Chapter 28

The once arrogant Queen Snake ultimately met her end at the hands of Ai Xiaohai.

A massive snake lay sprawled on the ground, its former might now gone.

Although the essence of the Queen Snake that Ai Xiaohai absorbed had not yet brought him any tangible benefits, the vast amount of essence stored in the Dragon Spirit Pearl would, once the "key" was found, propel Ai Xiaohai to new heights.

This victory was a stroke of luck, fraught with danger and difficulty far exceeding the battle with the thylacine lion. If not for Xiao Qi's desperate bite, which gave Ai Xiaohai a moment to breathe and summon the sparrow and snake armies, he would have become the Queen Snake's meal.

Thinking about it still made him feel a bit fearful. He had thought the thylacine lion was the strongest animal in the world, but the Queen Snake's power was even greater. How many more terrifying species were there in this vast world that had yet to be discovered?

Although this battle successfully killed the Queen Snake, the casualties among the sparrow and snake armies were significant. Especially the sparrow army, where almost half of the sparrows died.

A dying sparrow actually crawled out of the Queen Snake's open mouth. This sparrow was Xiao Ma, the sparrow army's commander appointed by Ai Xiaohai. It was he who led the massive sparrow army in a suicidal attack on the Queen Snake.

It had been sucked into the Queen Snake's mouth, seemingly doomed, but the Queen Snake died first at the hands of Ai Xiaohai.

However, it was on the brink of death and would not last much longer.

Grateful for its life-saving deed, Ai Xiaohai quickly placed it in his palm and infused it with spiritual energy. With the help of the powerful spiritual energy, Xiao Ma, who was on the verge of death, regained vitality.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xiao Ma cheered.

Yes, this was a genuine "sparrow" cheer.

However, at the sight of so many snakes around, the fear of snakes that had been temporarily forgotten returned, and it hurriedly flew into the sky.

The snakes that had finished the battle began to eat the sparrow corpses on the ground.

Ai Xiaohai could do nothing about this. In the natural world, the strong prey on the weak, a law that has never changed. He did not have the power to disrupt the laws of nature and force snakes and sparrows to be "friends."

"This time, everyone has worked hard," Ai Xiaohai's consciousness spread: "Everyone disperse and return to recover."

The sparrows naturally did not dare to stay, and the snake group gradually dispersed.

Although this battle was perilous, it gave Ai Xiaohai the ability to command snakes, which was an unexpected gain.

Where there are giant snakes, there must be treasure. This was a firm belief in Ai Xiaohai's heart. He believed that the Queen Snake's lair was nearby, and perhaps there he could find clues to the treasure.

Approaching the giant python that had previously impersonated the Queen Snake, he infused it with a thread of spiritual energy, preserving its life, and interrogated it about the Queen Snake's lair. The giant python, fearing this human to the extreme, did not dare to hide anything and quickly revealed everything it knew.

According to the python's description, the Queen Snake's lair should be not far to the west. With a specific location, things became much easier.

Snakes have a special musky odor, and the larger the snake, the stronger the smell. "The wind carries the musk for three miles." With Ai Xiaohai's current sense of smell, he just needed to find the source of this odor and follow it.

Soon, that peculiar musky smell appeared and became increasingly strong. The Queen Snake's lair was nearby!

The giant python sensed something and moved in front of Ai Xiaohai. Ai Xiaohai knew that the python was using its unique animal instincts to guide him.

Following the python, a new cave appeared before Ai Xiaohai.

The Queen Snake's lair!

At the cave entrance, various animal remains were piled up. As soon as he stepped into the cave, a cold and eerie atmosphere hit him, making him shiver involuntarily.

Snakes are cold-blooded, and such a cave is the most suitable for them to live in.

As soon as he stepped into the cave, Ai Xiaohai knew he was in the right place.

Walking deeper into the cave, Ai Xiaohai found two knives, a sword, and even a rusty, unusable short-barreled gun. Various items like snuff bottles, flint, and tinder were also occasionally seen.

These must have been left behind by the bandits led by Ba Lai Zi.

From these items, it could be deduced that over a hundred years ago, the bandits led by Ba Lai Zi, in a panic, entered the primeval forest. Attacked by fierce animals along the way, a group of surviving bandits entered this cave. They never imagined that a terrifying giant python—the Queen Snake—would be there!

No matter how vicious the bandits were, they were no match for the Queen Snake. One by one, they were killed by the Queen Snake, leaving only these human items to prove they had been there.

However, over a hundred years had passed, and Ai Xiaohai was the first human to reach this place after the bandits.

However, this cave only proved that humans had once entered it. Whether the Prince's treasure was here was still uncertain.

The giant python suddenly sensed something and became excited, urging Ai Xiaohai to hurry forward.

Ai Xiaohai suddenly realized that snakes have a strong sensitivity to treasure. Could the python have made a discovery?

He quickly followed the python, passing through a maze-like cave, and finally stopped at the entrance of a separate cave deep within.

The python was very well-mannered. It knew that something the King needed was inside, so it had to let the King enter first.

Ai Xiaohai's heart was tense. He adjusted his breathing and stepped into the cave. As soon as he entered, he saw two skeletons. One was lying at the cave entrance, and the other—was between two chests!

Two chests! Ai Xiaohai did not see wrong, two real large chests!

The Prince's treasure! This must be the Prince's treasure!

Ai Xiaohai could clearly picture the scene:

The bandits led by Ba Lai Zi found this cave and entered the deepest part. Exhausted, they decided to use this cave as their treasure hideout, hiding the treasure first and then escaping the forest, planning to retrieve it later when they had evaded the soldiers.

However, they never expected that as soon as they placed the chests, the Queen Snake appeared... and killed two of them right there. The rest were hunted down one by one in the long cave.

Ah, one bandit miraculously escaped and, upon seeing the soldiers, shouted, "Snakes eat people," but he also died.

The secret of the Prince's treasure remained a legend... until now, Ai Xiaohai discovered its true existence!

He approached the chest on the left and opened it. Inside were scrolls of paintings. Ai Xiaohai casually opened one, not knowing if it was good or bad, but guessed it was by a famous artist, as it would not have caught the eye of Prince Sengge Rinchen. If taken outside, it would certainly fetch a high price.

Below the scrolls were various antiques. Purple crystal snuff bottles, porcelain vases... These items, which could fetch astronomical prices in the antique market, filled a significant portion of the chest. Unfortunately, Ai Xiaohai's knowledge of antiques was limited, and he could only recognize that they were valuable but could not discern their specific worth.

However, when he opened the other chest, Ai Xiaohai knew he had struck it rich!

Gold, silver, jade, necklaces... the chest was full! Just the gold alone was a considerable amount, with various shapes like horse hoof gold, gold ingots, and gold bars. These were likely plundered by Prince Sengge Rinchen, the Nian Army, and the Taiping Army, with no time to melt and recast them.

Now, these two chests, this vast wealth, belonged to Ai Xiaohai alone.

However, there was a small problem: Ai Xiaohai could not take the chests out. If these treasures suddenly appeared in large quantities, it would raise suspicion, and the consequences would be counterproductive.

He could only think of ways to transport them gradually in the future, which would be the safest method.

Ai Xiaohai was not greedy. Since the treasures belonged to him, he did not need to rush to transport them.

He selected a few pieces of jade he needed, a string of carnelian beads, a string of jade beads, and a small piece of horse hoof gold, placed them on his person, and closed the chests.

He called the giant python and ordered it to guard the treasure cave, then summoned dozens of venomous snakes to serve as the python's subordinates, guarding the cave entrance.

Only Ai Xiaohai knew about this cave, and with the giant python and venomous snakes guarding it, no one else could take the treasures.

After all, even if someone managed to survive the wild animals in the primeval forest and accidentally found this cave, they would turn and run at the sight of the dozens of venomous snakes at the entrance.

After completing these tasks, Ai Xiaohai sighed with relief and walked out of the cave.

He carefully observed and found a water source not far from the cave. The direction of the water flow led to the west of the primeval forest. The bandit who had escaped the cave, pursued by the Queen Snake, dropped the incense burner into the water and was eventually played with by the thylacine lion.

Who would have thought that this clue would lead Ai Xiaohai to the treasure that had been sealed for over a hundred years.

Perhaps everything was destined.

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