Chapter 25

In the cave, Xiaohai discovered many peculiar creatures, some of which, like the thylacine, were believed by the scientific community to be extinct ancient animals.

Xiaohai wasn't particularly interested in these creatures. He wasn't in a hurry to move on, looking around here and there with a playful attitude. Occasionally, a few rats would dart past his feet, but they weren't particularly afraid of him.

Suddenly, Xiaohai stopped. In front of him, he found a skeleton.

Had someone been here before?

He quickly approached the skeleton. From its posture, it seemed to have come from the other side of the cave. The hands were tightly gripping the ground, one leg was bent, and the other foot was pushing hard, indicating that it had been struggling to crawl forward before death.

What did he encounter? How did he die here? Only the resurrection of the skeleton could answer these questions.

There must be some clues related to the skeleton left behind. Xiaohai carefully searched the area but found nothing. After walking a bit further, he gradually discovered some items.

A small piece of silver, a snuff bottle. Then, he found a straight-back knife, the kind often seen in movies and TV shows!

Silver—snuff bottle—straight-back knife—skeleton? Xiaohai suddenly understood. Who in modern society would carry such things? Would you carry a straight-back knife and a piece of silver to a restaurant and say, "Waiter, a chicken leg burger and a pair of spicy chicken wings!"?

People might think you were crazy.

A bandit from Ba Lazi! This person was most likely one of Ba Lazi's bandits! He probably encountered a fierce animal and, in a panic, ran into this cave, but ultimately couldn't escape the animal's pursuit and died here.

Even if he had managed to escape the cave, what then? In another direction, there was an even more terrifying thylacine waiting for him...

The appearance of the skeleton made Xiaohai more confident about the treasure. He picked up the silver and carried the straight-back knife, which might come in handy. However, the knife was very old and had been exposed to the damp air for a long time, so it was already rusted and almost useless.

"Flap, flap," a few bats flew past him.

"Stop!" Xiaohai threw out a strand of spiritual energy to control the bats.

"Is there anything in the cave?" Xiaohai asked with his mind.

"Bats, rats... and some other animals..." the bats answered honestly.

Xiaohai took out the piece of silver: "What about something like this?"

"No."

It seemed the treasure wasn't in this cave, and Xiaohai was slightly disappointed. There was no need to waste more time here, so he had the bats lead the way and quickly left the place.

With the bats' guidance, he finally exited the cave. The air became fresh, and Xiaohai raised his head to take a few deep breaths greedily.

The forest was quiet at night, with the occasional bird call and the sound of the wind rustling through the trees. Xiaohai ate something and found a large tree to lean against, soon falling into a deep sleep.

He had a good dream, dreaming that he found the treasure, with boxes and boxes of gold and silver... Hmm? Why were there dollars and pounds? Did people back then use foreign currency?

Never mind, mine, mine, all mine!

Suddenly, a piece of gold nugget came to life and started barking at him.

Xiaohai woke up from his dream. It was already daylight, and Xiaoqi was barking at him frantically.

"You damn dog, I was having a good dream..." Xiaohai was very unhappy, muttering, but then he froze.

Snakes! Damn, there were hundreds of snakes surrounding him!

Golden ringed snakes, silver ringed snakes, red-banded snakes... Damn, they were all highly venomous snakes. Had all the snakes in the primeval forest gathered here?

Xiaohai wasn't afraid of one or two snakes, but so many... it was like a sea of snakes. If he got bitten, could the Dragon Spirit Pearl cure snake venom? Xiaohai had no confidence at all.

"Boss, where did you get so many snakes from?" Xiaoqi was also clearly afraid.

"Who should I ask? What does this have to do with me? I was sleeping, maybe you attracted them." Xiaohai sat there, not daring to move. If he moved, the snakes might mistake it as an attack and strike first.

Xiaohai decided to control the snakes first. He threw out a strand of spiritual energy and successfully established a mental connection with a golden ringed snake: "I'm just passing through, I have no ill intentions. Now I order you and your companions to follow my commands!"

"No!"

"No?" Xiaohai was taken aback. Since he could communicate with animals, this had never happened before. A snake actually refused to follow his orders!

Do you want to rebel? I'll deal with you! Even the fierce thylacine from ancient times obeyed him, but these snakes refused!

Xiaohai suddenly stood up. In that instant, a red-banded snake launched an attack, moving as fast as lightning. If its fangs bit him, he would die within seconds.

But Xiaohai's reaction was incredibly fast. Just as the fangs were about to touch him, he grabbed the snake by the neck and threw it far away.

The expected mass attack from the snakes didn't happen. The snakes seemed to be very afraid of Xiaohai.

The Dragon Spirit Pearl! Xiaohai had a thought. The Dragon Spirit Pearl in his body was extracted from the only snake king in the world. Could the snakes be afraid of it? But strangely, the Dragon Spirit Pearl showed no reaction at all.

More snakes appeared, densely blocking Xiaohai's escape route.

The snakes emitted strong hostility, but something about Xiaohai made them hesitant to attack. However, this situation wouldn't last long. A battle between humans and snakes was inevitable.

Even if Xiaohai was strong, he couldn't handle hundreds or thousands of snakes at once. A chill rose in his heart. The danger he was in now far exceeded the danger he faced when fighting the thylacine.

The thylacine, no matter how strong, was just one, but now Xiaohai was facing a large group of snakes!

What was even more troubling was that the mental power of the Dragon Spirit Pearl, which had always been effective, was now useless!

What to do? Killing all the snakes was impossible! Escape? Snakes were everywhere, where could he run?

"Boss, look up!"

Following Xiaoqi's call, Xiaohai looked up—there were also a large number of snakes on the trees!

The snakes were even launching an aerial attack?

"Even if you use the air force, I'll kill half of you before I die!" Xiaohai was that kind of person. The more dangerous the situation, the more his fighting spirit was aroused. It was the same when he fought the thylacine.

The snakes finally couldn't hold back. Dozens of venomous snakes pounced on Xiaohai at once.

Xiaohai moved with incredible speed, grabbing two snakes with both hands and throwing them far away. He then quickly dodged the attacks of several other snakes.

Xiaoqi also joined the battle!

This magical little dog used both its mouth and paws, fully engaging in the fight and killing several snakes.

But there were too many snakes. As soon as one was killed, more joined the battle. If he was bitten by any of them, the consequences would be unimaginable.

No matter how fast Xiaohai moved, he couldn't withstand the sea of snakes. A silver ringed snake, originally coiled on a tree, pounced and bit Xiaohai on the chest.

Xiaohai was shocked. He had no confidence that the Dragon Spirit Pearl could cure snake venom.

He grabbed the silver ringed snake and threw it to the ground.

Looking down, he found himself unharmed. At the moment the silver ringed snake bit him, nine dragon scales suddenly appeared, protecting his vital areas!

The hardness of the dragon scales was unimaginable. Not to mention a snake, even a thylacine couldn't do anything to the dragon scales.

But Xiaohai couldn't be happy. The dragon scales protected his chest, but what about the rest of his body?

At this moment, the snakes suddenly stopped attacking, retreating from Xiaohai and hissing, as if they were very afraid.

A red glow appeared on Xiaohai's body!

The damn Dragon Spirit Pearl finally reacted!

The snakes were extremely afraid of the red glow, and their heads, which had been raised, all lowered.

No kidding, that was the Dragon Spirit Pearl of the snake king!

Xiaohai gathered his spiritual energy again and controlled a viper, making a second attempt: "Follow my orders, follow my commands!"

"Yes, yes!"

The consciousness that made Xiaohai happy finally came. The viper completely obeyed Xiaohai's commands!

"You, all retreat!" Xiaohai used his mental power to order the snakes.

The snakes, which had gathered, left the area like a tide.

Only then did Xiaohai let out a long sigh of relief. If the Dragon Spirit Pearl hadn't worked at the critical moment, he would have died here today.

He left the viper: "Why did you attack me?"

The viper's answer shocked Xiaohai: "The giant python ordered us to do so."

Giant python? Ordering the snakes to attack him? Damn, could the giant python also control animals?

Impossible, only the power of the Dragon Spirit Pearl could do that. His parents had clearly told him that there was only one snake king in the world and only one Dragon Spirit Pearl!

Snake queen? Suddenly, Xiaohai had an idea. He knew what was happening:

Snake queen! It must be the snake queen!