediately! There are giant sacred artifacts (巨型圣器 - referring to large, powerful artifacts, related to the sacred artifact mentioned in the previous chapter) there that can protect everyone!"
With that, he ordered the accompanying soldiers to protect the two brothers and spurred his horse forward.
"What about the disaster victims?" Du Cheng shouted from the horse.
"If these giant pythons are just passing through, the refugee camp won't be in danger! Besides, the refugee camp also has soldiers protecting it." Norton rode hard. Although he said this, who could guarantee the giant pythons wouldn't turn back and attack the refugee camp? But at this moment, he couldn't worry about the disaster victims; Marshal Angers's two young masters were more important.
Du Cheng still wanted to instruct Norton to protect the disaster victims, but the intense pain in his bones became even stronger. His vision went black, and he fainted from the pain!
...
When Du Cheng woke up, the crystal pendant (水晶吊挂 - likely a chandelier or lamp fixture) on the ceiling and Steve by his bedside reminded him that he had returned to the City Lord's Mansion.
Steve looked anxious. Seeing Du Cheng wake up, he patted his chest and sighed in relief, "Oh, my dear brother, you're finally awake. If you had died so inexplicably, I'm afraid Mother would have rushed out of her grave (坟茔 - grave/tomb) to settle accounts with me."
"Big Brother, what about the disaster victims?" Du Cheng propped himself up in bed, suddenly realizing that his bones seemed to have come apart; he didn't have any strength at all. (This relates to the bone transformation he suspected before fainting).
"Haha, the disaster victims are all fine. Those pythons went directly to Antwerp Port and didn't turn back to attack the disaster victims!"
Du Cheng let out a sigh of relief, then asked, "Why did I faint?"
Steve shrugged, looking helpless, "Good heavens, my brother, you don't even know why you fainted? This is terrible. Even the priests (祭祀 - clergy/priests) couldn't find the reason for your collapse. Now the servants in the City Lord's Mansion are spreading the word that you were scared unconscious by the python horde!"
Du Cheng smiled. He was already burdened with the infamy of being "shameful" and an "idiot," so he didn't care about adding the nickname "coward" to the list.
"By the way, what's with the jewelry on you? When the priests examined you just now, they discovered jewelry worth at least five hundred gold coins!" Steve asked with a strange expression.
"Oh, just now when the pythons attacked the nobles' camp, as I was escaping, a jewelry box knocked away by a python fell from the sky, and I just conveniently picked up a few of the most precious pieces, thinking I'd use them later to provide relief to the disaster victims!"
As Du Cheng spoke, he secretly glanced at his body under the quilt. His clothes had been taken off, but his underwear was still on. The diamond hidden in his crotch was also still there. This indicated that the priests had not removed his underwear, and his lotus tattoo (presumably related to his cultivation) had not been exposed.
There was also another stroke of luck: ever since Du Cheng had left the mansion, he had been inseparable from Steve. He was afraid his older brother would discover the Horned War Hammer on him, so he had hidden the hammer in the box where he stored his personal belongings. Thus, even though he was stripped bare at this moment, no one saw that piece of stolen goods, the sacred artifact.
"You! You really value money more than your life! You could still think of picking up jewelry at a time like that! Remember next time, your life is more important than anything!" Steve stood up and tidied his armor. It was then Du Cheng noticed that his older brother was wearing orange magic martial artist's soft armor (精铁打造的橙色魔斗士软甲 - soft armor made of fine iron for a magic martial artist) made of fine iron. "Those damned pythons have surrounded Antwerp Port! I'm going to help Uncle Norton defend the city. Because there's an ancestor's statue on the city wall, as a descendant of Siglu, I have to go. You rest assured!"
"City besieged by pythons?"
"Yes, and these pythons seem to have studied military strategy! Damn it, they're even lined up in a standard beach landing formation (抢滩登陆战阵 - a military formation for amphibious assault)!" Steve grimaced with a strange expression. "Oh yeah, these pythons are here to rescue that demoness (魔女 - lit. demon woman/witch)!"
"How do you know that, Big Brother?" Du Cheng asked curiously.
Steve didn't speak but looked out the window, as if waiting for something.
Suddenly, a sound like a clap of thunder rang out, spreading throughout Antwerp Port, "Zig (齐格 - the character mentioned earlier as arriving), I know you're in the city! You're poisoned by me! Even if you escape to the ends of the earth, I can smell your scent! Hand over the young lady (小姐 - lit. 'young lady', likely referring to someone the pythons are looking for)! Otherwise, I'll bathe this port in blood!"
"This guy shouts it every three minutes, what kind of secret could it possibly be?!" Steve shrugged with a bitter smile.
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