Golden Light

Nearly a hundred Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes blocked the doorway, crowding inward as they flicked their purplish-red tongues. Their hisses sounded like snapping bowstrings, shrill with danger.

"Watch out!" Kanni shouted. He drew the Silver Sword in a flash and charged forward. Zeng Mu followed close behind, sweeping his left hand backward to signal the woman to retreat.

The woman backed into the corner with Xiao Pei in her arms, trembling all over, her eyes squeezed shut.

She heard the whistle of movement, splattering, and piercing shrieks. The sounds mingled together, relentlessly hammering her taut heart and driving it to beat harder and harder, like a knight cornered in desperation, growing increasingly restless and agitated. Gradually, in her daze, she lost all sense of herself.

"Are you all right, sis? It's over. Open your eyes." After an unknown stretch of time, the noise abruptly stopped. That familiar voice drifted softly into her ears, bringing her back to her senses, and she slowly opened her alluring eyes.

A scene of devastation greeted her. Dead Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes littered the floor, some cut in half, others crushed to pulp. Black mingled with red across more than half the room, and a pungent smell like strong liquor hung in the air.

Kanni rested a hand on her shoulder and said gently, "Don't be afraid. With us here, no diamondback snake can hurt you."

The woman threw herself against his chest. Its solid warmth gradually steadied her emotions, though her voice remained tearful. "Sir, sir..."

While the two embraced, Zeng Mu went to the doorway and looked outside.

The ground, previously tinged red by lamplight, was now covered in black, flowing like muddy water in a dark pool. The stalls in the once-bustling alley had been completely engulfed. Not a single person was visible, only mounds of snakes that seemed to be fiercely fighting over the food buried beneath them.

"Damn these snakes..." Zeng Mu cursed under his breath. A moment later, a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes, and he turned toward a certain direction. Kanni felt a rush of air behind him, then saw Zeng Mu's retreating figure shrinking into the distance.

"Hey! Nameless! Where are you going?!" Knowing how dangerous it was outside, Kanni turned and shouted, but failed to stop him.

He immediately went to the wall, picked up the pile of Black-Feathered Sparrows, and tossed them outside through the doorway. Then he stuffed a bedsheet into the narrow gap and told the woman to stay inside without setting a foot out of the room. Only then did he leave and pursue Zeng Mu.

Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes covered the road, leaving nowhere to set his feet. Fortunately, his years in the military had taught him never to go without his armor. Although his helmet was back in the camp's stone house, his sturdy armor and tightly fitted battle boots were enough. He moved swiftly, swinging the Silver Sword, and many snakes were trampled before they could react, becoming a soft black carpet beneath his feet.

Fighting his way along the road, Kanni soon reached the camp. Strangely, the tide of snakes had thinned drastically here, with only a handful of Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes slithering across the ground. It was not what he had expected.

Zeng Mu, running swiftly ahead, shared his confusion, but had no time to dwell on it. He raced toward a stone house like the wind, shouting as he approached the door, "Ma Linya!"

Bang! He kicked the door open. At the sight inside, his taut nerves immediately relaxed.

"How could this be?" His eyes filled with surprise. Clearly, this was not the scene he had expected.

There was not a single Yellow Sand Diamondback Snake inside. He caught the scent of medicinal powder. Ma Linya lay on the bed, looking at him with sleepy eyes, as though puzzled by his sudden intrusion.

"What happened? Have the Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes gone out of control?" She threw back the covers and sat up, dressed in simple black clothes as though she had prepared in advance.

For a moment, Zeng Mu did not know what to say. He could not tell whether she knew what was happening or not.

She stood and put on her cloak as she spoke. "Twenty minutes ago, Knight Commander William sent someone over to tell me about the Yellow Viper Fruit."

"I spent a few minutes clearing away all the Black-Feathered Sparrows around the house, then scattered some powder that Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes hate inside and around it so I wouldn't be disturbed. But judging by how you look, you seem to have just survived an attack by the snake tide. Hurry and tell me what happened."

Zeng Mu had just given her a brief account when Kanni arrived. Surprise flashed across his face at the sight inside the house, followed by a gleam in his eyes, as though he had figured something out.

"Miss Lingya, I'm glad you're all right. If anything had happened to you, this fellow would probably have cried like a child." Before he could finish, Zeng Mu pressed a hand onto his shoulder. The force of his grip felt like a warning and a threat, making Kanni hastily swallow the rest of his words.

Ma Linya remained unmoved, her expression calm as she continued, "It seems the news didn't reach everyone. Some people in Sand City never learned about the Yellow Viper Fruit, and that led to this tragedy."

Kanni sighed. "Yes. You can barely even find the bodies of those poor souls. Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes don't spare so much as a bone..."

Ma Linya fixed her gaze on him without blinking and asked, "Did you notice anything unusual on your way here?"

"Hey, why are you so blunt? Couldn't you at least call me big brother Kanni or something? I'm a full three years older than you."

Ma Linya scoffed and said in a low voice, "Tch, so what? I hate men who go to places like that. Neither of you is any good."

"Well..." Kanni glanced sideways at Zeng Mu, a trace of reproach deep in his eyes. He thought that much of the kindly older-brother image he had built up in Ma Linya's mind lately had just come crashing down.

Still, he did not deny it. Wearing an unconcerned expression, he said, "Of course. I noticed the snake tide seemed to be moving in one direction. Otherwise, I couldn't have made it here unscathed. Seeing the situation around the camp only made that theory more convincing."

"Yes. It seems only a small portion of the Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes attacked people. Most of the rest gathered into a tide with a clear target. That explains why so many appeared together." Zeng Mu stroked his chin as he spoke, like an old man stroking his beard.

Ma Linya continued, "I hadn't noticed before, but when you opened the door and came in, I smelled Pine-Ink Medicinal Fragrance on the soles of your boots. That's one of the powders I scattered southeast of the stone house. Kanni came from the same direction. From that alone, we can tell the snake tide is heading either northeast or southwest."

Hearing this, Zeng Mu immediately took out the map of Sand City that Ma Linya had given him earlier. Studying its markings, he said slowly, "From our position in the camp, northeast leads to the outskirts of Sand City. No knights are stationed there, so that clearly isn't the snakes' target."

Kanni leaned his head over and added, "Southwest would take them straight to an open area in the inner part of Sand City. Plenty of independent merchants operate around there. The city's garbage collection site is there too."

Ma Linya said, "Judging by the timing, the Black-Feathered Sparrows they cleared away probably haven't been transported out of the city yet. Most likely, they're all there."

"Come on, let's hurry over and take a look." With that, Kanni turned and ran out, heading to his own house. He put on his helmet, then strode swiftly toward the southwest of the city.

Zeng Mu and Ma Linya followed, likewise fully equipped. The sword in her hand was no longer the poor-quality black iron sword he had seen before, but a slender blade of pale gold. A fresh mark was stamped at the junction of its hilt, identifying one of the city's master smiths. It was clearly a weapon awarded with her baronial title.

It was midnight. At some point, the star-filled sky had become a sheet of black cloth. The air was cold, their breath rose in mist, and the three saw not a single person along the way.

The ground braziers and watchtower beacon fires still flickered, but their light and warmth had weakened considerably, struggling to hold back the cold night that had descended.

The three skirted the snake tide, moving alongside it at a safe distance. With the medicinal powders and liquids Ma Linya carried, things went almost exactly as Kanni had predicted: the Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes barely attacked them. A small number broke away from the tide after sensing their presence and lunged at them, but there were too few to pose much threat or slow them down.

After five minutes of this, the three safely reached the open area in the center of Sand City.

It was a small square, essentially a miniature version of the Training Plaza. The other difference was the tall tower at its center.

The tower was ten meters high, built from stacked natural stone, with a concealed stairway running up its center. A ring of iron mesh surrounded its middle section, while the top resembled a roofed pavilion, large enough for dozens of people to stand and keep watch together.

There was no light in the square. By the glow of the braziers hanging along the tower's outer edge, the three could just make out the identities of the four figures standing above with their backs to them.

Sensing their gazes on his back, Yetos turned around. As he looked down, he gently raised a hand.

Bang! In an instant, Zeng Mu felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. He looked down and discovered that a brown root as thick as an arm had lifted him into the air. The same had happened to his two companions. Amid a brief surge of panic, they flew upward like birds, reaching the tower's top in less than ten seconds. The roots deftly extended sideways, setting their feet firmly on the stone slabs.

At a thought, the roots shot past the firelight with a whoosh and vanished into the darkness. Yetos stepped forward, looked at the three, and asked, "What brings you here? You're not hurt, are you?"

Kanni shook his head. "We only came to find out what the snake tide was after."

At that, William pointed to one side and said meaningfully, "Right over there. See for yourselves."

The three stepped up to the edge and looked down. The square below remained shrouded in darkness, without a single flickering flame.

But they could smell a powerful odor on the wind. It was all too familiar: sour, rotten, and pungent. There was no doubt that it came from the Black-Feathered Sparrow carcasses.

Those carcasses were the target of the densely packed, uncountable tide of snakes. Although the three could not see them, their sense of smell let them clearly perceive the Yellow Sand Diamondback Snakes' frenzied devouring, like a rising black tide swallowing a hill.

They stood straight, listening to this gluttonous feast played out upon the chilly wind.

The balance of clamor and stillness abruptly shattered. Yetos's closed eyes snapped open, a blue-green gleam flashing through them. An elemental mark appeared on his forehead, and those around him could feel currents of air spreading from beneath his feet.

"It's here." His voice held a coldness they had never heard before, those brief words carrying pure resolve.

Whoosh! A streak of golden light shattered the darkness and pierced their eyes.

The instant the light struck Zeng Mu and the others, their heads buzzed as though the sun had suddenly bored into them. Sweat immediately drenched their brows. The immense energy contained in the light effortlessly extinguished the flames in the braziers, plunging the entire square into darkness.

"Hiss..."

"Hiss..."

In the darkened square, waves of hissing came from within the dazzling golden light. They thundered in everyone's ears, carrying a faint note of joy, as though pleased with the surrounding darkness and cold.