More than two months had passed, but Huang Xiao still had not found a way out. Every morning, the Golden-Winged Roc practiced breathing exercises for two hours, and Huang Xiao had long since ceased to find it strange.
Once, Huang Xiao had set out intending never to return to the pool, but three days later, the Golden-Winged Roc caught him and brought him back to continue his life of roasting meat.
In fact, if the Golden-Winged Roc had not brought him back then, he probably would have died of thirst. He had found no other source of water anywhere along his route.
After struggling for two months, Huang Xiao felt rather discouraged. He realized he could not escape the bottom of this cliff. With nothing else to do, he could only practice the Coiling Snake Hand, and his martial arts had improved considerably through his training during this time.
Huang Xiao believed that, with his current strength, he could easily take on three versions of himself from two months ago.
"Huh? Why has the fragrance become so strong today?" Huang Xiao twitched his nose, then turned his gaze toward the two unidentified fruits growing several hundred feet above. He had been watching them all this time, though not deliberately. Mainly, their fragrance had grown so strong that he could not help noticing them.
Two months ago, the fruits had been yellow with a tinge of red. Now they were almost entirely red.
They're ripe, perhaps? Huang Xiao thought. Still, he had no designs on them. Those fruits were beyond his reach. Besides, he did not know what they were. Though they smelled wonderful, he did not know whether they were edible.
Sure enough, Huang Xiao saw the Golden-Winged Roc appear beside the two fruits.
"Looks like they aren't completely ripe yet!" Judging by the way the Golden-Winged Roc stood guard, he knew the fruits needed a little longer. Had they ripened fully, the roc would probably have swallowed them in one gulp already.
Huang Xiao paid them no further attention and began studying the moves of the Coiling Snake Hand.
Before he could finish a single sequence, he heard an urgent cry from the Golden-Winged Roc above.
This greatly surprised Huang Xiao. In all his time with the Golden-Winged Roc, he had never heard it make such a sound. He could hear panic, anxiety, terror, and anger in its cry—all sorts of negative emotions.
When Huang Xiao looked up, he saw the Golden-Winged Roc watching one direction warily. Before long, he heard a rumbling nearby, mixed with the sounds of rocks shattering and falling to the bottom of the cliff.
"Mother-!" Huang Xiao hastily backed away several dozen paces, his eyes wide with terror. The sight before him was simply too frightening.
In the blink of an eye, a black-and-white giant python arrived and stopped fifty feet from the Golden-Winged Roc. It was at least a hundred feet long, and its bucket-thick body was utterly terrifying.
"A snake demon-!" Huang Xiao felt his heart pounding wildly. Though the Golden-Winged Roc could likewise be called a creature that had attained supernatural powers, it was nowhere near as frightening as a snake. Never mind one this huge-even a small snake inspired fear in people's hearts. It was an inborn fear that could not be changed.
"What kind of snake is that? It even has a fleshy crest on its head?" Huang Xiao made out a fleshy crest atop the black-and-white python's head. It was an eerie crimson.
The thirty-foot-tall Golden-Winged Roc had already seemed enormous to Huang Xiao, but beside this giant python, even the Golden-Winged Peng looked a size smaller.
The giant python flicked its enormous forked tongue at the Golden-Winged Roc, hissing as it did so. The roc screeched back, refusing to show weakness.
"Looks like this giant python has come for those two strange fruits too." Huang Xiao noticed that, even while keeping watch on the Golden-Winged Roc, the python also cast its gaze toward the two fiery-red fruits, greed shining in its enormous eyes.
A wave of belated fear swept over Huang Xiao. He realized how incredibly lucky he was to have survived these past days. Clearly, this giant python must also have been living at the bottom of the cliff. He had wandered everywhere looking for a way out; fortunately, he had never encountered it, or not even his bones would have remained. Remembering the times the Golden-Winged Roc had forcibly brought him back, he now thought it probably had not done so solely to make him roast meat, but also for his safety.
Sss, sss, sss- The python's saliva dripped onto the rocks, immediately sending up wisps of black vapor.
This filled Huang Xiao with even greater terror. If that dripped onto him, probably not even his bones would remain. It was far too poisonous.
The two strange beasts stared each other down, one pair of eyes large and the other small, constantly screeching and hissing at one another in an attempt to force their opponent back. From the look of things, however, neither wanted to give up. Naturally, Huang Xiao, who was also there, was simply ignored.
Hardly daring to breathe, Huang Xiao watched the movements above. In the end, the Golden-Winged Roc attacked first. It had discovered these two strange fruits first and had guarded them here for a very long time. Just as they were about to ripen, they had unexpectedly drawn such a giant python.
The python showed no fear either. Coiling its enormous body and raising its head high, it hissed incessantly at the Golden-Winged Roc circling overhead.
Whoosh- The roc folded its wings and plunged, its enormous, sharp talons reaching straight for the python's vital spot seven inches below its head. But how could the python let its vital spot be caught so easily? Its massive tail lashed out. The Golden-Winged Roc tried to dodge, but it was moving too fast to change direction in time and took a direct hit.
With a bang, the Golden-Winged Roc's enormous body was sent flying into a sheer cliff behind it. The tremendous impact shattered the rock face, and even countless boulders higher up were shaken loose.
With a screech, the Golden-Winged Roc beat its wings and flew into the air, shedding numerous disheveled golden feathers as it flapped.
In contrast to the Golden-Winged Roc's fury, the python hissed as though mocking it smugly.
Although that lash had not seriously injured the Golden-Winged Roc, it had still sent it flying. Whatever else might be said, the giant python appeared to hold a slight advantage.
Rocs and eagles preyed on snakes, after all. The giant python could be said to be at an innate disadvantage against the Golden-Winged Roc, though naturally, that only applied when other conditions were comparable. Now, for instance, this python was clearly much larger than the Golden-Winged Roc, and even the roc was no match for it.
Clearly unable to bear such humiliation, the Golden-Winged Roc swooped down again, reaching for the python with its talons. The python did not dare let down its guard either. Its coiled body suddenly sprang up, and its thick, long body wound around the Golden-Winged Roc with the speed of a thunderclap that left no time to cover one's ears.
Thud- With the Golden-Winged Roc in its coils, the giant python fell from the rock wall above and landed heavily at the bottom of the cliff.
Though the python had coiled around it, the Golden-Winged Roc naturally would not surrender without a fight. It beat its enormous wings desperately, and the two strange beasts immediately began rolling through the rubble at the bottom of the cliff.
Before long, disheveled, torn feathers and the python's black-and-white scales littered an area several hundred feet across.
Standing several hundred feet away, Huang Xiao felt a chill of dread. His heart was filled with fear. This giant python was simply too terrifying.
Huang Xiao could see that, although the Golden-Winged Roc struggled desperately, the python's coils were tightening more and more. Before much longer, the Golden-Winged Roc would probably be strangled to death.
As the python rolled, it repeatedly opened its bloody maw wide and tried to sink its fangs into the Golden-Winged Roc's neck, but the roc dodged every attempt.
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