Chapter 109: The Great Serpent

Chen Dongfang had made extensive preparations for the skirmish he expected would follow the opening of the stone door. The two men who had departed left behind plenty of ammunition; his plan was for him and Tang Renjie to provide covering fire once the door was breached, while A would toss their grenades behind it. Bullets might not be enough to clear out whatever awaited them, but grenades certainly would.

However, after those two left, A suddenly stopped worrying. He made no further preparations, simply sitting on the steps before the stone door. Though Tang Renjie and Chen Dongfang urged him to move, A would only say, "Wait."

As to what they were waiting for, or how long it would take, A refused to elaborate.

Chen Dongfang never imagined that what followed would be such a grueling wait. He estimated it to be about three days. Three days are enough to erode a person's fighting spirit and patience; at one point, Chen Dongfang even considered leaving, as nothing is more important than survival.

But on the third day, A suddenly stood up and said, "It’s here."

"What’s here? Reinforcements?" Tang Renjie stood up as well.

A took out an entrenching tool and dug up the pipe on the ground. They all knew it was filled with cadaverous fluid. To their astonishment, A jumped into the pipe, scooped up the fluid, and smeared it all over his body. Seeing them standing there in a daze, A snapped, "What are you waiting for?"

Although they didn't understand what A was doing, they knew following his lead was the only logical choice. They jumped into the pipe, and the stench was so overwhelming it made their eyes sting. Even after days of being near it, they couldn't adapt to the foul, indescribable odor. Still, they followed A’s example, coating themselves in the glowing green, putrid fluid, and then crouched down in the pipe just as he had.

Before long, they heard footsteps approaching from the distance. Chen Dongfang peeked out, but A immediately pulled him back and clicked off his flashlight. Even in that brief glance, Chen Dongfang saw what was coming.

It was the very corpses they had been moving earlier! A horde of them, now standing upright, marching toward their position.

"Don't move. We'll blend in and follow them through the door," A whispered. Only then did they realize why they had smeared the fluid on themselves: it was to mask their scent with that of the corpses.

It was an audacious and exhilarating act, an experience unlike any other. Chen Dongfang felt his entire body trembling—whether from fear or excitement, he couldn't tell. When the horde finally passed, the three of them climbed out, merged into the ranks of the dead, and mimicked their shambling gait as they drifted toward the stone door.

As the rotting corpses neared the gate, no one pushed it open, yet it parted on its own. This time, no hands reached out; it was as if the gate knew its own kind was arriving. The three of them followed the procession of decaying bodies through the entrance.

Once inside, they saw a massive green boulder hanging overhead, glowing with a translucent, emerald light. It was so crystal-clear that they couldn't tear their eyes away, and through its depths, they saw something embedded within.

It was something nearly as large as the boulder itself, trapped inside like an insect in amber. The green stone was the resin, and the creature within was the biological specimen. As Chinese, they knew exactly what it was.

It was a dragon. A dragon preserved in amber.

The three of them exchanged glances, not daring to speak or even breathe loudly. Chen Dongfang was stunned, yet he was skeptical that dragons truly existed. He leaned toward the idea that this was merely a rock formation naturally shaped like a dragon, much like how people in many places worship stones that bear a vague resemblance to the Dragon King.

Beneath the boulder was a vast pool of water, emitting a haunting green light. They noticed many pipes similar to the one they had followed, all converging into this pool like rivers flowing into the sea. Around the edge stood many exquisite dragon-headed sculptures, through which the green cadaverous fluid poured into the pool.

Chen Dongfang could only imagine how many pipes were honeycombed throughout the mountain, and each pipe represented a pile of corpses. He looked back and saw a dense mass of rotting bodies behind them. This confirmed his theory about "oil extraction"—the piles, funnels, and pipes were all designed to collect the fluid that seeped from the decomposing bodies, eventually gathering it all in this pool.

Taking in the scene, Chen Dongfang’s mind struggled to process it. It wasn't just fear; it was the sheer repulsiveness of it all. It resembled some mysterious sacrificial rite, though none of them could fathom why such vile fluid would be used for a sacrifice.

A kept his eyes fixed on the tranquil water, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a ripple appeared on the surface, widening until something leapt out with a massive splash. The creature let out a sky-piercing cry. Chen Dongfang clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle a scream. Emerging from the green water was a colossal green serpent. As it hissed, the rotting corpses knelt in unison, as if in worship.

The snake flicked its tongue, which was also green. From their vantage point, it hardly looked like a snake anymore—it was practically a dragon.

A bold thought flashed through Chen Dongfang’s mind. He looked up at the dragon shadow within the green boulder and recalled the folklore of a snake transforming into a dragon. There were legends of snakes undergoing nine heavenly trials to ascend, or taking a thousand years to become a *jiao* and three thousand to become a dragon.

Could it be that all this cadaverous fluid was being collected to nurture this great serpent, to help it transform into a dragon? Was this the work of that mysterious sect? Were they trying to cultivate a dragon?

"Where are the others? How are we supposed to find them?" Tang Renjie whispered to A, but before he could finish, A clamped a hand over his mouth. It was too late. The great serpent turned its head, its two enormous, dark yellow eyes locking onto their position.

The serpent let out another piercing cry. The corpses surrounding them suddenly went wild, rushing toward the three of them like frantic zombies.

A stood up, tossed a grenade, and shouted, "Run!"

Terrified, Tang Renjie and Chen Dongfang scrambled up and fired their weapons at the charging horde. But against the sheer number of corpses, their fire was a drop in the bucket. They were quickly surrounded. Gritting his teeth, Chen Dongfang pulled out his last grenade. "Brothers, I think we’re off to meet the King of Hell. We can tell him what's happening down here once we reach him."

Just then, the serpent let out another long cry. The corpses, poised to tear them apart, suddenly stopped and knelt toward the beast.

Chen Dongfang wiped the cadaverous fluid from his face and clicked on his flashlight. He saw a figure standing by the pool, wearing a strange, theatrical mask.