The Giant Snakes Leave

While Liu Zhi was dealing with the relationship between the Nether Palace and "reality," at the other end of the jungle, Perkin stared unwillingly at a tree on the waterfall not far away.

The tree grew right in the middle of the waterfall. From the outside, it looked like a cross between a banyan tree and a peach tree, its many aerial roots tangled around fruits that were withering away.

Many of those fruits were only thumb-sized, their green skins still bearing petals that had yet to fall.

"Why? Why is this happening? Hope is right in front of me—why can't I get up there? Lloyd, leave me alone. I'm climbing up myself. I'm going to find my hope."

Amid the thunderous roar of the waterfall, Perkin's voice became much louder.

But Lloyd held tightly onto Perkin. "Uncle, you can't go over there! You saw what's below the waterfall—a ball of countless giant snakes. If you fall in, it's all over. And the current is so fierce. How could we possibly climb up?"

"But it's right there! My hope!"

Perkin let out a roar. He had prepared so many things for this expedition, including tools meant for situations like this. But his backpack was gone. No matter how many tools he had prepared, they were useless now. He could only watch as hope lay before his eyes, yet remain unable to obtain the fruit of the Blood-soaked Tree.

Under such pressure and stimulation, Perkin's face turned increasingly green. Finally, at the very instant the sun rose, he coughed up a mouthful of old blood.

Collapsed in Lloyd's arms, Perkin pointed at the Blood-soaked Tree on the waterfall in the distance. "Remember this location. We found it already, didn't we? Don't worry about me, and don't go looking for that backpack. Remember the way we came. Find suitable investors and come back in seven years. I can't make it, but you must lead our family back into high society."

"Uncle."

"Don't speak. Remember, our ancestor was Grand Duke Xise, not some so-called court lord. Also, I left a secret base each in Tortuga Port and Naya Port. Once you get out, have someone watch them and see who enters those two apartments. That person must be the one who took my backpack.

"If you can't find them, forget it. But remember, you must come back in seven years. Find a way to get the fruit from that tree. And to keep it fresh, you can leave everything else behind, but you must bring fresh animal hide. Otherwise, what you take out won't be a spirit medicine—it'll be poison."

Lloyd listened and nodded firmly.

At that moment, Perkin's complexion seemed to improve greatly.

He struggled to sit up, pushed Lloyd away, and headed toward the waterfall.

Unfortunately, he had only taken a few steps when sunlight fell upon the Blood-soaked Tree. As soon as the sunlight touched it, the already withering fruits swiftly turned into black ash.

For a moment, a great amount of black ash drifted down like falling snow, scattering onto the mass of snakes in the pool beneath the waterfall.

Stimulated by the black ash, the tangled giant snakes obediently dived into the water. Before long, Perkin and Lloyd saw the giant snakes swimming away in groups, heading back along the path they had come from in every direction, with no intention of lingering there.

Lloyd was dumbfounded by the sight. He had never expected there to be so many giant snakes in that pool. Thinking about how he had spent the entire previous night there, he felt like he had been courting death.

"So many snakes, Uncle, do you think... Uncle?"

Mid-sentence, Lloyd realized that Perkin was standing motionless at the edge of the pool. Black tears had already begun to stream from his eyes.

"Uncle!"

Lloyd shouted loudly, but there was no way to wake Perkin again.

After holding Perkin and crying for a while, Lloyd finally laid Perkin's body flat.

By then, the giant snakes beneath the pool had completely departed, leaving only the pool beneath the waterfall, covered in black ash.

Lloyd hesitated for a moment, removed several small ornaments from Perkin's body, then picked up Perkin's corpse and prepared to throw it into the pool. After all, they were deep in a primitive jungle, and Lloyd had no way of carrying Perkin's body out.

Just then, an arrow flew past Lloyd and struck the ground at his feet.

Then several dark-skinned savages rushed out from nearby, shouting incomprehensibly at Lloyd as they charged.

The moment Lloyd saw them, he drew his weapon—a silver Longsword that produced shimmering light effects when swung.

"Don't attack! We mean no harm. You can't throw the body into this pool."

At that moment, one of the savages shouted. He spoke remarkably fluent Xise.

"Who are you?" Lloyd did not lower his Longsword. Instead, he stared at the savage as he spoke.

"I am a warrior of the nearby Serpent Attack Tribe. You can call me Parker," the savage explained. "We are enemies of those giant snakes."

As Parker spoke, he showed Lloyd the tattoos on his body.

It was clear that these dark-skinned savages had found a kind of white tattoo pigment and used it to tattoo giant snakes pierced to death by arrows or spears onto their bodies.

"Serpent Attack Tribe?"

"That's right. We are settlers of this jungle, and we live here. But every seven years, those giant snakes come here and devour anything they encounter along the way. We call this giant snake grazing. Our goal is to kill one giant snake every seven years. Over time, the giant snakes will gradually disappear, and this land will belong to us."

"One every seven years? Why not kill more?"

"Because we can't beat them," Parker said bluntly.

"Oh." Lloyd thought of the giant snakes' combat power and was not at all surprised by Parker's answer. Being unable to defeat giant snakes was nothing to be embarrassed about. There was no reason not to say it.

Still, Lloyd was somewhat puzzled. "Then why wouldn't you let me throw the corpse in?"

"Because giant snakes have very good memories. Once, we set an ambush beneath the pool, but the giant snakes discovered us. That time, they went mad and attacked every tribe nearby. Several forces as strong as ours were wiped out in that attack. From then on, we learned never to throw anything into the pool."

Hearing the reason, Lloyd could not help but say, "Oh. Then do you know where the giant snakes came from?"

"We do. According to the oldest legends, they were guardians of an empire, weapons of the gods, guarding a demon sealed deep in the jungle. To escape the sealed land, the demon spread word that the place where it was imprisoned was called the Golden City..."